Opinion: Don’t Let a Cuomo Mayoralty Bring ‘Climate of Fear’ to City Hall

How can we allow Andrew Cuomo with his long history of violating and degrading women refusing accountability and using taxpayer dollars to attack his casualties in court run City Hall Since the beginning of the pandemic tenant advocates have criticized Gov Cuomo for not doing enough to halt evictions Kevin P Coughlin Office of Governor Andrew M Cuomo I know how challenging it is to speak out about discrimination and harassment as a regime employee Back in when I filed a lawsuit against the City Council alleging retaliation and failure to accommodate my need for fertility healing I was subjected to retaliation within my society for taking legal action Because of that history I refuse to stay silent while a disgraced former governor tries to weasel his way into the mayor s office all while trying to silence the women he s tormented Things were bad in City Hall when I worked there particularly for Black women like me and they would be unspeakably worse under a Cuomo administration Hundreds of pages of evidence from Attorney General Letitia James probe show then-Gov Andrew Cuomo groped kissed or made suggestive comments to at least female staffers and a separate Department of Justice review revealed that he repeatedly subjected others to harassment and retaliation current several state and federal laws How can we allow Andrew Cuomo with his long history of violating and degrading women refusing accountability and using taxpayer dollars to attack his casualties in court run City Hall Like Cuomo s former employees I know what it feels like to work in a weather of fear as Attorney General James described as a female staffer It s no wonder so countless Black women don t analysis workplace harassment Despite chronic underreporting Black women still file sexual harassment alleges at almost times the rate of white women We bear the brunt of this sexual violence retaliation or discrimination and the records only show the tip of the iceburg Even when we take legal action afterward we rarely get justice Abusers often use legal threats to silence us sending a message to future casualties that they better stay quiet too Since he was pushed out of office Cuomo has subpoenaed former female employees for invasive personal documents including gynecological records and threatened them with defamation lawsuits He has used million of New York State tax dollars to do so and is as of now suing the state to cover even more of his legal bills Thankfully there s a bill in Albany the Speak Your Truth Act that would protect survivors from these tactics The bill would make it harder for perpetrators like Cuomo to weaponize defamation lawsuits against survivors of sexual assault harassment and discrimination It entitles casualties to reasonable attorneys fees and other damages easing their enormous financial burden If elected leaders in Albany really care about survivors like they noted they did when they forced Cuomo to resign they should pass this bill this year After all of the harm he has caused candidate Cuomo known abuser has the audacity to ask for our votes I m disheartened that Black leaders are endorsing a man who has shown time and again that he only supports us for his own political gain He publicly smeared New York s first Black woman attorney general for her study into his pattern of abuse as inaccurate misleading and politically motivated and then sued her for doing the job he designated her to do an excellent job at that And he has never taken accountability When sought lately on the campaign trail about his proven sexual harassment Cuomo responded I mentioned at that time it was wrong I revealed at that time it was political it has been discredited and nothing has come from any of it He continues to deny everything Cuomo has not changed and will not if elected to office again The brave Cuomo staffers who spoke their truth and a large number of more who were dragged into two separate investigations are smart dedicated people committed to making New York a better place They are exactly the kind of people we want working for the city I was just like them and felt unheard and fearful My experience fuels my commitment to advocating for justice dignity and accountability for all women through my company March For Equity I would never choose to work for Cuomo Who would If he becomes mayor he and his cronies will drain New York of the diverse perspectives and talent we desperately need Men in powerful positions like Cuomo have no business in population office It is a privilege to work for the people of New York not an entitlement By supporting Cuomo we re not only rewarding his abusive behavior we re sending a message to all of the women he s harmed as well as women and girls across New York and future generations that their voices don t matter Shana Melius is a former New York City Council staffer and the co-founder CEO of March for Equity The post Opinion Don t Let a Cuomo Mayoralty Bring Situation of Fear to City Hall 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