Socialist NY Assembly candidate faces call for ethics probe from Dem primary opponent over launching GoFundMe to pay rent

A Democratic district leader is urging state ethics officials to investigate presumptive Queens Assemblyman-elect Brian Romero for posting a GoFundMe that urged the public to help pay his rent and other living expenses before he takes office.“He is using the victory of the Assembly seat to entice people to give him cash,” said Rosa Sanchez, a Democratic district leader who was Romero’s election opponent, in an August 3 letter to the Legislative Ethics Commission and the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government.Romero, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, won the Democratic primary in June and has no GOP opposition, making him the Assemblyman-elect for the 34th District, which includes parts of Astoria, Corona and East Elmhurst.He took the fundraising page down following inquiries and a backlash — but not before it collected more than $1,000.Sanchez called the GoFundMe begging “wildly inappropriate, unethical and unlawful.”She pointed to several sections of state law that bar public officials from using their office or authority to solicit gifts.The Public Officers Law bans elected officials from soliciting personal donations or gifts “intended to influence official duties or serve as a reward for official actions.”Veteran election lawyer Keith Corbett said he’d never seen a political candidate at the federal, state or local level appeal for funds to pay personal bills, but said it was legal.“I have never seen a candidate do a GoFundMe page before,” Corbett said.But he added, “It’s not a violation.”Romero’s act may fall in a gray area outside the law because he’s not yet in office, said Rachel Fauss, a senior policy adviser at the watchdog group Reinvent Albany.“But it’s much better to avoid those conflicts in the first place,” Fauss said.At the very least, the ethics panels should craft guidance for nominees about to enter public office, she said.A representative for the Legislative Ethics Commission referred...