Land bank chief fired for drinking, stalking

The former director of the Detroit Land Bank Authority was fired from the job he had held less than a year because he came to work drunk and had been accused of stalking and threatening a coworker, according to records and people familiar with the matter.

The board of the land bank fired Kevin Simowski last month without explanation. But people familiar with the matter confirmed to the Free Press that Simowski had shown up intoxicated on the job and had threatened the woman who would ultimately replace him, Carrie Lewand-Monroe, who sought a personal protection order against Simowski.

Lewand-Monroe, 38, daughter of Mayor Mike Duggan’s Group Executive for Jobs and Economic Growth, Tom Lewand, filed the PPO on Oct. 8, the day after Simowski showed up unwanted at Lewand-Monroe's Ann Arbor home, the PPO says.

The revelation answers the mystery of why Simowski, a longtime Duggan friend, was fired summarily last month, with officials saying only that it was a personnel matter that would remain private.

His termination came amid heavy scrutiny of the land bank as costs for demolition of blighted homes in Detroit rose to an average $16,400, up from $10,000 or less under former Mayor Dave Bing’s administration. Officials said Simowski’s firing was unrelated to news reports about the rising costs.

Simowski couldn't be reached for comment Thursday.

Lewand-Monroe said in the PPO, filed in Wayne County Circuit Court, that she feared for her life because of the stalking and threats from Simowski, culminating in him showing up at her home. Once land bank officials learned of the threats, Simowski was fired, the sources said.

Lewand-Monroe said in the PPO that Simowski had harassed her and "displayed aggressive behavior" on multiple occasions beginning in April.

"He told me in one instance he owned a weapon and would kill himself because I stopped being his friend and wouldn't have lunch with him," Lewand-Monroe wrote. "Based on his actions I am fearful and feel threatened."

The threatening behavior came to a head Oct. 7, according to the PPO.

Simowski "parked outside my home and waited for me to come home from work," Lewand-Monroe wrote. "My husband went up to his vehicle and asked why he was there. He mumbled something and then drove off."

The land bank issued a statement late Wednesday from Erica Ward Gerson, the land bank's board chairwoman, who said that Simowski was placed on medical leave Sept. 1. The PPO indicates Simowski was told to have no contact with land bank employees but continued to call Lewand-Monroe.

"He has not been on the premises since that date and was instructed by me to not contact any land bank employees during that leave," Ward Gerson said. "Based on Information provided me by an employee of the land bank relative to an incident on October 7th, the land bank terminated Simowski on October 8th. Simowski was terminated for cause, and no severance was paid."

Ward Gerson said that the board could not comment beyond that.

Simowski, 58, was credited with helping then-Wayne County Prosecutor Duggan to develop a program in the early 2000s in which prosecutors filed nuisance lawsuits against owners of Detroit homes that became blighted drug dens, forcing owners to clean them up or hand over deeds. It was the framework for Duggan’s program to clean up blighted homes in Detroit as mayor through the city's land bank.

Simowski followed Duggan to the Detroit Medical Center, where he was an executive under Duggan, who left the prosecutors office to become the medical center’s CEO in 2004-2012.

Duggan's office declined to comment.

Contact Matt Helms: 313-222-1450 or mhelms@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @matthelms.