City worker admits ethics violation but not coverup

Former rehab specialist Toni Thomas is a key figure in allegations of bid rigging and favoritism in the neighborhoods department. THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH Enlarge | Photo Reprints

A city employee at the center of Toledo's neighborhoods department scandal admitted Wednesday she violated a city ethics policy but denied she tried to cover up her actions.

Toni Thomas, a former rehab specialist in the city's Department of Neighborhoods, spoke publicly for the first time since a local contractor accused her in November of steering him to a subcontractor with a long criminal record. The contractor, Craig Gordy of Continental Construction, told The Blade Ms. Thomas steered him to use Leon Jackson, Jr., on a federally funded city roofing project. Ex-offenders are allowed to work on such projects, but Mr. Gordy said Ms. Thomas instructed him not to list Jackson on city paperwork.

Mr. Gordy's accusation appeared in a November article that documented allegations of bid-rigging, favoritism, and poor oversight in the neighborhoods department. Two days after the article was published, Ms. Thomas left a voice mail for the contractor in which she said the department's director, Kattie Bond, told her that Mr. Gordy needed to recant his statements to The Blade.

That message prompted Mayor Mike Bell's office to launch an internal investigation. The FBI and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development are also investigating.

Ms. Thomas' attorney, George Gerken, said Ms. Thomas has spoken with investigators. "We're comfortable she's not a target of anything at this point," Mr. Gerken said.

The city's investigation resulted last week in the firings of two top neighborhoods department officials: Ms. Bond and Housing Commissioner Mike Badik. Ms. Thomas and another employee, Housing Manager Jody Prude, were suspended, demoted, and moved to other departments.

During an interview at her attorney's office Tuesday, Ms. Thomas admitted that she referred Mr. Gordy to Jackson but said she was trying to help the contractor. Mr. Gordy had won a roofing contract but didn't have enough money to carry out the work, so she suggested he team up with Jackson, who could front some of the expenses, she said. The city's ethics policy required her to refer contractors to at least three subcontractors, she said.

"That was the mistake I made right there," she said. "I could not tell [Mr. Gordy] three roofers who had the financial ability to do that."

But Ms. Thomas denied Mr. Gordy's allegation that she told him not to list Jackson as a subcontractor: "I never said that."

Instead, she provided Mr. Gordy with a subcontractor report filled out by another contractor who used Jackson and listed him on the document, she said.

Mr. Gordy said Wednesday he stood by his original statements to The Blade. He said the only time he discussed his financial situation with Ms. Thomas was during a phone call about unrelated projects.

"There was no benefit for me or my company to omit Mr. Jackson's name or any other name for that matter." The Blade reached Jackson Wednesday, but he refused to speak with a reporter.

Ms. Thomas said the voice mail was taken out of context. The day before she left it, she said Mr. Gordy called her and exchanged several text messages with her. She provided phone records and copies of text messages to corroborate that claim. Mr. Gordy told her The Blade had "twisted" his words and said he would call the newspaper, she said.

"The phone messages were taken out of context and didn't reflect the previous communications they had," Mr. Gerken said.

Mr. Gordy said he spoke with Ms. Thomas but never said he would recant. He did tell her that The Blade published only some of his statements and that he would try to provide her a fuller version of his conversation with the reporter, he said.

Ms. Thomas said Mr. Gordy may have been upset with her prior to The Blade article because she took him to task in April over a minority report he filed for an unrelated city project. Contractors must list their race and that of subcontractors to help the city track progress toward its goal of 21.3 percent minority participation.

On two occasions, Mr. Gordy listed minority subcontractors he didn't actually use, Ms. Thomas said.

Mr. Gordy said he planned for minority subcontractors to partner with his usual subcontractors but noted that never happened. When Ms. Thomas made an issue of his minority participation, Mr. Gordy said he went to Mr. Badik.

"The 21.3 percent was a developer goal, not a contractor goal," Mr. Gordy said. "[He] agreed, told me he would take care of it, and I was paid."

United North, a nonprofit neighborhood development organization, acted as developer for one of the projects. The group's executive director, Terry Glazer, said it's not uncommon for a contractor to list one subcontractor prior to the project, then end up using a different one.

Mr. Gordy said the minority issues had nothing to do with his later statements to The Blade.

Ms. Thomas will work as a painter in the city's fleet and facility division starting next week. She'll make $44,000 a year now, about an $8,000-a-year pay cut.

"My family is devastated," Ms. Thomas said. "I'm a single mom. I struggle to pay tuition for my daughter at Central [Catholic]. I'm raising my great niece and nephew. I have a daughter getting ready to graduate from college. I work hard."

Her attorney also addressed recent criticism from former mayors Jack Ford and Carty Finkbeiner, who attacked Mayor Bell for firing Ms. Bond and Mr. Badik, saying they are less culpable than the employees who were demoted.

"If Carty Finkbeiner and Jack Ford are naive enough to think that two longtime senior employees were fired because Toni Thomas referred a contractor to a roofer, then they're not in touch with reality," Mr. Gerken said.

The city would not comment on Ms. Thomas' claim she was demoted solely for referring Mr. Gordy to Jackson, citing the investigation.

Contact Tony Cook at: tcook@theblade.com or 419-724-6065.