Port of Benton Hires Executive Director, Despite Investigation of Staff Complaints

The interim executive director of the Port of Benton was offered the job permanently Tuesday in a split vote of the port commission.

The decision to hire Diahann Howard came soon after the three-member commission received an independent investigator’s report into complaints by four port staff members.

The report concluded that Howard had retaliated against staff after the complaint was filed.

It also found that Commissioner Roy Keck’s re-election campaign negatively affected his treatment of staff and that the process to select an executive director may have been improperly influenced by his perceived political allegiances.

Keck, the commission president, and Commissioner Robert Larson voted in favor of naming Howard the permanent executive director. Commissioner Jane Hagarty was opposed.

They offered Howard a salary of $150,000 a year, and Howard said she would discuss the offer with her family rather than immediately accepting the offer at Tuesday’s special meeting.

Howard was the port’s director of economic development and government affairs before being named interim director when the port announced the retirement of its longtime executive director, Scott Keller, in June.

Howard said she was disappointed in the investigative report when it was made public at the meeting.

She said it lacked context and some facts were wrong.

Intimidation or retaliation?

The employee grievance was filed Oct. 17 by four port staff members, who were not named publicly. The port currently employs about 18 people.

“We have lost trust in the port as an institution and in the commission and interim executive director,” the complaint said.

The commissioners contracted with Sarah Wixson of Stokes Lawrence Law Firm in Yakima to conduct the investigation of the complaint at a cost of less than $10,000.

Her final report painted a picture of an agency in turmoil, starting at the commission level, and employees with divided loyalties at least since the resignation of Keller.

At one point, Keck allegedly accused two people of hacking his home phone and had the device checked, said the report. But Keck denied that claim to the independent investigator.

Wixson found no or little basis for some of the issues raised in the complaint, including the allegation that Howard treated the staff with hostility and intimidation when she was named interim executive director.

However, after Howard learned that complaints were made by staff, she did retaliate, said the report.

Although Howard’s position was interim, she quickly began to make permanent changes.

They included telling staff there would be no more overtime paid.

Crow Butte Park

Howard also focused on operations at Crow Butte Park on the Columbia River, where maintenance of the park and its facilities had declined last summer.

In a full staff meeting, Howard discussed the issue and some people believed it was a public berating of the maintenance staff.

She then fired two longtime employee caretakers at the park. They were among five employees the port lost in less than three months, including the longtime port maintenance director, who resigned.

She proposed closing the park until it could be re-staffed, but that would mean many summer reservations would not be honored.

A port employee volunteered to staff the park on weekends, even though Howard would authorize only comp time and no overtime pay, the report said.

While the changes Howard made were unpopular, they did not constitute harassment or intimidation, the report said.

But later, in early August, several employees complained to Commissioner Hagarty, who then spoke to many staff members individually.

A week later Howard also met with employees individually and told many there “would be no undermining,” according to the investigation report.

On Sept. 9, Howard held a staff meeting and said it was time to move past Keller’s resignation.

Campaign loyalties questioned

After the meeting she emailed a Power Point presentation titled, “What’s Trust Got to Do With It?” to all employees. It had been made available by a human resources consultant hired by Howard.

The presentation said if an employee can’t establish trust, the employer could consider disciplinary action.

Because of the timing of the presentation it “strongly suggests that Ms. Howard’s communications were an attempt to put an end to complaints,” the investigation report said. “Employees viewed these comments as threatening. Implied and express threats of discipline is retaliation.”

On Tuesday, Howard told the commission that the investigation was wrong on the sequence of events.

The investigation also took a close look at Keck and his re-election campaign.

Keck won the November election, but beat challenger Bill O’Neil by fewer than 100 votes.

Five employees told the investigator that Keck believed the employees were supporting O’Neil’s re-election campaign because they had supported Keller as port executive director.

Keller managed O’Neil’s election campaign after leaving the port.

Keck believed that many employees loyal to Keller had benefited from a “good old boy” network that rewarded loyalty over merit and were trying to undermine Howard, the report said.

Keck favored Howard as the executive director candidate, even before O’Neil entered the race.

The report said that Keck had revealed some statements that Keller made during a closed board meeting on personnel matters while Keller still worked for the port.

Keck reportedly said that Keller made “appalling” and shocking comments about Howard. The report mentioned “name calling” and “foul language” but gave no specifics.

Influences on staff treatment

Keck also was upset about the August “Wings and Wheels” event at the Richland Airport, a port event.

His election opponent leases a hangar there, where he hung campaign signs.

Keck told staff that they should not have allowed campaign signs at a port event and accused staff of wearing a “Bill O’Neil” T-shirt at the event.

Staff told the investigator they knew of no port employee wearing a campaign shirt and had no knowledge of anything that would prohibit O’Neil from having campaign signs at his hangar.

In September, Keck said he feared someone was hacking his phone, staff reported. The port’s information and technology contractor inspected his home phone, finding no evidence of tampering.

Keck says he never made the accusation.

The investigation report concluded that the “evidence strongly suggests that perceived political allegiance, while not the sole reason, was a substantial factor in Commissioner Keck’s treatment of staff.”

His political allegiances likely also impacted the way the other two commissioners viewed candidates for the position of executive director.

The finalists for the position, in addition to Howard, including Stuart Dezember, a 15-year port executive; Wade Harris, a recent city administrator in Gig Harbor and Othello; and Brian Dansel, Northwest regional director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The investigation also looked at whether commissioners had violated open meeting laws, particularly when talking informally before meetings started or when they traveled on port business. It found no violations.

Split vote on hiring choice

Commissioners listened to a recap of the investigation report at their meeting Tuesday, but didn’t comment on it.

After closing the meeting to discuss potential litigation and the hiring of an executive director, they reopened the meeting and voted to hire Howard.

The commission also agreed to provide more training for the commissioners and the staff, though the type of training was not discussed.

Commissioners did not discuss in public their choice of Howard as executive director before voting to offer her the job.

However, after the vote Hagarty said, “We have been in a lot of turmoil here for several months.” Now it is time to think about how to move forward and “get ourselves back on a positive note,” she said.

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