De Blasio Spokeswoman Karen Hinton To Step Down
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Karen Hinton, Mayor Bill de Blasio's press secretary, will soon be leaving her post.
The Mayor's office said Thursday evening that Hinton officially resigned on April 6, but will stay on until the end of the budget cycle this summer.
"Karen Hinton has served our Administration with skill, with devotion, with a passionate commitment to others, and she will be missed," de Blasio said in part in a statement. "I thank her for sacrificing time away from her family to help us inform New Yorkers about our vision."
In her own statement, Hinton said she was proud to be part of the de Blasio administration's efforts – including preventing homelessness, educating pre-K students, and supporting the mentally ill.
"The mayor's commitment and tenacity have turned progressive values into everyday realities for so many New York City families," Hinton said in a statement. "I am proud to have been part of that effort and look forward to continuing to support the Mayor's future successes."
Hinton said she was looking forward to spending more time with her teenage daughter, who will be going into her senior year of high school.
"While I have to admit she is not missing me that much, I am missing her a great deal and want to be part of her last year at home before college," Hinton said in the statement.
Hinton will also resume working with a lawsuit on behalf of citizens of Ecuador, who accuse the oil company Chevron of dumping toxic waste into the Amazon rainforest. When Hinton left the effort to join the mayor's team last year, the coalition of indigenous and farmer communities in Ecuador that launched the lawsuit hailed her as a "hero" for her work as their communications specialist.
The Mayor's office said it will name a new press secretary in the near future.
The Mayor's office emphasized that Hinton's departure is not in any way connected to investigations into the de Blasio administration's fundraising efforts.
The investigation, jointly run by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., is examining de Blasio's efforts to help Democrats win the state Senate in 2014 and whether donors to his campaign or the nonprofit received city benefits in exchange for donations.
Probers are seeking to investigate charges that team de Blasio sought to evade individual campaign limits of $10,300 by having donors make big donations to local county committees, which in turn earmarked and funneled the money to specific candidates. Such methods are against the law.