Alicia Myers
This article is a continuation of the stories we have published about ongoing issues at the Port of Benton: https://tumbleweird.org/topic/port-of-benton
The Port of Benton Commissioners are appealing the ruling of Judge Diana Ruff to the Washington State Supreme Court. Supporters of the recall say that if the Supreme Court rules in favor of the recall and allows it to move forward, Citizens for a Better Port will have 180 days to get signatures of 4000 registered voters that live in the Port’s taxing district to put the recall on the ballot.
At the regular Port Commission meeting on May 13, after an executive session, Commissioner Bill O’Neil read the following statement in regards to ongoing investigations into the Port of Benton:
We just have one statement to be read. This commission gives this update on certain pending employee matters, and to clarify that the recent investigations have not been halted. Investigations are temporarily paused on the advice of legal counsel for due process reasons, pending the ruling of the Washington Supreme Court on the remaining recall petition issues.
Upon the ruling, which is expected in the near term, the investigations will recommence in a sequential order that they were raised. First, investigate complaints involving the executive director's leadership and management. Second, investigate the complaint by the executive director of retaliation for being suspended while the above investigation is ongoing. Pending the investigation's outcome, the commission will review the results/recommendations and appropriate action will be taken. Because these are pending legal matters, this concludes our remarks, except to say we are proud of the current management and staff at the Port who are moving the Port forward despite the outside distractions, and we look forward to the continued progress on all of the Port's missions. With that, that concludes our meeting, and we are adjourned.
On May 18, Citizens for a Better Port posted on their Substack the following update: “The Washington State Supreme Court has scheduled oral argument for July 2, 2026, in the appeal of the Port of Benton Commissioner recall case.”
This month, we are reporting on the Port of Benton firing their CFO after she reported irregularities.
Alicia Myers started working for the Port of Benton in November 2025, after she moved from Whatcom County where she had worked for the Port of Skagit. Myers said, “I was the director of finance and auditor, and so I had an opportunity at the Port of Benton, and it would be the same title, same scope, which is Director of Finance and Port Auditor.” Myers was fired on February 2, 2026 by the Port of Benton.
Tumbleweird was contacted by Richard Holquist, Alicia Myers’ husband, after our story ‘In the Wake of Corruption Investigation, Port Commissioners May Be Ousted’. Holquist sent a message via Facebook messenger, writing:
These commissioners have made it like [Myers] has done something wrong when she was only doing her duty. It’s clear retaliation on their part. Also it can ruin a person's career because no one wants to hire you after that. She was only there for three months and was already finding out problems that needed to be fixed and was working with [Executive Director Diahann] Howard to address them. I hope a wrong is made right for both Howard and my wife.
Myers was promoted by the Port Commissioners to interim executive director after they put Diahann Howard on administrative leave in January of this year. But Myers recused herself from the position of executive director, as she felt it was a conflict of interest to be CFO, auditor, and executive director. The board then fired Myers.
The background
In a phone interview Tumbleweird conducted with Myers on April 9, 2026, Myers said that when she was brought on to the Port in 2025, Executive Director Diahann Howard explained that they had found leases that were “below market value.” Myers said, “With my background as a state auditor, I'm thinking that's one of the reasons they brought me in. They really wanted to take a good look at the leases [and] finances.”
Myers had a background of working as a state auditor for five years, then went to work for a school district before starting at the Port of Skagit. Myers recalled someone at the Port of Skagit saying they could really use her help, especially with GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles):
That was one of my strengths. And so I had thought of it as a really great opportunity in my career, growing from state auditor to school district and then to a Port. Ports are a really, really great place to be in finance. And I just like ports in general. Ports are there to help the community, help the economy.
When the Port of Benton hired Myers last year, they cited all of this experience as a great boon to the Port.
Myers said she started working right away on the problem of the lease irregularities that Director Howard had made her aware of. “I wanted to audit the leases, and I made no secret about that,” said Myers.
When they found irregularities in the lease agreements, Myers said that the executive director and other employees all agreed to self-report to the State and Federal Government, as required. Myers recalled the decision:
We need to let the state auditor know. We need to let the Department of Revenue know that probably for years and years and years, we have not been paying the right leasehold taxes. Because if you're under fair market value and not paying what you know you're supposed to, then you're also not paying the leasehold tax amounts you're supposed to.
