I.C.E. I.C.E. Baby: Monroe Republicans Leave Residents Feeling Too Cold, Too Cold

The undesired involvement of the Orange County Sheriff's Department in Monroe raises concerns about public safety and political manipulation.

A note to subscribers: The podcast for today’s post will be shared separately this week and only for subscribers. It is very long, and I ran out of time to edit it and post this. If you want the audio version of this post, access to our archives, and entry to our Private Facebook group where I post throughout the week, you can become a monthly subscriber below:

---

This Saturday, October 18, will be one of the largest peaceful, nonviolent protests in American history. I hope to see you at one.

And, for those of you who think this protest is entirely made up of “terrorists”, I’d like to direct your attention to the right-leaning Reason.com. They provides a helpful list of ways our dementia addled dictator has violated the principles set forth in our Declaration of Independence. You can read that list here.

No Kings events are being held in Warwick, Goshen, Cornwall, Newburgh, and Middletown. For our Rockland County readers, there will also be an event at Stony Point from 12pm to 2pm. You can RSVP for Indivisible Rockland’s event here.

There will NOT be events in Monroe and Woodbury.

The Indivisible Monroe/Hands Off Hudson Valley Steering Committee—disclosure: I’m a member of this committee—recommends you attend the event closest to you instead.

So, if you’re in Chester, Blooming Grove, and Monroe, RSPV here and head to Warwick.

The Warwick event will be held from 10am to 11:30am. (If this is too early for you, you can also attend the event in Goshen, which is being held from 2pm to 4pm. You can RSVP for the Goshen event here.)

If you’re in Woodbury, RSVP here and head to Cornwall. The event will be held from 12pm to 2pm.

Speaking just as myself, and not as a member of the committee, I am again reiterating my disappointment that neither the Town of Monroe Democratic Committee — nor the Town of Woodbury Democratic Committee — is actively engaged in hosting and promoting Indivisible events in Monroe and Woodbury.

Perhaps if some Town of Monroe Democratic Committee members, such as Anthony V. Jorge, spent less time littering the Town and Village of Monroe with signs promoting write-in candidate for Town Supervisor, C.V. Shashikumar, and more time focused on the threats our nation faces from the authoritarian Make America White Again (MAGA) movement, we could hold bigger events here in Monroe.

Just a thought.

And if Anthony V. Jorge sounds familiar to Monroe Gazette readers, yes. He is an employee of State Senator James G. Skoufis. Mr. Jorge works as Skoufis’s External Relations Associate —and that was Anthony V. Jorge’s mother, Gloria L. Delgado, challenging Maureen Richardson, Beth Stevens, and Luis Rivera’s ballots not too long ago.

As we also reported, Mr. Skoufis has been heavily involved in both the Monroe and Woodbury elections on behalf of wealthy and well-connected real estate developers. The $19,600 that his Protect Monroe-Woodbury Independent Expenditure Committee spent against incumbent Woodbury Village Mayor Andrew Giacomazza has still gone unaccounted for. Both Village Trustees Matthew Fabbro and James Freiband, as well as the unelected cave troll Village Trustee Rhonda Fabbro—Matthew’s mother—and Willa Freiband, James Freiband’s wife, who runs a political consulting firm, have not replied to multiple requests for comment from The Monroe Gazette concerning whether they accepted any of that money.

MAGA Woodbury Village mayoral candidate Brandon Calore has also not clarified whether he accepted any of Mr. Skoufis’s money. Mr. Calore claimed that his campaign was entirely self-funded, which was revealed to be false after his campaign filings were made public. Both Rhonda and Willa Freiband’s Committee to Elect Woodbury Democrats and Trustee James Freiband have not disclosed their campaign funding. Only Matthew Fabbro has reported funding, and even that, to me anyway, seems sketchy:

C.V. Shashikumar, through a third party, confirmed that Anthony Jorge — and at least one other member of the Town of Monroe Democratic Committee — was helping him put out the signs. Mr. Shashikumar did not say who the second person was, but I have at least one guess, and he did not confirm whether State Senator Skoufis was involved with the funding of those signs. Mr. Anthony V. Jorge was spotted on Saturday, October 4th, 2025, leaving Mr. Shasikumar’s office. (Anthony V. Jorge did not respond to The Monroe Gazette when reached for comment.)

Pictured above: Little Dick Energy (State Senator James G. Skoufis) and Monroe Town Supervisor write-in candidate C.V. Shashikumar in an undated photo that appears on Shashikumar’s campaign website. C.V. stated he knows Skoufis “very well” and that Skoufis has been to his home many times, including a recent visit.

