RED HOOK – John Fenton, the Town of Red Hook code enforcement officer who has been charged with felony bribe receiving along with misdemeanor charges of coercion and official misconduct has been placed on leave from his other positions.
In addition to serving as the code enforcement officer for the Town of Red Hook, he also works as the building inspector for the Village of Tivoli and as building inspector, zoning enforcement officer, and DPW superintendent for the Village of Rhinebeck.
Sources told Mid-Hudson News that Fenton has been suspended by the Village of Tivoli. Village of Rhinebeck Mayor Gary Bassett said that Fenton has been placed on paid administrative leave. “We are aware of the indictment and are working with the Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office as they conduct their investigation,” he said.
Due to a DWI conviction, Fenton was required to have an ignition interlock device installed on any vehicle he operates. A Rhinebeck police officer arrested Fenton for not having the device installed.
As the Town of Red Hook building inspector, Fenton filed building code violations against a property owner for a building with an apartment rented by the officer who arrested Fenton.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, Fenton called the property owner on April 5 and said if the police officer was not evicted from the apartment, he would cause difficulties with any building venture undertaken by the property owner, including withholding certificates of occupancy for the buildings.
Fenton called the builder again on April 10, 2020, and indicated that he would give the property owner a certificate of occupancy for the single-family dwelling in exchange for the owner agreeing to evict the police officer. Fenton also allegedly threatened the owner that he would get a search warrant for the premises to verify that the officer had been evicted.
The DA’s says that the property owner was under no obligation to evict the tenant and he felt pressured by Fenton. “The defendant’s actions constituted an unauthorized exercise of his official functions and the defendant acted with knowledge that said actions were unauthorized,” said District Attorney William Grady.
State Police are continuing to investigate the matter with the district attorney. A State Police spokesman said anyone not yet interviewed that may have possible information regarding official misconduct by Fenton is asked to contact the State Police at 845-677-7300 and refer to case number 9521280.
