Cummings resigns but Friedland refuses By TOM RUE
MONTICELLO - Ever since the unlawful wholesale job swap of three years ago, the Monticello village board has been mired in a series of accusations of unlawful and unethical conduct, and wasteful expenditure of tax dollars. At a May 4 meeting, angry residents -- including officials of the Monticello Police Benevolent Association -- called on mayor Robert Friedland to resign as a result of Friedland's attempts to pressure police chief Michael Brennan into giving his son a job as a police officer rather than honoring a declared policy to seek and hire qualified minority candidates. The meeting erupted in shouting several times, residents accusing Friedland of being a racist, lacking ethics, and of allegedly violating civil service rules and other laws. The meeting was William Cummings' last one as village manager. Last month Cummings announced that Friedland's alleged "meddling" in manager's affairs had led him to resign. Cummings is the village's third manager in as many years. Cummings vented frustration over the board vote not to give him what Monticello resident John Barbarite described as "a gift" of $12,000 in severance pay. Barbarite threatened to file a taxpayer lawsuit if the board paid Cummings the money. Cummings claimed the amount was due him under an oral contract, which board members disputed. Trustees recessed briefly after a reporter asked if any part of the alleged contract with Cummings had been put in writing. They returned with copies of a draft document, which they and Cummings all concurred had been only partly agreed upon. Reviewing the draft, some trustees seemed surprised when they reached a clause which said the manager would receive one sixth of his annual salary if he was "terminated by the village." Several pointed out that Cummings was walking away freely, and had not been terminated. Cummings asserted the village violated the terms of an agreement with him, but refused to say how, stating mysteriously that he would leave it to the board to explain. When asked by members of the public to explain Cummings' statement, all five board members sat mute. In response to Barbarite's lawsuit threat, village attorney Martin Miller replied that Cummings himself might sue if he is not paid. "You're damned either way," Miller told the board. When Monticello resident Arthur Rosenzweig asked if Miller was representing Cummings or the village, Friedland ruled him out of order. Miller then asked the board to recess for a brief executive session to discuss possible or threatened litigation. They then voted 4-1 not to give Cummings the money, with deputy mayor Gary Sommers the lone official in favor of payment. After an executive session which stretched past midnight, board members announced that public works director George Panchyshyn had agreed to serve -- at no additional salary -- as "interim, acting village manager."
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