Mr. Shashikumar also told a source close to The Monroe Gazette that he previously supported Skoufis’s 2022 State Senate campaign but not the 2024 campaign.

---

How We All Got Stuck With Tony Cardone

I also want to let you know about two important local dates coming up—one involving Woodbury, and the other is the subject of this week’s story.

The first is tomorrow—Tuesday, October 14—inside the gym at St. Patrick’s Church, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

All of the Row F candidates (We the People of Woodbury) will be there. None of the gutless local Democrats and Republicans running for office will be present.

In fact, if you watch the most recent Town of Woodbury Board meeting, you can see Woodbury Town Supervisor Kathryn Luciani and equally cowardly Town Board candidate David Yoffee tell Maria Hunter—one of the organizers of the event—that they will not be attending at 1:19:32. Luciani claims to have a “prior commitment.” David Yoffee boastfully said, “I’m not going.”

What a putz.

(Mrs. Luciani’s prior engagement might be her continued efforts to cover up the fact that she has been aware of the sewage issues involving the Animal Shelter and its potential threat to the reservoir for over a year. Both she and Mr. Calore—running on a platform of improving infrastructure—knew about the situation and did nothing to resolve it. The Town Board has now taken the position that it’s the previous administration’s fault, hoping you forget that Mrs. Luciani was a board member during that time.)

The second event is on Monday, October 20 at 7 p.m.

This is the second public hearing about Tony Cardone and Dorey Houle’s sudden concern over the need for police protection in the Town of Monroe.

Their sudden concern about the level of police presence should be alarming to all Harriman, Village of Monroe, and Town of Monroe residents.

First, in November 2017, Tony Cardone ran unopposed for Town Supervisor, receiving 6,418 votes. At the time of his announcement, Cardone said the following:

“We need someone in the supervisor’s position who can bond the divisions and move toward uniting the town,” […]“A person with the ability to develop relations countywide instead of constantly degrading and fighting with our neighboring municipalities.”

(I’ll point out here that, outside of Town Supervisor Kathryn Luciani, you would be hard-pressed to find a local elected official who likes Tony Cardone.)

In 2021, Tony Cardone ran unopppsed for Town Supervisor, receiving 2,638 votes. So, at no point has anyone ever ran against Tony Cardone for Town Supervisor.

In fact, not long after being elected to the Town Board as councilmember back in 2015, Cardone often served as “acting supervisor” in place of Harley Doles, who claimed to be suffering from medical issues. (Whether or not he was is a different story and changes depending on whom you ask. Doles would later die three years later, with some close to him attributing the near-constant harassment from Tony Cardone’s United Monroe as a contributing factor in Dole’s death. Mr. Cardone has done his best to downplay his affiliation with United Monroe and his role in negotiating a deal with the Village of Kiryas Joel to create the Town of Palm Tree, which town residents are still seething about here in 2025. When he first officially ran for supervisor, Cardone said he favored the split that led to the creation of America’s first official theocracy.)

In complaining about the former Town Board and his transition to Supervisor at the end of 2017, Cardone said, “We have to get through November and December,” Cardone said. “I expect they will throw every thing at use. “But we will be civilized and professional,” he added. “We will show taxpayers and employees alike respect, leadership and peace.” (Emphasis added, because Cardone proceeded to do the exact opposite.)

So, since 2015, it can be said that Tony Cardone has, more or less, been in charge of the Town of Monroe. At no point, according to village officials, did Mr. Cardone ever speak to them about increasing the village’s police presence to better serve and protect the entire town. In fact, in 2019, Tony Cardone said the following to The Photo News—you know, back when they did actual journalism:

The Photo-News: What will be the most important and/or critical issue (or problem) you and the residents of your community will face in the new year? What can you do about it?

Tony Cardone: The unfunded mandates of The Law Reform Bill present many issues for not only the Town of Monroe, but all Towns and Villages across the state. With no bail for most crimes, the burden of its implementation is placed on taxpayers from the lack of funding from New York State. A number of aspects of the Law Bill contribute to this. I have not spoken to one municipal leader who has had a positive remark about the passing of this bill, a strong indication that changes to this bill are necessary. Hopefully our New York State representatives in Albany will see this as a huge blunder and promptly create a new stand-alone bill to correct the flaws in the new system.

Notice what Mr. Cardone didn’t say back in 2019?

He did not say that he would speak to the State Police, who at the time were responsible for providing police protection to Town of Monroe residents, to see what additional steps could be taken to protect the residents in terms of stepped-up enforcement. If Mr. Cardone was that concerned about the bail reform law, which has proven to be a success, one would think he would have taken steps to protect his residents. He did not.

