‘Come and get me’: Higgins, Merkel have verbal altercation during Spokane Valley City Council meeting

Spokane Valley City Council meetings are usually fairly eventful amid tensions between Councilman Al Merkel and the other council members, but on TuesdayOct. 28, everything came to a head for Councilman Rod Higgins.

After a 10-minute break in the meeting, Higgins was walking back up to the dais when he saw Merkel’s swivel chair in his path.

“Al saw me coming, pulled back from the dais and narrowed the gap so I couldn’t get by,” Higgins said. “When I saw what he was trying to do, I said, ‘You asshole.’ ”

Merkel said his chair was not intentionally in Higgins way. Merkel confirmed that Higgins called him a name at the dais during the council meeting and said that the behavior is directly against the Governance Manual, which details the rules for City Council members.

“This is just a demonstration that the rules don’t apply to everybody equally,” Merkel said.

The Governance Manual says that council members should always use polite and courteous language with each other, city staff and the public, and should not engage in hostile or disorderly behavior.

“If I would have done that, I would have been pulled out of the (council) chamber in chains,” Merkel said in an interview.

The manual also says that while council is in session, council members should not use threatening language or any that is offensive, derisive or insulting. A draft of the Governance Manual said that while council is in session, council members could not use profanity, but that line was removed from the official manual.

It was not the first time Merkel’s chair was in Higgins’ path that night, Higgins said. That final time, Higgins said he took it as an “assault.”

It’s unclear whether there will be any repercussions for Higgins. The Governance Manual does not list penalties for impolite language during meetings.

“I didn’t realize Al was so fragile and his skin was so thin,” Higgins said.

The two have had verbal sparring before, which the council usually ignores. Merkel has claimed in previous meetings that Higgins has hit him after a meeting in City Hall. But Merkel never filed a complaint or police report against Higgins for the “assault” because it would cost the city money, and Merkel said he would be found to be the guilty party.

“It’s a waste of money, and we’d come out of the process and I’d be wrong,” Merkel said.

The Spokesman-Review examined several video clips from City Hall security cameras from that night, April 29, but did not see any evidence of a physical altercation.

Merkel said the only complaint he has filed against Higgins was after he called a “point of order” on Merkel to stop him from making his point. The city found that Merkel was in the wrong.

“This is not anything new for Al,” Higgins said. “Merkel is a perpetual victim … I’ll play his game. Come and get me.”