Elsmere mayor admits offering to 'yank' Grimaldi ticket

Last Tuesday, two days before he was fired, New Castle County Chief Administrative Officer David Grimaldi told an Elsmere police officer who had pulled him over for driving with a suspended license, "You know your mayor works for me."

Elsmere Mayor Steve Burg is also an executive assistant for New Castle County government. Burg said he received a call from Grimaldi during the traffic stop, but did not answer it because he was in a meeting.

County Executive Tom Gordon, who last week fired Grimaldi from his $139,000-per-year position, said Monday that Grimaldi "was clearly trying to influence the outcome of the stop. It was clearly improper to say that to the officer and try to call the mayor from the car. It is a series of things (that led to his firing), but that was the last straw."

Grimaldi said he anticipated Gordon trying to use the traffic stop as a reason that he was fired, calling the county executive "a dirty fighter." Grimaldi insisted the phone call to Burg was simply to ask for a ride. Later Monday, Grimaldi produced a recording of Burg calling him back after the traffic stop in which the mayor offered to "yank the ticket."

"By (Gordon’s) logic," Grimaldi said, "one would have to conclude (Gordon) would have to fire Mayor Steve Burg. ... My story is corroborated on the audio, which is that I called him for a ride. He is Gordon’s appointee, he broke the law by offering to use his influence to void a traffic ticket.”

Grimaldi contends he was fired after questioning Gordon over the perceived influence of the county's risk manager, Cheryl McDonaugh, saying there were several "hostile workplace complaints" filed by other employees against her. Grimaldi said he warned Gordon that if he didn't take action, "You are going to lose your whole government."

On Friday, McDonaugh called Grimaldi's statements "untrue" and "pathetic." The News Journal has filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking the hostile workplace complaints that Grimaldi says exist.

In the interview, Grimaldi slammed Gordon for running a government rife with nepotism, and said he was considering running against his former mentor if Gordon were to seek another term as county executive next year.

The News Journal obtained a video of the traffic stop through a FOIA request. The stop took place shortly before 10:30 p.m. Tuesday on Kirkwood Highway in Elsmere.

Police Officer Stephen Smith pulled over Grimaldi's black Jaguar XF after he ran the license plate and saw Grimaldi's license was suspended for failure to pay a 2014 fine in Maryland. Court records show that fine was for driving 83 mph in a 55 mph zone.

Grimaldi reacted with shock, saying he had paid the $160 fine, but it may have been late. As he gave the officer his license and insurance information, Grimaldi made the remark about the mayor.

The officer asked Grimaldi to repeat himself. Grimaldi did and told the officer that he's the county's chief administrative officer.

The officer then asked if Grimaldi had someone who could drive him home because of the suspended license. His girlfriend came and picked him up. Grimaldi left his car in a nearby parking lot. On Monday, Elsmere Police Chief Laura M. Giles said it is not uncommon for patrolling officers to run a motorist's plates without cause. She declined further comment on the stop.

Burg was re-elected for a second, two-year term as Elsmere mayor earlier this year. Burg was appointed by Gordon as an executive assistant in 2012. He works in constituent services, the office that responds to complaints from residents and meets with local civic groups about county issues.

Grimaldi insisted his explanation for why he called Burg is backed up by the audio with the Elsmere mayor.

Grimaldi said he began recording the conversation after Burg offered to take care of the ticket.

At the beginning of the three-minute recording, Grimaldi tells Burg he will have to show the court he paid the fine that led to his license suspension, at which point Burg says again: "Alright, 'cause I'll get that (expletive) yanked in a heartbeat."

Grimaldi declines and said he had needed someone to pick him up. The conversation then moved to Tuesday's New Castle County Council meeting before meandering back to the conduct of the officer who pulled Grimaldi over. Grimaldi complimented the officer's manner before Burg again offers: "You want me to get the ticket yanked, or no?"

Grimaldi says no again, adding: "That's how we'll both get in trouble. Don't worry about it," and the conversation ends. Burg initially said he didn't remember offering to yank the ticket, but admitted it was him on the recording.

"I guess I may have said that because I was concerned if I was still going to have a job if I didn’t offer to help him," Burg said when presented with the audio. But "I can’t change those tickets at all."

There is a SoundCloud audio file of Grimaldi's call with Burg, which Grimaldi illustrated with a photo of a pig wearing lipstick.

Gordon is dubious of Grimaldi's intent when he first called Burg during the traffic stop: "Why would he call the mayor for a ride home?" he asked.

Grimaldi said that Gordon is just trying to attack him to cover up criticism of his administration.

"This is what everybody told me he (Gordon) would do," Grimaldi said. "He is a dirty fighter and that is why people are scared to speak out against Tom Gordon because he retaliates. He is going to try to retaliate and I am fully prepared."

Countered Gordon: "It wasn't because he was upset about nepotism. I think he just didn't do well on the people end of it. There was a lot of fighting that took place as a result of his management style."

He declined to provide specific examples.

"I don't want to get into destroying the young man," Gordon said. "It is personnel matter. I don't want to hurt him more."

As chief administrative officer, Grimaldi was tasked with implementing Gordon's policy initiatives and overseeing 18 managers of the county's departments.

Earlier this year, The News Journal covered Gordon's and Grimaldi's public battle with county Auditor Bob Wasserbach after a controversial audit of the county's investment policy. The audit followed a Grimaldi initiative to transfer $92 million from the county's previous investment auditor to UBS. Grimaldi and Gordon sought to discredit the audit as politically motivated and have also clashed with council members over access to government email records.

Gordon said the traffic stop is not the first time Grimaldi sought to leverage his position when dealing with the law.

In 2013, Grimaldi was involved in a fight at the Pastabilities restaurant in Wilmington’s Little Italy neighborhood.

Despite the restaurant being in city police jurisdiction, New Castle County police Chief Elmer Setting responded at Grimaldi’s calling. Setting later improperly provided a city police report of the incident to Grimaldi.

Grimaldi presented The News Journal with the report in an effort to show he did not instigate the fracas. No charges were ever filed against Grimaldi.

Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.