Village of Monticello Manager James Snowden and Treasurer Gary Lasher were involved in a violent altercation at Village Hall on Tuesday that reportedly resulted in injuries to at least one Monticello Police officer, according to sources who witnessed the incident.
One source told The SullivanTimes that at least one police officer was injured while trying to break up the brawl and that Monticello Police Chief Rob Mir also responded to the scene.
Lasher told The SullivanTimes on Wednesday:
"All I am going to say is that I didn't start it ..I wasn't the aggressive one."
"The staff of the village are fed up and don’t want to go to work anymore in fear of physical harm," said one source who did not want to be identified. Everyone is afraid to speak out in fear of retaliation."
The SullivanTimes late Tuesday reached out to Snowden, Lasher, Mayor George Nikolados, Deputy Mayor Michael Banks and Village Attorney Michael Sussman for comment.
Sussman said in an email to The SullivanTimes that he could not comment on the incident until Wednesday evening, following a scheduled Board of Trustees meeting.
Snowden was appointed Village Manager in April of this year. He previously served as Monticello building inspector and code enforcement officer under former Mayor Gordon Jenkins, who is now on the Board of Trustees.
Lasher, previously the treasurer for the Town of Thompson, has been in the Monticello position since 2018 under then-Mayor Gary Sommers. During part of that time, Lasher split the Village Manager duties with Sommers.
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