Investigation into Councilmember Al Merkel finds him likely in violation of public records act

SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. -- The City of Spokane Valley's investigation into Councilmember Al Merkel found him violating city regulations and likely violating the Washington State Public Records Act.

According to the city, an independent attorney was hired to investigate a complaint filed by Councilmember Jessica Yaeger in June. Yaeger accused Merkel of using a private Nextdoor account for city business. Merkel was also accused of blocking users and deleting posts on social media.

This is the second independent investigation involving Merkel since he took office in January of this year. In May, another independent investigation determined Merkel engaged in intimidation and disrespectful behavior toward city staff.

The latest investigation found that Merkel violated the Governance Manual Social Media Policy by posting information about the city government and his duties as a council member on his personal Nextdoor account rather than an official City Councilmember account archived for public record compliance.

The report said the posts cannot be archived by the city and therefore not in compliance with the Public Records Act.

Merkel told the city the content on his personal Nextdoor account is not city business nor public records and he was unwilling to release his records.

According to the city, the content of Merkel's posts are public records because he discusses topics that were reported at Council meetings, including discussions about council debates, complaints about other councilmember's actions, investigations into former allegations against Merkel, his opinions and positions on issues before the council, and more.

The Washington State Public Records Act requires all city records created or used by staff or elected officials to be made available upon request.

The city said since January, it has received 48 requests for public records related to Merkel of which 12 are specific to his personal social media account.

Councilmember Merkel has seven business days to appeal the findings to a hearing examiner. After this period, the Council will review the findings and consider taking further action.

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