MONTICELLO- Village of Monticello Mayor George Nikolados appears to have attempted to leverage the reinstatement of a police officer in exchange for a guarantee of votes from Orthodox residents in his upcoming reelection bid, according to an audio recording obtained by Mid-Hudson News.
The January 2024 recording, provided to Mid-Hudson News by Monticello police dispatcher Yermia Solomon with the consent of his attorney, lays out a plan by which Nikolados agrees to reinstate Solomon to his former post as a police officer in exchange for a “guarantee” from the Orthodox Jewish community to support him in his upcoming election. Solomon is locally well-known as a politically active figure in the Orthodox Jewish community.
Nikolados, who is running for reelection in March, will appear on the ballot on a local party line providing his petitions are certified after failing to qualify for a major party line on the ballot. Nikolados is being challenged by Village Trustee Rochelle Massey, a Democrat.
Yermia Solomon’s History with the Village of Monticello
The question surrounding Solomon’s job dates back to June of 2017 when the then 24-year-old Village of Monticello police officer was arrested and charged with third-degree rape, a felony, as well as two misdemeanors. Solomon’s case was eventually settled when he pled to the lesser charge of endangering the welfare of a child. He was sentenced to three years of probation, had to pay a $1,000 fine, and as part of his plea was forced to resign from his position as a police officer.
Shortly after striking the plea, Solomon and his attorneys appealed. Specifically, they challenged facts laid out in Solomon’s criminal indictment and a subsequent superior court information document. The appeal challenged the date of birth of the victim, which according to both the indictment and superior court information document indicated she was of legal age to consent to sexual intercourse at the time of the alleged crime.
The appeal was heard in front of the Appellate Division in March of 2022 and the court overturned Solomon’s plea. The decision tossed out the charges against Solomon, but the district attorney decided to bring the appeal before the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals. In a unanimous decision, issued in April of 2023, the Court of Appeals upheld the Appellate Court’s decision and the charges against Solomon were reversed.
Since the high court’s decision, the Sullivan County Department of Civil Service has requalified Solomon as a police officer and he made an application with the village to return to his former post. According to Solomon, he was even provided a start date and purchased uniforms in anticipation of returning to the force.
History Between Nikolados and Solomon
The history between Nikolados and Solomon is a contentious one, dating back to 2020 when Nikolados first took office as Monticello mayor.
In the wake of his 2018 plea, the month before vacating office, former Monticello Mayor Gary Sommers rehired Solomon as a police dispatcher. The move was controversial because it was approved at an emergency meeting and at the time, Nikolados characterized Solomon’s hire as “unethical.”
Solomon’s role as a police dispatcher provided him with civil service protections, and accordingly, village officials could not terminate his employment without cause. Approximately a year later, in August of 2021, shortly after village officials terminated Solomon from his police dispatcher job, he filed suit claiming he was improperly fired. Solomon says he was fired because he publicly supported Sommers.
Solomon’s civil suit over his termination was eventually settled, with village board members authorizing a settlement agreement at their November 2022 meeting. The settlement, for an undisclosed sum of money, included Solomon’s return to the village as a police dispatcher, a role in which he continues to serve today.
Nikolados Negotiates Solomon’s Return in Exchange for a “Guarantee” of Votes
The years-long dispute between Nikolados and Solomon came to a head following civil services’ 2023 clearance for Solomon to return to his former role as a police officer. After he was cleared to return, he made an application and according to Solomon, was provided a start date by Chief of Police Robert Mir. He also completed all of the necessary training and screening requirements to return to work.
On Wednesday, January 10th while Solomon was on duty as a police dispatcher, he was called to Nikolados’ office for a meeting. Solomon recorded the conversation between him, Nikolados, and Village Trustee Carmen Rue in which the three discussed Solomon’s return to police work and the upcoming election.
The entire unedited recording of the conversation can be found below. Timestamp references to the audio are referenced below as well.
Early in the discussion (4:30) Nikolados expresses concern that if he reinstates Solomon as a police officer, there will be a backlash in the community. Solomon maintains his reinstatement won’t be a problem, however, Nikolados says the move will be negatively viewed.
Approximately a minute later in the conversation (5:32) Nikolados remarks, “To me, the way that I look at it right now, I’m not winning this election,” referring to his upcoming reelection bid for mayor. Nikolados and Rue are both seeking reelection and, in the days before and after the recorded conversation, were circulating petitions to appear on the ballot.
In the recording, Nikolados, who serves as both the elected mayor and appointed village manager, said that he is not concerned about the money associated with his jobs and that his primary concern is his business and personal reputation, which he believes could be damaged by agreeing to reinstate Solomon. Solomon maintains that he is going to get his job back either way and that Nikolados should do the “right thing” and reinstate him. Nikolados and his family own and operate a diner in Monticello.
