Several high ranking St. Louis officials, including Mayor Tishaura Jones, will not have to testify before a civil service commission hearing to decide whether Personnel Director Sonya Jenkins-Gray should be fired.
The commission on Tuesday rejected a motion to subpoena the officials.
Lawyers for Jenkins-Gray wanted Comptroller Darlene Green, City Counselor Sheena Hamilton and Lambert airport Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge to testify. They had previously asked for Mayor Tishaura Jones to be subpoenaed as well but the commission denied that previously and upheld that decision Tuesday.
Jenkins-Gray’s team argued the witnesses are essential to prove its allegations that Jones has targeted the personnel director for political reasons, including her objection to a Jones endorsed charter change that would give the mayor more control over the personnel department.
“The system was designed to be a buffer, more than a buffer to be a shield against what we're alleging,” said Jenkins-Gray’s lawyer Ronald Norwood. “The evidence is the evidence, and we already got evidence in the record about political interference, about efforts to subvert civil service, cronyism, patronage, the very things that are antithetical to independence.”
Lawyers representing the city argued Jones shouldn’t testify since issues pertaining to the hearing were handled by her chief of staff Jared Boyd and deputy chief of staff Sara Baker and that testifying would take her away from conducting critical city business.
“Burdening a city government or an organization by hailing its high level executives into court to testify on these issues is unnecessary and improper,” said Reggie Harris, a lawyer representing the city, said. “Particularly where there are subordinates in their charge who could come and testify instead.
Harris said the issue at hand is only over Jenkins-Gray's use of a city vehicle for personal business and malfeasance.
The hearing surrounds a July 2024 incident in which Jenkins-Gray took a city vehicle to Jefferson City with another department worker to get personal documents. She paid the city back the $170 cost of the trip and said she didn’t know she was breaking city policy.
The unprecedented hearing began almost a month ago. Jones appointed Jenkins-Gray in 2022 but can’t fire her without authorization of the commission, according to the city charter. The city has never fired a personnel director in the department’s history.
“We’re here because the highest ranking human resources official in St. Louis did what she did,” Harris said. “Putting a subordinate in a precarious position.”
Although they denied the subpoenas, the commission did rule that political interference could be argued during the hearing. Jenkins-Gray also maintains Jones wants to fire her because she wouldn’t do what the mayor wanted in some hiring situations.
Jenkins-Gray’s first witness Tuesday was deputy director of personnel Sylvia Donaldson.
Donaldson said she was not aware of people being disciplined for violating the vehicle use policy.
The hearing will continue next week. Hearing officer retired Judge Edward Sweeny asked both parties to brief what they believe the city charter says about malfeasance and political interference.
