Senior Detective Doug Tunno, center, of the Village of Monticello Police Department, accepts the Monticello Kiwanis Club’s Everyday Hero Award from Kiwanis President Henry Good. At left is his wife, Joy Tunno.
Det. Tunno, who has 35 years on the force, recently headed three gang-awareness workshops for local officials. He was instrumental in starting the School Resource Officer program and has served as liaison between the department and the school district.
Consistent with the practice of the NYS Legislature, mandated by Governor's Executive Order 3 of 1997 and the stated intent of the Sullivan County Legislature, I have begun linking audio files of public proceedings at Village Board of Trustees meetings, which constituents or others from the public may download or stream, together with my rationale and legal authority for providing this service are here.
Throughout 2009, Sullivan County residents and visitors will celebrate the 200-year anniversary of the county's founding, orchestrated by the county, Sullivan Renaissance, and a host of community organizations.
The keynote speaker at the Memorial Day wreath-laying ceremony at the Sullivan County Government Center was Jim McDonough, Director of the NYS Division of Veteran Affairs.
Sullivan County Government Center, Monticello
Monday, May 26, 2008
Printed Program Acrobat (pdf) 879 bytes
Monticello and the Town of Thompson have reason to be proud of the recognition recently given for the extraordinary training that members of the Monticello Joint Fire District receive.
The Village Manager evidently misunderstands the role of a Village Attorney in relation to Board members. The attorney does not represent the Manager, but the Board of Trustees. Any Trustee is entitled -– in fact, obligated – to seek legal advice from the Village Attorney on questionable matters before voting. The Manager is entitled to consult with the Village Attorney only on behalf of or as authorized by the Board. If the Manager becomes adversarial against the Village, or provides advice contrary to the opinion of the Attorney, the Village Attorney’s obligation is to the Board, not the Manager.
John Barbarite behaved unethically by disclosing confidential attorney-client information to the newspaper 1 without the consent of the Board of Trustees. I would suggest that Mr. Barbarite study up on the definition of privileged communication.
It is perfectly acceptable for an elected Trustee to ask the Attorney to prepare to provide an answer for a critical question, especially on time sensitive matters. It is entirely unacceptable and improper for a Village employee to instruct Trustees on the nature or frequency of the questions that Village Trustees can ask the Village Attorney.
But even if I sent 10 times the number e-mails that Mr. Barbarite claims I did, it would not be his place to question or to report such communications to the media.
I invite Mr. Barbarite and Mayor Jenkins to show themselves to be men – honest men – by apologizing to the public, the Village, and me.
To clarify any questions that may have arisen as a result of Mr. Barbarite’s false claims, I am offering the following details to the public.
I am advised that, in speaking with reporters from The Sullivan County Democrat and WSUL Radio that, John Barbarite has blamed the recent resignation of Village Attorneys Will Frank and Karen Alt on me. 1
This is from Bill Liblick's column in today's edition of The Sullivan County Democrat about a May 17th disaster preparedness training to be held by the American Red Cross of Greater New York at Monticello High School.
Art, music, and other cultural events are not hard to find near Monticello. We enjoyed an afternoon of choral arrangements by Sullivan County Community Chorus at the First Church Presbyterian of Monticello on May 4th.
by THOMAS S. BELMONT
Monticello's first Village Manager
What it is. How it works.
The author of this introduction, Thomas S. Belmont, was Monticello's first Village Manager. He included this, and the accompanying organizational chart, in his first annual report to the Village Board to make clear the legislative intent of the framer's of Monticello's "council-manager" form of government, and explain how the Manager is intended to function subordinate to the Board of Trustees. 1
"Briefly, the main features of Council-Manager government are: a small council elected at large on a non-partisan ballot determines all municipal policies which are not set forth in a charter itself, adopts ordinances, votes appropriations and is required to appoint a chief executive officer called a Village Manager. The council is the governing body of the Village and the Village Manager is its agent in carrying out the policy which it determines. It is definitely understood that the Council deals with administration only in a formal manner through the Village Manager, and that administrative functions are at no time delegated to committees or individual members of the Council.
Monticello, New York
