MONTICELLO -— Village Mayor George Nikolados swore in Jason Corley as the new Monticello Police Chief.

When setting forth the resolution to appoint Corley to the Board, Trustee Gordon Jenkins voiced his reasoning on why he didn’t agree to the appointment.

Jenkins stated that with the recent resignation of previous Police Chief Robert Mir, he wasn’t sure what was going on regarding that matter.

Jenkins stated that “there are a lot of issues here in this Village, and it’s pertaining to the Police Department,”

He said that he previously spoke briefly with Corley, and he stressed that, with no disrespect towards anyone, he could not vote on this appointment at the current time.

“Because there are things happening in this Village as we speak,” said Jenkins. “To me, it’s not good and I don’t like what’s going on.”

“I just want to, in a way, back away from what’s happing with the Police Department. There’s a tape out there, there’s other things going on.”

He said he’d rather tell Corley straight out that he’s not voting [to approve] it. He reasoned that he does not play games with people. He also said that he is not going to “be a phony [on the matter] because I’m not a phony and I don’t play games.”

Corley responded and addressed the public, saying that he worked in the Police Department for an upwards of 27 years — noting his commitment to the community.

He said that on February 27, 1995 he swore an oath to become a Police Officer. Twenty-nine years later to the day, he swore the oath to become Chief of Police.

“You will get the honest truth out of me. We will have those conversations and I look forward to them,” said Corley. 

“The people in this community that know me, they know me. At least I try. I commit that to you guys, I commit that to my offices. I commit that to the community...”

“You have my commitment, we can have those conversations [about Jenkins’ reasoning,]” said Corley.

Easter event incoming 

The Village Board of Monticello approved a proposal for an Easter-themed event.

In attendance at the meeting was Danielle Gallati from Reach Towards The Stars, who reminded the Board of the Halloween Parade which was followed by the trunk-or-treat which took place behind the Ted Stroebele Center last October.

She proposed a similar event for Easter - barring the parade event. She said the event would feature the Easter Bunny and potentially an Easter egg hunt behind the Center as well. She emphasized that the event could utilize the entire area that wasn’t able to be utilized last time. She brought up the possibility of having a DJ present as well.

“It would be a completely free [event] just like it was last year,” said Gallati. 

The date would be before Easter on March 23 at 2:00 p.m. She explained this date and time because she stated that she saw other towns posting their event and she didn’t want hers interfering with theirs.