Delaware city councilman reprimanded for ethics violation

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — A city council member in Delaware’s largest municipality has been publicly reprimanded for threatening to cut the city auditor’s pay if he didn’t conduct a forensic audit requested by the council.

The Wilmington Ethics Commission issued the reprimand Tuesday against Vash Turner following a public hearing two weeks ago that he chose not to attend. Commission members voted unanimously after that hearing to reprimand Turner for violating the city code.

The reprimand follows a complaint filed in November 2019 by city auditor Terence Williams after Turner threatened to reduce his salary to $1 if he did not conduct a forensic audit of the Wilmington Housing Partnership. The financially troubled nonprofit received taxpayer money and defaulted on a $3.4 million city-backed loan.

The city council approved a resolution requesting a forensic audit of WHP, but Williams refused, saying it would be both costly and unnecessary.

Under the city charter, the decision to conduct a special audit is left to the judgment of the auditor or mayor, not city council.

The city charter also says no city employee can be penalized, disciplined or dismissed for performing his or her duties in accordance with the law and city policy.

The ethics commission said there was “incontrovertible evidence” that Turner threatened to reduce Williams’ salary to a dollar, and that he requested that a resolution or ordinance be drafted to implement the salary reduction.

“The threat was ‘for the sake of enforcing obedience’ to council’s improper resolution,” the commission stated. “That dressing down and threat constituted discipline under the city code.”

The commission noted that three other council members also criticized Williams publicly for not agreeing to perform the audit, accusing him of “insubordination” for refusing an “assignment.” Those council members were not charged with ethics violations, although the commission said their statements were “troubling, to put it mildly.”

Turner lost a September Democratic primary for city treasurer after opting not to seek reelection to city council.