Merkel, public safety funding at center of Spokane Valley race between Padden and Hohn

In her bid for re-election this fall, Spokane Valley City Councilwoman Laura Padden is fending off allegations from Brad Hohn, a political newcomer, about how the city has spent funds meant for public safety.

Meanwhile, she points to Hohn’s ties to Councilman Al Merkel, who has faced repeated accusations of harassment and misbehavior, from other members of the Spokane Valley City Council and some city workers.

Hohn is challenging Padden’s re-election bid on the council this November. In In the primary election for the seat, Padden won nearly 53%. Hohn advanced with a second-place showing of nearly 34% .

Hohn claimed that Padden had previously voted to defund police and raise taxes for residents in the Valley. When asked to elaborate, Hohn said he was referring to the council voting to pull $350,000 from the public safety fund to cover legal costs associated with Merkel on May 27. The council – apart from Merkel – voted to transfer funding away from vehicle replacements and an unfilled civilian analyst position for the Spokane Valley Police Department to pay for legal costs.

According to Padden, the analyst position had not been filled for months and was not needed. The money would have been reallocated into the city general fund if the council didn’t chose to use the funds to pay for legal fees, Padden said.

Two independent investigations into Merkel were launched in 2024 after city employees and council members filed complaints about Merkel’s behavior. One investigation found that Merkel repeatedly disrespected city staff. The other investigation found that Merkel’s use of the social media platform Nextdoor was likely in violation of the state’s public records law and city code – which is the root of the lawsuit the city launched against Merkel in February 2025.

Like Merkel has previously suggested, Hohn says that the council’s legal expenses could be funded by the city’s capital reserve fund instead of being pulled from public safety.

“She’ll say one thing and then vote another way,” Hohn said.

Padden said she has never voted to defund city police and said she is opposed to raising taxes for residents. She says Hohn is one of Merkel’s recruits.

“His talking points are Al’s talking points,” Padden said. “He wants the Valley to stay the same and while there’s a lot about the Valley I want to stay the same, I also recognize that it’s growing and we can’t stop growth – we have to deal with it and manage it in a way the preserves the culture of the city.”

Hohn is a part of the Coalition for Common Sense, a group composed of Councilman Al Merkel and City Council candidates Daryl Williams and Catherine Nelson. The coalition, organized in July, says it stands for public safety, keeping taxes low and being fiscally responsible in the Valley.

Hohn said his bid for office stemmed from concerns over council spending he witnessed in meetings.

“Their spending is not accountable,” he said. “They spend money on road projects and things that are unnecessary.”

Getting affordable housing and keeping taxes down are Hohn’s biggest priorities for the Valley. But Hohn said he’d likely only support single-family housing developments in the Valley.

“When someone is paying $300,000 to $500,000 for their house and there’s an apartment building next to their home, it devalues the home and makes it a lot less desirable,” he said.

That may not always be the case, however. A Harvard study found that multifamily homes like apartments tend to have higher property values than neighborhoods without them.

Hohn said there’s no reason to increase property taxes for residents, adding that roads will be a priority for him but the city needs to scale back on road projects.

“The city has taken on a huge chunk of money on fixing our roads, when some of that should be put towards the developers of big housing projects,” Hohn said.

Like Padden, Hohn said he wants more folks in the city to own their home rather than rent.

Padden has two bachelor’s degrees – one in computer science and one in police science and administration. She works in Spokane Community College’s IT department. Hohn graduated from high school in 1979 and did not attend college. His most recent work has been managing a salvage yard.

Padden, who has lived in Spokane Valley all her life, was elected to the council in 2021. She’s married to former state Sen. Mike Padden. She said she’s running again because she wants to see Spokane Valley develop more businesses and homes to make the city flourish.

“Despite some of the challenges we’ve had, there’s a lot of momentum positively going forward with the city,” Padden said.

Public safety, roads and housing will be Padden’s biggest priorities if she wins the election, she said. She said prioritizing public safety and roads will be easier after residents voted to pass a 0.1% sales tax increase in the August election.

Raising property taxes is not fair to people who are on fixed incomes, Padden said.

“I don’t think that’s right to tax them out of their home,” she said.

The Spokane Valley City Council has gone 16 years without raising property taxes by the 1% increase the council can make without a vote of the people.

Right now, she said there aren’t many affordable ways for people to purchase a home, so Padden wants to find ways to get townhomes or condos in the city.

“One thing I want to focus on in my second term is trying to figure out ways we can incentivize developers to be able to build entry-level homes, or workforce housing, so that people can start to build equity in their homes and have stability in their financial situation,” Padden said.