Port of Benton Commissioner Scott Keller is expected to face few consequences following an investigation by outside attorneys that found he violated state law or port policies on four occasions.

The findings come amid ongoing upheaval at the port. Commissioners placed the port’s executive director on paid leave in January as part of an unexplained investigation, a move her attorney claims was retaliation for raising complaints about Keller to the port’s board.

The turmoil continued into early February, when port commissioners fired the port’s chief financial officer and auditor after less than three months on the job for unsatisfactory work.

The developments follow a leadership transition after the ousting of a longtime commissioner in the November election – and months of debate over water meter issues at the Richland Airport that ultimately led the port’s contracted land surveyor who was trying to unravel airport utility and lease discrepancies to quit. 

And now the complaints have reached the state auditor’s office.

The investigation

The port hired law firm Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt to investigate a series of complaints against Commissioner Scott Keller in the fall. Its 21-page investigation was released publicly with redactions in late January.

Of 24 complaints, four were found to have merit. 

The first set of 14 complaints were submitted by Executive Director Diahann Howard on Sept. 5, and 10 more were submitted by former commissioner Roy Keck five days later.

Keck served as a port commissioner for 18 years, but lost his seat to Bill O’Neil in the November election. O’Neil is now president of the port commission.

The two sets of complaints have different focuses, though they both center on Keller’s actions.

Complaints against Keller

Keck’s complaints zero in on Keller’s potentially illegal activity throughout the time he was a port employee – a period of 30 years, including 18 as executive director. 

Three of these complaints were found to have merit:

• Keller violated state gifting laws when he inked a new 10-year lease for a lower-than-approved amount with Jeff Marcum, his cousin, for the Buckskin Golf Course on Aug. 1, 2008.
• Keller violated state law by knowingly receiving public water and sewer services paid for by the port for the hangar that he bought with his personal business, The Axe LLC, at 2049 Butler Loop.
• Keller violated state law because he changed the lease for 2049 Butler Loop, making the rented area smaller and thus lowering the rent, without getting required approval from commissioners.

The complaints filed by Howard included allegations of then-Commissioner Keller interacting with staff against port rules.

The investigation determined one had merit: 

• Keller violated port rules prohibiting commissioners from interacting with staff other than for inquiry when he interacted with a former staff member in their port office and discussed the upcoming commissioner race, stating that once O’Neil was elected, things would change. 

Commissioners read through the same complaints during a Jan. 14 port meeting, including listing names that were redacted in the published report. 

The full report is available online at portofbenton.com/about-the-port/commission.

Commission action

Commissioners took little action on the investigation.

They took no action on the complaints related to the golf course lease and water and sewer services. 

O’Neil said that Keck could have filed these complaints previously, but instead did so during a heated election season. 

Regarding the airport lease area, commissioners O’Neil and Lori Stevens moved to have the interim executive director find out if there is a standard easement size or determine an average size and apply it to Keller’s lease. 

Keller then would be invoiced for past amounts under the determination, O’Neil said. 

The airport easement sizes were standardized at the port’s Jan. 28 meeting. 

In new leases going forward, lease areas will extend at least 10 feet beyond the exterior edges of the lessee’s structure and will include the full apron area used by the lease. 

The standard may also be applied to an old lease with an unfairly large lease area if both the commission and the lessee agree, said Quentin Wright, airport manager, in an email. 

In response to the complaint filed by Howard, the commission moved that Keller be admonished and directed him to review the port’s policies and procedures, and “in particular, review and comply with rule 12.3,” O’Neil said. 

That’s the rule that the investigation found Keller violated – and it’s also a rule commissioners voted to delete in its entirety during the port’s meeting one week prior as part of significant changes made to the port’s policies regarding the role of the executive director and the commissioners.

Keller’s response

In a written statement, Keller said he “contested and was disappointed in the substance and timing of the complaints, as they were filed during a hotly contested campaign season, and in most cases alleged events decades ago and not when I was a commissioner. I am grateful that the commission found the large majority of the allegations baseless. I accept the decision of the commission.”

“Now is the time to stop looking backwards and instead look forward, and concentrate on the real business of the port,” Keller’s statement continued. “I appreciate and am excited to be a part of a commission and port management which is dedicated to and focused on increasing the economic well-being of our community.”