In fact, in 2022, Tony Cardone, in discussing the State Trooper presence in the Town of Monroe,said this in The Photo News:

“The Town of Monroe does not have its own police department; rather, it relies for Town-wide policing on the New York State Police which operates a barracks from property it rents from the Town at 369 Nininger Road. When asked how the Town pulled off such a racket, Cardone acknowledged state police don’t pay a very high rent. Still, he noted that Town residents seemed pleased with the level of policing.” (Emphasis added.)

This means, for almost a decade, Tony Cardone did not feel compelled at all to increase the police presence in the Town of Monroe, despite expressing his own concerns about the bail reform law and claiming that residents were happy with their level of policing—something they were definitely not happy about.

That Brings Us To “Tough On Crime” Dorey Houle

Pictured above: Monroe Town Councilmember Dorey Houle spent $363,911 on crafting, creating, and distributing racist dog-whistle campaign ads for her second consecutive failed State Senate campaign against Little Dick Energy State Senator James G. Skoufis.

In the ad above, you can see that Mrs. Houle had zero qualifications to run for State Senate, aside from being a “retired cop’s wife” who had a “clear message for criminals: ‘Do the time, do the crime.’” During her tenure on both the Village and Town Boards, Mrs. Houle said nothing about the scandal-plagued County Executive Steve Neuhaus being investigated by the FBI.

She also said nothing about multiple allegations from local real estate developers that Tony Cardone demanded bribes to ram their projects. And when Walking Penis Sal Scancarello assaulted Monroe Town Councilwoman Maureen Richardson, Houle participated in gaslighting Town of Monroe residents about the incident. She also said nothing when her friend, Woodbury Town Board member and MAGA mayoral candidate Brandon Calore, was accused of assaulting a disabled teenager in an ice cream shop parking lot. So, the message here is clear: Dorey Houle only cares about crimes committed by Black and brown people.

---

In 2021, “Tough on Crime Dorey Houle” barely squeaked by Mary Bingham and Rick Colon to win a seat on the Town Board, securing 1,893 votes.

According to the village officials we spoke with, Dorey Houle did nothing and accomplished even less during her time on the Monroe Village Board. She then publicly declared in The Photo News that she would:

“I am currently a trustee in the Village of Monroe, having served as liaison to the Police Department and Village Hall. […] I am running for Town Council because, while the population of the Village of Monroe is equal to the Town of Monroe, there is no representation of the Village on the Town Board. I look forward to representing the Village and protecting its resources as a Town Board member.”

After her election, The Monroe Gazette asked Monroe Village Mayor Neil Dwyer if Mrs. Houle lived up to her campaign promise. He told us that he “hadn’t seen her once” since she was elected to the Monroe Town Board. When I brought this up to Mrs. Houle at the October 6, 2025, Town Board meeting, she said nothing. In fact, both she and Cardone, along with the shaved scrotum, had nothing to say about anything aside from continuing to take out their weird angry boomer energy on Councilmember Richardson.

Mrs. Houle also stated back in 2021 that she would tackle an issue that would directly require the participation of the local village police:

“One of the issues I am eager to examine is ways to mitigate the growing traffic in the Village of Monroe. With our proximity and easy commute to New York City, Monroe has become a popular destination for former NYC residents. Our roadways were not designed to accommodate the increased traffic. I look forward to developing traffic patterns that will ease the congestion through both the Village and Town of Monroe.”

According to both the village police and Village of Monroe officials, at no point did Dorey Houle ever speak to the village police about this issue or other issues involving the use of the village police to protect residents of the Town of Monroe.

Before we skip ahead to 2025, I want to point out a couple of quick things:

Mrs. Houle recently stated that if you want “the truth,” you should come down to a Town Board meeting. She does not answer emails or phone calls, according to town residents, and The Monroe Gazette can vouch for that because, despite having a recording of Mrs. Houle saying she would answer our questions if we emailed her, she never did so—not once.

Literally two minutes after Mrs. Houle stated that if you want “the truth,” you should come to a Town Board meeting, she then stated that nobody at the dais wanted the dinosaur theme park in the Town of Monroe.

Like with the sheriff—we’re getting to that now—Mrs. Houle lied. That’s because the Times Herald Record reported that Monroe Town Supervisor Tony Cardone and Slippery Sal Scancarello were actively courting the developers of the dinosaur theme park to set up shop in Monroe. Mr. Cardone would again push for the dinosaur theme park in the pages of The Photo News.

