NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — Just days before Election Day, a former campaign manager is suing Newport News mayoral candidate and current Councilwoman Tina Vick, alleging that Vick breached their contract with “illegal and unethical” behavior relating to transparency with campaign finances.
Levita Jones, the owner of The Divine Power Blueprint, filed the lawsuit on October 26 in Newport News Circuit Court. It comes several years after Vick was cleared of previous accusations that she violated conflict of interest and campaign finance reporting laws.
Jones says Vick kept her in the dark by repeatedly ignoring her requests to see the campaign’s books, and “continuously sought to divert the campaign funds accounting methodology” without Jones’ knowledge.
“Transparency in reporting all campaign contributions are not only an option, it is mandatory as it pertains to campaign finance reporting,” Jones said.
Jones went on to say in the suit that she “refused to participate in an act … believed to be illegal and unethical deception … perpetrated by Tina L. Vick.” And that she “rebuked, rebuffed and adamantly opposed the scheme …”
In an email response to WAVY to clarify, Jones said it was “illegal” in regards to Vick failing to honor a legal contract and she has “unethical” patterns of acting in bad faith while conducting business.
“What is she hiding?” she said in the response.
Jones is seeking $25,000 she says Vick failed to pay in a breach of their contract, and filed a second claim of unjust enrichment, saying Vick “conferred a substantial economic benefit” in overall fundraising.
Jones signed on as campaign manager on July 2 and stopped receiving scheduled payments from Vick in early September, documentation in the lawsuit shows. She also says that Vick afterward sought to “threaten, harass, annoy, and misrepresent the truth” about the contract with others, hurting Jones’ reputation and her ability to find other work.
WAVY reached out to Vick on Friday afternoon, and she said her attorney has advised her not to speak about the lawsuit at this time.
In an email from Vick shared in the suit, Vick says she stopped paying Jones because she lost confidence in her ability to do her job duties. Those included being in charge of fundraising the $100,000 expected to be raised for the campaign as part of the contract. Part of that $100,000 would go toward paying Jones’ base salary of $30,000.
Jones however says that she didn’t default on her end of the deal, as she was under contract through the November election and expected to raise the $100,000 in the subsequent weeks.
Jones continued to stress in the lawsuit that Vick never let her see the campaign’s financial reports during the period she was employed, writing in an email to Vick “you asked me to fundraise but never would show me the campaign finances. You requested me to bring money into the campaign that I could not see or track.”
That information requested included funds submitted via Cash App, Paypal, wire funds and checks.
Campaign finance records sent to the state from the Vick campaign for the filing period covering July 1 to August 31, the period of Jones’ employment, include receipts for $3,250 in cash contributions raised from three different entities, VPAP.org data shows. They include $2,500 from Tommy Garner Air Conditioning & Heating, $500 from real estate company Welford Corporation and $250 from a man named James Suggs.
The campaign reported just under $17,000 in contributions in earlier reporting periods.
Vick is running against three others in the general election for mayor and has raised the least amount of money overall, just $24,455 as of Nov. 4, VPAP.org data shows. Management consultant and Naval Academy grad Phillip Jones has raised by far the most with $221,574. Saundra Cherry has raised $50,446 and Dave Jenkins has raised $30,331.
The race is expected to be the most expensive in Newport News history, WAVY’s Brett Hall reported.
You can read more about all the candidates on WAVY’s candidate profile page.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Vick as the current vice mayor. WAVY-TV apologizes for the error.