Public Safety Commissioner Ron Kim said the city is closing the books on a bad chapter in the city’s history by settling lawsuits stemming from Erin Dreyer’s removal as deputy commissioner of public safety.
Mayor Valerie Keehn moved to approve a $65,000 settlement in two separate lawsuits brought by Police Chief Ed Moore and then Assistant Chief James Cornick.
The council voted 3-to-2 to approve the settlements, totaling $130,000, with Commissioner of Public Works Thomas McTygue and Commissioner of Accounts John Franck dissenting.
McTygue said he voted against the settlement because he couldn’t see where it was justified.
I really don’t see where there were damages to either one of them in the amounts for which we’re settling, he said.
Commissioner of Finance Matt McCabe said he understood McTygue’s sentiment, but said holding off a settlement would only cost the city more money. He said that settling the case made the most financial sense for the city, and he voted in support of the measure.
Kim said he felt like he was sweeping up after a circus when he came into his office in 2006.
`This is, I hope, the end of a very unfortunate chapter in the city’s history,` he said before voting to approve the settlement. `I’m supporting this motion because it closes the books on a very bad chapter in the city, and moves us forward.`
The motion also ceased legal action by the city against New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal, the city’s insurance company, which sought to absolve the city’s responsibility for Dreyer’s defense.
Dreyer was accused of abusing her authority and harassing police officers, among other things. A grand jury recommended in 2005 that Dreyer be fired or disciplined, saying the political appointee was unfit for the job. The jurors, after months of testimony, said that she abused her authority, harassed police officers, including Moore and Cornick, interfered with investigations and enforcement, and re-directed city resources for political purposes.
Moore accused former Public Safety Commissioner Tom Curley and Dreyer of conspiring to harass him out of his job, to which Curley had appointed him in 2003. The grand jury also found that Dreyer had an adulterous affair with a police officer whom she had promised a promotion in exchange for helping to hound Moore out of office. Cornick initiated his harassment claim after Dreyer said the officers lied under oath.
Last year, a grand jury recommended that Dreyer be fired or disciplined but she didn’t leave office until her position was briefly done away with by a city council vote. The city was ordered to pay Dreyer’s legal bills by a state judge in August, but the city’s insurance company, New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal, refused to pay. According to court papers field by NYMIR, the city’s policy doesn’t cover actions done with malice. The city disputed this and sued NYMIR in October.
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