Tensions high in Monticello

Monticello  —  A majority of board members in Monticello passed a resolution last week authorizing the village manager to enforce a “No Work From Home” policy effective immediately, which includes the return of all Village owned equipment.

Trustees Carmen Rue, Gordon Jenkins and Rochelle Massey voted to approve the resolution. Mayor George Nikolados abstained and Trustee Michael Banks voted against it. 

Speaking before his vote, Banks said that Village Treasurer Gary Lasher “doesn’t feel comfortable coming here right now because of the incident that happened the other day. He wants to get this thing resolved so he can come here safely.”

Banks was referring to an incident last Monday when Villager Treasurer Gary Lasher and Village Manager James Snowden were reportedly involved in a physical altercation inside Village Hall. 

Snowden said that he and Lasher had a phone conversation that day regarding the finances for a village truck. The conversation became confrontational, with Snowden saying the treasurer cursed at him and hung up the phone. Not long after, Snowden claims Lasher arrived at Village Hall and initiated the physical confrontation. 

“It wasn’t much of a fight. I didn’t throw any punches at anybody,” Snowden told the Democrat.  “I just restrained him a little bit and then the police officer came in.”

Lasher declined to comment on the details of the altercation, except to deny that he initiated it. 

Village Mayor George Nikolados and representatives from the Monticello Police Department did not respond to a request for comment. 

Special Counsel to the Village, Michael Sussman, told the Democrat he would convene a meeting with the parties involved to help sort things out so people could continue to work together.

Also during last week’s meeting, the board unanimously passed a resolution for the village manager to seek proposals for a forensic audit of fiscal years 2020 and 2021.

The board also passed a resolution for the village manager to solicit applications for the position of village treasurer at the current budgeted salary. That resolution was passed by Trustees Rue, Massey and Jenkins with Trustee Banks opposed and Mayor Nikolados abstaining. 

“At this point, clearly Mr. Lasher remains the treasurer,” Sussman said. “In order to be the treasurer, he and the village manager need to have at least a working relationship. These gentlemen have been working well together by both accounts for a number of months. It appears that, as sometimes happens, people misread each other’s intentions. My perspective is that, as long as they’re both officers of the village,  we have to find ways that they can in fact work together and transcend whatever differences there are or have been.”