Council eyes allegations against mayor
COHOES, N.Y. » After several state and local officials, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo, made calls for Cohoes Mayor Shawn Morse to resign after domestic violence allegations surfaced again, members of the Common Council held a special meeting Monday night to discuss the situation involving the mayor.
The special meeting was held in City Hall and was open to the public. Dozens of community members and city employees gathered into the council chambers, with many supporters of Morse voicing their opinion about why Morse should not resign.
Last week, the New York State Police said that they had closed their investigation and that they found no probable cause to charge Morse. However, their investigation has been reopened after Cuomo called for Morse to resign on Sunday.
According to the City Charter, the council legally cannot force the mayor to resign from his position and Morse made it clear on Monday that he does not intend to resign.
Morse held a news conference earlier in the day Monday, where he said he never hit his wife or his daughter before, while also accusing his wife, Brenda Morse, of using drugs.
“I want to congratulate Shawn Morse on the courage he showed
[during the press conference Monday],” said city resident Bill Shea. “....I also think it’s important to encourage people not to condemn on the basis of hypotheticals.”
“I can guarantee the character of [ Morse], he has more character and heart than anybody in this room… that man spent 26 years, while you people slept, he watched your back ... he saved people,” added Thomas White.
After hearing from several residents, many of whom shared their support for Morse, members of the Common Council then be- gan to share some of their thoughts on the situation with Morse.
As councilmembers began to voice their opinions, with some voicing their concerns, supporters of Morse then began to yell back at members of the council.
Common Council President Christopher Briggs said he was was torn about the situation since he realizes that many state and local officials have called for Morse to resign, but he knows that no one can force the mayor to step down.
“This is a real tough spot that the mayor’s in, this thing has grown and grown and grown to be some monster, that it is more than what it started off to be, so it’s not about Shawn and his personal problems, but it’s more it’s more about Shawn the mayor, not Shawn the individual,” said Briggs. “So I’m struggling in my mind, what do you do? I kind of concluded it’s Shawn’s decision, we don’t have the ability to remove him.”
“It seems to me that one of two things are possible in this entire affair and I just want us all to consider it, the first is that Mayor Morse from day one has been totally 100 percent truthful, the second is that this entire thing is one mass conspiracy involving multiple people and multiple agencies,” added Councilman Randy Koniowka, who announced last week his intentions to run for mayor next year. “There’s really no in between here, either Mayor Morse has been open, honest and 100 percent truthful or we have entire of cast co- conspirators that have lied and to me it’s hard for me to believe that.”
Councilman Bill Smith and Don Russell, each said that they believe the mayor has a right to due process and that he should not resign, unless he is charged with any crimes. Cohoes Democratic Chairman and Deputy Majority Leader of the Albany County Legislature, said after hearing Morse share his side of the story to him that he did not join in with his fellow Democratic colleagues in calling for Morse’s resignation.
Councilman Steve Napier said that after seeing all of the elected officials calling for the mayor to resign, that he believes it is something really worth considering. Councilman William McCarthy said he hopes that the newest investigation is as quick as possible and that he hopes that Morse can continue to do his job as mayor during these personal issues.
Morse also was in the crowd during the meeting and went up to the microphone several times to speak before the six council members.
“Every agency had found that none of it existed, I don’t know what else I can do, I don’t know what else I can say, this is politics, politics is dirty and people want to beat you when you’re down,” said Morse. “I will tell you this right now, I was born and raised in the proj- ects, [I’m] an Irish Catholic, I ain’t down, I ain’t on my knees, I ain’t resigning and I will continue to do the work that I’ve done since I’ve been mayor and I will do it with great pride and I will represent the city with all I have.”