SCHENECTADY : Affirmative action criticism ‘troubling’ to Porterfield
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Kathleen Moore at 395-3120 or moore@dailygazette.com.
Disagreement over the makeup of Schenectady’s affirmative action advisory board isn’t dying down.
   A week after city Councilman Ed Kosiur said too few whites were being considered for the board, Councilwoman Marion Porterfield shot back, calling his remarks “troubling” and saying she heard from many residents who were offended.
   “It’s a slap in the face of those who submitted their resumes,” she said.
   She added that the whole point of the board was to garner ideas and advice on issues related to women, minorities, the disabled and veterans.
   “To minimize the participation of minorities on the board is counterproductive. It doesn’t make sense,” Porterfield said.
   She also challenged Kosiur to complain about the racial makeup of every board in the city, saying she had researched it and discovered they were all 50 to 100 percent white.
   “If it’s a problem for one board, it’s a problem for all the boards,” she said.
   But she added she would rather he just drop the topic.
   “I think we should move forward with the resumes” and appoint members, she said.
   Kosiur declined to respond.
   Last week, he said he was unhappy that only two of the 19 residents who submitted resumes were white.
   “I have concerns, obviously,” he said then. “If we’re doing affirmative action, we need diversity both ways. I think we need to have a fair representation across the board.”
   The board, which was designed decades ago, is to have one to two members representing minority interests, one to two representing the disabled, two representing women and two representing Latinos, as well as an at-large member interested in diversity. Thus, non-minorities could be appointed to five of the nine seats. Kosiur said having only two white members would not be fair.
   He said he wanted Mayor Gary McCarthy to keep accepting resumes for some time before making the nine appointments to the board. The mayor said he would accept additional resumes, but Porterfield wants him to stop waiting and make the appointments as soon as possible.
   It won’t happen immediately: Mc-Carthy is on vacation. He has said he plans to appoint members next month.

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This should be no surpise to Marion! You are a colored person the DEMS just want you to sit in that seat and say yes. They don't care about your cause or the people you represent. This goes for Mootootvern as well. The DEMS just want you to be a "yes" voting uncle tom so they can get the colored folks votes. Kosiur is a bigot and racist. City of Schenectady workforce is made up of 90% white. How can you justify this Ed Kosiur??? VOTE REP/ ALLIANCE PARTY IN 2015 FOR DIVERSITY!