And the man at the center of the accusation is Kenyon Lord. He's the former documentation officer at the City's Traffic Department who was fired in October of 2009 after allegations of issuing fraudulent licenses came up. And this city employee, who isn't afraid to say he's an ardent UDP supporter, was re-hired three weeks later – reportedly with the help of political higher ups – even as evidence of further wrongdoing was surfacing. But today Kenyon Lord came out boldly to defend his professional conduct and his name. First, he stressed he was not re-hired because of any political meddling. He says it was after he wrote a three page letter demonstrating that the charge against him was frivolous.
But he is again the subject of disciplinary review, as our story last night forced a meeting of the Council's Disciplinary Action Committee today chaired by City Administrator Dr. Kiran Vanjani. She told 7news that the Council will make a decision on his future when it meets on Monday. But, too late, because Kenyon Lord already quit! He told us that and more today when he discussed the allegations of misconduct against him.
Kenyon Lord
"As I said to the City Administrator in the hearing that they had, when they asked me, I told them, 'I know I didn't do anything wrong.' And yes, some of things look like they are being done under my name but this has been happening for a long time. You have some who do it under other officers' names. Somebody in there is doing the illegal whatever of the licensing of the vehicles. And I told them that I can't tell them anything more than that because I know I didn't do it. And that's between me and God."
Jules Vasquez,
"I have seen minutes of a meeting with you and Dr. Vanjani where it says that you accepted that this was indeed your signature and you could not recall why you did it."
Kenyon Lord
"No. I said it looks like my signature and I didn't say I don't recall why I did it. I said I didn't recall doing it. And I can't say I did it when I don't recall that I did it. That was my word to Ms. Reneau."
Jules Vasquez,
"But you didn't say you didn't do it. You only said that you didn't recall."
Kenyon Lord
"I said I didn't do it. I said that I can't recall something that I don't know if I did it or not. Because my signature was on it, which seems to look like my signature."
Jules Vasquez,
"Now the family of Mr. Solis, Sr. deceased, and that's the document we are talking about, is very angry. They feel that you misused their deceased father's name and his driver's license number."
Kenyon Lord
"All I could say [is that] I didn't do anything illegal to them. What happened, I can't tell you because I can't tell you. If I tell you anything, I will be telling you a lie."
Jules Vasquez,
"So you don't know what happened?"
Kenyon Lord
"I can't pinpoint minute to minute what happened, how it went."
Jules Vasquez,
"But can you tell me with certainty that you did NOT sign the Charles Solis transfer, Charles Solis registration?"
Kenyon Lord
"With certainty, because my signature is on it, I can't tell you because it seems to be my signature. But it's not something I would do normally just like that."
Jules Vasquez,
"Straight up. Have you ever accepted some inducement, or some sort of favour, some bribe to facilitate a registration or issue license plates for a vehicle that you know has no customs entry, a vehicle that is probably stolen?"
Kenyon Lord
"Never. I would never do something like that."
Jules Vasquez,
"As you leave the department, do you feel that it's still a place that has a lot of corruption?"
Kenyon Lord
"It does. It does. And the Mayor and the Councillors need to crack down on it because they are the ones that look bad at the end of the day."
Jules Vasquez,
"Do you believe the problem is a management problem? Or do you believe it is a staff problem?"
Kenyon Lord
"The problem is a staff problem. You have one set of people in one position for too long."
Jules Vasquez,
"Do you think that after you are gone, this practice of licensing stolen vehicles illegitimately will continue?"
Kenyon Lord
"It will continue because it's been there and like one of the girls that were suspended and transferred said to them back them, it will be happening after because the right people are not being moved and put elsewhere and so it will continue and continue. I will probably be dead and gone and it will still continue."
And, we've asked those in the field of law enforcement, both police and customs and they agree with Lord's sobering conclusion – because the business of smuggling, legitimizing, and then selling stolen vehicles is just too lucrative and the pressure upon front-line clerks and officers is just too great. We'll keep following the story and have more next week.
