GOSHEN – Three women, who say they were silenced by Village of Montgomery Mayor Stephen Bresia when they tried to speak at a village board meeting, are seeking relief in federal court.
As promised last month, Goshen attorney Michael Sussman, representing plaintiffs Jessica Gocke, her mother, Deborah Corr and former Town of Montgomery Supervisor Susan Cockburn, filed the suit, dated July 4, in White Plains federal Court, naming both Brescia and the Village of Montgomery.
Among Sussman’s allegations:
“Finally, defendant Brescia disallowed former Town Supervisor Cockburn from the meeting, claiming that she could not speak because she not a Village resident and threatening to have her escorted from the meeting room if she persisted in trying to speak. At his request, uniformed police officers laid hands on plaintiff Cockburn and began escorting him [sic] from the room.”
The topic under discussion was a large warehouse planned by Medline, in the Town of Montgomery and very near the village. The proposal has raised concerns about truck traffic and noise.
The suit notes the meeting notice provided time for village residents and non-village residents to address the Medline issue. Non-residents were allowed to speak on other issues, but the complaint alleges that “… In prohibiting plaintiffs from speaking because of their viewpoints or assumed viewpoints opposing Medline, defendant Brescia engaged in impermissible viewpoint discrimination at this limited public forum.”
The suit seeks “… compensatory and punitive damages as against defendant Brescia, award to plaintiffs compensatory damages as against defendant Village of Montgomery, permanently enjoin defendants from engaging in viewpoint discrimination, award plaintiffs’ counsel attorneys fees and costs arising from the prosecution of this matter and enter any other and further order which the interests of justice and equity may require.”
We reached out to Brescia for comment but did not hear back from him.
