Someone has to answer to Adediran working on the church when he was supposed to be working on behalf of the taxpayers who fund his $130,000 salary. The buck stops with the mayor, and he does not get a pass because he’s a clergyman. That his church is at the crux of this issue increases the need for the mayor to be forthright. Jones does not get to hide behind the line separating church and state, because it was rubbed out in City Hall on his watch.

Meanwhile, Jones has attempted to make this everyone’s burden to bear but his own.

“It is unfortunate that city workers are now being victimized and being asked where they go to church,” he said Tuesday in his first statement on the matter since the auditor’s office released the report on Adediran’s work for the church.

“I have to question the motives of people who are asking city employees about their religious affiliation. I hope that none of this is politically motivated and that respect can be shown for the wall of separation between church and state.”

Yes, the result has been more scrutiny on other high-level city employees with ties to First Baptist Church of South Richmond. That’s unfortunate for those employees with unimpeachable qualifications and job performance, but this is the price for Adediran getting called out by the auditor.