Friedland apologizes for racist remark -- won't resign By TOM RUE
MONTICELLO - Mayor Robert Friedland attempted to use his influence to land his son, Marc Friedland, a job as a Monticello police officer, in a taped conversation with police chief Michael Brennan which was made public last week. The conversation took place on February 8th but came to light after its existence was anonymously leaked to the Middletown Times Herald-Record.
Friedland admitted trying to influence Brennan, but claimed it was "something any father would do." He denied acting in his official capacity as mayor, saying instead he called Brennan as a father and 18-year veteran of the Monticello police department.
"Today is not my greatest day," Friedland admitted. He spoke at an April 10th meeting of the Sullivan County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at the Monticello neighborhood facility, and answered several questions from the audience. He made his remarks just before the tape was played to the audience.
"I did say 'fuck minorities,' but I didn't mean everyone that's here," Friedland told the crowd. The tape of his discussion with Brennan drew gasps and expressions of disgust from the crowd of about 100. "I do apologize for, as you might say, putting my foot in my mouth," he said.
In the tape, Friedland told Brennan: "...In reference to a job for my kid, I'm downright, outright serious. There's money there. I don't give a fuck about minorities." Brennan resisted, citing a village policy decision to recruit minority officers.
Friedland is credited with creating the Monticello Human Rights Commission (HRC), several years ago, following an incident in which swastikas were allegedly found in a police locker room.
Marc Friedland scored #6 on the civil service list, but Friedland claimed he was "reachable" because several people above him on the list do not live in the village. Friedland stressed that his son is already certified as a police officer, meaning a cost savings to the village if he were hired. No one on the current list is a minority. Brennan told Friedland he would rather hire a minority from another police department than hire a white man.
Village manager Bill Cummings, who recently announced his intent to resign, denied having anything to do with leaking news of the tape's existence to the media. "It didn't come from the chief either," he added, stating someone in the police station may have heard Brennan's end of the conversation and told others.
Cummings said he has been asked twice by the village board to rethink his resignation. He said he agreed to do so, "but I wouldn't hold much hope to it." Cummings pinned his reason for quitting on alleged "meddling" by Friedland in manager's affairs.
Clifford Moore was one of more than two dozen residents to speak. "What Bobby Friedland did was a very racist thing and an abuse of power," said Moore, "Friedland thinks Monticello, this village, is his little Camelot." Moore identified himself as a commissioner on the HRC and currently the only black teacher at Monticello High School.
Others, like Otis Jackson, seemed more willing to forgive. "Let he who is without sin among us cast the first stone," Jackson chided the audience, adding that racial epithets worse than those used by Friedland in his discussion with Brennan are commonly used in local homes.
Calling the situation "a crisis," trustee Gary Sommers said Friedland should resign as mayor. "It's not politically oriented, but I hope for the betterment of the village he will see the light and resign."
Friedland said he will not resign, but did offer to quit the NAACP if asked to by a vote of members or by president Thomas Mack. Mack instead asked Friedland to continue working with organization, though several members called for him to quit. "I would rather resign than have to be in an organization with him," said Renee Williams, chair of the NAACP legal redress committee.
Friedland accused Sommers of posturing to boost his chances of running against him in March 1996. Sommers denied this, claiming he has been asked to run for mayor but has not decided.
The incident sparked appointment by the village board of former high-ranking New York City police official Jimmy Hargrove, 55, of Queens, to examine Friedland's conduct in pressuring Brennan. Hargrove, who is black, said he retired as assistant commissioner of the NYC Police Department, and is the former director of public safety of the Boston Housing Police.
Hargrove said he has set up an office at village hall.
"I see it as an opportunity for the village. Without a body lying in the street, without the police department being accused of a specific act, they've come to the table easy," Hargrove noted.
One NAACP board member called for investigation of what he called the appearance of a "conspiracy" created by the delay between the date of Friedland's phone call to Brennan and the tape's release to the media. Hargrove said he was more concerned about what was said, whether any ethical provisions were violated, and what can be learned from the episode.
"I'm going to stay completely away from who's sleeping with who, politics, or anything like that," Hargrove said of the conspiracy theory.
Hargrove laid out a four-stage plan: investigation of what Friedland and others did and said in relation to the village's code of ethics, examination of minority hiring practices, tutoring local minority youth on how to score well civil service exams, and sensitivity training for village employees. He said his focus will be comprehensive, to include sexual harassment as well as other forms of discrimination.
Hargrove will be paid $50 an hour, Cummings said, to investigate and consult with village officials. Cummings estimated a total cost of $40,000 to include Hargrove's fees, printing, training materials and instructor fees.
"I'll be attending that sensitivity training because I need it just as much as anybody else," Friedland pledged.
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