The city has placed the employee at the center of the controversy, rehab specialist Toni Thomas, on administrative leave pending further investigation, spokesman Jen Sorgenfrei said.
The recordings followed publication of a story that detailed allegations of bid rigging, favoritism, and poor oversight in the city's department of neighborhoods, which awards millions of dollars each year in federal housing and development funds.
Craig Gordy of Continental Construction told The Blade that Ms. Thomas steered him to use Leon Jackson, Jr., as a subcontractor on a project in the city's federally funded roofing program. Mr. Gordy said Ms. Thomas told him to hire Jackson, who has a lengthy criminal history, and instructed him not to list Jackson on city paperwork.
Councilman D. Michael Collins, who questioned the administration about alleged pressure tactics against contractors during a council hearing Wednesday, said he provided two voice-mail recordings to the city's law department Thursday.
The first recording is from Nov. 23 -- the day after The Blade's story appeared. In it, Ms. Thomas tells Mr. Gordy that he needs to retract his statement to The Blade or go to a competing media outlet. She also says in the message that Kattie Bond, director of the neighborhoods department, told her to tell Mr. Gordy he needs to recant his statements.
Here's a transcript of the message: "Craig, it's Toni. Kattie just called me and she says that they are really hanging their hat on the statement that you made. So, I told her you had called Tony Cook from The Blade and I don't know if you got a response, but she said that you need to recant your statement or she suggested you call 13 ABC News and recant it because they are holding their hat on that statement that was made. If you could, call me back as soon as you get this message. Thanks, bye." [LISTEN]
That message raised questions about whether the department was making a concerted effort to cover up allegations of wrongdoing. Approached by The Blade Thursday outside the mayor's office at One Government Center, Ms. Bond refused to comment on whether she instructed Ms. Thomas to call Mr. Gordy and ask him to recant his statements. Ms. Thomas, who called off work Thursday, did not return calls seeking comment.
Two days after the first message, Ms. Thomas left another message on Nov. 25. This time, she accused Mr. Gordy of slander and said she was speaking with an attorney.
"Hi Craig, this is Toni," she said. "I just wanted to let you know I am meeting with an attorney Tuesday. I have spoken with him today and this really has reflected terribly on me and my family and something needs to be put in writing saying this isn't true. So I'm just letting you know that I am meeting with an attorney because I've been done unjustly and this is slander. So, just thought I'd let you know. And hopefully you can get that recanted like you said and it won't be necessary. But in the meantime, I have to look out for my family and myself, so, talk to you later." [LISTEN]
Mr. Gordy declined to comment, but Councilman Collins said he asked the contractor if he had, in fact, told Ms. Thomas that he planned to recant. "He has unequivocally denied any discussions with Ms. Thomas relevant to recanting his statements," Mr. Collins said.
Last week, Mr. Gordy told The Blade in detail of his conversations with Ms. Thomas. He said Ms. Thomas told him to use Jackson as a subcontractor and also instructed him not to list Jackson or his company, Big Boy Construction, on a required subcontractor list.
"The arrangements were dictated to me across the desk up on the 18th floor," Mr. Gordy said, referring to the offices of the city's Department of Neighborhoods at One Government Center.
Mr. Gordy's firm went on to receive 13 roofing contracts. Mr. Gordy said he listed the names of men who worked for Jackson, but not Jackson, to whom he wrote the checks.
City records show that Jackson, who has a history of drug trafficking and no contractor's license, received more than 40 percent of $175,000 spent on a recent housing rehab project on Woodland Avenue. Jackson has not returned calls seeking comment on the issue.
Mr. Gordy's attorney, Frank Collins, and city Law Director Adam Loukx met Thursday to discuss the recordings. Ms. Thomas was served with paperwork placing her on administrative leave after that meeting.
Councilman Collins, who obtained the recordings from the contractor, said the messages reinforce his call for an outside investigation.
"The original voice-mail message purports to be a directive by a subordinate from the director, Kattie Bond, to convey to the contractor he must recant his statement to The Blade or go to the ABC Channel 13," he said. "In light of the fact that a member of the Bell administration has been named, it fortifies for me my position that a complete investigation should be conducted with an outside professional law enforcement agency."
Ms. Sorgenfrei, Mayor Mike Bell's spokesman, said the administration can only investigate matters that are brought to its attention.
"Unfortunately, we have not received the info directly to act on it," she said. "It's been passed to us secondhand. We can only investigate the problems we know about. Now that we have it, we are investigating."
During a Wednesday council hearing on the issues, Mr. Bell said his administration would make several changes to the neighborhood department's bidding process to improve the "perception of fairness," but administration officials emphasized that the changes don't necessarily mean wrongdoing has occurred. The mayor also said the administration would conduct a 45-day review of the department and report back to council.
Councilman Adam Martinez, who is chairman of council's neighborhoods committee, said he was shocked by the recordings.
"At this point, I'm trying to be objective," he said. "I want to make sure the administration has the 45 days requested to do an investigation."
Councilman Joe McNamara said the voice-mail messages punctuate his call for an investigation.
"I think the bottom line is, there needs to be an investigation, not a review of the department of neighborhoods," he said. "It sounds like the law director is working on that, so I will wait to hear what the results of their investigation are ... I'm confident they are going to investigate the truth of the entire statement."
Contact Tony Cook at: acook@theblade.com or 419-724-9848.