Kenya Merritt’s DCASE appointment advances as alderpersons voice concerns about whistleblower lawsuit

Kenya Merritt’s appointment to be Chicago’s next cultural commissioner advanced out of a City Council committee Thursday, but a whistleblower lawsuit filed against Merritt and the city by a former top deputy dominated much of the hours-long questioning from alderpersons.

The lawsuit was filed last month in Cook County Circuit Court by Rosalyn Kimberly (“Kim”) Grigsby, the cultural department’s former first deputy, alleging that her February termination was in retaliation for filing complaints about alleged wrongdoing within the department to the city’s inspector general and Department of Human Resources.

Earlier this week, lawyers for Grigsby announced they had amended the complaint, adding allegations that Merritt made false statements about Grigsby to City Council members ahead of the confirmation process.

Grigsby, herself a lawyer, began in her role at the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events last summer. In a statement, her attorney said, “This case is about accountability. When public employees speak up about misconduct, they should be protected — not punished.”

The lawsuit is the latest development in what has been a tumultuous period at DCASE, which oversees large Downtown events and administers millions of dollars in arts grants annually.

Mayor Brandon Johnson selected Merritt to be interim commissioner last October, after his first hand-picked cultural commissioner resigned amid allegations of bullying and sexual harassment.

At the Thursday meeting of the City Council’s cultural committee, many alderpersons and arts leaders praised Merritt’s long tenure with the city and her leadership of the department in recent months. But, over a period of more than two hours, several Council members questioned whether the pending litigation was part of a larger pattern, which has led to the ouster of other senior Johnson officials in recent months.

“We've seen some pretty serious patterns with this administration in terms of really pervasive, destructive, unreasoned behavior in a lot of departments at commissioners level,” said Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd).

Ald. Samantha Nugent (39th) added that the lawsuit “raises serious concerns about how leadership within the department has operated.”

Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41st) lobbied for delaying the vote until after the lawsuit is settled, saying, “if we vote right now for her and her and the department are found guilty, we're going to look like we didn't do our due diligence as Council people.”

During the meeting, both Merritt and a representative from the city’s Law Department repeatedly said they could not comment on pending litigation.

The hearing began with a long list of high-profile arts leaders voicing their enthusiastic support for Merritt’s nomination. Among them was Nora Daley, chair of the Illinois Arts Council, who called Merritt “a proven advocate for Chicago's arts and cultural community.” Additional support came from leaders of prominent venues from the Goodman to the Harris, as well as former DCASE commissioner Mark Kelly.

“I've known Kenya for over 10 years. I can say without question that she will bring the authority to right the ship of DCASE,” said Kelly, who led the cultural department from 2016 until his retirement in 2021. “Kenya will bring the care and leadership to support the great, talented DCASE staff and Kenya is going to remind all of us that one of the reasons this city is so great is because of its cultural vitality.”

Sonia Lopez, a union steward with AFSCME Local 2912, representing the unionized DCASE employees, also provided public comment, saying, “Our members were optimistic about [Merritt’s] appointment, given she understands DCASE, and they have had positive interactions with her. However, they feel strongly since they’re still reeling from the environment created by the last commissioner that new leadership needs to address issues in human resources for the culture to change.”

“There is a pattern of even basic requests going unanswered for weeks, and when responses do come, they are often dismissive or passive aggressive instead of helpful,” Lopez said. “We hope the Council encourages the nominee to take these concerns seriously so we can truly turn the corner on bad leadership at DCASE.”

For her part, Merritt said she is committed to engaging in ongoing dialogue with unionized staff, and that she is focused on “establishing stronger internal norms that prioritize communication, accountability and team development.”

As was frequently noted Thursday by both Merritt and her supporters, she has had a long tenure with the city across administrations, serving in a variety of roles, including a former stint as DCASE’s chief financial officer and interim chief operating officer.

“What I will say for me is that I’ve worked for the city for 26 years in multiple roles, multiple politically appointed roles, and I’ve never had any issues with my staff,” Merritt said in the meeting. “I take it seriously around the culture that I set around the work that we do, how we show up and I’ll continue to do that in this role.”

Merritt’s appointment now advances to the full Council, which will meet Wednesday.

Courtney Kueppers is an arts and culture reporter at WBEZ.