PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Jim Walden, Partner at Walden Macht Haran & Williams LLP
10:13:02
·
161 sec
Jim Walden, a partner at Walden Macht Haran & Williams LLP, testifies in support of Randy Mastro's nomination as Corporation Counsel. Despite being an opponent of Mayor Adams, Walden credits Mastro for shaping his legal career and enabling him to do meaningful pro bono work while working at a private law firm.
- Walden shares personal experiences of how Mastro mentored him and supported various public interest lawsuits.
- He criticizes the hearing process, arguing that the council is asking the wrong questions and not hearing from numerous people whose careers were positively impacted by Mastro.
- Walden uses a sports analogy, comparing Mastro to Derek Jeter, implying that Mastro is an exceptional choice for the role.
Jim Walden
10:13:02
Madam speaker and mister chair, members of the council.
10:13:05
My name is Jim Walden.
10:13:08
I count myself as a lot of things, but primarily these days I'm an opponent of mayor Adams.
10:13:17
I've sued him twice.
10:13:18
I've spoken out against him, and I have that voice because of Randy Mastro.
10:13:26
When I became a litigation partner, Gibson Dunning Crutcher, I was lost.
10:13:32
I'm a survivor of horrible physical abuse from an alcoholic father And I went to a law firm, and I had no idea what to do.
10:13:44
And Randy took me under his wing.
10:13:48
And Randy showed me what a legal career could be where you're a private lawyer being able to afford New York, which I could not with 3 small children, and yet do good in the world.
10:14:06
And what good did I do under Randy's tutelage.
10:14:11
I didn't serve big corporations.
10:14:14
I didn't bring lawsuits on behalf of oil companies.
10:14:20
I protected transgender rights.
10:14:22
With the first lawsuit ever on behalf of a transgender man who had experienced discrimination in New Jersey.
10:14:31
I brought a lawsuit with Randy's help to keep open a hospital for a marginalized community in Brooklyn that was being shut by mayor Bloomberg.
10:14:43
I brought a lawsuit with Randy's help against president Obama's administration for denying hearings to tens of thousands of mentally ill New Yorkers.
10:14:59
And I sit here during a 10 hour hearing and think to myself there is one question and only one question that this council should be asking itself.
10:15:09
Do you want Derek Jeter to be the captain of your team?
10:15:14
And instead, we're hearing misinformation, disrespectful questions, and old stories about things that Randy had nothing to do with.
10:15:24
If you had heard from the people that filled these rooms, there were dozens of people like me whose careers were changed forever by Randy Mastro, and yet you will not hear from them.
10:15:42
That is a shame.
Keith Powers
10:15:43
Thank you.