ALBANY — The Albany Police Department’s effort to fire an officer charged with felony drug possession for on-duty misconduct they say is unrelated to the charges, has been stalled for months because of the resignation of the city’s public safety commissioner.
Former Public Safety Commissioner Gary Stiglmeier said Thursday he was in the middle of conducting an arbitration hearing that could have led to Officer Nathan Ensel’s termination in December when he was forced out of his part-time position by the incoming administration of Mayor Dorcey Applyrs, a charge her office forcefully rejected.
Stiglmeier, a former city court judge and corporation counsel who has served in City Hall legal roles since the administration of Erastus Corning 2nd, said he had held one day of testimony in the case before adjourning the proceedings until after the holidays. That month, Stiglmeier said he received word through staffers in the administration of outgoing Mayor Kathy Sheehan that Applyrs wanted him to step down and he resigned days before her inauguration…