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ST. LOUIS 鈥� A public hearing that could lead to firing of the city鈥檚 personnel director has wrapped up with her lawyer insisting there was no direct evidence she had a subordinate drive her in a city car to confront her husband and the city鈥檚 lawyer casting doubt on her truthfulness.

Personnel Director Sonya Jenkins-Gray, hired by Mayor Tishaura O. Jones in 2022, has fought for the last six months the mayor鈥檚 attempt to oust her from her job, one with broad sway over hiring and promotions across the city鈥檚 4,500-person workforce.

Jenkins-Gray argues she is being targeted for political reasons 鈥� her opposition to a charter change giving the mayor鈥檚 office more power over the department, her resistance to mayoral meddling in promotions and the political activities of her husband, the Rev. Darryl Gray.

The mayor鈥檚 office, though, said it had little choice but to pursue her firing after it learned Jenkins-Gray put her subordinate, Anthony Byrd, in the middle of an awkward personal situation when she had him drive her in a city vehicle to Jefferson City on a workday in order to catch her husband with his ex-wife.

Jenkins-Gray has maintained that she went to Jefferson City to retrieve 鈥減ersonal鈥� documents from her car, though she has declined to say what those documents were.

In his closing argument on Tuesday, Reggie Harris, a Stinson attorney hired by the city to prosecute the case against Jenkins-Gray, reminded the Civil Service Commission that rather than go to her car first, they went to a hotel where Gray was. There, Jenkins-Gray called the hotel and asked to speak to her husband鈥檚 ex-wife, Byrd said in his deposition. Byrd also said he did not see the director retrieve any papers from her car in Jefferson City.

鈥淣obody testified that the director, in fact, went to her car in Jefferson City and retrieved papers, nobody except the director, the one on trial, the one with the motive to make up an explanation like that,鈥� Harris told the Civil Service Commission. 鈥淥nly the director testified about retrieving personal papers. To this day, no one knows what these alleged personal papers are. You know why? Because they don鈥檛 exist. That was a made-up story.鈥�

And, Harris said, Byrd was promoted soon after the trip despite a deputy director in the department advising against the promotion a couple weeks prior.

鈥淲hat was the date that she did this? It was July 3, the same day of the trip to Jefferson City,鈥� Harris said in his closing argument. 鈥淲ell, they say they were doing some work that day. The only evidence of work that was done was that email that she sent directing that (Byrd) be reclassified.鈥�

Jenkins-Gray鈥檚 team has maintained the promotion was in the works before the trip.

Ron Norwood, a Lewis Rice attorney who represents Jenkins-Gray, said he鈥檚 spent his career representing 鈥渕ultinational corporations, big tobacco companies, big insurance companies, small businesses, large businesses,鈥� but that Jenkins-Gray stood out because of her continued dedication to her job even as she was fighting the mayor鈥檚 efforts to fire her. Norwood urged the commission to see the effort as a 鈥減ower-grab鈥� by the Jones administration.

鈥淭his is about the pettiness, the vindictiveness, the callousness of our mayor,鈥� Norwood said in closing. 鈥淒on鈥檛 let this great civil service system be swallowed up by the politically infected shark tank known as the Mayor Tishaura Jones administration.鈥�

Norwood also lashed out at the media coverage of the hearing, saying the mayor鈥檚 office only had 鈥渋nferred鈥� Jenkins-Gray went to Jefferson City to catch her husband cheating.

鈥淩eport the fact that they don鈥檛 have one witness to back that up,鈥� Norwood said. 鈥淭hey call it burying the lede, where they ignore all of the evidence about political interference and rule violations and false documents, sweep that under the rug.鈥�

The day before, Gray testified that he never 鈥渃ommitted infidelity鈥� and that he was told by several 鈥渕edia people,鈥� who he declined to name, that the rumor his wife was trying to catch him cheating in Jefferson City came from the mayor鈥檚 office. Gray has criticized the Jones administration from his position as chair of the jail oversight board. He also backed Wesley Bell over U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, a Jones ally, in the August Democratic primary. (Bell won and is now serving in Congress.)

Gray said he went to meet his ex-wife, who lives in Kansas City, to sign papers relating to their child. If people believed he, as a clergyman, had been unfaithful to his wife, 鈥渋t could be devastating to my career.鈥�

鈥淭here鈥檚 no evidence it ever happened and it鈥檚 unfortunate they continue to say it,鈥� Gray testified.

He also testified that he saw his wife later that night on July 3 at home and apologized to her for not telling her about why he was seeing his ex-wife in Jefferson City.

鈥淪he was obviously upset,鈥� Gray said. 鈥淚 should have told her.鈥�

That seemed to contradict testimony from Byrd that he had taken Jenkins-Gray to gather belongings from her home and then finally to stay at a friend鈥檚 house around midnight that evening. Jenkins-Gray also testified early on in the hearing that Byrd drove her to a friend鈥檚 house later that night after first taking her to Hollywood casino in Maryland Heights to retrieve something from the car her husband had borrowed to drive to Jefferson City.

Biannca Lambert, who reported the incident to the mayor鈥檚 office in August after Byrd told her about it, said in a statement to the mayor鈥檚 office that Byrd 鈥渟tated confidently that Reverend Gray was cheating.鈥� Lambert also said Byrd told her that Jenkins-Gray had been fired twice before for 鈥渁busing power over her secretarial staff to have them perform non-work-related duties鈥� and that there had been two prior incidents where she had tried to locate Rev. Gray to verify whether he was cheating.

Lambert testified she confronted Jenkins-Gray with that information.

鈥淚 had pointed out that Anthony claimed that she had done this before, twice before, and that she had been fired twice before, and she said and immediately followed up with, 鈥榶es, that happened, but that doesn鈥檛 have anything to do with this,鈥欌�� Lambert said during her testimony last month.

Jenkins-Gray testified early in the hearing that she had left her previous job because of differences with leadership.

Lambert also said Jenkins-Gray didn鈥檛 deny her account of what Byrd had told her about the trip when she confronted her about it in August. Jenkins-Gray testified Tuesday she in 鈥渘o way admitted any of the allegations鈥� about her Jefferson City trip were true.

Harris, the attorney for the city, also played a recording of Jenkins-Gray 鈥渟ecretly鈥� recording Byrd, shortly after Lambert had confronted the director about the story. In it, Jenkins-Gray says she 鈥渘ever should have allowed my personal life to be known in this building.鈥�

In another clip, she appears to be telling Byrd to create a document containing information he gleaned from an 鈥渋llegal鈥� recording he made of another employee so she can 鈥減rotect鈥� him and refer to the document if there were any questions about how she obtained the information.

鈥淵ou even lied to people to protect him,鈥� Harris said after stopping the recording.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want you to mischaracterize why I said that I told a little white lie,鈥� Jenkins-Gray responded.

鈥淚t just sounds to me like, you鈥檙e telling him, 鈥榶ou illegally recorded someone, that was illegal, but I鈥檓 gonna protect you, I even lied about it,鈥欌�� Harris summarized.

鈥淚 can see why you would surmise that,鈥� Jenkins Gray admitted.

Each side has two weeks to submit their closing briefs. The commission鈥檚 recommendation on whether Jenkins-Gray should be fired is due to the mayor, who may accept or reject it, March 4 鈥� Election Day.