At Last, Council Ethics Manual is Finalized

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

An ethics handbook for the City Council that took two years to craft sets out codes of conduct in simple language for a roster of ethical dilemmas council members might face.


It touches on whether they can accept Broadway show tickets, or work on political campaigns. When the manual turns to the subject of sexual harassment, however, an issue that has rocked the council twice this year, it resorts to very careful, legalistic language.


A final draft of the manual obtained by The New York Sun shows a striking contrast in tone and language when discussing gifts and travel as opposed to sexual harassment.


“Always ask yourself how will this gift look in the press,” Chapter 3 of the handbook reads. A lengthy section follows, with examples that include a number of real-world episodes that are deemed either “clearly not okay” or acceptable.


“The Mets or Yankees offer four tickets down the 3rd base line to a junior staffer in the Speaker’s Office for him, his brother, and their girl friends,” the handbook says. “Clearly Not OK because no City purpose is served, unless the agency head, in writing, certifies attending the game is in the City’s interest.”


The portion on harassment policy reads: “Harassment – whether verbal, written, physical, or environmental – is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Harassment not only injures its immediate victim, but also poisons the work environment for others.”


The section is sprinkled with legal definitions and jargon as to what constitutes harassment, but instead of a user-friendly guide, it is a verbatim copy of Council Speaker Gifford Miller’s May 14, 2001, memorandum on the issue.


Mr. Miller’s chief spokesman, Stephen Sigmund, said the council didn’t want to reinvent the wheel when it came to its harassment policy.


“The harassment section looked to me to mirror the council’s strong harassment policy, which we believe is reasonable and clear,” Mr. Sigmund said. He declined to say why there were no examples in that section.


The tiptoeing around the issue may be a result of the existence of pending allegations of harassment against two council members, Allan Jennings of Queens and Vincent Gentile of Brooklyn.


Another factor may be the fact that the source of some of those allegations is the EEOC lawyer who prepared the council guidebook, Saphora Lifrak. She is one of several women who have lodged complaints, which a council ethics committee is in the midst of evaluating, against Mr. Jennings.


Council members on both sides of the aisle said privately that they felt Ms. Lifrak should have recused herself from the vetting of the manual once she had filed charges against Mr. Jennings, but she didn’t do that. Council members said privately that they felt powerless to force Ms. Lifrak’s recusal from the project, out of concern they would be open to accusations that they were punishing her for bringing charges against Mr. Jennings.


The policy on retaliation in the manual reads, “The Council will not tolerate adverse, retaliatory treatment of an employee because that employee reported harassment or any other form of discrimination.”


Some council members said that it appeared that Ms. Lifrak’s situation may have affected the harassment section of the manual. But to say so on the record, they worried, would make them look like they were singling her out.


Ms. Lifrak has declined to discuss either sexual harassment or the handbook with the Sun, citing the advice of her lawyer.


The New York Sun

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