Rochester Deputy Mayor Leonard Redon was stopped on I-490 last night and charged with speeding and driving while intoxicated, according to a press release from the city administration.
Redon informed Mayor Lovely Warren at
approximately 1 a.m., the press release says. And this morning, Warren and Redon met to discuss “his lapse in judgment and possible resignation,” it says. The press release mentions an unspecified “newly diagnosed medical condition which
may have affected his decision-making.”
Redon isn’t resigning. The press release says that
Warren and Redon decided that Redon should use several of his personal days to seek counseling from his doctor. Redon does not have a history of alcoholism, the press release says, and has never been arrested for DWI before.
"While I am very disappointed in this turn of events
and the Deputy Mayor’s lapse in judgment, I have accepted his apology,” Warren
says in the release. “Leonard Redon is a valued member of my team who is doing
good work on behalf of the people of Rochester. I know he is sincerely regretful
for the embarrassment he has caused for the city, for me, and for himself, and
will take steps to assure that it never happens again."
This article appears in Mar 19-25, 2014.
“Leonard Redon is a valued member of my team who is doing good work on behalf of the people of Rochester.”
It’s just a goshdarn shame that the important work he is doing does not include trying to be personally responsible enough to keep those people safe on our streets! Spencer Ash, Reggie Hill, and now Leonard Redon. Can the city of Rochester employ some kind of early warning system so that we know when members of this administration are behind the wheel?
God almighty.
It is Lovely’s train and she will drive it off the tracks if she wants to. It is interesting that Lovely seems to have ignored any lessons she might have learned from her first round of scandals. She continues to deflect media questions and lets her staff deliver press statements.
And she perpetuates her scandals. Redon offered to resign, which would have meant a quick end to the latest scandal but Lovely decided to keep Redon and the scandal around. It just makes not sense.
If she would have lost someone close to hear to drunk driving you better believe he would have lost his job.
Lovely Warren bears no responsibility for her deputy mayor driving while intoxicated — he had no history of DWI or, as far as we know, serious traffic violations, so it’s not like this was a pattern of misconduct that she should have been aware of. There should be no criticism of her having him as her #2 person, assuming he is competent in his job, which I’m assuming he is. On the other hand, Mayor Warren does have great responsibility for how this situation is dealt with. So far, it would appear that she is not dealing with it in the best way. To immediately throw out diabetes as an excuse for the DWI, and to immediately reject his off to resign, is ill-advised. It’s not that he for sure should be fired or resign, but taking some time to gather the facts and determine his fitness to continue in office would have been very appropriate.
I think at this point one does have to question Len Redon’s judgment. Does he have a medical condition that impairs his ability to drive? Is his medical condition worsened with the consumption of alcohol? Do any of these circumstances impair Redon’s ability to effectively do his job. All of these questions must now be asked.
Lovely had nothing to do with any of this leading up to Redon being stopped for DWI. Lovely has everything to do with evading the tough media questions and the refusal to accept Redon’s offer to resign.
I would think Lovely would want to clear the tracks of the Redon scandal because there will probably be another scandal arriving shortly.
Mmm, mmm, mmm. When, if ever will the problems stop for The Mayor?
She has either got to step up to the plate and face the music of what has occurred in her administration so far, or continue to be viewed negatively by the citizenry of the Rochester area.
Why do we do we even need a deputy mayor? Don’t forget about the expired inspection sticker. That’s important too.
As some of you have do doubt noticed, I have not been a fan of Lovely Warren, but I think that she is doing the right thing in this instance, given all the factors involved. Leonard Redon is not just a valued member of her administration, he is a highly regarded public servant who brings intelligence, fairness and hard work to his position as Deputy Mayor, a fact that is underscored by his continued appointment over two administrations. Deputy Mayors function largely in the background, steering the day-to-day operations forward, so perhaps his low profile is a real detriment to him at a time like this. Did he have a lapse of judgement if the charges bear out? Yes, he did. But he has no history of anything like this over many decades of a professional life. We should be patient and let this one work itself out a bit.
Sorry all, Redon was a Richards appointment. So, by the way, was Spencer Ash. So now, with all anger and upset, we condemn Lovely Warren for two people she kept on ?
OMG, how stupidly racist is this?
“So now, with all anger and upset, we condemn Lovely Warren for two people she kept on ? ”
I don’t see many people in this thread condemning Lovely Warren for having Mr. Redon on his staff. I certainly didn’t, nor did the majority of comments. Any criticisms have been how she’s handling the situation once Mr. Redon had his DWI incident. And not all the commenters are even critical of that aspect.
Correction, when I wrote “I don’t see many people in this thread condemning Lovely Warren for having Mr. Redon on his staff.” it obviously should have said “on her staff”, not “on his staff”.