So, I mention this here to establish that both Cardone and Houle repeatedly gaslight Town of Monroe residents at these Town Board meetings. If you want the truth, you need to vote them out of office.

One other point before we move on …

January 6, 2021, will, no matter how hard Make America White Again (MAGA) tries, go down as one of the worst terrorist attacks in our nation’s history. Every single person who participated in the riot is a traitor, and every one of them should spend the rest of their lives in jail.

It is a dark stain on the soul of this country.

(Note: I’m not talking about the people who went down there because they were brainwashed by Fox News and Russian disinformation on Facebook and YouTube. I’m talking specifically about anyone who unlawfully entered the Capitol. Also, my standard MAGA disclaimer I’m not talking about people who voted for Trump necessarily. I am specifically talking about the crazed 35% or so of Americans who are part of the MAGA Death Cult and refuse to question anything Trump says.)

So imagine my surprise, in researching this story, that just seven months after the terrorist attack on our country’s Capitol, Tony Cardone and Orange County Legislator Peter Tuohy endorsed former Assemblymember Colin Schmitt for Congress. Cardone said:

“Despite serving in local office for years, I have never met our Congressman. Never spoken with him. That is outrageous. Colin Schmitt doesn’t even represent us right now in the Assembly, but he helps solve any and all of the issues we may have. He always goes above and beyond the call of duty. We need him as our Congressman, and I know he will always be there for Monroe and our entire district.”

Cardone, to this day, has never specified how Colin Schmitt helps solve issues faced by the Town of Monroe, nor did he explain what those issues may have been. We certainly have our problems here at The Monroe Gazette with AIPAC Ryan, but if Cardone had a specific problem with the Congressman, he did not identify them.

Who is Colin Schmitt, you may ask? Well, he’s important to know for this story because it speaks to Cardone’s credibility when it comes to law and order. I personally think Colin Schmitt looks like a failed artist’s rendition of Marvel’s favorite Nazi, the Red Skull, but that’s just my opinion.

I’m not going to rehash the whole saga, but in brief, a bunch of allegedly pro-life Orange County people wanted to attend the Stop the Steal rally. (If you’re anti-abortion and pro-death penalty, according to the Pope himself, you are not pro-life. Just an FYI.)

They then hilariously tried to cover their tracks about what happened that day when they got there and their purpose for going. We’ll never know what they actually did, or did not do, on January 6 because they scrubbed their social media presence soon after.

What we do know is that morning, Colin Schmitt got on the bus to rev this group up before they left the Monroe Park and Ride. Like the Orange County Right to Life group members on that bus, Schmitt’s story has varied over the years about what he said and how long he said it. Schmitt has also not clarified whether he feels Joe Biden was legally elected president in 2020. (He was.)

But just so we’re clear on what’s alleged to have happened: This bus was bound for the Stop the Steal rally that day, and Colin Schmitt was there to egg them on. (Allegedly, there is a recording that exists to confirm this, but it has not been provided to The Monroe Gazette at this time. We’re just aware it exists. Also, someday, we’ll get into more detail about the environmental damage Schmitt caused in New Windsor, but today is not that day.)

Less than a week after January 6, Tony Cardone said the following to Straus News’s other advertisement circular disguised as a newspaper, The Chronicle:

“Assemblyman Colin Schmitt is a friend and a leader of integrity. The Orange County Democratic Party should be ashamed of themselves for their statements. These claims are entirely false and must be rejected. Attacks on local private Orange County citizens by the Democratic Party set a new standard of lowest of the low. Thank you, Colin Schmitt, for your continued leadership.”

To date, Tony Cardone has never answered questions as to whether he believes Joe Biden was lawfully elected president in 2020, and he has not answered questions about whether January 6 was a “peaceful protest.” Neither has Dorey Houle. Cardone has also never clarified whether or not he was on the bus heading to the Stop the Steal Rally.

All of this is to demonstrate how little Tony Cardone and Dorey Houle actually care about the law, its enforcement, and the health and safety of Monroe residents.

What’s Happening With I.C.E. and the Sheriff?

I know. I am throwing a lot at you. But context matters. And the way Team Monroe (Houle, Thau, Cardone, and our dear friend Elias Cunningham) and their friends are complaining about being fact-checked, you would think I said something crazy to them.

Like that scout master Steven Thau molests little boys inside North Main Elementary School’s art room. To be clear, he does not do this. I did not say he did this.

