St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones has fired Sonya Jenkins-Gray as the city's personnel director after an unprecedented, monthslong hearing.
The decision follows a 42-page recommendation to dismiss Jenkins-Gray by the Civil Service Commission last week.
A spokesperson for Jones said the mayor’s office would soon announce a provisional personal director.
The move marks a first for the city. A personnel director has never been fired its history, and doing so required a Civil Service Commission hearing and recommendation before the mayor could carry the firing out.
The decision to fire Jenkins-Gray stems from a July 2024 incident where she traveled to Jefferson City in a city vehicle with a subordinate, Anthony Byrd. Jenkins-Gray said she went to retrieve personal documents from her husband’s car but didn’t disclose the details of the documents.
She said she didn’t know she was breaking the city’s vehicle policy and later apologized and reimbursed the city $170 for the cost of the trip.
City officials have since paid $114,000 to the Stinson law firm to represent them in the hearing, according to documents obtained by St. Louis Public Radio.
Lawyers for the city argued that Jenkins-Gray was trying to catch her husband, the Rev. Darryl Gray, having an affair. The Grays denied these allegations under oath, and the mayor’s chief of staff later said he inferred that theory following an investigation with other city workers. Darryl Gray said he was meeting with his ex-wife to sign legal papers pertaining to their child. Lawyers for the city also played audio secretly recorded by Jenkins-Gray and Byrd in which she's heard questioning if she did anything wrong and if she could depend on him.
The hearing included testimony from former Personnel Director Richard Franks and Deputy Director of Personnel Sylvia Donaldson. Several city leaders said they weren’t aware of anyone ever being fired for breaking the city’s vehicle policy. But the commission said the recommendation was also informed by Jenkins-Gray breaking the employee code of conduct.
Jenkins-Gray argued she was being targeted for political reasons, including her objection to a Jones-proposed charter change to bring the civil service department under more mayoral control. She also argued she was being targeted over political differences between Darryl Gray and Jones, including his backing of now-U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell over former Rep. Cori Bush, a Jones ally. Darryl Gray is also chair of the detention facilities oversight board that has criticized the city for a lack of transparency over jail access.
