A city councilor in Kalama, Washington, is facing criminal charges for reportedly breaking into a fellow councilor’s email account while seeking to uncover what he believed to be misconduct by his colleagues.
Matthew Merz, 41, believed he unearthed emails showing a conspiracy between fellow City Council members and the police chief. Court documents say Merz “figured out” a fellow councilor’s email password, gained access and then reported several emails to a Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office deputy.
In January, Merz signed a sworn statement about his actions, according to court documents, before he himself became the subject of a criminal investigation.
Two months later, Merz landed in jail. According to the sheriff’s office, deputies arrested him on suspicion of multiple counts of computer trespass, electronic data theft and spoofing. Computer trespass is a felony.
Merz has not yet officially been charged with a crime. His arraignment is set for March 17.
It’s not yet clear what Merz believed he discovered. According to court documents, Merz found emails under a “police committee” folder that he believed showed councilors “improperly conducting official business.”
Public officials’ emails, with some exceptions, are a matter of public record and accessible to anyone through Washington’s Public Records Act. OPB has requested copies of the emails in question.
Whatever Merz showed to the deputy did not prove any criminal wrongdoing by his peers, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
“While making this report, Merz implicated himself in unlawfully accessing the account of another city council member,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Merz also told investigators that his colleagues had “intentionally withheld” information related to a cyberstalking case in which Merz was the victim. The suspect pleaded down to a civil infraction.
Shortly after that January meeting, Cowlitz County Det. Troy Lee met with Kalama city councilor Jonathan Stanfill, the councilor whose email account Merz allegedly accessed.
“Stanfill was visibly upset and felt this was a serious breach of privacy and trust,” a probable cause affidavit reads. Stanfill never gave Merz permission to access his account. He also produced “recent activity” logs that showed another IP address — later traced to Merz — had been viewing his emails.
Detectives interviewed Merz on March 8, the documents show. Merz laid out his accusations of wrongdoing and named Stanfill, Kalama Mayor Mike Reuter and Kalama Police Department Chief Ralph Herrera. Merz admitted to accessing Stanfill’s emails in January, the documents said.
Reuter declined to comment for this article. Stanfill could not be reached by press time. Herrera called Merz’s allegations “baseless and demonstrably false,” though he would not elaborate on what those allegations could be.
The city of Kalama’s legal counsel said in a statement that top city staff, such as City Administrator Adam Smee, won’t comment on an ongoing investigation.
Merz also could not be reached for comment.
For Kalama residents, the incident could spark a shakeup at city hall. Under Washington law, a felony conviction is a cause to vacate any elected office.
The City Council meets next on March 17, the date of Merz’s arraignment.