Monday night, I attended the County Ledge Committee meetings of the Civic Center and then the Law Committee. Yup, usually both snorers but it is what happened within those meetings that kept me from posting about them last night. This was a night when I had to wonder “WWGD” (What would Googly do?)
I was late to the Civic Center Meeting (hung up in the Senate) and sprinted in just in time for the “gavel.” There was a short watering break and we moved right into the Law Committee. While Mr. Higgins, chairmam, was, I’m sure, brilliant in his facilitation, I don’t remember a bit of the discussion other than the irony of the presentation of Mr. Horstmyer’s ethics legislation…ya see, there was a strange happening at the very beginning of the meeting.
While the ledgers were getting positioned at the table, Mr. Steck, 15th county legislative district rep, Colonie Town Democratic Chair and former candidate for Mr. Tonko’s congressional seat, was taking a rest room break. My day had been a little hectic so I was quickly trying to gain knowledge of the topics up for discussion. Mr. Horstmyer valiantly pushed his legislation to increase ethical compliance in our County Legislature. Mr. Steck, having returned and with all the bravado that is Mr. Steck, exclaimed that this legislation is not really necessary…ya see, it is in State Law…”it’s redundant.” He says. Where have I heard that before?
So, with Mr. Horstmyer in his 11th mid-sentence, the female DGS staffer responsible for the 12th floor walked right into the middle of the room…points a finger shaky with anger at Mr. Steck and says with conviction…”Sir, I need to speak to you.” Steck jumped up immediately from the opposite side of the table…I was stunned….why would this legislator, viewed by most as a “bit of a snot,” jump up immediately to respond to this irate woman who had been cleaning the woman’s bathroom earlier in the evening. (I know because she had sweetly warned me not to use the hall water fountain for my water bottle…”yellow water” said she.)
Now this kind-hearted soul, was shaking with anger, couldn’t wait for a quick stepping Steck to come round the table and she blurts out, in front of the entire committee, Mr. Franchini, Mr. Rodat and Mr. McElroy…along with some of us less important people, “I can’t believe that you came into the restroom and, even though I warned you several times, you dared to pee with me standing there!!”
(we all know I’m paraphrasing, right? hey, I didn’t take notes and went straight into shock…I have, however confirmed my paraphrasing.)
Mr. Steck ran for the door in hushed tones saying, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Arms were flailing as Steck tried to move the angry woman away from the legislative meeting. There was a stunned silence in the meeting room, I knew the women were considering adding reinforcements and the men were thinking…well, you know how men think.
The room was soon graced with Mr. Steck with a quick…”all a mistake,” he says, shaking it off. I have no idea how the rest of the meeting went. At one point, during the hall discussion, Mr. Clenehan, boy genious, realized I was in the room…his head snapped on me with a smile…I read his mind…”I wouldn’t know what to write…I’m stunned” I responded. There was a nervous giggle in the room.
I left the meeting quickly as I had another on the agenda, while walking out with one of the female ledgers, I turned to her and said, “you know he did it.” She confirmed she had absolutely no doubt in her mind. Ya see, and several have confirmed, that’s just how Phil is. I feel a little irritated with myself as I had finally “befriended him.” I wasn’t going to potty with him any time soon but I had had a beer with him along with some others after a ledge meeting…I was willing to give him a chance…maybe I had misjudged…that was then.
I was saddened to hear one of my favorite male ledgers leave that meeting and utter, “She handled that completely inappropriately.” I was appalled. The worker had been in the wrong? What if the shoe had been on the other foot….what if this male legislator had a night job cleaning the county rest rooms and a female ledger had entered the restroom he was cleaning? What if he had said “excuse me, ma’am, excuse me, ma’am, excuse me, ma’am” just to get a sneer, a smart remark and the opportunity to watch the queen pee. Would that have been acceptable conduct for the peeing legislator or would the male cleaner be insulted? (Okay, my boys, get that kinkiness out of your heada and think clearly.)
Well, all I can say is Mr. Steck is damn lucky he didn’t run into me cleaning that restroom…he’d be walkin’ a little funny today. And, shame on you ledger who blamed the woman…shame on you.
So, I got the whole story today…seems that Mr. Steck ran to the restroom, the staffer was cleaning a stall and Mr. Steck walked in toward the urinal, she says “excuse me, sir” he continues to walk toward the urinal (I might add here, this worker fully acknowledges she is not a small woman and not a quiet woman) she shouts a bit louder, “excuse me, sir.” Steck continues to ignore…he’s in a hurry to get back and shoot down that ethics legislation. The worker tries one more time, looking at an unzipping (or unzipped…let’s say, prepped) Phil, “Did you NOT hear me?” We all know that smart assed lawyers, a category within which Mr. Steck easily fits, love that double negative to confuse the “commoners.” “No,” he says looking over his shoulder at her and finalizes his business.
