State Senator Pedro Espada signed the pledge from Ed Koch’s PAC supporting non-partisan redistricting and other reform measures in Albany.
Koch--continuing with the group’s MO of using public attention to shame others into signing the pledge--said, “if Espada commits to these reforms, surely you must.”
Espada, a Democratic Senator from the Bronx, has been criticized for a number of alleged ethical lapses, including a history of campaign finance filing problems, profiting from a non-profit health care group he controls and throwing the state into chaos when he and another Democratic Senator caucused with Republicans, flipping control of that house and bringing state government to a standstill.
Among the people who have not signed the pledge are Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assembly Vito Lopez, the Brooklyn Democratic County Leader.