Crank Call Being Taken Seriously Valley Businessman Accused Of Threatening Health Official

The thick-tongued messages left on David Swink’s office answering machine are kind of funny to him now, in a pitiful sort of way.

But Swink’s employer, the Spokane County Health District, considers the words a serious threat.

The county’s top environmental cop was warned on election night in the slurred words of a drunk to “Get out of Spokane before someone gets you.”

The caller has been identified as Larry Wendel, a Spokane Valley businessman with a long-running grudge against the agency.

Wendel, owner of Appleway Septic Tank Service, 9400 E. First, also is accused of making anonymous calls Nov. 7 to Spokane City Councilwoman Bev Numbers, a health district board member, and to Momentum, a private economic development agency.

A source close to Wendel confirmed he made the calls and attributes them to election night giddiness fueled by alcohol.

Wendel, 49, who ran unsuccessfully for county coroner last year, denies making any of the calls.

“No, no, no, wrong,” he said. “I think my personal rights have been violated.”

But even one of his best friends said the recorded voice on Swink’s machine is Wendel’s.

“It’s definitely Larry,” said County Commissioner Steve Hasson. Wendel helped manage Hasson’s 1992 re-election campaign.

“Larry is the type of guy who would give you the shirt off his back,” said Hasson, also a member of the health district board. “But I am disappointed in him. This was very inappropriate.”

Swink’s voice mail was played Nov. 16 during a meeting of the health district board, which is composed of the three county commissioners, three Spokane City Council members and three at-large members from small towns.

Board members who have dealt with Wendel many times over the years said the voice was no mystery.

In a Nov. 21 letter to Wendel, health district board Chairman Frank Cook wrote: “Your voice has been positively identified as the person making the calls in question … Threatening calls to employees of the district will not be tolerated, and will result in immediate legal action.”

Swink reported the calls to city police, but Sgt. Earl Ennis said such cases are so “low priority” they are not investigated.

Ennis said he offered to call Wendel and warn him against making future threats, but the health district has not responded to the offer yet.

Wendel is well known in the Spokane Valley. In addition to his septic business, he is a college basketball referee, staunch advocate of Valley incorporation and rancorous critic of consolidating Spokane city and county governments.

He has admitted aiming his frustrations over environmental regulations at Swink, even though it was the health district board that shut down Wendel’s septic lagoons near Fairfield two years ago.

Neighbors near the south Spokane County wastewater dumping area had complained of foul odors and said the lagoons were fenced inadequately, posing a safety hazard to children.

Health district board members visited the site and agreed. They ordered Wendel 18 months ago to submit a detailed environmental analysis of his rural operation.

The environmental impact statement still has not been received, so the health district board ordered Wendel to appear in two weeks to show cause why they should not yank his operating permit for the lagoons.

“I think we’ve been quite lenient with him,” said Swink, director of environmental health, the department that regulates sewers and restaurants.

An environmental impact statement might be too costly for Wendel, who has filed for bankruptcy three times in the past 20 years. He also owes more than $10,000 in delinquent property taxes and has liens on his properties totaling more than $125,000.

“I guess I just don’t take them (messages) too seriously,” Swink said. “They’re actually kind of funny. You could tell he had been drinking.”

After the first message’s threat, a second call directed at Swink warned: “Get his ass out of Spokane County immediately because I’m gonna contact the (county) commissioners to make sure he’s gone real soon. He’s nothing but a sick personnel (sic).”

Another voice in the background chimed in: “That’s right.”

Numbers, who lost her re-election bid to the Spokane City Council, said she received a message from Wendel gloating over her defeat. The message contained no threats.

“I was really surprised,” Numbers said. “If Larry does have the tendency to do a little drinking, sometimes it gives people like that the power to think they can do anything. It was inappropriate.”

Momentum, which donated $100,000 to the pro-consolidation campaign, also received two calls from Wendel on its answering machine, said Executive Director Janelle Fallan.

“He said, ‘Well, Momentum spent a lot of money on the campaign and you lost, ho, ho, ho,”’ Fallan said.

, DataTimes