Port of Benton Commission Meeting (4-8-2026)
Since our story ran on March 16: ‘Residents rise to recall’ (tumbleweird.org/residents-rise-to-recall), there have been many updates to the recall effort for the Port of Benton commissioners. The hearing for the recall charges was on March 25.
Tumbleweird spoke to Doug McKinley, attorney for the petitioners, directly after the hearing. McKinley said he believed Superior Court Judge Diana Ruff appeared skeptical of the position of the commissioners. McKinley said, “[Judge Ruff] said she was going to re-read all the submissions and give her opinion after thoughtful consideration.”
On Monday, March 30, the Superior Court of Benton County issued orders on the recall petitions for all three of the Port of Benton commissioners. Judge Ruff ruled that the court found the petitions factually and legally sufficient to proceed to the signature-gathering phase.
During their public meeting on April 8, the Port Commissioners stated that they were going to appeal the ruling. At the 46.56 minute mark, Scott Keller reads the statement:
We are grateful the court has resolved the majority of the allegations raised in the recall petition in our favor and dismissed the most sensational claims. While this has been a challenging process, we have always believed in allowing the judicial process to run its course. We recognize and remain confident that the remaining count will likewise be dismissed on appeal. Throughout this process, we have been mindful of the responsibility entrusted to us as commissioners and deeply appreciative of the patience and support shown by so many. As this matter remains before the court, we have no further comment at this time.
Tumbleweird reached out to Doug McKinley on April 8, who responded:
The commissioners’ statement is somewhat bizarre, given that the Superior Court ruled that the recall will go forward, and the commissioners’ only options to stop the process are to resign, or appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court. However, if the commissioners choose to drag the taxpayers through an expensive appeal, we will also be appealing at least one of the charges that was dismissed.
We believe that the commissioners, like all public officials, have an ongoing obligation to follow the law; and it was clear from the Port’s own internal investigation that they were actively violating the law. So if they choose to file an appeal, we will also appeal what we view as the Superior Court’s obviously flawed ruling that the commissioner’s ongoing violations of the law are not sufficient grounds for recall.
The recall process: What happens now?
McKinley explained again the process of a recall in Washington, starting with the steps that have already been completed:
“The statutory framework for a recall is a process. The first step of the process is that petitioners have to be voters in the district of the public official. They write what's called a charge… charging the public official with misfeasance or malfeasance or violations of the law. Once that happens, the prosecuting attorney's office writes a synopsis of the charge, which is limited to 200 words and is a summary of the charges. They [the petitioners] then submit that synopsis along with the charges to the Superior Court for the purpose of the hearing.”
Judge Ruff reviewed and made her ruling: that charges for all three commissioners are able to move forward.
In the written order for the recall of Scott Keller, Judge Ruff wrote the following:
The charges that Scott Keller, Port of Benton Position 2, committed malfeasance, misfeasance and/or violated his oath of office allege that he:
1. Violated Public Disclosure laws by failing to disclose a business that he owns which leases property from the Port of Benton.
2. Violated State law and Port policies by retaliating against Port employees.
The allegation that Scott Keller retaliated against Port employees has to do with his conduct with the Executive Director Diahann Howard. From page five of Judge Ruff’s ruling:
The unlawful retaliation against the Executive Director has a clear negative impact that affects, interrupts or impacts the performance of the official duties of the Port of Benton Commissioners because they now lack a staff leader at their organization, and they have decreased fiscal and operational oversight of the Port of Benton to the detriment of the public and the Commissioners. Even if there were not clear intent to commit an unlawful act for a finding of malfeasance — which the Court finds that there is — engaging in unlawful retaliation against an employee who is a whistleblower would be a violation of the oath of office because it would be a violation of the law and of Port policies, and would be a manifestly unreasonable use of discretion. There appears in the record no manifest reason to constructively demote and suspend the Executive Director other than as petitioner has stated: to conceal wrongdoing of Mr. Keller.
