Finalist for EL City Manager Was Removed from Post as Cincinnati’s Director of Economic Inclusion

By Lucas Day and Alice Dreger

With East Lansing’s City Council poised to hold a special Sunday morning (Aug. 13) meeting to discuss who to hire as the next City Manager, ELi has learned from public records that a second of the four finalist candidates was recently removed from his post amid charges of problematic workplace behavior.

When Collin Mays applied for the job of East Lansing’s City Manager, he was employed as the Director of Economic Inclusion (DEI) with the City of Cincinnati.

But shortly thereafter, on June 27, he was removed from that post by Cincinnati City Manager Sheryl Long following an investigation and performance review that showed Mays had allegedly retaliated against a staff member who had filed a complaint against him, instituted an unauthorized work schedule, inappropriately promised promotions, and misused public funds to help a family business, among other charges.

Long told Mays in writing on June 27, “After participating in your most recent performance evaluation, working with you on the disparity study and other items, and reviewing the results of the investigation into complaints about your leadership of the Department of Economic Inclusion, I do not believe that you have the capacity to continue as a department director at this time, and it is my opinion that keeping you in the director role will have negative operational impacts on that department.”

She offered him a job as division manager in the Department of Transportation and Engineering.

“If you would like to remain employed with the City, this position is your option to do so,” Long wrote, giving Mays until noon the next day to decide. He chose to resign.

ELi previously reported another of the four East Lansing City Manager finalists, Robert Belleman, was removed from his job as Saginaw County controller by a supermajority vote of the elected county board on June 20 after being accused of engaging in toxic workplace behaviors.

In his interview with East Lansing’s Council Monday (Aug. 7), Belleman blamed his ousting on “a coordinated effort by Saginaw County Board of Commissioners Chairman Christopher Boyd,” MLive reported Tuesday. MLive reports Boyd has denied the charge.

Belleman’s story was all over the news by the time of his interview, and he opted to address the issue during his interview before East Lansing’s Council, as ELi reported.

But Mays did not mention in his interview that he no longer worked where his resume, submitted earlier, had said he was employed. (Applications for the East Lansing City Manager position were due June 19, which means that, when Mays applied, he was still employed by Cincinnati. Mays' separation agreement with Cincinnati is dated June 30.)

Mays’ departure from the City of Cincinnati had been mentioned passingly in one news report, published on July 10 by WVXU/Cincinnati Public Radio. That reporting linked a public memo from City Manager Long.

ELi followed up with Cincinnati Public Radio’s news unit and they shared with ELi documents obtained through public records requests. (ELi has also filed Freedom of Information Act requests to get the most recent personnel files for Belleman and the two other finalist candidates, Tim Dempsey and Adam Kline.)

The documents from the City of Cincinnati include Long’s letter removing Mays from his post and offering him the choice of resigning or taking the job in the transportation and engineering unit. The documents also include his annual performance evaluation, the report from the investigation of complaints made against Mays by his underlings, and his lengthy response to the findings.

The City of Cincinnati’s HR investigation and performance evaluation found a variety of policy violations.

Mays was accused by a woman in his department of retaliation against her after filing a complaint against him.

“In reviewing all of the evidence, the preponderance of the evidence supports that Director Mays retaliated against Ms. [name redacted] after she brought concerns to HR,” the investigation report said. (ELi is redacting the names of complainants and witnesses.)

A man in the department also complained of retaliation, but “HR was unable to substantiate retaliation” in that case “due to a lack of conclusive evidence.”

In his eight-page response to the HR investigation’s findings, Mays objected to the conclusion he had retaliated against the woman.

“I have not retaliated against DEI employees [two names redacted] in any form or fashion,” Mays wrote. “There is simply no support for this false allegation.”

He objected to one person in the department not having been interviewed by HR, because, Mays said, “He is a key witness in this scenario.”

Mays was also found in the HR investigation to have created an unauthorized hybrid work schedule that he allegedly told employees to keep hidden from other city employees.

According to the HR report, “The majority of [department] employees confirmed that Director Mays told them not to speak to employees outside of the department about the ability to work from home.”

According to the HR report, the City of Cincinnati’s policy states, “An employee may be permitted to work from home only in the most exceptional cases, and then, only on the recommendation of the department director and approval by the City Manager.” There was “no evidence to indicate the City Manager had authorized employees in DEI [the Department of Economic Inclusion] to work from home.”

