City councilman Andy King doesn’t want to face the music over Zoom so he’s asking a judge to delay his upcoming disciplinary hearing until New York’s Pause order is expected to be lifted next month.
The Bronx Democrat filed an emergency application Tuesday for a judge to intervene and postpone the hearing set for next Monday since he says the city council won’t budge on his request to delay it until a hearing can be held in person.
The council brought a third round of charges against King in February for allegedly continuing to abuse his staff, misuse public funds and violate anti-discrimination policies — after having already been charged, fined and suspended in October in a similar case.
Now, King alleges in his Manhattan Supreme Court papers, that the council has “arrogantly and dismissively ignored any and all requests to briefly delay this matter until the Governor’s Executive Order expires on or about July 6, 2020.”
King says the Zoom hearing will make it difficult to give testimony, cross examine witnesses and speak with his lawyers throughout the proceeding, since he can’t be in person with them.
Further, the public and residents of King’s 12th District are entitled to be there but may not have the technology to join the hearing, the court papers say.
“The dynamics of [King’s] proceeding are of much more complexity,” than the other types of hearings the council may hold over Zoom.
King, “must agree to proceed in this virtual forum, and same cannot be unilaterally imposed upon him,” the court papers say. “Neither the City Charter, the Governor’s Executive Order nor any other local law mandates Petitioner’s participation in a Zoom based disciplinary hearing.”
King’s lawyer, Pamela Hayes, told The Post, “They haven’t given any type of explanation as to why this has to happen right now.”
Hayes — who says she hasn’t been to her office since the coronavirus pandemic hit — says she is concerned her representation would not be as effective given the “learning curve” in using Zoom.
In 2017, King was also forced to take sensitivity training after the disciplinary committee found that he sexually harassed a female staffer.
The newest round of charges prompted Council Speaker Corey Johnson to request that King be removed from office if the allegations are confirmed.
A spokesman for the City Council declined to comment.
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