SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — Councilmember Al Merkel's only been a part of the Spokane Valley City Council for two months, but an investigation about his conduct with city staff is just one of the latest incidents of his tenure.
Tuesday night's city council meeting at Spokane Valley City Hall saw a decent crowd as City Manager John Hohman read the following statement about the investigation:
“I can share the complaints pertain to allegations of offensive, hostile or unwelcome interactions between Councilmember Merkel and city employees here at City Hall.”
KREM 2 spoke with the councilman before the meeting to find out what he knew about the investigation. He told us he had no idea what the complaints could be about.
“No staff member has ever come to me and reported anything to me. Besides the first email that I received that there were, quote, unquote, complaints,” Merkel said.
In emails shared by Merkel with KREM 2 between the councilmember and Hohman from last week, the city manager asked if the councilmember would be available to talk on Feb. 27 about alleged incidents with city staff.
Merkel agreed, writing to Hohman if he could find out specifics “with the complaints with details, dates and names in writing,” as well as a copy of the policy requiring an investigation like this.
The city manager emailed back, saying “We are not in a position to provide specifics at this time" and it would be best if Merkel only visited City Hall for council meetings on Tuesday nights.
Merkel told KREM 2 he didn't really read into that email until the next day when Hohman emailed to thank him for agreeing to focus his City Hall visits to Tuesday evenings.
“To clarify, at no time was Councilmember Merkel banned from City Hall. He was simply asked to voluntarily agree to limit his time in the building to protect all involved, including himself, while the investigation has been carried out,” Hohman said during Tuesday night’s meeting.
Merkel claimed he's had few interactions with city staff except during council meetings.
“Before I even took office, we had an orientation in December and during that orientation, he (Hohman) emphasized that I should not be initiating any conversations with staff, except through him," Merkel said. "And I have, as far as I know, listened to that request to the letter.”
At this time, it's unclear how long the investigation will take.
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