Stringer Deputy Press Sec Slams “O-dumb-a,” Defends Racial Profiling
Face book comments made while apparently on government time about Gates incident
UPDATED, 11:15 a.m. — ManhattanBorough President Scott Stringer’s deputy press secretary has abruptlyresigned after spending time at the office railing against Barack Obamaand defending racial profiling on her Facebook account, following thecontroversial arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates last week.
LeeLandor, who joined Stringer’s staff several months ago, first posted alink to a news report on President Obama’s remark that the Cambridgepolice had “acted stupidly” in arresting Gates. She commented on theincident, writing that “the situation got ‘out of hand’ because Gatesis a racist, not because the officer was DOING HIS JOB!”
Thecomments were posted at 11:43 a.m. on Friday, July 24, while Landor wasapparently working in the borough president’s office. That same day,she posted to Stringer’s official government blog about a plan theborough president had proposed for reviving mayoral control of thecity’s public schools.
Landor defended her initial remark insubsequent comments on the page posted at 12:32 p.m. the same day,adding that “racial profiling does exist, but for good reason. Take alook at this country’s jails: who makes up the majority of inmates?Exactly.”
The comments were made in Facebook posts traded withtwo other people, neither of whom are government employees, and one ofwhom is apparently related to Landor.
Landor also referred tothe president as “O-dumb-a,” and said that “Black people, Hispanicpeople, Indian people, Asian people, whoever, are being over-the-topracists in recent weeks, as highlighted in the media since theSotomayor-New Haven issue.” She was apparently referring to the case inwhich Sonia Sotomayor ruled that the New Haven Fire Department had theright to cancel a test determining promotions within the departmentbecause no black firefighters passed.
Ina statement issued late Monday evening, Dick Riley, Stringer'scommunications director, said the borough president had acceptedLandor's resignation, effective immediately.
"Ms. Landor'scomments were totally inappropriate and in direct contradiction to theviews of the borough president and his office," Riley said in thestatement.
Landor did not return messages left on her cell phone seeking comment.
Landor’sFacebook profile, which could be viewed by people beyond her selected"friends" network (including others in government) through Mondayafternoon, was apparently deleted after Riley was reached out of theoffice on Monday evening for comment. Screen shots of the comments hadalready been obtained by City Hall.
Michael Hardy, an attorney for the National Action Network, had called for Lander to be fired immediately.
“Ifthis statement is accurate, then this person should be terminated fromthe office if [Lander] made the statement during [her] governmentservice,” he said in a phone interview after reviewing the comments.“And if [she] didn’t make this statement during [her] government time,then the public should be advised—and we certainly will advisethem—that this should be taken into consideration when voting for ScottStringer as your Manhattan borough president.”
He added: “It would be very sad if this statement represents the position of the Manhattan borough president’s office.”
Dick Dadey, the executive director of Citizens Union, a good-government group, said Landor’s comments were inappropriate because they were made on government time and with government resources.
“The use of social networking sites during the work day by government employees is not something that should be permitted, unless it is specifically apart of a communication effort of the elected official or department for which they work,” Dadey said. “Commenting on a political matter not germane to the performance of their job during work hours is questionable.”
Dadey added that allowing government employees,especially those involved in representing elected officials to the public, to comment on political issues on personal websites made it difficult to discern official policy from private opinion.
“It’s easy to draw conclusions that they’re blending the personal with the political in questionable ways,” Dadey said. “The line becomes blurry as to whether they’re representing themselves or the elected official.
LeeLandor, who joined Stringer’s staff several months ago, first posted alink to a news report on President Obama’s remark that the Cambridgepolice had “acted stupidly” in arresting Gates. She commented on theincident, writing that “the situation got ‘out of hand’ because Gatesis a racist, not because the officer was DOING HIS JOB!”
Thecomments were posted at 11:43 a.m. on Friday, July 24, while Landor wasapparently working in the borough president’s office. That same day,she posted to Stringer’s official government blog about a plan theborough president had proposed for reviving mayoral control of thecity’s public schools.
Landor defended her initial remark insubsequent comments on the page posted at 12:32 p.m. the same day,adding that “racial profiling does exist, but for good reason. Take alook at this country’s jails: who makes up the majority of inmates?Exactly.”
The comments were made in Facebook posts traded withtwo other people, neither of whom are government employees, and one ofwhom is apparently related to Landor.
Landor also referred tothe president as “O-dumb-a,” and said that “Black people, Hispanicpeople, Indian people, Asian people, whoever, are being over-the-topracists in recent weeks, as highlighted in the media since theSotomayor-New Haven issue.” She was apparently referring to the case inwhich Sonia Sotomayor ruled that the New Haven Fire Department had theright to cancel a test determining promotions within the departmentbecause no black firefighters passed.
Ina statement issued late Monday evening, Dick Riley, Stringer'scommunications director, said the borough president had acceptedLandor's resignation, effective immediately.
"Ms. Landor'scomments were totally inappropriate and in direct contradiction to theviews of the borough president and his office," Riley said in thestatement.
Landor did not return messages left on her cell phone seeking comment.
Landor’sFacebook profile, which could be viewed by people beyond her selected"friends" network (including others in government) through Mondayafternoon, was apparently deleted after Riley was reached out of theoffice on Monday evening for comment. Screen shots of the comments hadalready been obtained by City Hall.
Michael Hardy, an attorney for the National Action Network, had called for Lander to be fired immediately.
“Ifthis statement is accurate, then this person should be terminated fromthe office if [Lander] made the statement during [her] governmentservice,” he said in a phone interview after reviewing the comments.“And if [she] didn’t make this statement during [her] government time,then the public should be advised—and we certainly will advisethem—that this should be taken into consideration when voting for ScottStringer as your Manhattan borough president.”
He added: “It would be very sad if this statement represents the position of the Manhattan borough president’s office.”
Dick Dadey, the executive director of Citizens Union, a good-government group, said Landor’s comments were inappropriate because they were made on government time and with government resources.
“The use of social networking sites during the work day by government employees is not something that should be permitted, unless it is specifically apart of a communication effort of the elected official or department for which they work,” Dadey said. “Commenting on a political matter not germane to the performance of their job during work hours is questionable.”
Dadey added that allowing government employees,especially those involved in representing elected officials to the public, to comment on political issues on personal websites made it difficult to discern official policy from private opinion.
“It’s easy to draw conclusions that they’re blending the personal with the political in questionable ways,” Dadey said. “The line becomes blurry as to whether they’re representing themselves or the elected official.
