New director of neighborhoods department promises transparency

Lourdes Santiago was named director of Toledo's Department of Neighborhoods on Jan. 17. THE BLADE Enlarge | Photo Reprints

Toledo City Council met Thursday morning to discuss the results of an internal investigation into the Department of Neighborhoods, which details widespread mismanagement and allegations of bid-rigging, misuse of funds, and possible criminal wrongdoing within the division.

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Council avoided discussion of the criminal allegations contained in the report, and declined to discuss the names of individuals or organizations implicated, citing the information as sensitive given an ongoing, separate investigation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the FBI.

Instead, councilmen listened to new neighborhoods department director Lourdes Santiago outline procedural reforms instigated as a result of the investigation. Ms. Santiago said new bidding procedures will require that requests for proposals for jobs over $10,000 be posted online and open to all qualified applicants. All bid openings will occur within city offices, under the supervision of management officials, Ms. Santiago said.

The director, who replaced former director Kattie Bond after she was fired last month, pledge to ensure transparency within the department. Training of staff to ensure procedures are adequately followed will also be a priority, she added.

“There was a significant failure in managerial oversight,” Ms. Santiago said of the previous department administration. “The department will be run in such a manner that it will be very transparent and accountable.”

Councilman Adam Martinez, who chairs the neighborhoods committee, said he was pleased with the administration’s response. He said council will continue to monitor the department’s progress during regular committee hearings.

“The administration did what they could with the resources that they had,” he said of the internal investigation. “From an administrative and policy side, I’m satisfied.”

The report included allegations of favoritism, bid-rigging, and poor oversight. The 19-page document painted a picture of a deeply dysfunctional department, but investigators said they couldn’t confirm some of the more serious allegations because of conflicting claims among interviewees and poor record-keeping.

Still, the probe uncovered disturbing problems that included an off-the-books petty-cash fund, alleged document falsification, intimidation of a police officer who was investigating a department employee, an employee running his or her own contracting business, licensed contractors lending their names to unlicensed contractors, and a “probability” that one contractor was given access to another’s sealed bids.

The city investigators — Law Director Adam Loukx and Special Projects Manager Dan Hiskey — emphasized that the focus of the investigation was to fix problems, not make judgments about wrongdoing or criminal prosecution. They’re leaving that to law enforcement authorities, they said.