Attorney calls action by Montgomery mayor, in silencing three women, a constitutional issue

GOSHEN – The Village of Montgomery is in the early stages of reviewing a major commercial project.  Medline, a privately-held medical supply maker, is planning a 1.3 million square foot warehouse on 118 acres on Route 416 near Interstate 84.

Not everyone is happy about it and the issue boiled over at the June 4th village board meeting.

One person was escorted from the proceeding and according to attorney Michael Sussman, two other women were threatened with removal.

“The disregard demonstrated by Mr. Brescia toward at least three women, by name, the other day, is entirely unacceptable,” Sussman said.  “It has no place in our political process.”

Jessica Gocke, who Mayor Stephen Brescia ordered escorted from the meeting, is one of the three women.

“In response to sitting in a chair and raising my hand at a public meeting, a public meeting I was invited to, I had the right to participate in as a member of the public, as a taxpayer in the school district and as property owner three miles from the site of the proposed Medline warehouse,” Gocke said. “This was advertised as a public meeting to be held at the senior center in the Village of Montgomery, where representatives of the Medline corporation were supposed to be answering questions to the public.  Because I do not belong to the private club called ‘The Orange County Partnership,’ I was singled out, discriminated against, robbed of my free speech and humiliated by being escorted out by the police officer despite not breaking any laws and not exhibiting any disruptive behavior.”

The other two women who will be on Sussman’s complaint were Jessica Gocke’s mother, Debra Corr, and former town supervisor Susan Cockburn.

Sussman said it is his intent to turn what the three women experienced into a hard constitutional lesson.

“And I hope we can send a very clear message to Mr. Brescia and those like him, conducting meetings throughout the county, he’s not the only one, that this is not a way of governance that’s common to the United States.  This is not what we’re interested in.”

Sussman said he is also not interested, at this point, in pursuing this at the state level, as a possible violation of the state’s Open Meetings Law.  He said because of the First Amendment abuse, he will file his complaint at the U.S. District Court in White Plains.

Brescia, meanwhile, said he wanted to hear from village residents first. “It’s a shame a few people wanted to hijack the meeting.”