PORT ANGELES — City Manager Kent Myers defended his handling of a draft report on alleged improprieties at City Hall on Tuesday amid criticism from two council members, including one who said his trust had been shaken.
The comments came in response to Myers postponing a meeting with a state Auditor’s Office investigator set for last Monday and providing a draft copy of the report to former Mayor Karen Rogers, who he said is the main subject of the investigation.
Myers said he postponed the meeting to give Rogers more time to respond to state questions.
Councilman Max Mania questioned whether it was appropriate to give a copy of the draft to Rogers and asked for a nearly step-by-step explanation of the city manager’s actions.
The city manager told the council that his actions complied with state law and that he was merely trying to ensure that the report was properly done.
“What I did was legal,” he said.
City Councilwoman Cherie Kidd also commented that she felt Myers acted inappropriately by not contacting the Auditor’s Office before giving Rogers a copy of the report.
Myers said he has kept the council frequently informed on the status of the report since the city received the draft report April 4.
But Mania said he didn’t feel he was properly informed, particularly with the decision to give Rogers a copy.
“My trust is badly shaken,” Mania said.
“I think this feeds into the worst fears of the community that the city government is secretive, is corrupt, is doing this and that.”
His comment prompted objections from Mayor Dan Di Guilio and Deputy Mayor Don Perry.
Perry said he felt that the council was being too harsh on Myers.
“Our job as City Council members is to make policy, not to micromanage staff and tie their hands,” he said.
“I think we passed that point right now. I’d like to see this discussion ended.”
Myers said he gave Rogers a copy because he wanted her to be present at the meeting with Kim Hurley, manager of investigations with the state agency, that was scheduled for Monday.
He said he wanted her there to be able to answer any questions at the meeting, known as an “exit conference,” which now is set for April 13.
In talking to Rogers last week, Myers said, he realized that she had not been interviewed for the investigation.
He requested that the Auditor’s Office interview her, he said, and in response, the state office sent Rogers four questions last Friday.
He then requested that the meeting be postponed because he didn’t think she had enough time to respond.
Myers told the council that by doing so, he was “going to ensure a more comprehensive report.”
Auditor’s Office spokeswoman Mindy Chambers said she didn’t know why Rogers hadn’t been interviewed.
She said she couldn’t comment on what the questions involved.
Myers said he spoke to the former mayor Friday before postponing the meeting. He said Rogers told him she had information that could require changes to the report.
In response to a request for an interview, Rogers said in an email Tuesday that she could not comment because the report had yet to be completed.
On Saturday, in an email to the Peninsula Daily News, Rogers said: “I look forward to getting any issues, information or concerns resolved regarding whatever questions the citizen(s) has that are behind this hotline inquiry,” she wrote.
The investigation was prompted by a complaint filed through the state agency’s citizen hot line in 2009.
As part of its investigation, the Auditor’s Office requested from the city information on several construction projects, travel expenditures by Rogers and former City Manager Mark Madsen, and city contracts to various businesses.
Myers said the city is in the clear.
The exit conference held next week will be open to the public.
The meeting will be at 10:30 a.m. in council chambers at City Hall, 321 E. Fifth St.
While the specifics are confidential, the complaint alleges misconduct with construction projects, such as The Gateway transit center and Eighth Street bridges, and payments from the city to Fred Hill, the Incubator, The Remediators Inc., Capacity Provisioning Inc., Advanced Composite Technologies Inc. and Exeltech Consulting Inc.
Construction of The Gateway and Eighth Street bridges were overseen by the city and managed by Exeltech of Lacey.
Both occurred during Madsen’s and Rogers’ tenure.
Exeltech, which has been awarded $5.8 million in city contracts over approximately the past eight years, has denied any wrongdoing.
The company hired the former mayor in April 2010 to oversee its regional development efforts. She left the council in December 2009 after serving eight years.
Madsen, citing poor working relationships with some of the council members, resigned in 2008 after fewer than three years on the job.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb contributed to this report.
