City Council President and mayoral frontrunner Mary Sheffield sought opinions from the city’s ethics board before voting on contracts that involved a demolition contractor with whom she had a personal relationship, BridgeDetroit has learned.
The ethics board, charged with interpreting the rules laid out in the city charter and in council legislation, said she had no conflict of interest in the matter. Conrad Mallett, corporation counsel for the city, said an executive order that prohibits employees from having relationships with people involved with contracts they oversee did not apply to council members.
Sheffield’s relationship with Brian McKinney, the CEO of demolition company Gayanga, has become a late-campaign issue, after a news organization and members of a civic group raised questions about her council votes on the company’s work with the city. It will continue to be an issue, even if Sheffield wins the mayor’s race in Tuesday’s election, because another vote involving Gayanga will come up in November, before she moves to the mayor’s office in January.
Sheffield’s chief of staff, Brian White, did not answer questions about the nature or duration of her relationship with McKinney, but he did address ethical and legal concerns raised about her voting record.
“This dates back to over six years ago, when Council President Sheffield was already voting to deny all demolition contracts, including those involving Gayanga, due to concerns about the demolition program at that time,” White said in a text message. “Out of an abundance of caution, she sought ethics guidance, which indicated the situation did not meet the standard for disclosure or recusal.”
“Additionally, she was advised that as a Council Member she was obligated to vote,” he said. “Upon that advice, she continued to perform her duties and voted to deny all demolition contracts, consistent with her opposition to the demolition program at that time.”
The potential for controversy surrounding government officials and their personal relationships is quite high in Detroit, a city that has seen several council members and a popular former mayor all net federal prison time behind scandals that involved conflicts of interest.
Members of The Detroit Economic Club, which held a mayoral forum on Oct. 30, flagged a Michigan Enjoyer report on Sheffield’s relationship with McKinney. He is a top donor to Sheffield’s mayoral campaign and a former boyfriend. His company won millions of dollars in demolition contracts before he was temporarily disbarred last month for allegedly filling demolition sites with contaminated dirt from a Northland Mall redevelopment in Southfield.
But Sheffield disclosed a relationship with a vendor before casting votes on Gayanga contracts, and asked the ethics board to help her decide whether she had a conflict of interest.
Sheffield sought the opinion of the ethics board in 2019. According to a redacted summary of an advisory opinion, the board recommended Sheffield exercise caution so her actions on behalf of the city “remain independent” and advised her to “refrain from sharing any confidential information with any outside entity.”
The advisory opinion from the Board of Ethics addresses requirements to disclose a personal relationship with a vendor who has matters before the City Council. Disclosure isn’t required unless the relationship meets the definition of a “domestic partnership,” which applies to adults who have a common residence, share living expenses and are in a committed relationship.
The City Charter requires council members to vote on agenda items unless there’s a conflict of interest, which must be disclosed. White said Sheffield was “obligated” to vote on Gayanga contracts because, under the guidance of the ethics board, there was not a conflict of interest.
A statement from Mallett addressed a 2012 executive order from then-mayor Dave Bing that prohibits relationships between contractors and city employees, including elected officials. It specifically bans employees who exercise “significant authority over a contract” from having a personal relationship with the contractor. However, Mallett said, orders issued by mayors do not apply to co-equal branches of government like city council.
The 2012 order was issued by Bing to strengthen the city’s rules governing workplace relationships following scandals that forced out two police chiefs.
“City Council, following state law and City of Detroit ordinances, is responsible for regulating member conduct,” Mallett said.
Sheffield has a sizable lead in the polls and a dramatic fundraising advantage over her Nov. 4 election opponent Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr, senior pastor at Triumph Church. Kinloch’s campaign launched digital ads Friday accusing Sheffield of corruption. Sheffield’s mayoral campaign declined to comment when asked to provide clarity on the alleged relationship.
Campaign finance records show McKinney gave Sheffield’s mayoral campaign $9,325 and contributed $5,000 to Detroit Next, a political committee supporting Sheffield and other candidates (unrelated to BridgeDetroit’s Detroit Next election podcast).
Sheffield’s voting record is mixed on Gayanga’s contracts, as well as on the issue of demolition more broadly.
When Gayanga’s contracts first came up at council, Sheffield was opposing many demolition contracts due to concerns about transparency, oversight and environmental issues with the city’s blight removal program. Sheffield notably voted against a $250 million demolition bond proposal in 2019 and rejected a reworked version of the proposal in 2020 that voters later authorized.
City Council records show Sheffield voted against awarding multiple contracts to Gayanga in 2019 but also voted that same year, and in subsequent years, to authorize other Gayanga contracts of varying value.
Gayanga has performed 248 demolitions in the last year, according to the city. But the Office of the Inspector General suspended Gayanga and McKinney last month after receiving a complaint about the potential use of unapproved dirt in residential areas. The Detroit Construction and Demolition Department tested the dirt used by Gayanga to backfill various sites and found 80% of properties failed to meet the state’s residential standards.
Gayanga and McKinney were prohibited from conducting business with the city, pending the conclusion of the OIG’s investigation.
Gayanga requested an appeal in an Oct. 9 letter that argued that the company complied with all of its obligations with the city and only obtained backfill from city-approved sources.
Shaun Wilson, a managing partner at strategic marketing firm Cadence, is representing Gayanga in the appeal. Wilson said McKinney will not be speaking publicly about his connection to Sheffield.
Wilson said the City Council scheduled a Nov. 18 appeal hearing. The council could overturn the suspension with a two-thirds majority.
She is not an honest person and will only steal just like kilpatick! If Detroit votes her in that says all you need to know about the voters there!!!
The reason I stopped my sustaining contribution to PBS 101.9 WDET was because of Stephen Henderson’s “Creative Equal” Discrimination and bigotry at its finest.