If I were a Monroe resident concerned about their kids’ health and safety, I’d spend less time worrying about what The Monroe Gazette is saying and more time worrying about whether you got vaccinated before getting anywhere near Typhoid Elias:

Pictured Above: MAGA Woodbury mayoral candidate Brandon Calore has Elias Rosado-Cunningham running his campaign and allegedly stealing signs belonging to We the People of Woodbury. Mr. Cunningham’s role with Team Monroe is not as clear, since nobody on Team Monroe likes to answer any questions. If Mr. Rosado-Cunningham designed Team Monroe’s signs, though, someone should tell him that the O in Cardone looks like a dick—just like the candidate.

---

But with the way Team Monroe and Friends are currently carrying on over in the Monroe Matters Facebook group and elsewhere, you would think I did say something about Mr. Thau.

(Another reason to leave the Monroe Matters Facebook group if you’re in there: apparently, fact-checking is not allowed, but super racist comments about brown people are. You should leave that cesspool and join the Preserve Monroe group instead.)

Mr. Thau has mostly been off my radar. Although I am curious to know if he is the same Steven Thau, NYPD Badge #1198, who was the subject of an investigation back in 2000 for the use of physical force and saying something he shouldn’t have to a latino suspect. This Steven Thau was also named in two lawsuits. In the case of the complaint, the suspect did not cooperate with the investigation, so no charges were filed.

Here’s what I actually said to Cardone, Houle, and Scancarello.

My Public Hearing Statement:

“ICE is a secret police force controlled by a weak, sexually impotent, and cognitively declining authoritarian.

And for once, I’m not talking about Tony Cardone.

The 14th Amendment guarantees all people, regardless of citizenship, the right to the full protection of our Constitution, including due process. That is not what is happening with ICE enforcement.

When you forcefully take someone and deny them due process, that’s called kidnapping.

We have video evidence demonstrating the potential participation of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department in these kidnappings, provided by the NYC ACLU.

-According to the United States Holocaust Museum, a concentration camp is defined as follows: “The term concentration camp refers to a camp in which people are detained or confined, usually under harsh conditions and without regard to legal norms of arrest and imprisonment that are acceptable in a constitutional democracy.”

A close examination of dozens of incidents reported throughout the country, demonstrates that we can call ICE detention facilities concentration camps.

That means, the answer to the question, “Is Tony Cardone going to send you to a concentration camp?”, is yes. If … he allows the Sheriff’s department to provide police services to the Town of Monroe.

Let me explain

Given the financial relationship Orange County has with ICE, can we count on the Sheriff’s department to question or even investigate ICE agents if asked to do so within the Town? The answer is no. We can’t.

That protection must come from an independent agency with no financial ties to ICE, such as the Village of Monroe Police Department.

In other municipalities, the police are starting to act as oversight for I.C.E., such as in Broadview Illinois, where multiple investigations have been opened into ICE agents.

Given the County’s lucrative relationship with I.C.E., Monroe residents would be left with little to no oversight of ICE activities within the Town of Monroe, leaving them with no protection from ICE, or people pretending to be ICE.

Who then, would be responsible for protecting us?

Would it be Dorey Houle?

Dorey who, despite serving in the past as Village Liaison, repeatedly failed to notify the Village of threats to the health and safety of their residents. This includes at least two oil spills, reported by the DEC, that threatened Lake Mombasha, which provides the drinking water to over 20,000 area residents.

Let’s also not forget: this time last year, Monroe residents were bombarded by advertisements from Dorey saying that she was a cop’s wife who would get tough on crime. A racist dog-whistle meant to imply that she would only get tough on crimes involving black and brown people. I can prove it: When was the last time Dorey said anything about the FBI investigation into Steve Neuhaus?

Or would our protector be Tony Cardone? A man who, according to Town employees, has been recorded referring to Latino members of the highway department as “spics”? Or the same man who, when told about dangerous levels of hydrogen sulfide on a children’s playground, proceeded to cover it up for almost a decade.

The facts are this: The best agency to protect the Town residents right now is not the Sheriff’s department, it’s the Village Police Department.

If Mrs Houle, Mr. Cardone, and Mr. Scancarello feel differently, and they approve of what ICE is doing our community, they should say so this evening, and face the consequences of doing so at the ballot box.

This is not the time for cowards. Lead, follow, or get out of our way.

During Public Comment, I then said:

I want to make sure the public has a timeline involving the Village Police patrolling the Town of Monroe:

In January of 2025 — for the first time since United Monroe gifted us Tony Cardone about a decade ago — he approached the Village of Monroe about expanding their police presence into the Town.