A January 12, 2026 letter from Todd Wyatt, the attorney representing Howard, reads in part: “The retaliatory motive of the Commissioners is plain. This unlawful retaliation against Director Howard has caused and continues to cause her significant damage.” Wyatt also said that the timing of Howard’s suspension “is clearly a pretext for illegal retaliation.”
After Judge Ruff’s ruling, Tumbleweird contacted Wyatt again, who replied with this statement:
Director Howard has been, and continues to be, a dedicated public servant who has provided decades of service to this community. She was suspended for having the temerity to do the right thing and speak truth to power. She remains steadfast in her desire to return to her work, support her staff, and serve the constituents of the Port of Benton.
Citizens for a Better Port sent Tumbleweird an update on March 30 about the court’s rulings regarding the commissioners’ recalls:
[I]n the Keller order (which is the most detailed, at 6 pages vs. 4 for the others), the court made explicit findings directly about the whistleblowers. The court stated that it is misfeasance and/or malfeasance to engage in retaliation against a whistleblower, and found there was clear intent to retaliate when the Port’s Executive Director was demoted, and suspension occurred within weeks of bringing forward the Keller allegations. …
The court also stated plainly: retaliating against a whistleblower-employee would constitute a violation of the oath of office and a manifestly unreasonable use of public authority.
McKinley said on March 28 that he believed the commissioners’ next step will be to appeal the case: “And I think that's a shame, because they are consuming massive amounts of taxpayer money, which can all stop. All they have to do is resign. And I would remind your readers, the law firm that they hired to investigate the accusations… concluded that they were operating outside the law.”
That investigation was detailed in Tumbleweird’s first story regarding the Port: ‘In the wake of corruption investigations, Port of Benton Commissioners may be ousted’ (tumbleweird.org/investigations-port-commissioners) .
McKinley reiterated: “Their own lawyers — not opposing lawyers, their own lawyers, who they hired — found that there was severe wrongdoing.”
Friends in low places: Commissioners go on the defensive
On January 20, the interim Port Executive Director Ron Braine entered into a contract (C2026-17 Port Contract - HR Consulting Services) with Eileen Griffin-Ray:
The purpose of this agreement is to provide analysis and guidance to the Port of Benton Commissioners regarding the Port's organizational structure, culture, and people practices and to advise and assist on in interim [sic] basis as needed. The Consultant will provide the Commissioners with an assessment of human resources policies and procedures including, but not limited to, recruitment and hiring, staff evaluation and communication, compensation policy, training and development, employee relations, and disciplinary processes.
Griffin-Ray is the neighbor of Commissioner Scott Keller in Horn Rapids, and her husband is a subtenant of a hangar at the Richland airport — the Port property detailed in our previous article, ‘Residents rise to recall’ (tumbleweird.org/residents-rise-to-recall). According to her website, Griffin-Ray is a writer and media consultant for Heartland Daily News. She does not detail any Human Resource credentials.
Griffin-Ray’s website says she writes about “the rise of violence, crime and anarchy, defunding the police and the prison abolition movement, critical race theory (CRT) and anti-American curriculum in public schools, efforts to eliminate merit-based systems, and others.”
Heartland Daily News is the publication of the Heartland Institute. According to Wikipedia, “The Heartland Institute is an American conservative and libertarian 501 nonprofit public policy think tank known for its rejection of both the scientific consensus on climate change and the negative health impacts of smoking.” It was founded in 1984 and is based in Chicago. They advocate for free-market policies in areas like healthcare, education, and environmental issues.
According to the contract, the Port of Benton paid Griffin-Ray $50,000 for her report. It was submitted in March and can be read here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n-dGjLfk0TKW_8yov39O1ECBj49EuhtY/view?usp=sharing.
Griffin-Ray was at least partially familiar with some the Port’s issues, as she wrote a piece published in The PNW Post in October, 2025 titled ‘Richland Airport Tenants Questioned over water issue’ in which Griffin-Ray details issues with the water hook-ups at the Port. In the article, Griffin-Ray interviews Herb Brayton, who uses the same defense that Cliff Dyer has used during the Port Commissioner meetings:
“I paid $30,000 for the public building and you supply the water and that was the deal,” Brayton said. “The city is not getting robbed. The services are getting paid. The Port can just tack it onto the lease, or they can swallow it.”
