Liu employee keeps interesting company

From the Capital:

When former Brooklyn Democratic county leader Clarence Norman turned 60 years old last month, a top aide in city comptroller John Liu's office sent out Facebook invitations to a party to mark the occasion.

The Facebook messages were forwarded to me by a reader.

Norman was convicted of extortion, grand larceny and other charges back in 2006, forcing him from the Assembly office he held and, more importantly, from his powerful post as head of the party in Kings County.

The person who sent the invitations is Carmen Martinez, who is a "director" in the comptroller's office. Cell phone and email messages left for Martinez were not immediately returned.

A spokesman for the comptroller's office, Matthew Sweeney, said, "It’s not the business of this office to comment on what an employee does in his or her personal time as long as the City’s rules and procedures governing employment were not broken."

There are in fact no rules against current public employees in good standing associating with former public employees in poor standing. But the visuals aren't great.