Taylor mayor faces FBI probe questions at State of the City

TAYLOR, Mich. (FOX 2) - Under a cloud of questions and suspicion Taylor Mayor Rick Sollars delivered his State of the City address on Thursday two days after raids at city hall, his house and his vacation home.

"I don't want this to be a distraction to the State of the City," Sollars said during his address.

The mayor touted the success of his city and what he's been able to achieve under his leadership.

But when he met with members of the media he had very little to say about the raids or what prompted them.

"I can tell you that I'm innocent and I will continue to work on behalf of the people," Sollars said.

FBI Officials have still not revealed what prompted the raids on Tuesday, but they do maintain the warrants were conducted as part of an ongoing public corruption investigation.

"A lot of this I don't even know who is involved, who is not involved," Sollars said.

Although it remains unclear what sparked the FBI investigation. It comes on the heels of a civil lawsuit filed against the mayor, a member of the Taylor City Council Herman "Butch" Ramik and the city. 

FBI raids Taylor City Hall, mayor's home in corruption probe

The suit was filed by a member of the city's police force who did salvage inspections for the city.

The officer alleges that the mayor and city council member retaliated against him because he gave a bad review of J and M Towing that the mayor and council member wanted to award the city's towing contract, to.

The officer's lawsuit alleges the mayor and city council member are receiving kickbacks from the towing company.

Questions swirl at Taylor council meeting after FBI raid of City Hall

Although the mayor maintains his innocence he also admits he's not 100 percent sure what this investigation is about.

FOX 2: "The other day you said you had no idea what the raid was about. Do you have any idea why you are being investigated?"  

"Very little," Sollars said.

FOX 2: "Okay, so what do you know?"

"I really can't say," Sollars said. "What I do know, I've been advised not to discuss it in detail."

The mayor says he has retained attorney Todd Flood who was recently the Flint Water prosecutor to provide some legal guidance.  

Taylor corruption probe leads FBI to raid Allen Park business

Sollars was also questioned if he had any business deals with towing businessman Gasper Fiore who was sentenced to prison for bribery. 

"I don't know that I even talked to him," he said. "I don't know that I even talked to him, so. I don't know that I discussed anything with him."

So for now questions remain.