Tri-Cities port leaders refuse to resign, revive investigation of suspended director
The Port of Benton's three elected commissioners sidestepped calls to resign this week at their first public meeting after the state’s highest court said efforts to recall them may proceed.
Eugene Pratt, a retired Benton County District Court judge who is leading the Citizens for a Better Port, and three former Port of Benton commissioners called on the current commission to resign during its regular July 8 business session.
Commissioners William “Bill” O’Neil, Scott Keller and Lori Stevens did not directly respond.
First public discussion
O’Neil, the commission’s president, offered the board’s first detailed comments on the recall effort, with what he called an effort to counter “pure political spin” with facts.
The recall began in February, just weeks after the commission suspended its executive director, Diahann Howard, with no advanced notice or public discussion.
O’Neil said he waited until after the Supreme Court ruled on the recall to speak out. He then read a statement he said documented why and how the commission suspended Howard with pay on Jan. 4.
He said the commission was advised on Jan. 3, when he took office, that port employees had filed complaints about Howard.
The three commissioners discussed the complaints in executive session on Jan. 4, as allowed by Washington state law.
They voted publicly to suspend her pending an investigation, a process he said is in compliance with Howard’s employment contract.
O’Neil said the complaints were lodged against Howard. He also referenced an earlier 2019 controversy, when the port investigated similar complaints against her as well as his predecessor, then-Commissioner Roy Keck.
On review, he said, the port concluded there had been retaliation.
O’Neil said that after Howard became the permanent executive director, 20 of 24 staff members resigned.
He said the reasons were unclear and recommended citizens request resignation letters by filing Public Records Act requests with the port.
“The sheer number is significant,” he said.
“The actions taken on Jan. 4 were based on those facts. No other considerations were discussed,” O’Neil said.
Attorney responds
Todd Wyatt, Howard’s attorney, previously said the commission retaliated against her for bringing forward complaints of wrongdoing by Commissioner Scott Keller.
Keller supported O’Neil when he ran to unseat Roy Keck, a Howard supporter.
The complaints against Keller were investigated last fall for the port by law firm Schwabe, Williamson and Wyatt.
Schwabe found four occasions where Keller violated state law and port policies both as a port employee and later, as an elected official after he was elected to the commission in 2023.
The complaints were generally centered on illegal water and utility hookups to private hangars, including his own, on land leased from the port at the Richland Airport.
The city discovered the connections during an inspection of the port-owned airport’s fire hydrants. It later cut off access and confirmed none of the hangar owners had taken steps to legalize their utilities.
O’Neil and Stevens took no action on the more serious allegations and censured Keller for violating a port policy.
Howard’s attorney issued a new statement shortly after the July 8 meeting recessed.
He said the port’s retaliation “continues” and described inconsistencies in how the commission has handled her suspension and the purported investigation, which was suspended in May.
Wyatt pointed out that O’Neil described being advised of complaints from employees on Jan. 3, leading to Howard’s suspension. Wyatt said O’Neil indicated there was only one complaint in legal documents submitted to the Supreme Court as it considered blocking the recall.
Wyatt said his client has not had a chance to defend herself and hasn’t been told who made the complaint, what it concerned or why it required an immediate suspension.
Basis for recall
The fallout from Howard’s suspension as well as the firing of its newly hired finance director Alicia Myer and the lack of response to the Schwabe investigation prompted Citizens for a Better Port to organize a recall campaign against the three commissioners.
As part of the process, the petitions and complaints were reviewed in Superior Court to determine if there are sufficient grounds to proceed.
Benton County Superior Court Judge Diana Ruff said the recall could proceed, though she eliminated many of the charges in the original documents.
The commissioners, with legal fees covered by the port, appealed Ruff’s ruling to the Supreme Court.
The appeal was unsuccessful. The court’s July 2 ruling upheld Ruff’s decision that there is a reasonable basis to move ahead with the recall on the allegations the commission retaliated against Howard.
Citizens for a Better Port said it will begin collecting signatures from voters in the district to put the three recall requests on the November ballot.
It hopes to gather 5,000 valid signatures on each of the three petitions.
To qualify for the ballot, recall backers need to collect signatures representing 35% of the voters who cast ballots in the commissioner elections or roughly 4,000 signatures per commissioner.
Asked to resign
Retired Judge Pratt, together with former Port of Benton Commissioners Roy Keck, Jane Hagarty and Christy Rasmussen, called on the commissioners to accept the Supreme Court’s decision and resign from office for the sake of the port and its taxpayers.
O’Neil, the only current commissioner to speak, did not directly respond to the calls to resign.
“Going forward, we will continue to be guided by the facts and the law. Please join us in that mission,” he said.
The Port of Benton is an economic development agency supported by grants, lease revenue and property taxes. It operates the airports at Prosser and Richland as well as business parks, a wine village and works to recruit business to the region.
At the same July 8 meeting, the commission approved employment contracts with Howard’s successor, interim Executive Director Ron Branine, and with its finance director, Stuart Dezember.
It also agreed to approve a legal services agreement with Goodstein Law Group, a Tacoma-based firm with a focus on ports, to handle internal complaints and related activities.
Goodstein, which represented the commissioners in their appeal to the Supreme Court, will report to O’Neil.