PRE-OCCUPIED: Rodriguez spends more time protesting — as here in December with Occupy Wall Street — than governing. (AP)
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Ydanis Rodriguez (D-Manhattan) is either one of the City Council’s most loco
members, or he’s simply in way over his head.
Rodriguez was in the news this past week after The Post first revealed that his spokesman David Segal had attempted to burn down an Army recruitment center in 2005.
Over the next three days, Rodriguez fired Segal, only to turn around and rehire him — then fire him again. All the while, Rodriguez blamed everyone else — from City Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s office, to Segal, to council lawyers — for the imbroglio.
Now Segal is considering a lawsuit against Rodriguez and the City Council. He’s scheduled a press conference tomorrow to state those plans publicly. There is no doubt that Rodriguez mishandled the situation and may have left himself and the city exposed.
But this isn’t the first time Ydanis Rodriguez has been clumsy and inappropriate. Even in a body known for its share of loons, Rodriguez stands out as an ineffectual crackpot, more interested in standing on a soapbox than getting anything done.
“He’s never made the transition from activist to elected official,” a council insider told me recently.
This was apparent during fall’s Occupy Wall Street protests, when Rodriguez was arrested — and claimed he was there in his official capacity as a member of the City Council.
His story was dubious at best. However, since officers of the NYPD at the scene roughed him up, Rodriguez played the bruises up for the cameras. His supporters rallied to his side when he was released after a longer than usual amount of time spent in the slammer.
His charges have since being dismissed. However, after been questioned by the press about suspicions that he made a deal in order for the charges to be dropped, Rodriguez joined a federal lawsuit against the NYPD.
Rodriguez loves marches. The way his public schedule reads, you’d think protests are part of his job description as representative of the people of the 10th Council District in Washington Heights. If there’s a rally somewhere in the city, he’s at it — which makes you wonder if he’s working on any legislation.
An immigrant from the Dominican Republic, Rodriguez has a long history of activism.
I first met Ydanis and his brother Carlos (who works for Comptroller John Liu) back in 1998. At the time they were part of a group of young Dominican professionals who were planning to create a political organization that would bring attention to their causes in the upcoming Presidential election.
That group, Dominicans 2000, is no longer active. And a number of individuals place some of the blame for the splinter in the group on Ydanis’ way of dealing with his peers. Hotheaded, he only participated in debates if he knew he’d get his way.
Rodriguez continued his activism as a teacher at the Gregorio Luperon High School. He was always involved in some issue or another. Rodriguez was enamored by the publicity that came along with his involvement as a fairly passionate spokesperson for a variety of causes. He was not a good teacher but very popular for his struggles to get a new building constructed for the school. He helped organize the parents, students and community.
After years of failing to gain office, Rodriguez was elected to the council in 2009. His people skills had not improved. He managed to alienate his own caucus when he took a committee chair position without consulting with them, a move specifically orchestrated by the speaker.
But even after that, sources say Speaker Quinn soured on Rodriguez after a female staffer accused Rodriguez of poking her in a fit of rage. Rodriguez was investigated and charged with misconduct. It was recommended that he be bounced from his chairmanship of the Higher Education Committee and only reinstated after undergoing anger management counseling.
Rodriguez is, sadly, not the only crazy member of the City Council. But he’s making a compelling case for craziest this year, and another embarrassment for politics in New York.
It’s easy as an activist to rage against the establishment, and perhaps Rodriguez’s anger plays well to some voters in his district. But it doesn’t make their lives better. He isn’t paid $112,500 a year — and more for committee work — to yell and assault.
Ydanis can be as loco as he wants, but it should not continue to be on the taxpayer’s dime.
Gerson Borrero is a columnist for El Diario and a political commentator for NY1.