A hearing to determine whether the St. Louis Civil Service Commission will fire Personnel Director Sonya Jenkins-Gray continued Wednesday with a lawyer representing the city alleging Jenkins-Gray used a city vehicle to find out if her husband was having an affair.
Jenkins-Gray vehemently denied the allegation.
“Let me be very clear about this, and I have stated this before, the reason that I went to Jefferson City had nothing to do with trying to catch my husband cheating,” Jenkins-Gray said.
Her lawyer, Ron Norwood, described the questioning as a character assassination that’s part of an effort by Mayor Tishaura Jones to remove her from office for political reasons.
She and her lawyers have always maintained Jenkins-Gray traveled to Jefferson City to retrieve personal documents from the car of her husband, the Rev. Darryl Gray. She said that her husband and his ex-wife, who lives in Kansas City, met in Jefferson City to sign legal papers concerning their son.
Darryl Gray, a prominent justice advocate and chair of the city's jail oversight board who has been at odds with the mayor, attended the hearing. Afterward, he accused the mayor’s office of retaliating against him and his family.
“It's shameful that the mayor's representatives would use rumors and gossip as a smokescreen for political retaliation and retribution,” Gray said. “Like most families, ours have experienced our share of family issues. But to be clear, it's amazing that the city would put so much government resources in hiring lawyers to adjudicate a $170 repayment and using a city car when there's no record of any other city employee being disciplined, let alone terminated for the same infraction.”
The hearing stems from a July incident in which Jenkins-Gray said she traveled to Jefferson City for personal matters and used a city vehicle. Anthony Byrd, a city personnel worker, drove her.
The city’s lawyers spent part of Wednesday’s hearing probing Jenkins-Gray on the reason behind the trip, an issue commissioners and the hearing officer, retired Judge Edward Sweeny, had objected to being discussed last week, arguing the details of the documents and travels were irrelevant.
Reggie Harris, who represents the city in this case, argued the details were relevant.
“It's relevant, once again, to her actions that day, which relate to the allegations of malfeasance and why she was in Jefferson City,” Harris said.
The commissioners allowed the questioning to resume after clearing the public hearing to discuss if those details should be allowed.
Jenkins-Gray has argued that she’s being targeted for political reasons by Jones and that the city is using the vehicle issue to oust her.
Jenkins-Gray has said she didn’t realize she was breaking city policy and reimbursed the city $170 for the travel expenses.
Jones appointed her in 2022, but the city charter doesn’t give her the authority to fire the personnel director.
Jenkins-Gray has argued their relationship has been strained because of her husband’s political differences with Jones, Jenkins-Gray’s ongoing lawsuit against the city over trying to fire her and because she wouldn’t let the mayor’s office influence her decisions.
The hearing is scheduled to enter its third day on Thursday.
