March 29, 2021

Speaker Corey Johnson City Council City Hall New York, NY 10007

Dear Speaker Johnson,

In the last few weeks the New York State Legislature has been rightly focused on the allegations of sexual misconduct against Governor Cuomo which include, sexual grooming of entry-level employees, forcible kissing, and inappropriate touching as well as a generally abusive and toxic workplace.

However, the pervasive culture of workplace harassment and abuse in politics is not limited to Albany. The Council has periodically failed to protect staff from abusers, like former Council Member Andy King. Although the Council ultimately expelled him, the initial attempt to first discipline King resulted in him abusing more staff.

Our work here is far from done. While many of our colleagues are term-limited and leaving office soon, we must take action now to make the Council a healthier work environment where abusers are held accountable for their actions for incoming members and staff.

In 2019, council members and staff received an email acknowledging concerns raised by Council staffers about the work environment. In addition to amending the Council’s Anti-Discrimination and Harassment Policy to require supervisors to be mandatory reporters, the Council hired an Equal Employment Opportunity Officer. It also hired Redwood Enterprise LLC (RELLC), a firm with “three decades of experience in innovative and inclusive workplace practices and effective responses to bias, harassment, and discrimination,” to conduct an audit of the Council’s sexual harassment policies and procedures.

A few days later, an email sent from then-acting Council General Counsel, Jim Caras, detailed “assertive steps” the Council has taken to “make our workplace culture and sexual harassment prevention the ‘best in class’.” Those steps included revising the Rules of the Council (Rule 2.70 and 2.75), “to hold [the Council] accountable and promote a safe working environment.” Rule 2.75(c), for example, requires the Speaker to distribute a discrimination and harassment climate survey (“Survey”), which was a commitment made when the Council passed the Stop Sexual Harassment in NYC Act of 2018. The Council has since distributed only two surveys.

RELLC subcontracted with Working IDEAL, Lake Research Partners and Holliday Advisors to carry out its assessment of the Council’s workplace practices and policies, which included a number of focus groups designed to elicit Council employees’ views concerning the Council’s discrimination and harassment policies and perceptions of the Council’s workplace environment. Last March, Caras emailed staff to share a summary of findings regarding the Survey that had been distributed to Council staff in late-2018/early-2019. According to Caras, the “findings, along with corresponding recommendations, are being thoughtfully considered to inform current and future policies and practices.”

The recommendations of that report have yet to be released.

We are calling for those recommendations to be released, and for the Council to hold hearings into the findings so we can publicly interrogate our existing sexual harassment policy, not just for the Council but all of City government.

Sincerely,

Jimmy Van Bramer Council Member, District 26 & Candidate for Borough President

Brad Lander Council Member, District 39 & Candidate for New York City Comptroller

Tiffany Cabán Candidate for Council District 22

Moumita Ahmed Candidate for Council District 24

Elizabeth Adams Candidate for Council District 33

Carolyn Tran Candidate for Council District 25 Sandy Nurse Candidate for Council District 37

Marti Allen-Cummings Candidate for Council District 7

Amanda Farias Candidate for Council District 18

Shahana Hanif Candidate for Council District 39

Brandon West Candidate for Council District 39

Lincoln Restler Candidate for Council District 33

Chi Osse Candidate for Council District 36