DOVER, Del. (AP) - New Castle County Executive Tom Gordon on Wednesday denied any wrongdoing or cover-up regarding a contract employee accused of improperly using confidential public housing records to solicit votes for the employee’s wife, a state senator running for re-election at the time and current Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor.
In a prepared statement, Gordon described allegations of improper behavior by him and housing inspector Dana Long as false and politically motivated.
In a telephone conversation that was secretly recorded last year by his former chief administrative officer, David Grimaldi, Gordon suggested that he did not want Long fired because he was married to Sen. Bethany Hall-Long, whom Gordon considered an important political ally in Dover.
“I don’t want him fired. That will cost us $12 million,” Gordon tells Grimaldi. “She’s one of the ones I was counting on.”
Gordon was referring to the fact that state lawmakers were considering whether to cut the share of real estate transfer taxes going to local governments.
“That woman, … we got her because of her husband,” Gordon adds. “And she’s got clout down there in the Senate.”
But Gordon is also heard on the tape saying officials needed to look at the situation regarding Dana Long legally, given that almost a year had passed since the alleged wrongdoing.
“I don’t want to do anything wrong,” he says.
But Grimaldi tells Gordon that Long had admitted taking a list of Section 8 housing clients.
“He admitted it. He said ’Yeah but I was doing it on my own time,” Grimaldi told Gordon. “… Their inspector, their housing inspector, calling them, telling them ’are you going to vote for my wife?’”
Gordon said Wednesday that a person enrolled in the Section 8 program called county officials in August 2015 to protest several violations for which the client had been cited. During the call, the person mentioned that the housing inspector had called earlier and asked the client to vote for his wife, but Gordon said the client did not make a complaint.
Gordon also said that initial information provided to Grimaldi about Long’s supposed admission turned out to be inaccurate, and that there was no violation of any law or regulation.
“Sometimes our initial reactions to situations are inappropriate but usually change as you more calmly reflect on the issue,” Gordon explained.
Gordon also took aim at Grimaldi, criticizing him for secretly recording telephone conversations with county government officials and describing him as “a bitter ex-employee.”
Grimaldi, who filed a lawsuit alleging wrongful termination after being fired by Gordon last year, said in an email that the audio of the phone call “leaves little room for ambiguity.”
Meanwhile, Long, in a statement issued by his wife’s campaign, also has denied any wrongdoing.
“As I made clear to New Castle County officials last summer - when this issue was resolved - I did not use any Section 8 lists for campaign purposes. Period.”
Hall-Long has not returned phone calls seeking comment but said in an email late Wednesday afternoon that she would make herself available Thursday to answer questions about the “politically motivated allegations” against her husband.
In 2014, in the midst of his wife’s re-election campaign, Dana Long was arrested and charged with theft after being caught stealing Republican campaign signs. The case was resolved through mediation and did not result in prosecution.
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