Pullman city administrator allowed back at work after investigation clears him of wrongdoing

Pullman City Administrator Mike Urban back to work after a city-commissioned investigation cleared him of wrongdoing related to a Washington State Patrol investigation into the city’s former police chief.

WSP obtained and reviewed “voluminous records,” including text messages between former Pullman police Chief Jake Opgenorth, who resigned last month, and a resident, according to a city news release.

WSP attributed three screenshots of text messages to Urban, so the city conducted an independent investigation, the city said. He was placed on paid administrative leave. The investigation determined the text messages did not come from Urban and “he did not engage in any kind of inappropriate conduct.”

The city provided the information to WSP, which issued a supplemental report reflecting its error.

“Based on the correlation of information of messaging that (the City provided) and my conversation with (the private citizen), Urban did not have a relationship with (the private citizen) and Opgenorth had likely used his name to hide contact information for (the private citizen) in his phone,” the report said.

Pullman Mayor Francis Benjamin voiced his support for Urban, calling him, “principled, ethical, caring, and dependable,” according to the release.

“Mike’s impeccable reputation was exploited by another to conceal deceit,” Benjamin said.

“The City’s third-party investigator found what we knew to be true, and the WSP subsequently confirmed – Mike Urban did not send the texts, and the inferences construed from those texts were wrong,” Benjamin said in the release. “While this is positive news, it does not reduce the profound toll extracted from Mike and everyone who cares about him. I look forward to welcoming Mike back to work.”

Urban has served as city administrator since January 2021, according to the city’s website. He was previously the director of Pullman’s Finance and Administrative Services and is a Washington State University graduate.

Megan Vining, recreation manager for Pullman Parks and Recreation, served as the acting city administrator while Urban was out, according to city spokeswoman Meghan Ferrin.

Ferrin said earlier this month Urban was “out of office,” but declined at the time to mention other details, citing personnel issues.

Opgenorth had been on administrative leave since December amid domestic violence and sexual assault allegations and resigned last month.

Whitman County Prosecutor Denis Tracy said the woman who accused Opgenorth and Opgenorth requested protection orders against each other, but a judge denied the orders.

Tracy announced in an April 16 news release that he declined to file charges against Opgenorth after reviewing the WSP investigation report about rape allegations against Opgenorth, who had a yearslong affair with a woman in Pullman, and determining a jury would not be able to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Opgenorth committed a crime.