After questions are posed by Nikolados as to whether or not Solomon plans to support his reelection bid, Solomon replies (7:29) that he would be willing to “help him (Nikolados) on the side” if he were to do the right thing and restore his job.
The audio recording indicates an uneasiness on the part of Nikolados to reinstate Solomon and Nikolados questions (7:49) whether Solomon’s background check would clear. He also expresses concern that reappointing Solomon could create an issue with the department’s overall certification. Solomon says that since his charges and plea were vacated, nothing would come back in his background that would disqualify him from the job.
“So for me, to put my fucking neck on the line, my reputation, like I said my business is my reputation, it’s my life and my livelihood and my family and everything, I can take a big hit from this,” said Nikolados, referring to reappointing Solomon (10:45). “I need a guarantee, that number one, I’m going to be reelected and number two, I’m not going to have Carmen every other day telling me I’m going to take you out as manager like she did this weekend,” he continued.
Rue seemingly agrees that reappointing Solomon will not be a problem and that she would not oppose the move.
Nikolados goes on to add (12:38), “You know what they’re going to fucking do, and we both know,” referring to leaders in the Orthodox Jewish community. “I can’t win an election with 300 maybe votes from the Orthodox community, the Hasidic community,” he remarked.
After some discussion between the three on the issue of the upcoming election, Nikolados ordered Solomon (13:36) to bring specific Orthodox community leaders to him to make him a guarantee. Nikolados said, “tell me if I do this, I’m going to get this,” seemingly establishing a quid-pro-quo, job-for-votes deal.
After some additional conversation, Nikolados addressed Solomon, stating (17:19), “I feel like you’d rather be here as a police officer with me here as opposed to with me not here.” To which, Solomon replied, “I agree.” Nikolados then responded, “OK, well how can we guarantee that?” I’ll sign off as long as I have a guarantee.”
The group then continues to chat about the upcoming elections, where Nikolados expresses his distrust of the leaders of the Orthodox community.
“This is probably not right to say, but if I give you the fucking job now, I have no leverage other than fucking good faith or whatever,” said Nikolados (19:51).
The conversation then pivots to outline a specific plan by which the deal could be made, according to Nikolados.
“So, how about this, collect the absentee ballots two weeks before the election, show me the absentee ballots, and I’ll sign off,” said Nikolados (20:11).
As the conversation continued, and it seemed as if a deal was becoming less likely, Nikolados promised revenge on members of the Orthodox community.
“Fine, don’t worry, I’ll fucking find fucking ways to find revenge on them (Orthodox community leaders) if I’m out of the fucking thing (mayor’s office), I’ll track them down, I’ll fuck with them personally,” he said (23:02).
The recording then pauses as Solomon attempts to contact one of the community leaders, by telephone, at the request of Nikolados. The community leader did not answer and no voicemail was left.
“My personal thing is the job is one thing, and that should be done, because it needs to be done, and the election, I have no problem helping you, but why should I help somebody if they are not doing the right thing,” Solomon stated (24:29).
Nikolados immediately replied, “Why should I put my reputation on the line if I’m not going to get anything out of it? Like I said, that’s my livelihood over there, my reputation is my livelihood,” to which Solomon replied, “This is something that needs to be done anyways, but whatever.”
The audio recording ends with the group disbursing with the plan to reconvene with specific Orthodox community leaders on Monday, January 22nd. It turns out that meeting would never happen, because days after the recording Solomon would be placed under arrest and sent to Sullivan County Jail.
Solomon’s Arrest
Solomon was arrested by district attorney’s investigators shortly after 4 p.m. on Thursday, January 18th, and was charged with offering a false instrument for filing and falsifying business records, two felonies. The charges stem from alleged false statements Solomon made on his application to be reinstated as a Monticello police officer earlier that month.
The charges were unsealed in a January 17th indictment and Solomon questioned the timing of his arrest. The charges he is facing are not bail-eligible crimes, and Solomon said he was arrested after hours when no judge was available. Consequently, he was required to spend the night in the Sullivan County Jail before being released by a judge the next morning, pending a future court date.
The judge assigned to Solomon’s latest case is Sullivan County Court Judge Jim Farrell who in 2017 was the district attorney who prosecuted Solomon in his original set of charges. According to Solomon, his attorney is requesting a different judge be assigned to the case moving forward.
Police Chief Resignation
A final element, adding to the complexity of the story, is the resignation of Monticello Police Chief Robert Mir. With little notice, Mir resigned his position as chief of police in January. According to Nikolados, Mir had been working without a contract for some time, but his resignation came as a surprise and took effect immediately.
It is unknown whether or not Mir’s resignation is connected to Solomon’s return to work.
Nikolados’ Reaction
After calling Nikolados and asking him about the recording he indicated that he may have a recording of his own. While he did not confirm or deny having had the conversation he referred Mid-Hudson News to contact the Sullivan County District Attorney Brian Conaty and said there is more to the story.
The Audio Recording
