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ST. LOUIS — Prompted by a series of whistleblower complaints, the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Board of Aldermen moved quickly last year to ask the state to audit the powerful department that oversees the city’s workforce.

But in the 12 months since aldermen passed a June 2024 resolution requesting a full audit of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Department of Personnel, the has no report to release.

That’s because the audit never even started.

Missouri Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick’s office says despite aldermen passing a resolution seeking a state audit, it wasn’t quite the language the office needed.

“They may have passed it, but they never sent it to us as their official request to our office to initiate an audit,� Trevor Fox, spokesman for the state auditor, said Wednesday.

Board of Aldermen officials dispute that. Clerk Terry Kennedy shared a copy of the signed resolution and a Sept. 18 letter sent to Fitzpatrick that “requests your office to conduct an audit related to complaints received by City of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ employees ... that are outlined in the documents received by the Missouri State Auditor’s Office.â€�

The debate surrounding an audit that never took place has gained fresh attention after Gov. Mike Kehoe appointed former Personnel Director Sonya Jenkins-Gray to the newly formed ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Board of Police Commissioners, which oversees the city’s police department.

While a preliminary report from the auditor’s office on an August 2023 whistleblower complaint found there may have been violations of city rules on hiring for some high-profile positions, including Jenkins-Gray and police Chief Robert Tracy, it said there was “no indication of fraud or corruption.�

However, last year’s aldermanic resolution says subsequent whistleblower complaints were sent to the auditor’s office. Less is known about their contents.

“It’s come to light there have been several whistleblower complaints against a city department,� the resolution’s sponsor, Alderman Bret Narayan of Dogtown, said last summer. “I think we have an obligation when there are whistleblower complaints and the state auditor comes in and says that it appears that there’s some impropriety, I believe we have an obligation to allow the state to look further into that.�

But until the Post-Dispatch began asking about it last week, no one seemed to notice the audit hadn’t begun.

The auditor’s office said that after it received the September letter, it was in contact with the Board of Aldermen about clarifying the language in the resolution to commit the city to pay the estimated $80,000 to $125,000 for state staff time conducting such an investigation. After sending over revised language, it never heard back, Fox, the auditor’s spokesman, said.

“If they send us the language we need verifying they will pay the cost of the audit, we will put it on our audit plan and commence when we have staff resources available,� Fox said.

But Aldermanic President Megan Green’s office said the city counselor advised against amending the language in the resolution.

“From our perspective, the Board fulfilled its obligation to initiate the process by passing the resolution and notifying the State Auditor’s Office,� Green spokesman Yusuf Daneshyar said. “President Green still believes the audit is necessary. Moreover, recent changes to state law now allow the auditor’s office to initiate the process without a formal resolution and should begin the audit as soon as possible.�

When the resolution was introduced last year, Narayan was adamant, urging a vote to suspend the rules so it could be added to the agenda at the last minute and arguing against further discussion in committee. Narayan said the preliminary investigation from the auditor found issues of noncompliance and that “either we’re a society with rules or we aren’t.�

“I think it’s important we move forward with this and let the state auditor do their job,� he said then.

Jenkins-Gray said at the time she wasn’t concerned about an audit and the department would fix any issues found. Then-Mayor Tishaura O. Jones’ office said it welcomed the review. Alderwoman Sharon Tyus of Kingsway East said an audit could ultimately benefit Jenkins-Gray.

“I want her name to be cleared,� Tyus said then.

Jared Boyd, Jones’ chief of staff, said in a recent interview the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Firefighters Association (IAFF Local 73) had been discussing the whistleblower allegations with aldermen. The union had fought Jenkins-Gray’s appointment in 2022 and at one point asked former Director Rick Frank to come out of retirement and apply for his old job again.

While Jones would eventually take the unprecedented step of firing Jenkins-Gray in March, the former mayor’s relationship with the personnel director was still intact in June 2024. It was Jenkins-Gray’s ill-fated trip to Jefferson City the next month — when a subordinate used a city vehicle to take her there during work hours — that would draw the ire of the mayor’s office weeks later. By the end of Jenkins-Gray’s pre-termination hearings this winter, the firefighters union was donating to her legal fund.

But last summer, the union was still pushing the allegations against Jenkins-Gray, Boyd said.

“They bypassed us and went directly to the Board of Aldermen,� Boyd said of the whistleblower complaints and request for state audit.

Dan Clark, president of the firefighters union, said Saturday that’s not true. He and Narayan, who last year carried a pension bill that was a major firefighters union priority, said it was President Green’s office that pushed for the audit. And Narayan said it was still important.

“I believe that any time that there are whistleblower complaints, they deserve to be looked at,� he said.

Jenkins-Gray was one of five people named by the governor to the new police board on June 23.

The board’s first meeting is at 9 a.m. Thursday at police headquarters, 1915 Olive.