SCHENECTADY — The Schenectady City School District is mum on claims from the Schenectady Republican Party that City Councilman Damonni Farley is on a leave of absence from his position as a community outreach specialist with the school district for alleged misconduct.
Farley was placed on leave from his school district post on Feb. 12 “due to serious allegations of employee misconduct,” according to Schenectady Republican Party Chair Tom Kennedy.
A school district spokesperson did not respond to a press inquiry on the matter on Tuesday, but previously responded to questions on Farley’s potential leave by noting that the district does not comment on personnel matters.
Following the City Council’s committee meeting on Tuesday night, Farley told The Daily Gazette that he would answer questions, then proceeded to briskly exit City Hall and leave in a running car driven by Councilman Carl Williams.
Later on Tuesday evening, Farley said that he was not permitted by the district to discuss personal matters and could not confirm or deny if he had been placed on leave. Farley noted that he had been cleared of prior complaints made against him to the city ethics committee.
“I remain committed to serving my community with integrity and never back down to bullies,” Farley wrote in a text. “No matter how powerful they think they are.”
Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy called on the district and Farley to be transparent regarding his alleged leave from the district following Tuesday’s meeting.
“I would encourage both the school district and Mr. Farley just to be open and frank about whatever the situation is,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy said he had not been informed by the district of Farley’s alleged leave.
“I haven’t received anything official on that,” McCarthy said,
City Council President Marion Porterfield said after Tuesday’s meeting that she had not been informed by the school district or Farley about his alleged leave from the district.
“The school district has not informed me of that because it has nothing to do with council business,” Porterfield said.
The council president said that she did not believe that a potential leave of absence from the district would affect Farley’s role on the council.
“That has to do with his performance at school, so I’m not sure why that would,” Porterfield said.
In Farley’s role with the school district, he oversees a school and community empowerment program, acting as a conduit between the district and local parents.
"Despite the City GOP receiving calls from city residents and concerned parents amidst growing concerns in the community that an elected official and school employee who has been exposed to students, and whose employer has removed him from the workplace due to serious allegations of employee misconduct; neither the city council nor the city school district feel compelled to inform the public in Councilman Farley’s case is unacceptable,” Kennedy noted in a statement.
Farley was the subject of a city ethics committee inquiry in 2023 tied to allegations that he had served as both a full-time employee for the Schenectady City School District and a consultant from 2015 to 2021.
During that timespan, Farley’s limited liability company Common Thread Consulting was paid approximately $581,418 by the district, not including Farley’s district salary as a community outreach specialist.
In August 2023, the ethics board cleared Farley, ruling that he did not violate city ethics rules tied to conflicts of interest for his contracts with the school district or unpaid personal income taxes.
In September 2023, Kennedy filed a separate ethics complaint against Farley alleging that he abused the power of his post on the City Council to pressure Schenectady police Lt. Mike Dalton during a police call regarding a towed car belonging to the councilman’s friend.
Farley was subsequently cleared of wrongdoing by the ethics board in that case as well.
“The political arena can be a nasty place, your job,family, nothing off-limits,” Farely wrote on Tuesday. “Prior to my tenure, the [city] ethics committee had only reviewed one case for city council in the history of our city. In my first year in office, the powers that be in both parties tried to launch five separate ethics complaints against me alone, all unfounded. The ethics committee itself deemed the accusations ‘demonstrably false’ including a claim that I attempted to intimidate a police officer over the phone. They didn’t realize those conversations were recorded so all I had to do was press play. They don’t care, they just want their headline.”
Farley is up for re-election in November, but did not receive the endorsement of the Democratic Party for his bid for a second term. The party instead endorsed Councilman John Mootooveren and political newcomers Kim Wiggins and Hayden Engert over Farley and Porterfield.