After that meeting, you know what Cardone did next? Nothing.

Oh. Right. There was a brief dog and pony show with the former Village Police Chief that went absolutely nowhere.

Much like Dorey’s two consecutive campaigns for State Senate.

Aside from that, at no point between January and June did the Village hear back from the Town.

In June, Cardone and Houle (without sharing this document with the public or their entire board) presented an IMA to the Village for police services.

This agreement was completely lopsided, with the Village taking on most costs and responsibilities.

This proposed expansion of the police, it should be noted, would create the single largest agency in the Village of Monroe.

It would also create an enormous tax burden for Village residents.

Why the lopsided agreement?

One potential reason is that Tony Cardone has run out of money in the reserve funds to paper over his fiscal mismanagement of the Town. Or put another way, Mr. Cardone has bankrupted this town like he bankrupted his Hallmark store.

The Village, as you might imagine, had questions upon receiving the IMA. Instead of answering those questions, he ghosted them.

Perhaps because he was shamed by Councilwoman Richardson’s ability to not only form coherent sentences in responding to Village officials, but also by her going to a Village Board meeting to discuss the IMA with them in person.

That brings us to October of 2025. 10 Months Later, and still nothing to show the public.

Now, Tony and Dorey are proposing the use of the OC Sheriff’s Department instead.

And as you already heard this evening, that’s a terrible idea. Just like giving these two clowns any more time in office.

It Was A Packed House, And They Were Pissed

Pictured above: The crowd at the October 6, 2025, Town of Monroe Board meeting. The empty seat up front is mine. With one exception, town residents and those representing town residents unable to attend because of fear of ICE said they did not want the town to work with the Sheriff’s Department and that the town should work with the village instead.

The only person to speak in favor of Tony Cardone and Dorey Houle’s plan was one of Cardone’s favorite audience plants: Carol Hawxhurst. You may remember Carol from such public comments as, “Everything is fine on Hawxhurst Road. I even went to a meeting with Tony about it!” after we published our story involving resident concerns and allegations regarding school bus drivers and yeshivas. To be clear: there are no yeshivas operating on that road, but there are consistent reports of bad behavior by private school bus operators: Darkei Yosher and EMES. The results of that meeting allegedly attended by Mrs. Hawxhurst and one other resident, despite our reaching out to both Cardone and Hawxhurst, were never disclosed to the public. Mrs. Hawxhurst also currently has a Tony Cardone campaign sign on her lawn, which I pointed out during public comment. (Photo courtesy: BJ Mendelson, The Monroe Gazette.)

---

The full meeting can be watched below and is worth your time. Yes, that’s a bad picture of me in the thumbnail. No, I don’t know why I’m in the screenshot. Also, a fun fact about The Photo-News: If you read their version of this meeting, I don’t exist, and Tony Cardone was not fact-checked when they printed, “He [Cardone] added that the town was not getting any response from the village for his request for meetings.” This is categorically false.

The Monroe Gazette fact-checked Cardone about this statement during my public comment. Mr. Cardone was given a chance to correct my statement, and he chose not to do so. Why? Because he knows I have his emails and spoke to Village officials.

The Monroe Gazette submitted a FOIL request for all communications between the Town of Monroe and the Village of Monroe concerning this Police IMA discussion. Had The Photo-News bothered to do the same, or pickup the phone and talk to the Village officials, they would have found that it was Mr. Cardone who has been unresponsive to the village’s questions and requests. So, I feel the Photo-News has a lot of nerve asking local residents for contributions of up to $150.

Please do not contribute any money to The Photo-News. They are an advertisement disguised as a newspaper that spends more time telling you where to find anti-venom than they do fact-checking any of your local elected officials. Your contributions are not tax-deductible, and they do not need them. They claim your money goes to local news coverage, but you can see for yourself that 90% of the newspaper consists of recycled stories from Warwick or Orange County itself, with little to no coverage of Monroe and Woodbury.

Put your money where it matters:

What’s Happening Right Now?

This article was supposed to run on Sunday, October 12. We were delayed because, as I was writing this, I started to receive reports about the Orange County Sheriff’s Department presence in Monroe. Despite both Dorey Houle and Tony Cardone trying to calm the audience by stating that no decision was made concerning the use of the Sheriff’s Department to provide police services, that turned out to be yet another lie.

According to multiple town and village residents, three days after the first public hearing, Orange County Sheriff Paul Arteta informed local first responders in Monroe that the arrangement to provide police coverage for the town was a “done deal” that would go into effect on November 1. Mr. Arteta, Mrs. Houle, and Mr. Cardone have not yet responded to requests for clarification concerning Mr. Arteta’s remarks, which directly contradict the statements made by Dorey Houle and Tony Cardone at the October 6, 2025, town board meeting.

