District 7 Councilman Michael Nowakowski touted an independent report that cleared him of any wrongdoing in the bidding process for the development of a large piece of city-owned land on Fillmore Street during a press conference on Friday.
The report, conducted by the law firm Sanders and Park, looked into whether any wrongdoing took place and whether Nowakowski had violated conflict-of-interest laws related to the request for proposals. Sanders and Park interviewed city staff along with representatives from the Cesar Chavez Foundation and Deco Communities, two of the developers involved in the bid.
RELATED: Councilman pushes back against conflict-of-interest allegations
The city selected the Cesar Chavez Foundation for the project, and Nowakowski serves as the executive vice president of the foundation’s radio network. Robert Lyles, a partner with a competing developer Deco Communities, told the Arizona Republic earlier this month that Nowakowski didn’t say his employer was also bidding for the land. Lyles said he was worried that Nowakowski had given the Cesar Chavez Foundation an unfair advantage over Deco.
While the councilman was cleared of wrongdoing, the report stated Nowakowski could have been more upfront about his employer.
The report, authored by Sanders and Park, which was hired by the city of Phoenix, states, “nothing we were able to obtain and review indicates that the process was tainted, or that the recommendation by the panel was in any way influenced by the Councilman’s connection to (the Cesar Chavez Foundation).”
The foundation denied the law firm’s request to review emails from the organization related to Nowakowski or Deco. Instead, the foundation’s representatives said they would sign affidavits stating that the organization did not receive information about other bidders and did not communicate with Nowakowski about any of the other bidders. According to the reports, Nowakowski also does not sit on the committee that awarded the contract to the Chavez Foundation and therefore he did not vote to award them the contract.
“The truth will set you free and this document proves that,” Nowakowski said. “This document also proves that our staff is one of the greatest staff in the city, in the country. From Paul Blue, our deputy city manager, to Chris Mackay, our economic development director, and also all those volunteer experts that sit on these panels to evaluate all these RFPs and myself, who were cleared from all false accusations.”
Corey Lancoper, a representative for Nowakowski, said the councilman had no financial interest in the sale of the land. Nowakowski also never shared private information from the city or from other future developers, according to Lancoper and the reports by Sanders and Park.
“For weeks the media has been reporting on a story that relied on rumor and innuendo to criticize Councilman Nowakowski,” Lancoper said. “Now that the independent council has issued its report, completed its investigation, looked at the documents, talked to the witnesses, its time to look past the rumor, past the innuendo, look at the actual facts in this matter.”
Nowakowski has cooperated fully will the investigation and will continue to cooperate, according to Lancoper.
Contact the reporter at meagan.boudreau@asu.edu.
