Monticello, NY – Village Board Fires Manager Accused Of Denying Permits For Immigrants

Monticello, NY – Monticello’s Village Board fired Village Manager John Barbarite in an emergency meeting held at 5 p.m. Friday in Village Hall.

Mayor Gordon Jenkins said he and Trustee Theodore Hutchins voted against the termination, but they were outvoted by Trustees Carmen Rue, Scott Schoonmaker and Vic Marinello Jr.
Jenkins said the three cited inefficiency as the reason.

Barbarite was formerly the deputy manager, hired in 2007, and became manager in 2008.

Barbarite is being sued by two landlords who say he wrongfully denied them building permits, targeted them because they’re immigrants and used racial slurs.

Jenkins, who is black, dismissed those claims as payback by slumlords forced to abide by village code, and he called Barbarite’s firing political payback by the other trustees.

Barbarite said he plans to file suit, in particular against Rue, her husband, Tom Rue, and Schoonmaker. He said they have repeatedly made defamatory statements about him, verbally and in blog posts.

Last week Two landlords have filed a lawsuit against the village manager, John Barbarite, alleging that he wrongfully denied their applications for building permits, targeted certain landlords because they are immigrants, and blurted racial epithets in their company.

Mayor Gordon Jenkins, building inspector Sue Flora and the Village of Monticello were also named in the federal lawsuit, filed last week. The property owners, Josif Yakubov and Aida Markisic, are seeking $1.2 million in damages.

For their part, Barbarite and Jenkins called the suit frivolous, and said race has never been a factor in their code enforcement.

The suit underscores a continuing battle between Barbarite, who was hired by the previous village administration in 2007 to crack down on substandard housing, and the landlords who believe he’s been heavy-handed and unfair. It’s the second such lawsuit filed against Barbarite this year, and Gerald Orsek, the Liberty lawyer who represents the landlords, said a third is pending.

“This is not a question of good enforcement,” Orseck said, “it’s a matter of civil rights.”

Yakubov, who owns the house at 52 Liberty St., is an immigrant from Uzbekistan and Markisic, owner of 21 Spring St., is listed as a “non-citizen alien.” Yakubov claims that Barbarite denied his building permit, told him to demolish the house and said Monticello was not “some Third World country where you could do whatever you want.”

Markisic said her permit was revoked after her business partner filed a suit against the village, and that Barbarite fabricated violations on her property when she tried to get a mortgage loan.

Both said they were targeted because of their ethnicity. In addition, Markisic claims that Barbarite made several disparaging remarks about poor, black and Hispanic people in her company.

It’s the third time Barbarite has been accused of using racial and ethnic slurs. He denied all of them, saying a group of bad landlords is trying to push him out of office.

“They overpaid for buildings and the only way you can make money off of them is to run them as a slum, and I’m not going to allow it,” Barbarite said, noting that other landlords were denied permits several times but ultimately received permission when they submitted proper plans.

Jenkins, Monticello’s first black mayor, said he continues to support Barbarite.

“The buildings we shut down, they’ve got black, white, and Indian residents,” he said. “We don’t do things on color, we do things on violations, so they can get out of here with that race (stuff.)”