Judge deliberates on Spokane Valley's lawsuit against councilman Al Merkel following last year's public records battle

May 29-Spokane Valley City Councilman Al Merkel wore his signature bright orange tie to court Friday, waiting to hear a judge's ruling regarding whether he has conducted city business on his personal social media accounts and then withheld those records from the city.

During the hearing, Merkel's attorney Patrick Kirby called Merkel a "private citizen" whose social media posts are not city business and said the lawsuit is meant to keep Merkel and his opinions quiet.

The judge seemed to disagree.

"You're not a private citizen. You're a council member," Judge Rachelle Anderson said to Merkel during the hearing.

Anderson declined to issue a summary judgment in the ongoing case pitting Merkel against the city regarding public records. Instead she wants another hearing before ruling this summer, which could short circuit the need for a trial.

The lawsuit comes a year after the Spokane Valley City Council unanimously voted to sue Merkel, citing his failure to cooperate after an independent investigation into Councilwoman Jessica Yaeger's complaint found Merkel violated the Washington state Public Records Act and some city policies.

The city alleges it doesn't have access to or copies of Merkel's NextDoor records, which it says contain city business.

"Public records are for transparency," said Reid Johnson, who represented the city during the court hearing. "If someone can just call themselves a private citizen and call it campaigning, that will destroy the Public Records Act as we know it."

Last year, City Manager John Hohman said the lawsuit is necessary because without Merkel's compliance, the city cannot fulfill dozens of public records requests, leaving it liable for not following state law. Merkel has not produced a single document that the city has sought from his social media, Johnson said.

"We agree that these issues should be resolved," Johnson said. "... This whole case could have been resolved by screenshots."

"He posts hundreds of times, posting detailed discussions about council conversations, posting polls. ... He's creating public records on his social media every time he posts about city business," Johnson said. "The city needs to be protected against potential public records violations."

But Kirby said this lawsuit is not about public records, it's about political retribution.

"He's posted criticism of the City Council and they all voted to shut him down," Kirby said.

Kirby argued the governance manual is not a law and that because the city didn't direct Merkel to make certain social media posts, they aren't city business and therefore aren't needed for public records.

"He wants to get re-elected. That's why he's posting," Kirby said.

Merkel, along with the other six council members, have undergone several social media trainings about how the governance manual directs council members to use social media to talk with citizens and discuss city issues, Johnson said.

According to city documents, Spokane Valley has spent more than $200,000 to protect itself from financial and legal risks that Merkel has caused. The city is asking for Merkel to comply with the city governance manual's social media rules by either documenting the posts on his social media that are city business or creating official social media accounts where posts will be documented for public record, Johnson said.

Merkel does not need to make an official social media page, but if he elects to continue only operating personal social media pages, he has to record posts for public records, Johnson said.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 7:07 PM.