Tell Morse it’s time to go
Amayor is often the face of a city. In Cohoes, that face is now the mug shot of an alleged felon.
This is bad for Mayor Shawn Morse, of course, but it’s terrible for Cohoes. Mr. Morse either doesn’t care or refuses to admit the problem he poses for his city, just as he’s refused to see the damage he has done over the past two tumultuous years. It’s up to Cohoes residents, and his fellow Democratic officials, to convince him that it’s way past time for him to step down.
It’s bad enough that Mr. Morse has clung to his seat amid multiple allegations of abuse from women — including his wife, his youngest daughter and a former girlfriend. His behavior also tarnished the reputation of the Cohoes Police Department, which failed to act against Mr. Morse, a former city firefighter and ex-chairman of the Albany County Legislature, who also is the city’s public safety commissioner, overseeing the police.
Investigations by State Police, the Albany County Sheriff’s Department and Colonie police did not yield charges relating to the alleged abuse, but the cloud remained, especially after it emerged in September that Mr. Morse was being probed by the FBI.
And now it grows darker for the mayor and his city: Mr. Morse was arrested Thursday on seven federal felony charges stemming from alleged misuse of political campaign funds.
According to the indictment, Mr. Morse and his campaign treasurer, Ralph Signoracci, set up a political action committee to get around limits on donations to the mayor’s campaign fund, and told donors that their gifts would be used for other political candidates. Instead, the FBI says, Mr. Signoracci withdrew most of the funds — more than $12,000 — and Mr. Morse then used the money for his own campaign, a vacation, dining out, and home repairs.
Even a public relations firm Mr. Morse hired bad-mouthed him this week. Reputation Doctor says Mr. Morse’s re-election campaign stiffed it to the tune of $20,000 for work that included ongoing services. The mayor, whose term expires this year, says he hired the firm only to help with the announcement of his re-election campaign in January and that he owes it nothing. Mr. Morse says he’s not guilty of any crime, and that he’s not quitting the job or, it seems, his campaign.
Whatever the outcome of all this, anyone — except perhaps Mr. Morse — can see how damaging it is to Cohoes’ image and the orderly functioning of its government to have a mayor mired in all this controversy. The man in charge of Cohoes police is accused of criminal acts. No public official will want to share a stage with him, let alone collaborate on work that might benefit Cohoes.
Many of his fellow Democrats asked Mr. Morse to resign after the abuse allegations, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo and County Executive Dan Mccoy. They ought to double down on that demand. Meanwhile, other ethical Democrats should join in the push to rid their party of an official of dubious character.
But ultimately it’s up to Cohoes residents themselves to show Mr. Morse that the good people of his city have had enough. They might call his office and let him know it’s time for a new face — one that isn’t a public embarrassment.