By Matthew Monks
As chairwoman, Smith, 59, presided over meetings and set the agenda with Senate Minority Leader David Paterson (D-Manhattan), who the New York Times reported made the decision to remove the eight-term senator after years of her making headlines for run-ins with police and accusations of verbally abusing her staff. Democratic senators seemed reticent to discuss the reported removal Monday. Smith, Paterson and nearly all of the Queens delegation failed to return calls for comment. State Sen. John Sabini (D-Jackson Heights) said the conference, as a non-governing body, was entitled to secrecy and he declined to comment on the move.”I think that what went on is caucus business and it should stay that way,” he said. “I know I'm not normally this taciturn.”Smith, one of only three black women in the Senate, is the governing body's third-ranking Democrat behind Paterson and Deputy Minority Leader Eric T. Schneiderman. She has developed a reputation for being difficult in recent years. Her former chief of staff, Wayne Mahlke, filed a human rights complaint against her in May, charging the senator wrongly fired him and frequently referred to him as “a fat, gay bastard” and “white trash.” Smith vehemently denied the allegations, saying she fired Mahlke because he was unproductive and disorganized. The State Division of Human rights was investigating.Earlier in the year, she was convicted of disobeying a state trooper after speeding past a security checkpoint in an Albany garage and yelling profanities at the officer. In an interview with the TimesLedger in May 2003, she denied that she nearly ran the trooper over, saying she got into an argument with him over her Senate-issued identification card. Smith said she drove away slowly to carry on the dispute at her parking spot.And in another unusual incident in 1998, Smith allegedly bit a police officer during a traffic dispute in Brooklyn. Reach reporter Matthew Monks at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156, or by e-mail at news@timesledger.com
