Spokane Valley council keeps Pam Haley as mayor, appoints Democrat Tim Hattenburg as deputy mayor and swears in new members

The Spokane Valley City Council’s course going into 2024 is unclear as the council voted Tuesday both to retain conservative councilwoman Pam Haley as mayor and make Democrat Tim Hattenburg the deputy mayor.

Spokane Valley has a city manager form of government, and the council votes to select one of its own to fill the role of mayor, who runs the weekly council meetings and largely fills a ceremonial role. Haley, who was first elected as mayor in 2022, has served on the council since June 2016. She also previously served as deputy mayor.

Hattenburg nominated Haley for the role of mayor. Councilmembers Al Merkel and Ben Wick each nominated themselves for the role. In the final vote, Merkel and Wick voted for themselves, while Haley and Hattenburg, along with council members Rod Higgins, Jessica Yaeger and Laura Padden, voted for Haley.

The vote to make Hattenburg the deputy mayor was a lot closer, however, with four votes for Hattenburg and three against. Hattenburg, who was just re-elected to his second term on the council, is generally a more liberal voice and is the only councilmember who has run for office as a Democrat. Despite their political differences, Hattenburg has had cordial relationships with his fellow councilmembers.

Higgins, who most recently filled the role of deputy mayor, nominated Hattenburg for the job, while Yaeger nominated herself. Higgins, Haley, Wick and Hattenburg voted for Hattenburg, while Yaeger, Padden and Merkel voted for Yaeger.

Just before Tuesday’s meeting began, newly elected council members Merkel and Yaeger were sworn in. Merkel defeated longtime council member Arne Woodard, who was in the conservative majority on the council. When the council had a split 4-3 vote, Woodard, Haley, Higgins and Padden often voted together.

Yaeger, who has a conservative background and was endorsed by Higgins and Haley, replaced council member Brandi Peetz, a self-described moderate conservative who decided not to run for re-election.

At the end of Tuesday’s meeting, at a time when council members can suggest that items be added to future meeting agendas, Merkel asked that the city put the repeal of the just-approved car tab tax to a future agenda. Such suggestions require council consensus to be added to the agenda, but none of the other six council members agreed to add it to a future agenda.

Higgins said he has heard of the city’s logo being used on NextDoor, a social media platform where people can post items of interest in their neighborhood. He said he wanted the city’s attorney to look into it to see if the use is permitted by the city’s new social media policy for council members, which was just approved last month. “If not, let’s get rid of it,” he said.

Merkel has an account on NextDoor and has used it actively since his campaign began. He used the city’s logo in a recent post inviting people to attend Tuesday’s meeting for the selection of the next mayor. He also recently started a new group, called “Spokane Valley Politics and Government,” that features the city logo as its identifying photo.