Pace of Sexual Misconduct Hearings Frustrates City Council Members
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Members of the City Council’s ethics committee have spent the equivalent of more than a work week in hearings involving sexual misconduct charges against a council member from Queens and are frustrated by the glacial pace of the proceedings, sources said.
The committee, which is trying the case against Allan Jennings Jr., spent more than six hours hearing testimony yesterday alone and has convened 10 times since September 20 for hearings lasting anywhere from three to six hours.
“If I were on the committee I would be going nuts,” said the council’s minority leader, James Oddo. “Every minute you spend in there is a minute you are not in your district office or in your council office doing work for your constituents.”
Mr. Oddo, who is from Staten Island, said his colleagues have not divulged any confidential information about the substance of the hearings, but he said it is clear that frustration is beginning to percolate and that many are becoming weary.
Members of the Standards and Ethics Committee have been barred from talking to reporters, but sources familiar with the hearings say panel members are often precluded from even leaving the room to take phone calls because the quorum will be broken.
The proceeding is the panel’s most time-consuming by far in recent memory. Angel Rodriguez, a former council member who pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges in 2002, appeared in front of the committee, but his case was resolved in court and did not linger in the council.
Many say the council members on the committee are being forced to forgo other obligations to hear hours of testimony in the Jennings case.
Although sources say committee members feel that both Mr. Jennings, a Democrat accused of acting inappropriately toward five women, and his accusers, all of whom are employed by the council, deserve a fair forum to present their arguments, it is clear that some feel the process has been overextended. Committee members yesterday arrived at 10 a.m., but waited an hour for the six-person quorum necessary to begin.
The committee has heard from three witnesses, but there are between 30 and 50 more expected to testify when it reconvenes. Upcoming witnesses are not expected to take as long as the first three.
“They are spending interminable hours listening to testimony and it’s taking them away from their other responsibilities,” said a Baruch College political science professor, Douglas Muzzio. The process, he said, was affecting both the individuals on the committee and the council as a whole.
Council Speaker Gifford Miller, a Democrat who plans to challenge Mayor Bloomberg for his job next year, was criticized for failing to respond fast enough when the charges were initially lodged against Mr. Jennings.
In responding to questions yesterday, Mr. Miller’s office said the speaker did not believe the hearings were negatively affecting the rest of the council.
“Of course they are not infringing on the effectiveness of the council. The council has continued to pass good, smart legislation,” said Mr. Miller’s spokesman, Stephen Sigmund. “The speaker has extreme confidence in the committee to handle the hearings appropriately, effectively, and as quickly as possible.”
“Of course he’d like to see it wrap up as quickly as possible, just like everyone else would and I’m sure the members of the committee would,” Mr. Sigmund continued. “But he thinks that the members of the committee are doing a strong job and are doing a comprehensive investigation and will finish when its appropriate.”
Mr. Oddo said that while some have tried to lay the blame on Mr. Miller, there is not much the speaker can do but let the process unfold.
A lawyer for Mr. Jennings did not return a call for comment yesterday. The council member faces six charges, including sexual misconduct toward an attorney for the council and a former aide; creating a hostile work environment; misusing council funds by having an aide clean his apartment, and acting inappropriately toward another council member by reading her a portion of a biblical psalm. He has denied all but the last charge, saying there was nothing inappropriate about it.
If the committee finds Mr. Jennings guilty it can recommend that the full council impose penalties ranging from fines to expulsion. The committee will reconvene November 15.