Officials who flagged asbestos dangers at Gateway Center told to stay home, given sick leave as city fined by state

At least two senior officials who raised concerns about the city’s mishandling of asbestos exposure during the construction of the Gibson Health Hub were threatened with reassignment and then quietly placed on sick leave. Both officials were made unavailable to answer questions from the city council and others about the administration’s actions that resulted in the largest workplace safety fine issued in the State of New Mexico. 

City Desk ABQ has learned that one of those officials, Jeanette Chavez, a manager within Risk Management — one of the first city officials to raise alarms about asbestos in the active work areas — filed a whistleblower lawsuit on Friday, May 17. 

The lawsuit alleges “City officials including the CAO [Lawrence Rael] and CFO, Sanjay Bhakta who was Ms. Chavez’s upline supervisor, would yell at her when she brought up her concerns about the asbestos exposure issues at the Gateway project.” After continuing to raise concerns, Chavez was ultimately placed on sick leave, although she was not ill.

The city’s practice of awarding large sick leave bonuses to top officials departing during controversy — and then letting them claim sick leave while not being sick — is contrary to written policy. As first reported by City Desk ABQ earlier this month, the city’s inspector general has confirmed that she is investigating those practices. 

A city spokesperson has said they cannot comment on individual personnel issues.

The Health Hub

The massive 559,000-square-foot building on Gibson Boulevard was purchased by the City of Albuquerque and was meant to be Mayor Tim Keller’s answer to homelessness. The 72-year-old Lovelace Medical Building, now called the Gateway Center or Gibson Health Hub (GHH) is designed to be a modern multipurpose homeless shelter and a health services center.

Only part of the now-$70 million complex is open. It’s also had its fair share of controversy and major safety concerns since the city bought the property. 

In 2020, the Keller administration began exploring options for a building that could potentially house and provide services to hundreds of people who are homeless. The Lovelace building seemed like the perfect fit. 

But the 20-plus-acre campus was built in the 1950s when asbestos was commonly used in buildings for insulation, ceiling tiles and flooring.

Hazardous materials

On June 16, 2020, the city contracted with Sendero Environmental to conduct a site assessment of the property to determine whether there might be hazardous environmental conditions such as lead paint and asbestos. According to reports by the city’s Office of the Inspector General, a lead-based paint survey of the property was also completed.

Then, on Oct. 5, Sendero Environmental was contracted to complete a second assessment to determine whether asbestos was present. The report stated that 75 samples were tested and that asbestos was present on the second floor of the main hospital building. 

According to the purchasing agreement obtained by City Desk ABQ, on Oct. 16, 2020, the city entered into a contract to buy the complex for $15 million from Jimmy and Nadine Daskalos. The deal closed in April 2021 after the city confirmed that a “Phase I Environmental Study was conducted and that there was no need for remediation of any issues or further studies, including for ‘Asbestos Containing Materials (ACM).”’

According to the OIG report, the city abated asbestos revealed in a second survey in the basement of the main building in June 2021. 

Fast forward to April 8, 2022, the city contracted with Havona Environmental for a third survey to test asbestos sampling on the second floor. The report showed nine samples of vinyl flooring and tile were tested. Of the nine, one was found to have asbestos. The report explicitly recommended following abatement regulations before any future demolition or construction. 

Three days later, on April 11, 2022, Consolidated Builders began demolition on the Gateway Women’s Shelter, despite abatement efforts at a neighboring University of New Mexico construction suite within the building. The report states that according to employees, management was asked if construction should be halted and was told asbestos testing wasn’t necessary.

Continued construction 

In March 2023, the New Mexico Environment Department’s Occupational Health & Safety Bureau and the OIG received reports of possible employee exposure to asbestos at the Gateway Center. Emails from the Risk Management Department indicated there was work being done without testing the area for asbestos, even though the administration knew that other parts of the building had previously tested positive for asbestos. 

OHSB immediately opened an investigation into the allegations. 

In a memo obtained by the OIG, the city’s Environmental Health Department claimed it had total authority over asbestos abatement and testing, and that there were no concerns based on its own inspection. The OIG found the department had no evidence to support the claims. 

“There was no pause on the construction site with the reasoning that Risk (Management) does not have jurisdiction to shut down construction sites,” emails cited in the OIG report state.

Risk Management halted renovation construction briefly and then resumed as directed by the Chief Administrative Office. 

Emails also stated that “major work was going on to remove the materials RM [Risk Management] is investigating.” 

After a state investigation began reviewing the city’s actions, the city acknowledged responsibility for mistakes and notified individuals who visited the Gateway Women’s Shelter construction area between April 11, 2022, and March 9, 2023, of their potential asbestos exposure.

The citation

The Environment Department’s investigation came to a close in late August as state officials prepared the violation report and citation. On September 1, NMED issued its largest public fine ever against the city and its contractor: a $761,112 fine to the city and a $331,475 fine to Consolidated Builders. 

The subsequent report identified “willful and serious” violations of safety laws, “demonstrating plain indifference for the safety and health of employees and exposed employees to asbestos,” for almost an entire year – during periods when city risk management employees were pushing for officials to halt construction and take precautionary measures. 

Whistleblowers quietly sent home, paid

Almost two dozen plaintiffs have initiated lawsuits against the city for mishandling asbestos exposure and notification. At least three of those were city workers claiming whistleblower status because they say they were retaliated against after cooperating with investigators. The workers said they were intimidated, harassed, and threatened.

Read more about the lawsuit here.

Interviews and internal documents reviewed by City Desk ABQ show that at least two senior city officials who had raised those early concerns were quietly relieved of their responsibilities and paid, via sick leave, to stay home.

A senior manager in the Department of Finance and Administration, which oversaw Risk Management, was threatened with reassignment to another department in September 2023 — just as NMED was preparing to announce their record fine against the city for “serious” and “willful” actions hiding asbestos danger from workers. She offered to resign instead, sources familiar with the matter say. 

The city, however, approved a third option: She was awarded hundreds of hours of sick leave and sent home and those bonus hours allowed the employee to collect her full salary, just over $13,000 per month, through the end of the calendar year.

Chavez, the former Risk Management manager, submitted her resignation in September. One of her last assignments was to respond to questions from the city council about the administration’s handling of asbestos abatement at a meeting scheduled for October 2. 

On the Friday before the council meeting, city officials took her city computer and told her she would be paid in sick leave until her resignation date later that month.

The city’s inspector general previously confirmed to City Desk ABQ that her office is investigating claims that a select number of high-level former employees were given special treatment when they resigned. City employees contacted by our newsroom confirmed that they were questioned in the investigation.

Commenting on previous reporting about city leave policies for senior officials, city spokesperson Ava Montoya said that, with special authorization, the city can create exceptions for leave policies. 

“It is not unusual to do so for higher level executives or to take into consideration their health and retirement, as the demands of their roles often restrict them from taking large chunks of leave during their service,” Montoya said.