While this was hard for me to comprehend, the more folks I talked to the less hard it became to comprehend. Seems that another woman, the one responsible for the ninth floor last year, had the same experience with Mr. Steck. I don’t believe she reported the situation. Now, this is disturbing on several levels and I’m not sure which should be given a priority.
To me, the lack of respect for those workers Steck purports to respect leads me to pledge to ensure that every stance he takes in support of labor be challenged. His respect for women is personally insulting. I had sensed this disrespect in his demeanor since the very first day I was introduced to Mr. Steck…I can’t tell you why…I just sensed that he was uncomfortable in situations where he needed to speak to women as if they were “equal.”
Technically, Mr. Steck is this woman’s superior has he is a “member of the board” (as was the last woman that was “exposed” to Mr. Steck’s urgent needs). So, might this be considered harassment by the HR department? We can only wonder if that might be pursued but I think the case has merit.
This situation bothered me all night…it haunted me all day. I spoke to several people about my concerns and a pattern developed, the men laughed and the women were appalled just as I had been appalled. While we can all say we’ve moved beyond our equality issues and, in public, we all say we have respect for all individuals, it’s safe to say that, at least for this individual, actions speak louder than words.
Interestingly, I understand that Mr. Steck shared the experience with some of the male legislators after I left the meeting, “Yeah, I had my **** in my hand and then she came out of the stall…what was I gonna do?” Now, Mr. Steck, we all remember your incident last year…we all know that this woman would NEVER have disrupted her County Legislators in a meeting, putting her job on the line, had she felt there had been any mistake involved in this situation…this was blatent disrespect by a County Legislator. Heck, we could hear the goings on from the hall, Phil Steck doesn’t apologize for things he hasn’t done…Phil Steck fights even the smallest of slights…to the death.
Now, let’s put you, dear reader, in Mr. Steck’s position. You’ve run up to a bathroom having waited just a bit too long just to find that yellow bucket blocking the doorway. If it were you, wouldn’t you search for another bathroom, if there were no other bathroom wouldn’t you just ask the worker if you could have just a minute alone and then be completely embarrassed for a lack of control over your bladder? Never, ever, under any circumstances would anyone who has ever had a Mother, ever walk into a bathroom, ignore the woman cleaning the bathroom and have enough disrespect to whip it out and pee in front of that protesting woman. Unless, of course, you’re Phil Steck.
June 30, 2010 at 3:56 PM
Or unless you are the clueless idiot I just told this story to. He, a constituent of Mr. Steck's, just said "when you gotta go, you gotta go." Unbelievable.
June 30, 2010 at 4:03 PM
You notice it's a "he" who is excusing the disrespect in reference to a fellow male.
June 30, 2010 at 4:59 PM
Consider that this is the tempermant of a sitting legislator; a person who also has expressed interest in being your CongressMAN, your State Senator, and now quitely showing interest to be your Supreme Court Justice. But you can't blame Phil. When you've got a big one you gotta show it off – couldn't resist.
June 30, 2010 at 5:02 PM
Phil Steck is an elitist who just discounted that poor DGS Worker's presence, after all he is sooooo above these non-persons, especially if they are women.Can you say LAWSUIT!!! Has anyone spoken to Danny Boy, the Co Legi's attorney? Or the County's Affirmative Action Director in regards to his behavior? What do they have to say about this?Well folks there you have it another day in Albany aka Disfunction Junction with our esteemed elected officials!
June 30, 2010 at 9:08 PM
This is well beyond disrespect, this is easily sexual harassment. Oh and by the way ACO, I am a guy and I'm not laughing. Please don't stereotype; you might become the very thing you loathe.
June 30, 2010 at 9:47 PM
anon…sorry, didn't mean to come off as stereotyping. My male readers usually don't fall into the "typical" category of anything.
June 30, 2010 at 11:52 PM
As you mention in your account of the bathroom incident, there was a legislator who said the cleaner should not have interrupted the meeting. You fail to mention that (although you heard it), that I replied: “It’s embarassing to me. But there’s nothing to be accomplished by me saying anything more about it.” I did not say the cleaner did anything wrong, would never put anyone’s job on the line over something like this, and most certainly did not.You accuse me of being an arrogant person who never apologizes for anything, yet you quote me three times as saying I was sorry to the cleaner.The bathroom door was closed. There was no indication the bathroom was being cleaned. I had no reason to expect any women were in the men’s room. I walked in and went to the urinal. The cleaner came out from one of the stalls and said didn’t you see me? She said didn’t you hear me? I said no I didn’t. And she left. That was the end of it.
