Come clean, Jumaane, say his foes
Candidates for public advocate — including all three women seeking the office — called on candidate and City Councilman Jumaane Williams to offer more information about what led to a 2009 arrest following a dispute with his then-girlfriend.
Two candidates, former Council Speaker Melissa MarkViverito and activist Nomiki Konst, held a joint news conference Monday, a day before voters will decide who will fill the office vacated by now-state Attorney General Letitia James, who won the state position following Eric Schneiderman’s resignation amid accusations he had physically abused women.
“Let’s not forget, this public advocate’s race began because of violence against women,” Mark-Viverito said.
Williams was arrested in 2009 following an argument with his girlfriend in Brooklyn, he acknowledged to the Daily News last week. The charges were dropped and the arrest was sealed. According to a law enforcement source, cops were called after items were thrown and damage was done to a chair, wall and Christmas ornament.
“We’ve said as a city we want to be better than this. We’ve said we will stand up for women and demand full transparency from all, no matter who is involved or where their allegiances lay — because if we remain silent, if we give some people a pass, what message are we sending to the young women of our city?” Mark-Viverito asked.
Konst tied the arrest to what she deemed Williams’ poor record on supporting women’s and gay rights, and to his failure to remove from his website or “denounce” two supporters of his bid — Councilman Andy King, who was accused of sexual harassment of a staffer and found to have violated Council policy by the ethics committee, and state Sen. Kevin Parker, who told a female Senate staffer to “kill yourself.”
Candidate Dawn Smalls called on Williams to make public the arrest report at issue, with the complainant’s name redacted.
Shortly after Mark-Viverito and Konst’s news conference, a Williams adviser said, “They didn’t make any case in terms of what transparency they want — we have been very transparent.”