Spring Valley Trustee Sherry McGill (Photo: Journal News File)
Mayor Alan Simon cursed out Trustee Sherry McGill before a meeting on Wednesday, leading critics to say such bullying is what got Simon removed as a judge by the state courts.
Simon went off on McGill after she questioned his decision to arbitrarily dismiss and also curse at the village’s after-school program director during a discussion about the program, residents said, repeating what McGill told the public.
“The fact that he felt so comfortable telling her (McGill) to, ‘get the (bleep) out’ shows the lack of respect that he not only has for women but also women of color and such behavior will not be tolerated by this community,” said Hamadi Martin, a member of the grassroots activist group “We the People.”
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Steve White, who is married to former Trustee Emilia White, said McGill later told residents during the public meeting that Simon cursed at her and Tricia Harvey, who ran the after-school program at the village’s Louis Kurtz Civic Center on Main Street.
Like Martin, White noted Simon has a reputation for making inappropriate comments and outbursts.
“Mayor Simon’s behavior was well known before his election,” White said.
McGill didn’t return messages for comment on Thursday.
Simon didn’t return a telephone call for comment. His top aide, Randi Mallia, didn’t respond to an email request for comment.
Spring Valley Deputy Mayor Bernard Charles, a Simon appointee, sent a text message that he was involved in a meeting Thursday but didn’t call back.
Charles works for the Ramapo Parks and Recreation Department, but town officials said he recently failed a civil service exam for the position and cannot keep the job. He is married to Ramapo Councilwoman Brendel Logan-Charles, who also works for Spring Valley.
Simon’s penchant for outbursts got him booted as a judge in Spring Valley and Ramapo on October 2016.
The Court of Appeals decision upheld six misconduct charges brought against Simon by the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct in an April decision and its recommendation that the top court remove Simon from the bench.
Simon often went on rants and “repeatedly threatened such individuals with contempt or arrest over routine personnel or administrative issues in his court,” the state Commission on Judicial Conduct said in a 40-page decision released Wednesday.
Simon won election as mayor in November, after winning a September Democratic Party primary.
White, the former trustee, said residents are not being served by officials who “curse and scream at people.”
“I am very upset that Simon continues to curse at people and harass people,” she said. “People working for the village should not have to put up with that behavior. After Trustee McGill spoke about the incident, Simon mumbled an apology. To a lot of people cursing is a big deal. The village can’t catch a break.”
Simon, once a Bronx prosecutor and a public defender, previously worked as Ramapo’s town attorney and then had a controversial stint running the town’s building department under Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence, who was convicted of securities fraud and is going to prison in March.
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His tenure as mayor so far has included not keeping a fire inspector for not doing enough 2018 inspections and suspending a code enforcement officer for 30 days without formal charges. Harvey would join the village treasurer chosen by Simon who have left village employ.
During Simon’s first meeting in December, he created a stir by appointing Charles to the board, refusing to keep his former running mate Rudy Laurent, who had been appointed to the board by Delhomme. Simon, Charles and Grossman also voted to repeal a decision to establish a ward system in the village during the meeting.
Simon also drew attention from some residents for hiring former Ramapo Chief Building Inspector Anthony Mallia as an assistant for a salary the mayor said was “in excess of $100,000.” Mallia had been convicted of felony charges as Ramapo building inspector.
The Rockland Probation Department ruled Mallia cannot work for Spring Valley if the work could involve building issues. Mallia remains on the payroll.”
Read the full text of the Journal News story here.