(The Center Square) – Between investigations, litigation and lost productivity, Spokane Valley officials say Councilmember Al Merkel has cost taxpayers $600,000 as the city declares a win in lawsuit against him.
City Manager John Hohman pegged the cost at roughly $5.50 per taxpayer during Tuesday’s meeting.
The update comes days after a judge granted summary judgment in favor of the Valley, wrapping up a public records lawsuit that Merkel’s peers filed against him last year over his social media activity. The meeting ended Tuesday with Mayor Laura Padden cutting Merkel’s microphone as he tried to speak up.
Merkel told The Center Square he disagrees with last week’s ruling that his personal social media posts constituted city business and violated city social media policies and the Washington Public Records Act.
“Shut off my mic. Go ahead, I can speak loud enough to cover the entire room,” Merkel said as Padden directed city staff to turn off his microphone after Merkel said he needed to “reframe” Hohman’s story.
“This council continues to say that free speech is so important, yet shuts me off every single time,” he said as his peers moved to adjourn and Councilmember Jessica Yaeger called Merkel “a spoiled child.”
Earlier in the meeting, Hohman detailed the taxpayer burden that he’s attributed to Merkel since 2024.
He said the first $100,000 tied to Merkel went toward “protecting city staff,” referring to an investigation into Merkel shortly after he took office, as well as subsequent costs tied to limiting his contact with staff.
Hohman said the lawsuit against Merkel has cost about $500,000, attributing that to litigation and lost productivity. Agenda materials leading up to the council’s vote to sue Merkel tie some of those costs to another investigation into his social media, complaints he filed and staff time spent on records requests.
“In the council’s [2027] budget, we have another $200,000 placeholder,” Hohman added on Tuesday.
City Attorney Kelly Konkright said there will be no trial over the lawsuit against Merkel since the judge found no genuine issue of material fact. Instead, the city must file proposed remedies by next Monday.
Konkright said those remedies will include: declaratory judgments that Merkel’s online posts are public records and that the social media policy is legally enforceable, a writ of mandamus directing Merkel to comply with the council’s governance manual and a PRA injunction directing Merkel to obtain, preserve and produce posts he made regarding city business, including on personal devices, with a declaration.
“Merkel does have a right to file an appeal,” he said, “However, if appealed, the court’s final orders will still be enforceable unless that court, or a court of appeals, were to enter an order stating otherwise.”
Merkel has argued that the city exposed taxpayers to liability by suing him rather than his posts, since no one has filed a lawsuit yet against the Valley over Merkel’s social media activity other than the dais.
Communications Manager Jill Smith confirmed in an email to The Center Square that no one has filed a lawsuit against the city, but wrote that officials had received “verbal threats” about Merkel’s records.
The city also hired an investigator to look into Yaeger’s social media, finding that she had violated the policy as well, but Smith and other officials have argued that Yaeger complied with subsequent demands.
The investigation report into Yaeger is dated March 2026. Merkel told The Center Square that the city didn’t mention the findings in a public meeting until June 16, when Yaeger read a prepared statement.
“Withholding that report since March materially affected my ability to present my case,” Merkel said in an interview with The Center Square on Tuesday. “It just goes to show the lengths the city would go.”
Hohman suggested on Tuesday that Merkel should repay taxpayers for the cost of the litigation, given Merkel’s recent proposals to provide relief to residents through tax holidays as Valley spending climbs.
Smith says they don’t expect the court to make Merkel reimburse the city “with this round of orders.”
“Just let me speak,” Merkel said at the end of the meeting as Padden looked to Konkright for support.