Oh!
Silly me, I thought you meant this kind:
RACIAL TENSIONS PROMPT BRADLEY TO TAKE A LEAVE OF ABSENCE FROM DPW: Lawsuit planned as Cuomo investigates discrimination here
By Mike Hudson
The recent election of Barack Obama as the nation's first black president was reassuring to many white people who want to believe, despite much evidence to the contrary, that race relations in this country have reached a point of conciliation, and that the dream of Martin Luther King Jr. and others who struggled in the 1960s for equal rights and a color-blind society have been largely fulfilled.
But anyone still basking in the warm afterglow of the presidential contest might want to take a quick reality check by looking at Mayor Paul Dyster's Department of Public Works, a place where race prejudice is the order of the day and bigotry is kept as much as possible from the public view.
Five years ago, when six black DPW workers filed a suit alleging workplace racism and on-the-job discrimination, then-mayor Irene Elia dismissed the charges out of hand. Today, two administrations later, the men say the very practices they sued for have been allowed to continue, and in many cases become worse, since Dyster entered office one year ago.
The city law department -- in the able hands of Tom O'Donnell, since Dyster can't seem to find anyone suitable to act as corporation counsel -- has become adept at finding clever ways to postpone the inevitable day when the case will come to trial and the city will lose millions trying to defend the indefensible.
Earlier this year, a white DPW employee, James Curtis, displayed his sense of humor by posting a hand-scrawled sign over the drinking-water fountain at the department's headquarters. "Whites Only," it said.
He said that he just did it as a joke and that he was sorry if it offended anybody. Previous DPW "jokes" have included hanging a noose in front of one of the black workers' locker, so in that context Curtis' stunt does seem almost benign. He got off with a slap on the wrist.
The story made the national media, and Curtis became a cause celebre among white supremacists from Idaho to Alabama. For the city, it was another embarrassment, mitigated only by the crack investigative work of NFPD Det. Frank Coney, who quickly solved the case and arrested Curtis.
When he ran for office, Dyster promised that his administration would be above reproach. His Ph.D. and background as a "State Department negotiator," he said, would give him an intellectual leg up on all of the previous chief executives the city has had, and his passions for green technology, eco-tourism and progressive government were bandied about as evidence of some sort of 21st century moral imperative.
While that facade has largely crumbled during the do-nothing first year of his term, Dyster's complete lack of attention to the problem of institutional racism in the DPW seems especially galling.
"Things have gotten so bad there that I'm taking a leave of absence," said Clarence Bradley, who was technically demoted from his position as operations foreman at the DPW to the illusory position of "parks and public works coordinator" on March 22.
Since then, Bradley says his job has consisted of driving around the city in a truck all day and not doing anything.
"They have told me I'm not to talk to the men. That there are places I cannot go because the men will be there. I'm the only city employee who can't go to certain places in the city," he said.
Shortly after his demotion, Bradley filed a discrimination complaint, based on allegations that DPW Foreman Willie Santiago referred to him as a "nigger" on numerous occasions in front of other DPW workers. In addition to a conviction on charges related to the theft of $20,000 worth of road millings from the DPW yard in 2003, Santiago is named repeatedly in the lawsuit filed by the Niagara Falls Six for racist remarks and actions.
The city dismissed Bradley's complaint in May.
"Following a review of all the facts and circumstances regarding this matter, please be advised the city will take no formal disciplinary action against Mr. Santiago at this time," the unsigned advisor informed Bradley. "While there is some substantiation to your complaint, there is not enough evidence present to institute formal discipline against Mr. Santiago according to his collective bargaining agreement."
Since Dyster and his administration were turning a blind eye to the treatment he was receiving, Bradley hired an attorney and lodged a formal complaint with the state attorney general's office.
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo seems to be taking an interest in the obvious racial disparity present in the city's workforce since the Curtis incident, and has assigned an investigator to look into Bradley's charges. "I've worked for the city for six years, and this is the worst I've seen it," Bradley said.
Part of the problem, numerous DPW sources confirm, is Santiago's close relationship with Dave Kinney, who was appointed by Dyster to head the department, even though he served on the "search committee" that was allegedly looking for the right person to head the department. Prior to Kinney's appointment, longtime DPW deputy director John Caso was expected to get the job.
"I don't know how he's managed to maintain his position in the department," said one former DPW foreman about Santiago. "He was involved in the theft of city property and he's been named in every one of these (discrimination) complaints, yet he still has a supervisory position there. It doesn't make any sense."
For Clarence Bradley, enough is enough. He says he doesn't know how long his leave of absence will last, but noted that his lawsuit will go forward and that he is cooperating fully with the attorney general's investigation. Things just can't continue to go on as they have, he said.
"I'm a man of action and I love my job," Bradley told the Reporter. "I can't just drive around for eight hours every day and not do anything."
When it was suggested that Mayor Dyster pretty much has the same job description, Bradley smiled and shook his head.
Niagara Falls Reporter
www.niagarafallsreporter.com December 2 2008
Greyhound racing - HA HA HA! Let me know if you get to the part where they destroy perfectly healthy and trusting dogs just because they have gotten a few steps slower around the track, though ... I have strong opinions in that area!
