Allegations of sexism, racism and favoritism, ex-Office of Dog City Code Enforcement official

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Todd Heywood

Last summer, Scott Sanford told his team at the Lansing Code Enforcement Office that they should “always, always” write citations to a woman if she is listed as an owner.

“I guarantee you’ll get a reaction and it will be taken care of,” Sanford, the office manager, revealed to his staff. “Oh yeah. I used to…if there were two names on it, I always wrote the note to the lady.

Sanford said on Monday the audio was ‘edited’ from a ‘five-minute chat’ given to new code enforcement officers about ‘what not to do’ when drafting tickets. However, the audio does not appear to have any modifications or changes in background noise, as claimed by Sanford.

“I wasn’t talking about writing tickets to women,” he said. “I was talking about ticket writing in general when I was reviewing the ticket writing policy.”

City spokesman Scott Bean called the statement “dumb advice,” in a written response to questions. He said there was no evidence of complaints about reporting from staff or citizens.

In response to a request for public records, City Council President Carol Wood released two audio clips from a meeting held last summer.

The other recording was of Sanford referring to then-candidate and now Council member Ryan Kost as a “new idiot” and “an asshole”. The recording also included an employee under Sanford’s supervision saying to “just punch him in the face”, also referring to Kost.

As a candidate for the First Ward seat on the Council, Kost pointed to safety issues in rental housing. After winning and serving on the Board on Jan. 1, he stepped up, pointing the finger at Sanford, among others, for failing to do his job.

Neither audio clip was used in a subsequent investigation sparked when Council members Adam Hussain and Wood, serving as president and vice president last October, filed a complaint with the city attorney’s office. .

On February 9, Sanford received a written board reprimand. He was informed that he had violated the “Workplace Violence Policy” and the “Sexual Harassment/Non-Discrimination Policy”.

The newly released audio is just the latest revelation from the embattled code compliance office in Lansing. City Council held a special Committee of the Whole meeting on April 3 that lasted four hours.

An investigation report was generated but not released by the city. Sanford said the report would clear him.

“It would have cleared up 99%,” he said of the report.

He said Wood “won’t do it because it goes against their narrative. Because all my staff said that was all bullshit.

He said that during his tenure with the city, no complaints were filed against him by staff, and no staff member raised concerns about his management directly with him. He claims that a disgruntled employee – angry that a romantic partner didn’t get the job of manager – sparks controversy about him.

Citing “politics,” Sanford retired on March 17, after 23 years with the city. His resignation came with just three days’ notice, leaving the city’s main housing department off guard and struggling to wrap its arms around hundreds of red-labeled homes, recalcitrant landlords with unsafe housing and badly-mannered employees. trained and with limited computer access. systems to keep track of their work. He had spent much of that time in leadership positions, including as senior housing inspector and code enforcement officer.

Sanford said Wood forbade him to “do my job.” She barred him from attending committee meetings or communicating directly with city council members about his failure to report the threat to punch Kost in the face. She said Sanford could have provided written reports, which would have met the reporting requirements in her job description.

While Sanford said there had been no prior concerns, At-Large board member Patricia Spitzley said the board had heard anecdotal concerns about Sanford for years.

A city official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to discuss personnel issues, said Code Compliance Office employees raised concerns about Sanford at the start of the pandemic. City Pulse has learned that these concerns include allegations of racism, sexism, favoritism and disparagement, explosive outbursts directed at staff.

Those who raised concerns were encouraged to file formal complaints on several occasions, the source said, but no complaint was filed.

Sanford’s employee file reveals only one formal issue, when he was tipped off in May 2017 for telling former First Ward Councilman Jody Washington that code officials were not following Council guidelines.

Other department employees raised concerns about Sanford’s financial relationship with Amy Castillo, a code enforcement officer who reported to him. Sanford bought a house in Castillo in 2013. She remains listed as the owner, with Sanford and his wife also listed.

City officials were stunned to learn of the deal.

Sanford said he did not file an ethics disclosure, but Castillo did in 2013.

But its ethics disclosure form makes no reference to the purchase. City clerk Chris Swope said the city has no record of a disclosure regarding Sanford’s purchase of Castillo’s property.

“I don’t keep those records,” Sanford said when asked why there were no records confirming his claims.

Swope said the failure to disclose the financial relationship did not trigger the city’s ethics ordinance.

“It might not be against the law, but it’s not pretty,” Spitzley said. The purchase, she said, could impact employee morale.

Bean, the city spokesman, said the Schor administration was unaware of the situation.

Bean said, “It certainly could raise some red flags and the department chair, as well as a report to the city ethics committee, should have been filed at that time.”

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