We want to point out that Paul Arteta is not an apolitical figure in the way Monroe Village Police Chief Darwin Guzman is. Mr. Arteta is a frequent campaign donor and has been active in 2025 with donations to Crooked County Executive Steve Neuhaus’s re-election campaign, MAGA mayoral candidate in Woodbury Brandon Calore, the Orange County Conservative Party, the Orange County Republican Committee, and various candidates, according to the New York State Board of Elections. At least two of those organizations support Tony Cardone and Dorey Houle, and previously supported Houle’s failed campaigns for New York State Senate.

We were also informed by multiple town and village residents that the town has demonstrated a lack of interest in pursuing an arrangement with the Village of Monroe, despite the repeated commentary from the public that this is what they want, along with the statements made by Cardone that it’s what he wants as well. The town’s representative, former Monroe Village Police Chief Alex Melchiorre, as well as Tony Cardone, have repeatedly insisted that there is no need for an independent study to examine the costs involved in expanding the village police presence into the town. The village is asking for this study to understand the resources needed to provide police protection to the town. If Cardone and Houle seriously wanted this arrangement with the village police to happen, they would support this study as well. But they don’t; Alex Melchiorre has made that clear to the village.

So, Why Are Alex Melchiorre and Tony Cardone Sabotaging These Discussions?

The truth is, this is all political theater.

Cardone and Houle, alongside Sal Scancarello, appointed former Village of Monroe Police Chief Alex Melchiorre to head up negotiations with the village. He never did. What Melchiorre is doing is preparing to run for mayor of the Village of Monroe in March.

See the problem?

Cardone and Houle appointed Alex Melchiorre to head up negotiations with the village police, which, according to the village, he did not do. Instead, Alex Melchiorre was negotiating — according to what was said at the October 6 Town Board meeting — with Orange County’s Sheriff’s Department. Why this would be necessary when the village has publicly and repeatedly stated its interest in expanding its police presence into the town is something you should definitely be asking Tony Cardone and Dorey Houle on October 20 at 7 p.m.

Cardone and Houle are supporting Alex Melchiorre and two other candidates to run against Mayor Neil Dwyer in March 2026 for the Village Board. So, no, nobody stopped and said, “Hey, maybe the guy running for mayor against the current mayor is a bad choice to handle these discussions.” That’s because we feel Cardone and Houle intentionally sabotaged the negotiations with the village from the start. They have absolutely no intention of working with the village. This, too, is something you should definitely be asking Tony Cardone and Dorey Houle on October 20 at 7 p.m.

At no point during his nearly decade-long tenure as Town Supervisor did Tony Cardone ever approach the village police about expanding the police presence into the town, despite the desire expressed by Monroe residents. In fact, as we showed you, despite growing concerns about the level of policing provided by the State Troopers, Mr. Cardone told the public that residents were happy with the level of policing they received. Nor did Mr. Cardone ever raise the issue of a lack of staffing or other concerns involving the New York State Police with either Assemblymen Eachus and Brabenec or with State Senator Skoufis.

For the record: Town residents are not happy about the level of policing they receive and haven’t been for years. It was only in January, after Mr. Cardone faced a challenger for the first time in his nearly decade-long tenure as Supervisor, that he suddenly had an interest in increasing the police presence. Mrs. Houle, who campaigned on improving traffic in town, never approached the village police for their assistance in solving these issues. We have also submitted a FOIL request with the NYS DOT to see if Mrs. Houle ever contacted them concerning improving traffic conditions in the town.

Dorey Houle: Tough on Crime. But Not Big On Getting Things Done

Let’s talk quickly about the budgeting impact of all this. Cardone is not only your Town Supervisor; he is also your Town Budgeting Officer. At the October 6 meeting, the 2026 proposed budget was filled with what former President — and war criminal — George W. Bush once described as “fuzzy math,” or better known around these parts as nonsense.

Cardone, apparently unable or unwilling to earn the extra $18,000 he rewards himself with to be your budget officer, just copy-pasted last year’s budget figures into this coming year’s budget figures. This may sound like a minor thing, but Cardone’s “fuzzy math” costs you money by raising your taxes and withdrawing large sums from the Reserve Fund — something he’s been doing for years to cover up his fiscal mismanagement. (I wasn’t kidding when I said Cardone is on track to bankrupt this town like he bankrupted his Hallmark store.)

