Councilman Fagen should take his colleagues’ advice

Shortly after City Councilman Mike Fagen was indicted on charges that he illegally collected more than $14,000 in unemployment benefits, all three of his fellow Council Democrats asked him to step aside and take a temporary leave of absence.

We agree, especially since his legal problems will undoubtedly become a distraction as the city contends with a financial mess and as officials work to foster a culture of transparency and accountability at City Hall.

To be clear, Fagen, who is up for re-election next year, is innocent until proven guilty. We give him credit for holding his head high and fighting for his name. He was elected on a platform of change and a pledge to address what he called the “friends and family” culture permeating City Hall.

The most vocal, if not overtly aggressive, member of the council, Fagen was the one who criticized the previous administration — which maintained that Long Beach was on solid financial ground — for its handling of the city’s finances, months before the city acknowledged a stunning cash-flow shortfall and an operating deficit.

We have no doubt that Fagen would even call out members of the new Democratic administration and his fellow council members if he believed that something was amiss or disagreed with their decisions. He has already questioned City Manager Jack Schnirman over the details of a recent resolution declaring a fiscal crisis in the city prior to the council's unanimous vote.

We hope that Fagen is cleared of the charges he faces, and it’s unfortunate that his indictment has cast a pall over the council. His legal issues have been the elephant in the room since he was arrested last June, and although he maintains his innocence, the details of the case raise questions that demand answers. Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice initially accused him of concealing his work as an elected city official from the New York State Department of Labor after he took office in 2009. Rice now claims that Fagen also failed to disclose to the Labor Department his work as a salesman for a hotel membership benefits company.