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- MONTICELLO - Monticello trustees expressed surprise upon learning the out-of-town consultant they hired to investigate the mayor had a close working relationship -- spanning about 10 years -- with former village manager William Cummings.
- It was Cummings who recommended Hargrove to the board, but without disclosing the extent of their prior connection.
- Consultant Jimmy Hargrove's report blasts Monticello mayor Robert Friedland for seeking a job for his son as a police officer and for speaking insensitively of minorities in a taped February 8 conversation with police chief Michael Brennan.
- Prior to learning of the long-term relationship between Cummings and Hargrove, Levinson and Friedland had already questioned Hargrove's objectivity. Interviewed separately, both said Cummings had "pulled [Hargrove'] resume out of his pocket" during an April 12 executive session, without having been asked by the board to recommend professionals for the job.
- No public bids were taken on the consultant position, nor any request for proposals issued, a knowledgeable source said. Based on Cummings' recommendation, Hargrove was hired without question, trustees said. Hargrove said he has received about $4000 in salary and expenses, and is owed about $2000. As much as $30,000 was originally announced by Cummings as the cost for the entire investigation and training.
- Hargrove said two of his employees -- George Olivet and Richard Aquirre -- have begun preparation for the sensitivity training, for which they have not been paid. Hargrove said he was unsure what will happen next, or whether he will return to Monticello at all. "The ball is not in my court," he said.
- Three taxpayers -- John and Janet Barbarite and Victor Gordon -- have filed suit against the village to compel board officials to pay Hargrove's tab themselves , claiming the hiring was conducted unlawfully. Barbarite said he expects the case to go to trial in supreme court in about a month, noting he intends to subpoena as many as 30 witnesses.
- Thomas Mack, president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) said he was not present on April 12 when Cummings recommended Hargrove to the board, though he and other NAACP representatives attended part of the closed-door meeting with officials after learning of the incriminating tape from a third party.
- Mack stressed the importance of not being diverted by "side issues" away from the central concern about Friedland's actions. Mack acknowledged the importance of any investigation being fair and impartial. Mack declined to characterize Hargrove's report as fair or not, but suggested that any questions about the significance of Hargrove's objectivity in relation to Cummings and Friedland might be coming up "because Mr. Hargrove is black."
- Cummings announced his resignation on April 8, citing a variety of conflicts between himself and Friedland which had nothing to do with Freidland's offensive phone call to Brennan.
- Friedland counters that he was investigating Cummings' and Brennan's unnecessary and non-village-related travel, and personal phone calls charged to the village on cellular phones, when someone tried to blackmail him into resigning. Friedland has refrained from accusing anyone by name of trying to use an incriminating tape of a February 13 conversation between him and Brennan into coercing him to resign, but numerous longtime local political observers agree the appearance exists.
- Elected mayor in March 1994 to fill the unexpired term of John Duiguid (who vacated the mayoralty in the course of Musical Chairs), Friedland vows not to resign. Friedland admits the calls he made to Brennan demanding a job for his son were "stupid," and says he realizes he "shouldn't have done it, in reference to Musical Chairs, and trying to muscle Brennan after being elected. Opponents mock his Friedland's numerous apologies as seemingly never-ending. Attorney Mark Schulman -- who now resides in Wurtsboro -- has been vocal and active in calling for and trying to bring Friedland down. Cummings closely associated himself with Schulman, as have several other village employees, even after he was fired as village attorney upon Friedland's taking office. Schulman and Friedland were once close friends, sources say.
- Employment resumes of Cummings and Hargrove -- obtained by The River Reporter from official sources -- reveal the pair held high posts in NYC law-enforcement for several years. Village officials said they were unaware of this.
- Contacted by phone, Hargrove confirmed that Cummings was under his direct employment, stating he had hired Cummings as a special patrolman and then as a sergeant at Roosevelt Island in NYC in the mid-1980s. "I've helped him over the years in his other capacities as well," Hargrove acknowledged. Later, "He [Cummings] was director of the Bronx Terminal Market and he would call me for suggestions and favors," Hargrove said.
- These "favors" included professional consulting jobs and training work under Cummings's supervision in various situations, Hargrove said.
- Cummings was deputy director, and then director of public safety, at the NYC Terminal Produce Market from 1988 to 1991, while Hargrove was a deputy police commissioner for the city.
- Cummings did not disclose his prior employment relationships with Hargrove to the village, according to officials who were present in the closed-door meeting where the decision to hire Hargrove was made.
- Trustee Gloria Cahalan recalled Cummings revealing that "he knew of him [Hargrove] and he had experience," but not that the pair had worked closely for years and had exchanged "favors." Trustee Evelyn Vandermark did not respond to a phone message from The River Reporter.
- Levinson said Cummings mentioned knowing Hargrove "from the produce market," but not that they had a longtime professional relationship. "Cummings is just as much at fault as anybody. He knew about it [the Friedland/Brennan tape] and he kept it quiet," said Levinson.
- The only management officials involved in the tape scandal who escaped criticism in Hargrove's stinging report, for not putting the matter on the agenda sooner at a board meeting, were Cummings and Brennan. Hargrove told The River Reporter that he accepts Levinson's word that he was unaware of the Friedland tape.
- Levinson objected to reports in other newspapers which have lumped him with other trustees who knew about Friedland's unethical attempt to get his son a job but participated in a conspiracy of silence until Cummings resigned.
- Levinson said he is tired of the issue, noting that Friedland has already been censured once for examining Brennan's cellular phone bills. "He should be censored again for that [the call to Brennan] if that's what the board wants, and then let's get on with some positive things," said Levinson.
- Cummings would not come to the phone when told by a family member that The River Reporter was calling, and he did not return the call in response to a message.
- Trustee Gary Sommers asserted that he was unavailable and did not have time to discuss the issue when contacted on May 28 due to "a family matter," asking to be re-contacted after press-time.
- It was Cummings who recommended Hargrove to the board, but without disclosing the extent of their prior connection.
Thursday, June 1, 1995.
Cummings and Hargrove were pals
By TOM RUE