Women Lifting Women: Time to step up Albany

Published on June 25, 2019

My first job out of law school was working as an assistant corporation counsel for the City of Schenectady so it saddened me to hear of the passing of Mayor Karen Johnson. Karen Johnson was mayor of the city at the time and already quite accomplished. The first woman mayor of Schenectady, former president of the New York State Conference of Mayors, and, what may have impressed me the most, she appeared on the cover of the New York Times magazine for her unique economic development efforts in Schenectady.

When I graduated from law school, the percentages of women in law school was improving, but the legal profession was still working out how to deal with us. Chances are that if I went to work at a private law firm, there would be few older women and I was unlikely to have a female boss. I was lucky that she was mayor as I started my first job. Mayor Johnson understood the responsibility she had to serve as a resource and a mentor. Gracious and humble in her execution, she made sure that I was made to feel welcome. When we were in meetings, she made sure I felt that I had every right to be there and to speak up. She always asked for my opinion, even when I was clearly not the most experienced person to be giving it. She spoke with everyone, even those she didn’t agree with, in an effort to reach consensus.

Mayor Johnson keenly understood that women needed to band together and support one another to achieve success. It was a great point in time for the advancement of women and was a great lesson for me in how to partner with other women in the workforce. Thirty years later, I’m a bit surprised at what many people and social media point to as the lack of progress. There are so many hashtags for people to their support for other women: #EqualPay, #heforshe, #AskHerMore, #NoCeilings, #MeToo, and #5050in2020. This is the era of female empowerment. We march, we share Facebook posts, we hit the like button. I do wonder whether we are actually holding one another up on a day to day basis.

This hit me like a ton of bricks last week when I read the article in the Times Union, Who polices development in Colonie? Debate sparks tension at Town Board. Mallory, Moench. (2019, June 15). Jennifer Whalen, a Colonie Town Board Member was questioning the Public Works Commissioner on what she perceived as the lack of follow-through on town development projects. It is a valid concern in many municipalities. Developers make promises during the approval process, and no one knows if and when town employees are checking that all promises and requirements are met. Frustrated that town board member Whalen was asking the question, a fellow Town Board Member, David Green, shouted out, “Jesus Christ, get a brain.”

“Jesus Christ, get a brain.”

I’m not aware that any women have come to her support. Despite our social media outrage over the treatment of women, there has been a strange silence over this rudeness. Why do I care? I care because as a woman, if I don’t speak up to say she shouldn’t be treated that way, next time it could be me. It could be the next woman elected to the town board who tries to speak up. We never get to #5050by2020 if we don’t support each other.

We’ve seen evidence that there are a number of men who disrespect women in politics. The number of women who disrespect other women may be just as bad if not worse. Sadly, civility seems to be a behavior of a bygone era. Not enough is being done about it and ignoring it when it happens makes it worse.

What I’d like to see is our local female elected officials tweet, email, make a public statement, or do whatever they do, and call out this behavior. It doesn’t mean you support the opinions of a particular female politician. It doesn’t mean you support her election or are required to donate her campaign. What it does mean, is that as a woman, you support other women who are belittled in public. It means you are striving for #5050in2020 and that by standing together we are all stronger.

Mayor Karen Johnson’s legacy can mean many things. I hope that one of the ideas her legacy represents is that women need to support each other and by doing so, each of us is uplifted.