Myers said that the more she looked, the more issues she discovered at the Port. Speaking to the Real Estate Manager Audry Burney (who was promoted in December to Director of Economic Development), Myers said Burney told her there were problems with charging utilities at Port properties. “We discovered that thousands and thousands of dollars had not been charged to tenants,” said Myers.
The conflicts
Myers spoke to the Port commissioners regarding Eileen Griffin-Ray, who was paid $50,000 to write a report for them (covered in our previous article ‘Friends in Low Places’). Myers told the commissioners that there were problems with hiring Griffin-Ray: “There's not even a confidentiality clause in her contract. Does she even understand the liability of coming in?” Besides issues of conflict of interest and confidentiality, Myers said she didn’t believe Griffin-Ray had experience in HR. “Day one, when she came in, she said, ‘I'm Eileen, and I look forward to talking to you’,” Myers recalled. “But not once did she ever approach me to talk to me about anything that came up in the report. I never had a discussion with her. She never asked me any questions about HR.”
Myers wrote many emails detailing the risks she said the commissioners were putting the Port in, including one where she went into detail about the risk of Griffin-Ray having access to HR files without a confidentiality clause. “I talked about the perceived conflict of interest; also, perceived favoritism,” said Myers. “[S]he wanted specifically to get to the HR files. And I said no.”
Griffin-Ray’s contract can be read on page 11 of this legal document: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FwCKx-cisPQUxrxVImOKG8w5M5bdpFPh/view?usp=drive_link
Myers said things got really bad after Director Howard was put on leave in January. The commissioners wanted Myers to become the interim Executive Director. “I actually called the state auditors and told them that I did not feel comfortable being the Executive Director for interim because that is the one role that oversees the CFO and the auditor.” Myers would be overseeing herself by being the Executive Director, which she found to be unethical.
Myers described the exposure she saw the commissioners were making at the Port, and she sent emails describing these risks. “I [sent] an email to them, recusing myself and explaining why; but I also told them there might be a risk of having the Director of Facilities also as the acting Interim Director, for the very same reason.” Ron Branine was the Port’s Director of Facilities and Operations before he was made Interim Director. Myers said he requested to be put on the bank account “right away”.
“I was not comfortable with that, because you need to have an operational reason why somebody needs to be put on the bank when we already have five people on the bank account,” explained Myers.
The retaliation
Myers believes that she was fired in retaliation by the commissioners because she was very open about the reporting she was doing to the state and federal government:
[It’s] retaliation … not only the fact that I came from being a state auditor, it was widely known that I was looking at every piece of the leases. And I self-reported to the state auditors, I self-reported to the Department of Revenue, and then I was also emailing them different risks and exposures that I saw. I really feel like they didn't like that.
Myers said that the commissioners stated in their meeting that they were firing her for "unsatisfactory performance”, even though she had not been written up for anything in her time at the Port. She was fired after she turned down the position of Interim Director, just two weeks after Ron Branine was made Interim Director.
Myers said that pointing out the issues and risks she saw in the Port, and reporting on the problems directly, resulted in the commissioners' retaliation against her.
Now Myers is speaking out, trying to get the people that live in the area to understand that holding the Port accountable is up to them:
It's up to the public to make this change … There's a bigger picture here [that’s] really impacting the public. You have commissioners who are seated in this power, and it's not just about how they treat employees, it's about how they treat tenants, and what projects they want to discuss, and what they want to move forward. And I think there's just a bigger impact here.
Myers also said, “[I]t's literally my job to report to the Commission anything that I find is of risk that could harm the Port. And I was just literally doing my job.”
The evidence
Court documents filed by Attorney Doug McKinley described in the introduction how Myers and Howard were both whistleblowers and retaliated against by the Port. Whistleblower retaliation is against the law. This is from the document APPELLEES’ ANSWER TO APPELLANTS’ MOTION TO ACCEPT ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE ON REVIEW:
The executive director of the Port of Benton, Diahann Howard, and the auditor/finance director, Alicia Myers, became “whistleblowers” when they brought the on-going criminal conduct of the prior executive director and now Port of Benton Commissioner, Scott Keller, to light in late 2025. This criminal conduct included the provision of below market leases to various Port tenants (including Commissioner Keller himself), along with illegal connections to the City of Richland water supply and the provision of electrical services to tenants that was paid for by the Port. This criminal conduct had been confirmed by the Port’s own attorneys, as the Port had hired Schwabe, Williamson and Wyatt to investigate these matters, and the lawyers at Schwabe had confirmed the violations in their final report to the Port.
