TOLEDO, Ohio — Records obtained by WTOL 11 from the city of Toledo show suspended auditor Jake Jaksetic has completed at least eight financial reviews for the city. Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said earlier this week he didn't think Jaksetic had completed any audits.
On Friday, WTOL 11 received eight files in response to a public records request for audits conducted by Jaksetic. Jaksetic was suspended earlier this week and his job performance was criticized by Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz.
Later Friday, the mayor clarified that the files sent in response to the request were not actually audits, but financial reviews. Toledo City Council Member George Sarantou, who is a former city finance director, also describes the files as financial reviews.
These are the eight files WTOL 11 received and combined into one document:
Jaksetic was suspended by Toledo City Council president Matt Cherry last week, and formally suspended by council in a majority vote on Tuesday.
Cherry did not provide a reason for the suspension, but Mayor Kapszukiewicz claimed Jaksetic underperformed in his duties and did not perform one audit during his employment with the city.
"You would think a city auditor should produce some audits," Kapszukiewicz said in an interview with WTOL 11 earlier this week. "I don't know that he has ever, literally ever, produced an audit report. Now I might be wrong, there may have been one or two, but as someone who worked as the auditor for eight years, there should be hundreds of audit reports."
And a letter from the city spokesperson raised concerns about workers' safety. That letter from the city Tuesday night did not level specific accusations against Jaksetic, but said all city employees "have a right to feel safe in the work place, free from threats and intimidation."
WTOL 11 requested files of Jaksetic's audit reports and personnel file from the city in order to verify these claims.
We received the audit files, which show Jaksetic has performed audits, but have not received his personnel file, which was requested on Tuesday.
We received these audits from the assistant clerk of council.
When asked for the audit reports that Mr. Jaksetic put together while employed with the city, this is what was sent by the city after our request.
Jaksetic reports to city council, not the administration. At least two council members told WTOL 11 they were not aware of complaints regarding Jaksetic when they were asked to vote on his suspension.
Since Tuesday's council meeting, the Mayor has ceased one-on-one meetings with council members.
City Councilwoman Katie Moline told WTOL 11 the directive is making it difficult to get work done for the residents of Toledo, who may have questions about leaf removal or broken sidewalks, since she cannot communicate with city departments to get answers to those questions.
Jaksetic has denied multiple requests for comment.