Port of Benton commissioners have paused their investigation of the organization’s top leader until the recall that port commissioners are appealing is resolved.   

Commissioners unanimously voted April 29 to postpone the probe into employee complaints against the port’s executive director, Diahann Howard, as well concerns that she was put on paid leave as an act of retaliation. 

Howard was placed on paid leave on Jan. 7, during the port’s first meeting of the year, while the investigation of employee complaints took place. At the same meeting, commissioners also took action to strip her position of much of its power.

Recall petition

The meeting came after a series of discussions starting in 2025 related to utility issues at the Richland Airport and a heated election season in which Commissioner Bill O’Neil was elected, ousting longtime commissioner Roy Keck.

O’Neil, elected commission president in early January, said one of his top goals as a commissioner was to drive investment to the Richland and Prosser airports.

In the tumultuous months that followed, the port released an investigation into the actions of Commissioner Scott Keller, who was found to have broken state gifting laws and port policy, some related to leases and illegal utility connections at the Richland Airport, while working as a port employee. 

Commissioners also voted in February to fire the port’s chief financial officer, Alicia Myers, who had been hired three months earlier.

The controversy rallied a group of citizens to file a petition to recall all three port commissioners, an initiative spearheaded by retired Benton County District Court Judge Eugene Pratt and his daughter Ashley Garza, a land surveyor who worked to untangle the airport utility connections issue. She terminated her contract with the port earlier this year.

In recent developments, the city of Richland has cut off illegal water connections to about 12 hangars after their owners failed to comply with proper permitting processes. 

The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office is currently investigating the matter.

Superior Court decision

The recall first went before the Benton County Superior Court, where Judge Diana Ruff allowed the effort to proceed after striking several of the charges that were legally or factually insufficient to be grounds for recall.

Several charges that were dismissed were related to Keller’s actions when he was a port employee, rather than during his time as an elected official. 

The two charges upheld for all three commissioners were that Howard’s suspension and Myers’ firing were retaliatory acts to conceal Keller’s wrongdoing, as the judge said she could find no other legitimate reason for the actions than as petitioners claimed. 

An additional charge regarding public disclosure was upheld for only Keller. 

The port promptly appealed Ruff’s decision to the Washington State Supreme Court.

The commissioners’ attorney, Carolyn Lake, argued that suspending the executive director and firing the chief financial officer were within the commission’s discretion and were not “exercised in manifestly unreasonable manner.”

Since then, a flurry of motions have been filed from both sides seeking to lay out a timeline and debating the introduction of new evidence.

Through their attorney, port commissioners asked for an HR consultant’s report on the port’s operations to be considered as additional evidence, but the court denied the motion.

HR report

Released to the public in early April – after Ruff’s ruling on the recall – the 28-page report outlined a toxic and chaotic work environment at port offices and included several major recommendations for restructuring. 

The consultant, Eileen Griffin-Ray, who has ties to the airport, was hired after Howard’s suspension in January.

In addition to organizational issues, the report also homes in on problems port employees have had with their supervisors, including Howard and Myers. Criticism ranged from concerns about Howard focusing more on economic development than other responsibilities to the two bosses acting “elitist” and cliquish, to concerns about Myers not doing her job.

The report relied on quotes from anonymous employees, and both Howard and Myers’ attorneys decried Griffin-Ray’s analysis. 

In a statement, Howard’s attorney, Todd Wyatt, called it “a hit piece searching for ways to justify the Commissioners’ illegal actions against Director Howard.”

Doug McKinley, Myers’ attorney as well as the attorney for the recall petitioners, called it a “hatchet job.” “All of the allegations are anonymous, and none of them are true,” he said.

Next steps

The commissioners filed a 71-page document on May 8 outlining their case to the Supreme Court. 

In addition to arguing that they were within their right when suspending the port’s executive director and firing its director of finance, their attorney also argued that Keller did not violate state gifting laws regarding airport utility issues and the Buckskin Golf Course lease – meaning the suspension and firing could not have been to conceal Keller’s wrongdoing because there was none.  

The recall effort had until May 13 to respond. Then, commissioners have until May 19 to file a reply. 

A report of proceedings is due July 14, according to court records.