Source: The Buffalo News, N.迷你倉出租Y.July 24--ALBANY -- A longtime confidante to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver who has helped run damage control over some of the more embarrassing controversies in the Democratic house for two decades is quitting amid allegations he did not investigate sexually harassment charges brought by a young female staff member against a Democratic lawmaker.The resignation of William Collins, counsel to the Democratic majority, comes as Silver said he was only told last month about the inappropriate contact that occurred in 2009 between Manhattan Assemblyman Micha Kellner and one of his female staffers.Collins, the top legal adviser to Silver on all internal matters within the Assembly, failed to investigate evidence brought to him in 2009 by a supervisor on Kellner's staff that outlined sexually inappropriate comments the lawmaker wrote to a young, new member of his staff.Kellner, according to The New York Times, which first reported the story late Tuesday night, apologized and called his actions "wrong" and "stupid." Kellner, 34, who is openly bisexual, has since married a woman; he is running for a seat on the New York City Council.The state Republican Party this morning wasted little time highlighting the latest scandal to be revealed in the Assembly. The party called on Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate sexual harassment cases in the Assembly.The allegations against Kellner apparently died with Collins and there appears to have been no involvement by a legislative ethics panel, which is supposed to handle such cases. It was Collins, at Silver's request, who handled the more recent secret settlement deal for $103,000 of taxpayer funds with two women who had accused now-former Assemblyman Vito Lopez of a pattern of sexual harassment, groping and intimidation. It has taken months for Silver to try to rebuild relations with female legislators in the Assembly after the Lopez case came to light.In one Google Talk c儲存倉at, the Times said Kellner wrote to the female staffer, who is in her early 20s, because "you were cute during the interview." He said he "secretly" hoped she did not have a boyfriend. "I'd like being the only man in your life." In another exchange, he wrote, "I wouldn't mind falling asleep with you, but not remotely. Did I offend?"The web site SeeThroughNY listed Collins' most recently salary as $141,000.Michael Whyland, a Silver spokesman, said Silver was not told of the matter by Collins, who has been involved in a number of sensitive legal matters for the Assembly, including the case of a female staffer who claimed another top Silver adviser, Michael Boxley, has sexually attacked her. Boxley later resigned after he was arrested on rape charges involving a different woman; he pled guilty to misdemeanor sexual misconduct in that case.Silver believes the allegations involving Kellner "should have been handled differently," Whyland said. He said the matter was first brought to Silver's attention on June 7 by Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, a Manhattan Democrat. Silver then immediately turned the case over to the Assembly ethics committee for a full review, Whyland said.After the controversy surrounding the separate case involving Lopez, once Brooklyn's most powerful Democrat, Silver said all allegations of sexual harassment against lawmakers will automatically go to the ethics committee to investigateOfficials said the Albany law firm of Roemer, Wallens, Gold & Mineaux has been retained by the Assembly ethics panel to help it investigate any sexual harassment cases involving lawmakers. Details on that contract were not immediately available."The speaker has had a conversation with Mr. Collins and he will be leaving the Assembly's employ," Whyland said.Collins could not be immediately reached for comment.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.) Visit The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.) at www.buffalonews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉沙田
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