Attention to detail

Petty nit-picking details; it’s strange how they just seem to get bled from stories when there’s a political ax to grind. Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about Henry Smith. Or rather there’s been a lot of talk about the black former part-time Public Works laborer’s victory in a lawsuit against the department for their failure to promote him to full-time status.

The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled in September the DPW had not only shown racial bias in not promoting Smith, but also tried to “intimidate” the worker by releasing his complaint and employment record to the Post Star. The story first hit the press in October 2006 and then came up again just three weeks ago as the brutally contested race for DPW commissioner reached its final days.

At first blush, the case seems to carry a fair amount of weight, given the supposed controversy surrounding Public Works fixture Tom McTygue. His abrasive personality coupled with rumors of a federal investigation seemed to suggest racism as a logical next step for the embattled commissioner. It was mentioned here that there might be other reasons McTygue or the DPW might not see fit to promote Smith, who appeared to have a small collection of low-level arrests.

That is, until one considers the record of Henry Lee Smith, a reputed former coke dealer who is the convicted “ring leader” behind a brutal assault and robbery on Broadway eight years ago. Donning a black ski mask, Smith helped two others duct tape a Skidmore student to a chair before ransacking his friend’s apartment in search of a safe they planned to rob.

Authorities eventually tracked down Smith because he was cashing checks stolen from the apartment at a local grocery store. He later pleaded guilty to third-degree robbery and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument. He was handed a three- to six-year prison term in 2000 and was released from Mount McGregor in 2003. Oddly enough, this was around the same time he managed to get a job with the DPW.

Of course, these details weren’t important when the story broke. None of the papers who covered the case bothered to make mention of Smith’s record, which might have been one of the prime reasons he was never elevated in the department to begin with. Better yet, it might have been a continuance of the blistering stupidity he exhibited in 1999 –locally cashing a forged check stolen in a high-profile robbery –that truly kept him from advancing.