🎧LISTEN: Monroe Town Clerk Calls Village Police on Monroe Councilwoman Richardson

Cardone to Police: "She did call me an asshole, but there were no threats.

I know, it’s been a minute. So let’s recap how we got to Monroe Town Clerk, Valerie Bitzer, calling Monroe Village Police to report an alleged verbal altercation between Councilwoman Houle and Councilwoman Richardson.

And, since it’s 2024 and AI is a thing, yes, this call is real. I don’t think there’s any generative AI software out there that can effectively duplicate this sort of clown show.

I was provided the call by Village Police, and Lieutenant Timothy Young has confirmed the call was made by Mrs. Bitzer on February 5th, 2024, at 9:23pm.

I have also listened to the call between Village Police and Councilwoman Richardson, which is also included below.

How Did We Get Here?

At the end of the February 5th, 2024 Monroe Town Board meeting, Supervisor Tony Cardone had the kind of temper-tantrum your kids would throw if you told them you were going to Florida for a vacation, and then you took them to Florida, New York instead. I recapped all of this here.

Village Police called Councilwoman Richardson to follow-up with her at 9:41pm, just about twenty minutes after Monroe Town Clerk Valerie Bitzer called Village Police to report the alleged incident.

According to Councilwoman Richardson’s conversation with Village Police (which you can listen to above), after the Town Board’s public meeting ended, the Town Board had a meeting in Executive Session.

That meeting seems to involve an issue with the highway department, specifically concerning the Deputy Highway Superintendent position. (Councilwoman Richardson had motioned for executive session on this matter earlier in the Town Board meeting.)

I’m still not clear on what exactly is going on with the Highway Department.

What I’ve gathered is that William Brown Jr., who was the Deputy Highway Superintendent, ran against James “Pat” Patterson (no relation to the professional wrestling legend of the same name.)

Patterson was, and still is, Monroe’s Highway Superintendent after winning the election this Fall.

But what appears to have happened is that, after the election, the role of Deputy Highway Superintendent has since been done away with.

I have reached out to Mr. Brown, the — now former? — Deputy Highway Superintendent, to see if he’s willing to comment on what’s going on with his old job.

Patterson, like Houle, Bitzer, and Cardone, are all Republicans. Brown Jr. ran on the A Better Road line in November’s election.

Worth noting:

James Patterson donated $90 to the Friends of Dorey Houle political action committee. Valerie Bitzer and family have donated $299 to Dorey Houle’s political action committee. And we’ve already covered Supervisor Cardone’s donations to Dorey’s campaign here. I know when compared to federal elections, these numbers seem low; but when we’re talking local elections, it’s less the amount of money and more who is donating.

Especially here because, and this is just an outsider’s perspective, if William Brown Jr. lost his job or job title because he ran against a political ally of Dorey Houle’s, then there is definitely the appearance of retaliation here by Houle, and Cardone, against Brown Jr.

During the discussion about the highway department, Councilwoman Richardson reported to the police that Councilwoman Houle had raised her voice and “gotten close to me,” which led to Councilwoman Richardson raising her voice in response.

I wrote to Councilwoman Houle to ask for her side of the story. She did not respond as of press time.

I also asked Mrs. Bitzer to explain why she called Village Police. In a statement provided to The Monroe Gazette, Mrs. Bitzer said:

“All employees including Elected Officials, and myself as Town Clerk receive annual training on Violence in the Workplace. Based on the escalating argument between two council members, I became very concerned and acted upon the training I received which prompted my call to the Village of Monroe Police Department, which is not something I take lightly.”

That statement doesn’t seem to jive with Monroe Town Supervisor Tony Cardone’s response to police that “nothing” was going on, and then stating to Village Police that Councilwoman Richardson was the one raising her voice.

So, if Mrs. Bitzer’s statement is true, and Councilwoman Richardson’s statement is true, then Supervisor Cardone potentially misled the police. And maybe opened himself up to misdemeanor charges of falsely reporting an incident:

“A person is guilty of falsely reporting an incident in the third degree when, knowing the information reported, conveyed or circulated to be false or baseless, he or she: […]Gratuitously reports to a law enforcement officer or agency (a) the alleged occurrence of an offense or incident which did not in fact occur;  or (b) an allegedly impending occurrence of an offense or incident which in fact is not about to occur;  or (c) false information relating to an actual offense or incident or to the alleged implication of some person therein.” (NY PL 240.50)

I’m not (yet) a lawyer. But what’s clear from the call is that dysfunction is rampant in the Cardone Administration. And this isn’t the first time that some laws appear to have been broken by the Supervisor.