Monica Niemeyer Wrong Again: Public Records Show Soccer Master Plan Was Discussed at Length in Multiple Forums.
Records show the project was repeatedly presented to city leaders—and provide no evidence Mayor Vicky Frausto recruited Damien Davis or engaged in any collusion.
SUNNYSIDE, WA. — Monica Niemeyer is wrong again.
This time, the Sunnyside political agitator is not only recycling the false claim that former City Manager Mike Gonzalez concealed a $35,000 Soccer Master Plan contract. She is also attempting to pull Mayor Vicky Frausto into the conversation by suggesting some improper relationship or collusion existed between Frausto and consultant Damien Davis.
There is just one problem.
The public records provide no evidence of it.
La Voz reviewed the original consulting agreement, its detailed addendum, the subsequent settlement, City Manager reports and publicly available videos of city meetings. None of the records reviewed show that Frausto recruited Davis, selected his company, negotiated the agreement, directed Gonzalez to sign it or received any personal benefit from the project.
The original agreement identifies the parties as the City of Sunnyside and Davis Consulting 509 Prime LLC. Its signature lines identify Gonzalez as city manager and Davis as the consultant’s principal. Frausto is not identified as the recruiter, contracting official or beneficiary anywhere in the agreement.
Davis was also not some mysterious outsider brought into Sunnyside through a backroom arrangement. His company was based in Richland, and his proposal described experience in business development, community engagement and sports infrastructure planning.
Frausto and Davis have crossed paths at public-outreach and community events. But two people appearing at some of the same public events is not corruption. It is not collusion. And it is certainly not evidence that Frausto secretly arranged a city contract.
That is guilt by association masquerading as investigation.
Niemeyer has offered no contract, email, payment record, message or official document showing Frausto recruited Davis or improperly influenced the agreement.
Without evidence, the accusation is merely another political insinuation.
Public videos demolish the “nobody knew” claim
Damien Davis talks about plan at 4/28/25 meeting
Niemeyer’s latest Facebook claim is that the Davis agreement should never have been approved because councilmembers supposedly did not know it existed.
That assertion falls apart under even the most basic review of the public record.
The Soccer Master Plan was presented during two separate Sunnyside Parks and Recreation Board meetings. Davis personally discussed the plan, its community-engagement process and the city’s long-term recreational needs.
Ripley, then a sitting city councilmember and Parks Board member, was present during those discussions. In one publicly available video, Ripley appeared engaged and all smiles while Davis explained the project via a Zoom meeting. Ripley is seen waving to Davis as began his presentation. Ripley was clearly in the know, and insiders tell La Voz she was a big supporter of the plan from the inception.
Former Council member Vicky Ripley waives to Damien Davis
Davis later appeared before the full Sunnyside City Council on April 28, 2025, where he discussed both the Soccer Master Plan and the potential for a broader strategic-planning process connecting recreation, economic development, tourism, education and youth opportunities.
Davis has also stated that he met individually with Councilman Jorge Galvan for approximately two hours to review the plan. According to Davis, the discussion covered the project’s price, purpose and scope, and they were aligned on what the project was intended to accomplish.
This was not a contract negotiated in darkness.
It was discussed before a public board, presented before the full council and reviewed individually with an elected official.
Gonzalez: ‘The plan was discussed extensively’
La Voz reached out to Gonzalez for comment. He said he did not want to speak at length about the controversy but called the concealment accusation completely false.
“The plan was discussed extensively with the council,” Gonzalez said. “I presented information in multiple City Manager reports, Parks Board meetings and full City Council meetings.”
Gonzalez said those formal presentations were only part of his communication with elected officials.
“I met individually with councilmembers twice a month and met with the mayor every Friday,” Gonzalez said. “The money came from restricted funds called REET—Real Estate Excise Tax. Those dollars were intended for planning and capital-related purposes, and we had approximately $500,000 sitting in that fund that was not being used.”
Gonzalez said he consulted with the city attorney and economic development director and communicated with the council before signing the agreement.
“I had $50,000 in spending authority, and I made sure everyone was on board,” Gonzalez said. “Had we completed the project, Sunnyside could have had something special. But we all know what happened. It is just a tragedy.”
Sources allege the project was killed because it belonged to Gonzalez
Sources familiar with the project allege that the former interim city manager, Bridges, stopped the plan after Gonzalez was placed on leave and eventually stopped responding to Davis.
Those sources believe the project’s association with Gonzalez—not its underlying value—played a major role in the decision to abandon it.
That claimed motive is not established in the written agreements reviewed by La Voz and should be treated as an allegation. What is documented, however, is that the city’s original contract imposed specific requirements for changing or terminating the relationship.
The agreement said changes or termination had to be addressed in writing. It allowed termination with 30 days’ written notice and provided a 10-business-day opportunity to correct an alleged breach.
The written report leaves no room for revisionist history
Gonzalez’s April 6, 2025 City Manager’s Report contained an item titled “Soccer Master Plan Consultant Chosen.”
That report told councilmembers:
- Davis Consulting had been selected.
- The project would cost $35,000.
- Restricted REET 1 money would fund the work.
- The estimated project period was six to nine months.
- The consulting agreement was attached.
The addendum outlined a broad eight-phase project involving stakeholder outreach, site analysis, market-demand research, financial planning, grant opportunities, sustainability recommendations, a final report and potential ballot-measure language.
Those facts were not hidden.
They were written down, attached to a council report and later discussed in public.
Councilmembers cannot ignore reports, sit through public presentations and later allow political supporters to claim nobody knew.
And Niemeyer cannot manufacture collusion between Frausto and Davis simply because they have appeared at some of the same community events.
There is no evidence Frausto recruited Davis. There is no evidence of corruption. There is no evidence of collusion.
There is only another accusation from Monica Niemeyer—and another public record showing she got it wrong.
