Russell Simmons banned
from Control Unit office
Simmons says he has the right to freedom of speech
PHILIPSBURG--Former Control Unit Head Russell Simmons, now retired, has been banned from “using the back office” of the Department on the grounds that he is trying to tarnish its name.
Commissioner with responsibility for Transportation Louie Laveist said Wednesday that the Department had been advised that Simmons was no longer permitted to enter the Department through the office stipulated for personnel use.
Laveist also accused Simmons of being the author of a letter criticising him that appeared in the opinion pages of this newspaper Wednesday and attributed to the staff of the Control Unit. He said Simmons was being a politician.
Reacting to the statements, Simmons said he was making use of his right to freedom of speech and denied that he was showing any “political colours.”
Laveist accused Simmons of trying to “compromise the integrity of the Department.”
“Information reaching me is that he (Simmons) has violated some of the rules and he should know better and not enter from the back offices,” Laveist told reporters during the Executive Council press briefing. “If you need service you can go to the window like any other citizen and I ask that you respect the Department and respect the rules and regulations.
“What is despicable about his action is that he compromises the integrity of those honourable men and women who go out and try to do their work and I think that is a low blow. It is a cheap shot and an act of cowardice.”
Simmons, in a written response, said the Commissioner’s term “cheap shot” was not appropriate. He said while he had not heard Laveist’s statements, his phone was “ringing off the hook” by persons who wanted to inform him of what had been said during the press briefing.
Simmons said he always had been and still was familiar with his former post at the Control Unit. “I knew and still know what my duties were and you cannot say that I have shown my political colours. That is because I knew and still know my place in this society.”
He continued: “I have always been and still am a citizen who has made use of his right to freedom of speech. If I make use of those rights on a democratic island and you as a ranking member of the Democratic Party cannot accept that, then I am sorry for those who make you cross, if you still happen to be in the ranks after July 1, 2007.”
He contended that Laveist was complicating the work of the control officers and making it more difficult for them. He said too that the labour laws governing civil servants LMA were being breached on a daily basis and expressed hope that he and the commissioner could “still kiss and make up.”
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