This is our city. That means we get to choose our mayor. That means our mayor should be the person who can do best by the city. It is neither a hereditary nor a lifetime position, whatever the ghost of Erastus Corning II may whisper around the corridors of City Hall.

But it seems that Jennings has given up even pretending to make a nod to these basic facts. You would think he’d be a little bit embarassed, or at least defensive, to have presided over the landfill crisis, the gun purchase scandal, the ghost ticket scandal, the increase in vacant buildings, and so on. But he’s not. And that the party at large might be embarassed about things like not inviting Cathy Fahey, the incumbent 7th Ward council member and member of the 7th ward committee, to the meeting at which they chose who to endorse. It is their choice not to endorse Fahey, but to exclude a legit member of the committee from the meeting is childish and undemocratic. It’s 6th-grade cafeteria government. But they’re not embarassed, and neither, apparently, is their candidate.

And these things, more even than the details of how to run a city over which we disagree, are what troubles me about Jennings.

Why Albany Police Chief James Tuffey suddenly and without explanation slipped into retirement is befuddling, disorientating and totally bizarre. And unacceptable.

We deserve an explanation here and we're not getting it, not from the chief who refuses to talk to the press, or from the mayor who is glibly trying to pretend it's not important, or any of our business.

Mayor Jerry Jennings, not incidently, didn't return a call for comment Friday on Tuffey's out-of-left field retirement. With both of them stonewalling the public, conjecture is naturally running deep and dark.

"I think the chief not answering the question why the chief suddenly retired, and the mayor not answering the question, speaks volumes," says Jennings opponent Corey Ellis in the upcoming Democratic mayoral primary. "The mayor is even saying he never talked to the chief about the retirement. That's his police chief. What does that say for the mayor?"

According to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified, a message was delivered to Tuffey on Monday evening telling him to tender his resignation. In the days after Tuffey announced his retirement Mayor Jennings said publicly that Tuffey's resignation was voluntary.

Jennings told the Times Union this week that he received the letter Monday. A spokeswoman later clarified that the mayor was referring to Monday, Aug. 24.

A former civilian employee of the Albany Police Athletic League is accusing its executive director of sexual harassment and emotional abuse that became so severe, she said, she quit on the advice of her doctor.

Jacqueline Smith, 28, alleges that Leonard Ricchiuti routinely made inappropriate sexual comments about her appearance -- including that her photo on the non-profit's Web site was a "come (expletive) me-face," -- and physical intimidation.

Ricchiuti, 48, who retired last year as an Albany police sergeant and is now running for Common Council president, staunchly denies the allegations and points to the findings of the non-profit's board of directors, which deemed them not "credible and not true

In an interview with the Times Union, Smith also alleged her former boss "threatened to throw me through a wall and punch me."

"He came to my house and pounded on my door," Smith recalled, adding that, when she refused to answer, Ricchiuti went next to the Ontario Street home of one of her close friends, also a PAL intern, Casandra Aubrey-Almy.

Aubrey-Almy, 25, who later became Smith's roommate, confirmed the incident, saying she answered the door to find Ricchiuti inquiring about Smith's whereabouts.

At least twice, Aubrey-Almy said, Ricchiuti made inappropriate comments to her as well.

Smith also took her concerns to former police chief Bob Wolfgang, a former member of PAL's board. Wolfgang said he did not recall the details of Smith's complaints but acknowledged urging her to report them to members of the PAL board.

"She felt that she was wronged and that something had happened," Wolfgang said. "And it was explained to her that if she felt that way she should pursue it."

Smith said that after her departure she took her story to then-police Chief James Tuffey and eventually Mayor Jerry Jennings.

Early last week, Tuffey told the Times Union he met with Smith and referred her to PAL's board of directors because even though Ricchiuti was employed as a police officer at the time, he was assigned full-time to PAL, Smith's employer.

"I believe the biggest concern she raised with me were of a personnel matter best handled by the organization of PAL," Tuffey said.