“We are not hiding anything,” Brayton said. “To say that we are stealing water is unconscionable.”
Brayton and Griffin-Ray never say in the article that the airport manager at the time of this so-called ‘deal’ was Scott Keller. Keller, of course, then allegedly became a recipient of the free water, as he became a lessee of the airport. After that, Keller then became the Executive Director of the Port.
In the $50,000 report that Griffin-Ray wrote, she opens with this introduction:
The Port of Benton is in desperate need of structure, order, and leadership. … Basic policies and procedures don't exist, or they exist in an insufficient manner, or they exist but they are not followed, or no one has any idea whether they exist or not. ... The lack of coordination and availability of policies, procedures, and processes was a strong indicator of the severe dysfunction within the organization. Overall, the organization is immersed in chaos, confusion, and leadership neglect.
When Griffin-Ray was contracted for the report in January, the Commissioners had already put Executive Director Diahann Howard on leave. Then, on January 13, the independent investigation on the actions of the commissioners was released. (The complete report and all violations and findings of the investigation by the law firm of Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt can be read here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kq4r55oHYsXwjXpL1PgyLNdNHLTxpF8b.) The independent investigation found evidence of gifted public resources, and unauthorized lease reductions.
Griffin-Ray was hired just seven days later.
In her report, Griffin-Ray cites her own published works to support her arguments regarding the organization. She also states that, “Many of the problems at the Port are now systemic and will be very difficult to correct because they have continued unabated for years, if not decades. Problems or issues will always occur; they need to be addressed and corrected so the deterioration does not continue. Rather than problem solving, today the Port is mired in disorder and dysfunction.”
Griffin-Ray appears to find the fault of the issues that are occurring at the Port, all stem from one person, repeating throughout the report that it is “leadership” that is at fault for years of issues at the Port. While never naming Director Howard, Griffin-Ray alludes to her throughout. “Rather than help build trust, it appears that top leadership fostered division,” the report reads.
Howard’s attorney, Todd Wyatt, said in his March 2026 correspondence with Tumbleweird:
The ‘Analysis’ authored by Eileen Griffin-Ray, at [the] direction of the Port of Benton Commissioners, is full of anonymous quotes from apparently a few disgruntled employees. It contains no neutral (let alone positive) feedback about the Port and, based on its one-sided reporting, leads to defamatory and outlandish conclusions. Ms. Griffin-Ray never interviewed Director Howard or even provided her with an opportunity to address, or provide further context, to any issues that these employees allegedly raised. Nor does it appear Ms. Griffin-Ray interviewed employees or contractors who might paint a different picture than the one she wished to create.
This outcome of this ‘Analysis’ appears to have been predetermined. The goal was to provide cover to the Port of Benton Commissioners for their ongoing retaliation against Director Howard. Lest there was any doubt, the Commissioners, citing “transparency,” voted to promote this ‘Analysis’ by placing it on its website. If “transparency” is the Commissioners’ goal, why weren’t the complaints against the Commissioners posted on the website as well? The Commissioners’ ongoing attempts to disparage Director Howard are plain. The public should see this “Analysis” for what it is: a hit piece searching for ways to justify the Commissioners’ illegal actions against Director Howard.
As a reminder, Scott Keller was director of the Port-owned airports and assistant executive director before he was promoted to executive director. His tenure started in 1989 and he retired on June 1, 2019. He was elected to serve as Commissioner in 2023.
Griffin-Ray never spoke to Howard according to Alicia Myers, the CFO and Auditor that was terminated from the Port. Myers was terminated as CFO and Auditor after she refused to take on the position of interim Executive Director. We will have her story next.
As this story continues to develop, we will continue to report. Now, we are waiting on the Washington Supreme Court and the Port of Benton Commissioners’ appeal.
A lifelong resident of Eastern Washington, Dori enjoys the outdoors, her family, and making good trouble. She has worked for many years in broadcasting and reporting and believes in the value of the 4th estate. She is a true community advocate that loves Washington.
