"If people want me to, I shall": Councilmember King speaks on suspension, running for BP spot

Councilmember Andy King sat down with BronxNet for an interview in the wake of his suspension his suspension, were he spoke about City Council's Ethics Committee investigation.

News 12 Staff

Dec 21, 2019, 3:05 AM

Updated 1,594 days ago

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Councilmember Andy King sat down with BronxNet for an interview in the wake of his suspension his suspension, were he spoke about City Council's Ethics Committee investigation.
For 30 minutes, King and his lawyer answered questions regarding accusations of harassing and bullying staffers and using city funds to cover costs for private and personal affairs.
Many times, King talked about his faith. "I learn as you forgive, you also ask for forgiveness for those you might have offended or made feel uncomfortable any other time, so I offer that as well," said King.
King and his lawyer felt that throughout the investigation, the council never got his side.
"They made my attorney and I wait in their office for three hours, and they never showed up. They said they were on their way, they were coming and they never showed up. My colleagues don't know this, the press doesn't know this, but they put out there that I never cooperated, that I made a mockery of the chair's time when I was available and I made myself available. So again, that is disingenuous to feed that kind of conversation to the people," said King.
When asked about harassment training he attended in the past, King said, "Any time I go to training, I try to pull out the pieces that can help me be a better individual. That is only what a wise man would do is try to learn in any situation you are placed in. The sad thing about the whole thing is that shake my hand, smile and you get invited to my wedding anniversary, and they constitute that as sexual harassment. I don't know how that action right there is to shake someone's hand and I denied ever doing that, but you sent me for training for that."
His lawyer said they are now pursuing an appeal. When asked about his political future, King says people in the public have told him this is due to the fact that people want him to run for borough president, and others want to bring him down.
"If people want me to, I shall," said King when asked if he will run for the spot.
News 12 reached out to the City Council on King's comments that the process was unfair, and they responded pointing to a judge's decision on those claims.
The judge said," That petitioner's due process rights were not violated." The judge went on to say, "I don't think the City Council did anything wrong, and the petition is dismissed."


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