MONTICELLO - Two former mayors of Monticello - Gordon Jenkins and Doug Solomon - are headed back to public office after winning their respective races on Tuesday.
Jenkins and his girlfriend Rochelle Massey will serve as Village trustees along with Michael Banks and Carmen Rue. (Charles Sabatino, an
incumbent, and Michael Greco were the other two candidates in the trustee race and both ran as Republicans).
Solomon defeated another former mayor, Gary Sommers, to become a village justice. That seat on the bench became available after long-serving Justice Josephine Victoria-Finn resigned to take
Rochelle Massey, at left, won re-election on to
Monticello's Board of trustees. She is seen here
with former Mayor Gary Sommers, who lost to
former Mayor Doug Solomon for village justice.
(photo by Rich Klein)
position as vice chancellor with the state's Board of Regents.
For Jenkins, the victory represents a remarkable political comeback.
He was removed as mayor by the Appellate Division, Third Department in April 2015 and the New York State Court of Appeals upheld the Third Department decision a month later.
Solomon -who coincidentally was appointed mayor a few weeks after the Court of Appeals decision - is the former long-serving police chief in the Village. He also served as police chief in Beacon and Newburgh.
(Gordon Jenkins' photo from his Twitter account)
The new makeup of the Village government poses a significant challenge to the political strength that Mayor George Nikolados has enjoyed when he won election in September 2020 after defeating Sommers by 192 votes.
Former Mayor Doug Solomon, at left, will become a Village Justice in Monticello. Current Mayor George Nikolados is at right. (photo by Rich Klein)
Solomon, Jenkins and Massey ran in the race as Democrats. Jenkins and Massey also ran on the "G-Men" line, named after Jenkins' beauty supply store in Monticello.
One significant issue for Monticello residents to watch when the board convenes will be the relationship between the new board and the Monticello Police Department.
(DEVELOPING STORY)