Mays’ written response to this was that work-life balance is important and that “It is now known the City of Cincinnati allows select departments to operate on a work from home basis. It is unclear which departments were selected for the pilot program.”

His annual performance evaluation concluded, “Collin instituted a ‘secret’ hybrid work schedule with the DEI Team, and told DEI Team that they were not to disclose this schedule to others within the City or face consequences.”

The evaluation also said, “It is perceived that Collin is often traveling and not in the office. This could relate back to the unsanctioned hybrid work policy that he has been operating under."

In the HR investigation, Mays was found to have violated a third city policy. According to the report, that policy states, “Employees are required to conduct themselves in a professional manner at all times. Professional behavior is defined as courteous and respectful treatment. Examples of unprofessional behavior include yelling, cursing, making disparaging remarks about another.”

The HR investigation included a text exchange between Mays and an individual who accepted a position with his department. According to the HR report, in the exchange, “Director Mays made disparaging remarks about one of the [departmental] staff, referring to them as ‘extra,’ ‘annoying’ and indicating the employee would be ‘gone soon.’”

In the same exchange, he wrote about his underling, “I gotta cut her lose quick” and “She’ll be gone soon.” His texts were interspersed with laughing emojis.

According to the HR investigation, “While Director Mays did not recall sending the messages, there was no evidence to indicate the messages were not authentic.”

In his response, Mays said he could not understand why the other party supplied those texts to HR when, “shortly before Christmas [the other party] gifted me with a World’s Best Boss mug (attachment 14).” He added, “I am also unsure why, after over 10 months, the text messages are now of concern.”

“I sincerely apologize for the language in the [text] messages,” Mays wrote in his response. “However, my actions toward all my subordinates have shown fairness, humility, understanding, and respect.”

The investigation listed a fourth policy violation, one that forbids department managers from making “promises for future promotions, transfers, or salary adjustments either verbally or in writing.”

The report concluded, “Multiple witnesses confirmed that Director Mays had made assurances about future promotions and salary adjustments.”

His response to this alleged violation was that “This is a misunderstanding. I have not made promises to staff regarding salary or position upgrades.”

In the performance review conducted a month before the HR investigation, Mays received an “unacceptable” ethics rating for a multitude of reasons. These included misuse of public funds: “Collin attended a conference in 2022 (National Minority Supplier Development Council) at the City of Cincinnati’s expense. Collin spent a significant amount of time at the conference tabling for Mays Chemical Companies, Inc., understood to be a family business and not affiliated with the City of Cincinnati.”

In an attempt to contact Mays for comment on this story, ELi reached out to Mays Chemical Company, Inc. to attempt to obtain Mays’ contact information, but the person who answered the phone said they did not recognize the name. Multiple other attempts to reach Mays were unsuccessful. [See update below.]

ELi reached out to each member of East Lansing's City Council individually via email, providing a summary of the documents and asking them to comment on the situation.

Councilmember George Brookover wrote back, “Thank you for your inquiry. I have no comment at this time.”

“This is why there is a process,” Councilmember Noel Garcia wrote back. “Prior to any selection for this important position, we will have full visibility on the candidates, background, experience, and knowledge. Because this is an ongoing process, it would be inappropriate for me to give any additional details. Maintaining the integrity of the process is critical.”

Councilmember Dana Watson responded, “I don't have much to comment on about the information you have provided. I do have a comment on the perceived interest in tarnishing candidates who are candidates for work with the city of East Lansing. I expect HR and Joyce's team [at the Michigan Municipal League] to do the work regarding background checks, etc. I don't agree with publications like this. Many HR processes purposefully provide a level of confidentiality in candidate vetting. I think you should think about the level of information that you are providing because he's been publicly employed and it is accessible and if you are showing the same discernment for the other candidates. In my opinion, reporting should lean toward the least amount of bias. It's like you could just have a section titled ‘everything that is suspect about this candidate’. The readers deserve something in between about all candidates that is a fairer distribution of information to have an opinion about who might be their type.”

She added, “Please don't take this direction for just this candidate.”

As noted above, ELi has requested the personnel files of the other candidates under FOIA.

Mayor Ron Bacon and Mayor Pro Tem Jessy Gregg have not responded to request for comment.

Mya Gregory contributed reporting to this article.

UPDATE, Jan. 26, 2024: Collin Mays has now provided comments and denied any wrongdoing through his spokesperson. His rebuttal to the allegations may be seen here.