Airport issues

Some of the complaints follow several months of port discussions over water meter issues at the airport.

Keller bought the 2049 Butler Loop hangar in June 2017 and asked his Realtor at the time of purchase how it was connected to water and sewer services, according to the investigation findings. 

Roger Wright, a port-contracted engineer, looked into the issue at Keller’s direction, according to a July 2025 statement, and discovered several water lines that weren’t on city mapping. A meter could not be found for Keller’s hangar, and Wright was told to stop working on the investigation.

Issues with the water hookups were brought up in May 2025 after fire hydrants at the airport were tested by the city’s Water Department following a 2022 incident. 

“While testing the hydrants, they found an unpermitted water connection next to 2002 Butler Loop,” Wright said in his July statement. “As they continued to investigate water connections and water meters, Richland Water Maintenance found several other undocumented water lines and service connections.”

The port held a July 8 public workshop to discuss the history of water line and sewer connections at the airport. 

Ashley Garza, a professional land surveyor who had been contracted with the port since 2022, said in a statement to the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business that she brought forward concerns to Howard and Keck after discovering years of discrepancies while researching and mapping the port’s infrastructure for a database. This came after she said she submitted a written complaint to the Washington State Ethics Board, a division under the state Attorney General’s Office, on Aug. 18 only to learn that the state doesn’t have regulatory authority over port commissioners.

She said in her statement that the actions of the commissioners were in direct conflict with her professional conduct guidelines and that’s why she terminated her contract and affiliations with the port.

The city of Richland confirmed that the issues are currently being resolved and that the city is working directly with the property owners: “The few remaining affected property owners are currently in the permit process and are being guided through the steps necessary to bring all connections into compliance with city codes and regulations.”

State auditor complaint

But the allegations detailed in the report and the ensuing fallout may not be settled just yet. 

The state Auditor’s Office confirmed that a citizen filed complaints related to the port in late January which will be reviewed and may be incorporated into its next audit of the port, scheduled to begin in the late summer. It said it is not currently conducting any standalone reviews or investigations of the port.

The Journal of Business received a copy of the anonymous complaint through a public records request. 

It asked the auditor to “conduct an independent review of the financial and governance irregularities at the port,” and said “this isn’t about one person or one commissioner. It’s about whether local government serves the public interest or protects a small group of insiders.” 

The complainant also said “this is a matter of accountability and transparency with regards to stewardship of public funds and whistleblower protections for staff.”

Executive director, CFO-auditor out

Port commissioners have not yet given any reason why Howard was suspended on Jan. 7, calling it a “confidential personnel matter.”

Howard received a merit raise in December 2025, according to documents obtained from a Journal of Business records request.

A Jan. 12 letter from Howard’s attorney, Todd Wyatt, to port Attorney John O’Leary called for her to be reinstated, and said that her suspension was an act of unlawful retaliation for bringing complaints forward. 

The suspension, he said, is a breach of Howard’s contract, which only allows her to be suspended if she has repeatedly failed to perform her duties as executive director; if she has committed a crime or other act prejudicial to the port; or if she has violated a court order or command of a governmental agency. 

“Director Howard is not being suspended because of a failure to perform, but because she did perform and it led to unflattering information about one of the Commissioners,” Wyatt said in the letter. 

The port hired Eileen Griffin-Ray for unspecified human resources services in late January, sidestepping the typical bidding process due to an “urgent need for the services.” The contract is for 60 days and is not to exceed a total of $50,000.

At a special Feb. 2 meeting, chief financial officer and auditor Alicia Myers was fired due to unsatisfactory performance “based on performance to date during a probationary period.”

The port’s senior accountant, Angela Saraceno-Lyman, is filling in as interim auditor and claims for damages agent. Jorge Celestino, the port’s business operations specialist, is the public records request officer until further notice. 

Branine has been named interim executive director.

The port was scheduled to meet next on Feb. 11, after the deadline for this edition. On the agenda were plans to appoint Saraceno-Lyman as auditor and claims for damages agent and Celestino as public records officer, as well as to discuss the Richland water utility issue at the airport.