MONTICELLO — Voters in the Village of Monticello made their voices heard on Tuesday when they went to the polls at the Ted Stroebele Recreation Center to decide on two village trustee seats and the position of village justice.

Incumbent Trustee Rochelle Massey was reelected with 513 votes followed by former Mayor Gordon Jenkins with 502 votes. Former Parks and Recreation Director and athletic coach Michael Greco received 198 votes and incumbent Trustee Charles Sabatino received 182 votes.

Jenkins’ victory represents a political comeback as it marks his return to public office after being removed as mayor in 2015 by the state’s Supreme Court appellate division.

“I’m obligated to be part of this community and make it better,” Jenkins said during the public comment period of Monticello’s board meeting on Wednesday. “I want to be in that hotseat and I want people to point out what I did and what I didn’t do.” 

As reported in the Democrat last week, the Town of Thompson Democratic Committee has endorsed Greco and Sabatino.

Massey and Jenkins both won a primary challenge back in January to claim the Democratic Party line before ultimately going on to win the election. Massey and Jenkins had run on the Democratic and G-Men Party lines while Greco and Sabatino ran on the Republican and People’s Choice Party lines.

In an online statement Wednesday, Greco said, “I have nothing but love and respect for the people who voted for me and I thank you for your support. I also want to thank everyone who has reached out to me since the vote has gone final. I’m good, all I ask is that we hold them accountable for their [actions] moving forward. I was told during the election to stay positive and not mention past issues, so I won’t, but let’s hope that the future will bring growth and happiness to our community.”

Village Justice

Two former mayors were going head to head in the race to fill the vacancy of village justice after the retirement of Justice Josephine Finn.

According to unofficial results, Doug Solomon won with 395 votes while running on the Democratic and People’s Choice Party lines. Gary Sommers earned 240 votes while running on the Republican Party line.

Solomon was appointed as mayor after Jenkins in 2015 and served until 2018 before resigning to take the role as Chief of Police in the city of Newburgh. Solomon has also served as police chief in the villge of Monticello and the City of Beacon.