July 1, 2010 at 12:22 AM
What Mr. Steck did says quite a bit about his true character – and it's not pretty. This incident really shouldn't be "poo-poo'd" as just boys-being-boys or something to chuckle about. His behavior indicates that – in his heart – he doesn't respect women and he doesn't respect someone who works as a cleaning person (and probably other low-skilled manual jobs). Ugly.
July 1, 2010 at 12:56 AM
No, Mr. Steck, I didn't not say the legislator said she shouldn't have interrupted the meeting, I said he said she handled it inappropriatey. But your interpretation skills are worthy an examination in relation to reality v. Steckfantasy. I did not hear whatever you claim to have mentioned nor did any of the witnesses I spoke with. I'm sure they would have framed such words in such a chaotic moment as magic to the ears.Mr. Steck, as for arrogance, I'm not alone in saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" is not normally thought of as a sincere apology but more of a "shut up and get out of the room, you're embarrassing me." Well, sir, your sincerity must be questioned at the very least. I guess it's a "she said, he said" as they say over at the CPRB…perhaps, since this has happened twice with you…and I've been observing your behavior along with everyone else in the room…I'm going to have to go with the "she."By the way, she is still very upset by the situation as are many others.
July 1, 2010 at 10:26 AM
Steck is a scapegoat. What he did was wrong. The real story is the cronyism and elitism that exist in government around Albany. Self-serving politicians with one agenda their next election. Great job ACO I challenge you to tell the whole story.
July 1, 2010 at 12:59 PM
This is a big deal over nothing. Did Mr. Steck reveal himself? Did Mr. Steck proposition the cleaning woman? Was a sign posted that said cleaning in process? NO ON ALL ACCOUNTS.It's unforunate but once you start going how do you stop? I am sorry the woman was offended but she saw nothing and was subjected to nothing. Mr. Steck should issue an apology over the unfortunate circumstance and the County should make some signs up that say "cleaning in process". If they already have them then it may have been the cleaning lady's fault it wasn't displayed. And did anyone ask Mr. Steck if he was offended a woman was continually talking to him and staring at him while he tried to urinate?
July 1, 2010 at 4:31 PM
"…he says, shaking it off." Heh…good one.
July 2, 2010 at 1:04 AM
This man does not have the temperament to be a judge. Let's hope the powers that be steer very clear of him when it's nomination time.
July 2, 2010 at 4:30 AM
Anon 5 – Sexual harassment? Are you on drugs?Calling this act sexual harassment obfuscates REAL sexual harassment. You see "Sexual harassment is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors." Indiscreet? Yes. Indecency? Maybe. Sexual harassment? Please stop.I hate to be crass about this…but the "wrongness" depends on whether or not you are in midstream. Shame on you Mr. Steck if you heard the warning before the water started over the dam. It's disrespectful.It's not sexual harassment, though.
July 2, 2010 at 10:23 AM
The pecker came out it is definitely sexual harassment. When he showed his pecker it became a hostile work environment for the woman. Unwanted viewing or forced viewing that has to be sexual harassment. I am sure someone on the county law committee can give us a legal opinion on this one.
July 2, 2010 at 12:08 PM
Steck's back was to the employee throughout the situation. He never "exposed" himself to her.
July 2, 2010 at 1:19 PM
anon7 if it was your wife, mother, daughter I wonder if you could still be so flippant about the situation, if the woman says she tried to get his attention by stating excuse me sir in an area that is not very big and only two people in the room with the door closed I find steck to be not only an scumbag but a liar also. The cleanng people use cleaning carts, the mop bucket is usually on the cart, maybe she was not propping the door open but always within working distance of the employee. My guess is the cart was in the hallway or in the room. Anyone that doesn’t walk around with the air of arrogance ignoring the people that are not important to them would have noticed the cart and then the human the cart was being used by.Your argument doesn’t hold any water and you should post an apology for your ignorance.He saw it, he heard her, and he is a liar scumbag. Here’s a chance for all to prove he is a liar, the next time you see him walking, (or strutting because he thinks a great deal of himself) down state street say in normal tone excuse me sir and see if he acknowledges you. If he can acknowledge you on a busy street then he definitely heard the woman in a small room with the door closed.
July 7, 2010 at 3:35 AM
I said it before and I repeat it again – TIME FOR A CHANGE IN OUR POLITICIANS! No respect Mr Steck? I do hope someone takes this further, like a lawsuit of some kind. And yes, I can see the other legislatures finding this amusing. Time for a Change people, lets oust them all next year
July 7, 2010 at 3:37 AM
Seems like our local representatives also think they are untouchable! First Scavo, Now Steck, and who knows who else. It's time to seriously consider some local house cleaning next year folks.