RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A report released on January 4 by the Richmond Office of the City Auditor revealed that the city’s Inspector General Umesh Dalal investigation of time spent by Public Works Director Emmanuel O. Adediran during construction of the First Baptist Church second facility was an abuse of time.
Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones is the senior pastor of First Baptist Church of South Richmond, which currently has a new building under construction located at 6201 Ironbridge Road in Chesterfield County.
The Office of the Inspector General received a complaint that Adediran, who was interim director of public works at the time, was serving as a project manager in the construction of the new facility. In addition, the complaint said that Adediran spent numerous hours during the city’s workday related to the project.
“In this incident it appears that no rules have been violated and we’ve gone to great lengths to avoid any appearance of impropriety by making sure the individual gives up some time to make up for the time is said was was used improperly,” Mayor Jones said in an exclusive interview with 8News reporter Jonathan Costen. “But I want to be clear that the gentleman in question is a hard worker, a conscientious worker who works many, many dozens of hours more than he’s paid to work.”
The mayor is also being criticized for hiring people who attend his church. He would not name how many parishioners work for the city.
“I have no idea, I have no idea and it’s really not an issue that needs to be discussed,” Jones said. “It’s not of the public narrative what church a person goes to, you know? I don’t want to ask you what church you go to, that’s your business.”
He said a church of his size and a city the size of Richmond are bound to have city employees at his congregation.
“We have a workforce of four thousand or more I have a congregation of three thousand or more, it’s going to be very difficult not to have some overlap of where people are employed,” the mayor stated. He also expressed concern over members of the media asking for his church attendance role and that other local ministers were also concerned about that.
Our entire exclusive interview with Mayor Jones is below, followed by an additional statement released by the mayor’s office on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Mayor Dwight Jones released a statement in response to the report:
“When the voters elected me Mayor seven years ago, I made a conscious effort to make sure there would be a separation between the church and city business. We’ve been successful in doing that for the last seven years.
“I was disappointed when I heard of the allegations concerning our director of Public Works. Nevertheless, we’ve gone to great lengths to take corrective action to avoid even the appearance of any impropriety.
“Where employment is concerned, the City of Richmond looks at qualifications and credentials, not where you go to church. All hires are done using accepted business practices. All city workers are expected to abide by the rules and regulations regardless of where they worship. Also, all city workers are provided the same opportunity for professional job growth and development regardless of where they worship.
“It is unfortunate that city workers are now being victimized and being asked where they go to church. Richmond is the home of religious liberty. Just last year, we dedicated the First Freedom Center commemorating religious freedom. It’s very troubling to find this type of behavior going on here, where a newspaper actually requested a roster of church members, for example. I have to question the motives of people who are asking city employees about their religious affiliation. I hope that none of this is politically motivated and that respect can be shown for the wall of separation between church and state.”
Watch an exclusive interview with Jones on 8News at 5 p.m.
