I am regurgitating this from Politico since I had to submit a FOIL request to get the original document myself, and that could take weeks. I will revisit it once I see the original report. In the meantime:

A staffer for Councilman Christopher Marte filed a complaint with the city Department of Investigation claiming that her staff-mates tried to fire her in June when she refused to take on campaign duties during her work hours.

Meng Qin Zou is still listed on the councilman’s website as a community liaison. Neither she, nor the councilman nor his chief of staff replied to my emails for comment.

Politico spoke to Zou directly: “In their attempt to terminate her, Marte’s team accused Zou of being violent with colleagues, Zou told POLITICO, adding that they backed off sacking her once she got her union involved. Zou denies the claim about violence, while her union, the Association of Legislative Employees, said it couldn’t discuss the specifics of her case.”

It’s a huge story — 1800 words! (I counted.)

Public servants are allowed to work on campaigns as paid consultants, but they may not use any city time or city resources (including a city computer, email account or phone) for a political campaign purpose, as explained on the NYC Conflicts of Interest Board website.

Politico reported that Zou wrote in her complaint: “Following the termination attempt, I came to understand more clearly that what I had been directed to do in the Councilmember’s office was not normal, and it confirmed my belief that the conduct I had been asked to carry out was both unethical and potentially illegal,” The complaint lays out how Zou was allegedly directed by supervisors to work on political matters “during office hours.”

Politico went on: “Zou doesn’t speak English fluently and wrote her DOI complaint with the help of a political consultant a friend put her in touch with. The same friend translated for Zou in an interview with POLITICO this week. Both the friend and the consultant were granted anonymity as they aren’t permitted to speak to reporters for work-related reasons.

“Zou began working in Marte’s government office in 2023 but has never been on the three-term Council member’s campaign payroll. She alleges in her complaint that Marte and his chief of staff, Caitlin Kelmar, informed her ‘early on’ that her duties would include political fundraising.

“‘These practices were rampant, and included other staff,’ she wrote in the complaint.”