COHOES -The newly-seated board for the city's Industrial Development Agency voted Tuesday to remove Mayor Shawn Morse as their $15,000-a-year executive director.

Following a lengthy closed-door discussion, the board emerged and voted 6-to-1 to remove Morse from the position he held for more than two years and had been paid in addition to his $78,310 mayor's salary.

The vote came as city officials grapple with the fallout of a federal investigation that is examining Morse's use of campaign monies and his attendance at a part-time job at a federally-subsidized youth job training center in Glenmont. The impact of those probes on the city's ability to conduct business — particularly in its efforts to attract development — have been a concern for some city officials.

Morse was not in attendance at the IDA's monthly meeting at City Hall Tuesday when the board deliberated behind closed doors for about 45 minutes before voting to remove Morse from the job his handpicked IDA board gave him after he took office in 2016.

Board member Manny Santos was the sole member who voted to keep Morse as executive director. He quickly left the meeting and would not stop to comment when asked about his vote.

Santos' business, Go Gonzalez, is located at 88 Remsen St., a property the IDA bought from a bank and then turned around and sold in 2017. It's unknown if Santos received monetary or tax benefits from the city in relation to his business.

IDA chairman Rod Dion declined comment on details of the board's discussion in executive session before the vote.

"I'd like to think the board itself took all information under consideration and spoke with one voice for the most part," Dion said.

"It's a new board, they're just getting their feet wet," he continued. "It's unfortunate they've had to deal with such a tough situation on their second meeting."

The IDA's decision comes after the Times Union reported in September that a part-time security job that Morse had at the Glenmont Job Corps Center was being scrutinized by federal law enforcement authorities.

Some Common Council members have expressed concerns about Morse's IDA position as the FBI is also examining Morse's use of campaign funds as well as his job attendance at the federally-subsidized Glenmont Job Corps Center.

Common Council President Christopher Briggs attended the IDA's meeting along with Common Council members Steve Napier and William McCarthy. They said they wanted to see what happened with Morse's side job, but also wanted to hear the presentation by developer Uri Kaufman, who is seeking a 10-year extension on his payment in lieu of taxes agreement in exchange for investing another $20.6 million in renovations at Harmony Mills apartments.

Briggs said while he and other Common Council members appointed the six new members to the IDA board, he said they did not talk to them about Morse's executive director position.

Briggs said there have been no concerns regarding the IDA's business since Morse took office, but that with the federal investigations there is a problem with "the optics" of Morse being paid to work for the city's economic development entity.

Morse is also the subject of a languishing State Police investigation over allegations that he abused his wife and choked his daughter in separate incidents — a case that was reopened after Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo called for Morse's resignation in the wake of a Times Union story detailing the alleged abuse of his daughter.

Morse has denied the allegations — some documented in child protective services reports — that he physically harmed his wife or daughter. Another woman who Morse dated in the 1990s has also claimed that he choked and abused her during and after their relationship.

Ralph V. Signoracci, Morse's longtime friend and campaign treasurer, was served with a federal grand jury subpoena on Sept. 24 in connection with the FBI's investigation. Morse and Signoracci, who until recently was the IDA's chairman, were both interviewed at their residences by FBI agents that day. Signoracci is also the city's director of operations.