It’s Cardone’s job to budget for an entire year of expenses, but he didn’t do that with the Orange County Sheriff either, lending credibility to the suggestion that this is all an election-time stunt, and the Sheriff is going to go away once he wins. This way, he can continue blaming the village for a lack of progress and boost Alex Melchiorre’s mayoral campaign.

There is only $750,000 budgeted from November 1 to May 1 for the Sheriff’s part time assistance. Where that number comes from? We don’t know because Cardone and Alex Melchiorre haven’t told anyone, including their full board, much of anything, despite Cardone and Houle’s claims to the contrary, which were dutifully regurgitated in The Photo-News.

Now consider how often Tony Cardone complains about unfunded mandates from New York State, and look at how he manages his budget. It’s not New York State that’s the problem. It’s Tony Cardone.

One Last Thing About ICE …

As I write this, parents are afraid to send their children to Monroe-Woodbury Schools because of I.C.E.

Members of your community are afraid to come and speak at these Town Board meetings because of I.C.E. If you watch the video, you’ll hear Rabbi Lerner say that himself.

These residents pay their taxes; they are legally not eligible for Medicaid coverage — despite what MAGA keeps repeating on their propaganda outlets like Fox News and CBS. They work here, volunteer here, and support our small businesses.

Cardone, Houle, and Scancarello do not support our small businesses or our community. I’ve laid out the reasons why in this story. But let me add this last point because you might have missed it:

Every vote by Houle, Scancarello, and Cardone to approve a new short-term rental means one less home available for a family to move in and be part of our community. This is true in Woodbury as well. We should all adamantly oppose short-term rentals in our community. (It’s also worth noting that, in 2024, one of very few short-term rentals to be shot down was right next to Tony Cardone’s home.)

Short-term rentals strain our building department’s already understaffed and underfunded resources, they stretch the limited police presence the town has from the State Police, and they harm our small businesses by reducing the number of families that would live here and patronize them. Our residents, because that’s what they are according to the Constitution, are a part of our community and frequent our businesses.

You may not care about I.C.E. because you think it’s only a problem for “illegals.” (Unless you’re Native, everyone is here illegally in America, and regardless, the 14th Amendment still applies to everyone, regardless of citizenship.)

But I’m telling you, I.C.E. is a secret police force operated and accountable to someone with “Resting 25th Amendment Face,” and one individual, Stephen Miller, who will wind up before The Hague, just like Adolf Eichmann, when the authoritarians have been defeated. And they will be defeated.

Stephen Miller is not your friend. You might think you’re safe because you’re white, or old, or because you live in an area dominated by Republicans, but you’re not safe. You have only a temporary illusion of safety.

Miller is already mumbling about the Insurrection Act and using our troops against our own citizens. So if you don’t think I.C.E. is your problem yet, you’re wrong.

For that reason, if you do business with I.C.E., you should not be allowed to do business in our community.

And it’s here that I’ll note that Tony Cardone, Dorey Houle, and Sal Scancarello were repeatedly asked if they support the I.C.E. enforcement efforts in our town, and they refused numerous times to answer the question. Dorey Houle, who has loudly said if you want the truth, you should come to the Town meetings, said, “I’m not answering your question.”

We have plenty of (much better) options to help take care of our residents in terms of the police. There is no reason not to expand the Village’s police presence in the Town of Monroe other than Tony Cardone, Alex Melchiorre, and Dorey Houle don’t want to do it.

We do not need the Orange County Sheriff’s Department to do it, especially when they are financially incentivized through lucrative contracts between the county and I.C.E. involving Orange County Jail, to look the other way when ICE comes to town and gets out of line.

If you’re reading this, I’m telling you as plainly as I can that you have a moral and ethical obligation to be at the October 20 meeting of the Town of Monroe Board and to speak up for those who can’t.

The public hearing is at 7pm. Make sure to get there a few minutes early, go to the table, and ask the Clerk which is the appropriate form to fill out for the public hearing. You will get five minutes to speak.

If you want an additional three minutes, you can signup for public comment and speak at the end of the meeting.

You do not need to give your legal name or address. You do have to give a name and an address. My favorite name to use is Petroleum V. Nasby. A good address to use is 7 Stage Street, Monroe, New York. That’s Village Hall’s address.

You better believe all the freaks and weirdos in Tony and Dorey’s contacts are going to be there.

All the freaks and weirdos I warned you about on the Democratic Committee who like Cardone will be there.

The remnants of United Monroe will be there.

People speaking on behalf of Paul Arteta will be there.

So you need to be there too.