Investigation says top city administrator violated sexual harassment rules; Perkins says mayor OKed him dating staffer
Former City Administrator Johnnie Perkins violated Spokane’s sexual harassment policy when he dated an employee and shared intimate details about the relationship with another City Hall staffer, according to an investigation released Wednesday.
Perkins, 60, resigned last month while the city of Spokane’s human resources department was investigating him for alleged misconduct.
He was Spokane’s top unelected official, tasked with overseeing the city’s day-to-day operations and implementing Mayor Nadine Woodward’s policies. Perkins made no mention of the investigation in his resignation letter, instead citing a recently diagnosed heart condition and other health issues.
According to an investigation led by Human Resources Director David Moss, Perkins violated city policy in multiple ways. Moss’ report says he violated the sexual harassment policy, used inappropriate language, showed a lack of respect for others, created a hostile work environment and hurt employee morale.
Perkins denies any wrongdoing and says his relationship with a female employee had the approval of both the human resources department and Woodward.
Woodward hired Perkins as her top executive in early 2021. He replaced her first city administrator, Wes Crago, who left the role for unknown reasons.
Perkins came to Spokane via San Diego, where he’d been the city’s chief deputy operating officer. A longtime Republican operative, he’s also spent much of his career in the solid waste industry.
Even before the sexual harassment allegations, Perkins had had a somewhat rocky track record as Spokane’s city administrator.
Cupid Alexander, formerly the city’s director of Neighborhoods, Housing and Human Services, accused him of racial discrimination in 2021. The city’s investigation into Alexander’s allegations found no evidence that Perkins discriminated against him due to his race.
But even though Perkins survived that incident, it would have been difficult for him to carry on as city administrator after explicit details of his relationship with a female employee became public.
The investigation
Moss closed his investigation when Perkins resigned.
In a document dated July 14 and labeled “confidential” that summarizes the city’s investigation, the human resources director says Woodward on June 12 told him about the allegations against Perkins.
Moss launched an investigation soon after. His report includes summaries of interviews with five unnamed witnesses, referred to only by number.
Most of the information in the investigation comes from two female city employees.
Witness 3 is the city staffer who dated Perkins in April and May. Witness 5 worked directly for Perkins. Moss writes that Perkins repeatedly, and in great detail, talked with Witness 5 about his relationship with Witness 3.
In the report, Witness 3 told Moss that she was initially wary of dating Perkins due to ethical concerns. She wanted to ask the human resources department if the relationship would be OK.
“When HR told me that it was fine to go on a date, I was a little bit surprised,” she told Moss.
The bulk of the investigation relies on information from Witness 5, whose account was later corroborated by Witness 3.
Witness 5 told Moss that Perkins on multiple occasions pulled her from her workstation to talk about his relationship with Witness 3.
According to Witness 5, Perkins divulged “every detail, conversation and text message.” Perkins, who is divorced, talked about texts Witness 3 had sent him, recapped their dates and discussed their future plans “very loud with the door open.”
Witness 5 said that Perkins and Witness 3 went on a trip to Las Vegas in late May.
When they returned, Perkins shared with Witness 5 a number of intimate details about how the trip went.
Perkins told Witness 5 how many times he and Witness 3 had sex. He told Witness 5 that he experienced erectile dysfunction in Las Vegas. And he shared with Witness 5 that when he told Witness 3 he loved her, she hadn’t replied.
Witness 3 stopped responding to Perkins’ texts and calls after Las Vegas “because the sex did not live up to her expectations,” according to Witness 5.
The breakup sent Perkins into a downward spiral, making him irritable and unfocused, Witness 5 told Moss.
Moss writes that Witness 5 told him Perkins attempted to resurrect the relationship by sending Witness 3 a bouquet, but accepted it was over when that failed. The relationship ended amicably, Witness 5 said, and Perkins appreciated Witness 3’s honesty.
Perkins’ response
In a response written by his attorney, Geoffrey Swindler, Perkins said he did nothing wrong and never talked about the relationship with anyone in City Hall.
“Since people knew about the relationship, if they were doing something improper you’d have expected the mayor and HR to have cracked down on them – and they didn’t,” Swindler said in an interview.
Perkins says that Spokane’s human resources department gave him and Witness 3 permission to date. He also says Woodward was supportive of the relationship, never “disapproved or discouraged him from dating witness 3” and asked Perkins how the relationship was going.
Swindler said that Perkins never obtained approval from Woodward in writing.
City spokesman Brian Coddington, speaking on Woodward’s behalf, declined to say whether Woodward gave the relationship her blessing. He instead deferred to Woodward’s previous comments on the matter and the investigation itself.
While the investigation doesn’t specifically address whether Woodward approved of the relationship, it does say the mayor “admonished” Perkins for asking out a different female employee in 2021.
“The situation resulted in Mayor Woodward explicitly directing Mr. Perkins that he was not to pursue or try to date any female in the workplace going forward,” Moss wrote.
Perkins says Woodward never admonished him for asking out a city employee “for a business-related dinner” or directed him “not to date a City employee.”
Moss’ report doesn’t offer much detail on the 2021 incident, but the city has released other public records relevant to the investigation that offer some insight.
One document, from an unknown source, says Perkins asked a female department head to lunch at Subway in June 2021.
At that meeting, Perkins asked the woman if she knew why they were getting lunch together. She guessed that it was because, as the new city administrator, he was trying to get to know his staff.
“He explained that was not the reason and he wanted to ask her to dinner but he thought that may be inappropriate since he was the City Administrator,” the document says.
In his response to the investigation, Perkins suggests that witnesses 3 and 5 may have ulterior motives for making accusations against him.
He asserts that Witness 5 had told him she wanted Witness 4’s old job. Witness 5 eventually got that job, but Perkins had originally told her he thought she was unqualified and unprepared for the responsibility.
Perkins levels two claims against Witness 3. He says she unsuccessfully tried to get him to help her friend, a suspended city parks employee, get his job back. According to Perkins’ statement, Witness 3 also attempted to persuade Perkins to remove negative information from her employee file.
‘Embarrassing for the city and him’
City Councilwoman Karen Stratton said she wants to know exactly when Woodward found out about the relationship and the complaint against Perkins.
Coddington said Woodward learned about the complaint “in the days after” the late-May Las Vegas trip.
Moss’ report doesn’t seem to make clear whether the human resources department gave Perkins and Witness 3 permission to start dating.
Assistant City Attorney Mike Piccolo told Moss in a June email that he’d provided legal advice on the issue earlier this year.
Piccolo wrote that he remembers a conversation with a city employee, possibly Coddington, about whether Perkins could date a staffer “for ONS” – presumably within the city’s Office of Neighborhood Services.
“My initial response was no since Mr. Perkins could ultimately be the person terminating this employee as discipline,” Piccolo wrote. “I believed at the time that this conversation resolved the matter.”
City Council President Lori Kinnear said Wednesday that she hadn’t had a chance to read the investigation or Perkins’ response. She said she probably couldn’t talk about the situation much even if she had.
“I imagine, since he’s hired an attorney, he’s going to file a lawsuit,” she said.
Stratton said she believes the relationship was extremely inappropriate and should never have been allowed to happen.
“The minute the mayor knew about this it should have ended,” she said. “He should have been reprimanded, given one more chance, or should have been gone. I’m just shocked that it’s been allowed to go on. How embarrassing for the city and him.”
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