Immediately after Diahann Howard and Alicia Myers began to make these facts public, Appellant/Commissioners (Scott Keller, William O’Neil and Lori Stevens) first suspended Diahann Howard on January 7, 2026 and then fired Alicia Myers on February 2, 2026. This was a classic act of wrongful retaliation and a plain violation of RCW 42.41.040.
Myers is appealing her firing, and has a scheduled hearing date in November. Myers said she is continuing her professional development as she awaits judgement on her case. She is pursuing certification as a CPA (certified public accountant), and after that will be working toward certification as a CFE (certified fraud examiner). She has also started a GoFundMe to help pay for this education: https://gofund.me/57dd6971b
On her GoFundMe, Myers wrote:
A month ago, my life changed in a way I never expected.
After dedicating my career to protecting public funds and ensuring financial accountability, I was terminated from my position as Director of Finance and Port Auditor at the Port of Benton during a public meeting.
I believe this happened after I raised concerns related to financial oversight and compliance — the very responsibilities my profession requires me to take seriously. To my knowledge, those concerns were raised in good faith and through appropriate channels. The circumstances surrounding my termination are now part of an ongoing matter. What I do know is this:
Doing the right thing sometimes comes with a cost.
The criminal investigation
On March 4, retired Judge Pratt made a request to investigate criminal charges to Benton County Prosecutor Eric Eisinger. The request can be read entirely in the APPELLEES’ ANSWER TO APPELLANTS MOTION TO ACCEPT ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE ON REVIEW (Exhibit F) made by Ashley Garza.
Sent: Friday, March 6, 2026 3:17 PM
To: Eric Eisinger
Cc: Gene & Linda Pratt
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Request to Investigate
RE: Request for Investigation - [Richland Airport unauthorized & illicit utility connections & infrastructure]
Dear Mr. Eisinger:
I am writing to formally request that your office investigate the following individuals for what I believe to be considered Defrauding a Public Utility:
Cannon Hill (C&S Hangars)
Ralph Collins (Collins Enterprises)
Bing Manawadu
Scott Keller (The AXE, LLC)
James Leedy
Herb & Jennifer Brayton
Ryan Hone (C & H Aviation)
Willam O’Neil, (Port of Benton Commissioner)
Lori Stevens (Port of Benton Commissioner)
Scott Keller (Port of Benton Commissioner)
Defrauding a Public Utility RCW 9A.61.020
Whereas I believe the above named may have committed, and/or authorized, solicited, aided, abetted in the:
Installation and connection of unauthorized and illicit water and sewer services, diversion of water and sewer services, tampering of water meters, use or received the direct benefit of all or a portion of the utility service with knowledge of, or reason to believe that, the diversion, tampering, or unauthorized connection existed at the time of the use or that the use or receipt was without the authorization or consent of the utility.
The location of said connections and services are listed below and further shown on the attached EXHIBIT 8:
2002 & 2004 Butler Loop _ Cannon Hill (C&S Hangars)
2010 & 2014 Butler Loop _ Ralph Collins (Collins Enterprises)
2020 & 2030 Butler Loop _ Ralph Collins (Collins Enterprises)
2048 Butler Loop _ Bing Manawadu
2049 Butler Loop _ Scott Keller (The AXE, LLC)
2050 Butler Loop _ James Leedy
2060 & 2082 Butler Loop _ Herb & Jennifer Brayton
2090, 2094 & 2096 Buttler Loop _ Ryan Hone (C & H Aviation)
Based on the findings of an investigative report and a letter provided by the Port of Benton, I believe that the illegal infrastructure and meter connections were authorized by Scott Keller while acting in his official capacity as both Assistant Executive Director and later as Executive Director of the Port of Benton.
The Richland Police Department said they were unable to investigate, because the City of Richland itself is a victim of the illegal connections, and the matter was passed on to Franklin County.
On May 4, Tumbleweird contacted Franklin County Sheriff Jim Raymond regarding the criminal investigation he was conducting into the matter. Sheriff Raymond responded:
The Franklin County Sheriffs Office at the request of the Richland PD Chief. [sic] The investigation is literally in its infancy. Investigators have hours and hours of interviews to conduct along with evidence gathering to complete. When the investigation is complete it will be forwarded to the Richland Police Department for dissemination.
The City of Richland shut off the illicit water connections to the airport hangers on May 4, according to a Tri-City Herald article. The city claims to have notified all the hanger owners that they needed to rectify the situation, and that none of the owners complied.
We will be following this story as it continues to develop.
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.
