Harlem Councilwoman facing heat for government mailer that included campaign info

Harlem Councilwoman Kristin Richardson Jordan could be in hot water for using government resources to send out a mailer that included an address for her campaign website.

The mailer, which includes the City Council seal, offers a rundown of Richardson Jordan’s accomplishments so far on the lawmaking body, but it also includes a link to her political website as well as typos and spelling errors.

“This should not have occurred and an individual Council Member’s newsletter should never have any connection to a political campaign,” said a City Council spokesperson. “The Council is investigating how this occurred and will swiftly take action to address it, while enacting even greater safeguards that prevent anything similar from occurring again in the future.”

According to Council sources, Richardson Jordan submitted the content and design of the mailer. The Council’s staff then printed and mailed it.

Richardson Jordan’s campaign website, which is featured in the upper left corner of the mailer, includes links for “campaign lit,” “endorsements” and to “volunteer.”

The mailer also includes several errors. Under the header “Community Outreach,” the mailer states that “Our team also handle [sic] constituent cases” and “Our office is has [sic] also been tirelessly working….”

While barbs from the grammar police probably won’t materially impact Richardson Jordan’s future much, a potential ethics violation could spell trouble, considering the primary challenges she’s facing from Assemblywoman Inez Dickens, Assemblyman Al Taylor and Yusef Salaam, who was wrongly sent to prison and later cleared in the Central Park 5 case.

”It’s a violation to use city resources to promote your campaign,” said Richard Briffault, the former chairman of the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board. “City resources should be used for city purposes — and re-election is not a city purpose.”

Richardson Jordan did not immediately respond to queries from the Daily News.