FLINT, Mich. –
Flint’s Chief Legal Officer and an Independent Investigator held a press conference Monday morning to address the findings of an independent investigation into the allegations made by Natasha Henderson, a former employee, against Mayor Karen Weaver.
The allegations of unethical conduct made by the former city administrator stated that Mayor Weaver was depositing donation funds into a political fund, instead of directing them towards accounts set up to help with the water crisis in Flint.
The Independent Investigator, Attorney Brendon Basiga, says these allegations are false.
As far as my conclusions are concerned, based on the information that I was able to obtain, I can find no evidence of an unethical conduct by Mayor Karen weaver. “said Basiga.
Upon further investigation, Basiga was unable to find any solid evidence against the claims carried out by Henderson.
"I was provided bank statements with regards to the ‘Friends of Karen Weaver Fund’ as well as the ‘ Caring for Flint fund’ – Neither bank statements indicate any questionable deposits and the donation check’s that were made were supported by copies of the checks themselves. “
Ms. Henderson filed a lawsuit in May against the mayor claiming that she was fired by Mayor Weaver. Henderson believed she was dismissed for being a whistleblower although Mayor Weaver says that she “ended the employment of most of the department heads” for various reasons.
The Mayor also stated that “one of the main reasons for ending Ms. Henderson’s employment was that Ms. Henderson supposedly knew about the legionnaire’s disease problem and not only failed to report this information to mayor weaver but also failed to act upon the same.”
The checks in question were made out to the City of Flint and were left on the desk of an employee for a few months. The employee states that she forgot about the checks, and that they were never cashed into any account even though she was told to send them back to the finance department being that the senders did not correctly address the checks. It was unclear how much the checks amounted to, but that one of them was at least $4,000.
The employee told Basiga that she “specifically denied the mayor ever directed her to deposit the checks into a fund other than the one that had been previously approved. She also specifically denied she reported any allegations of unethical conduct to Ms. Natasha Henderson “
The mayor spoke briefly after the conference expressing her emotions over the findings.
“I am so glad the independent investigation is complete and clears me and my staff of any wrongdoing regarding donations sent to the City of Flint,” commented Mayor Weaver.
“As I said before, I thought it was absolutely awful to have allegations made like that especially while the city is going through this kind of crisis and in need of financial resources and financial support. To put that kind of cloud over us is really, really sad.”
Mayor Weaver says the Flint is still a city that has a need for resources and financial help. Flint was under state management in 2014 when it switched from the Detroit's water system to the Flint River. The water from the river was not treated with anti-corrosive chemicals which caused lead to leach from old water lines.
The switch was initially made to save the city money.