Despite Arrest, Spring Valley Mayor Asks For Patience

Thursday, April 11, 2013 9:57 pm | 2 Minute Read

By Yochonon Donn

In the first municipal meeting since the mayor and her deputy were arrested, village trustees angrily called for their resignations — a call that was firmly rejected, The New York Times reported.

Mayor Noramie Jasmin and Deputy Mayor Joseph Desmaret were caught in the web of corruption that also ensnared state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) and City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Queens) last week, in which crooked businessmen bribed them to sell village land for a proposed community center.

“There’s a case out there; I myself cannot speak about the case,” Jasmin told the audience Tuesday night. “However, I would ask the community, each and every one of you, to keep me in your prayer.”

Anthony Leon, a Democratic trustee who has announced his intention to run for mayor, called on Jasmin and Desmaret, also Democrats, to resign to save the village’s reputation.

“It’s not your prerogative to tell me or the mayor to step down,” Desmaret said. “I’ve been elected by the people. There is an investigation going on. Until they get all the findings, I will stay in office.”

The meeting turned to the mundane business of the resignation of a data entry operator and approval of $24 for the village clerk to attend a meeting. But during a discussion on how to pay for outside legal counsel for the village’s two leaders, tempers flared.

“There is not one dime surplus,” trustee Demeza Delhomme, a Democrat, said.

“It’s affordable,” Jasmin answered.

Delhomme retorted, “For your alleged wrongdoing, we have to hire a law firm!”

“We don’t even know how much money we have,” Leon said. “You think we can trust you here? I don’t trust any one of you here.”

In the end, the board approved hiring legal counsel for the two.

The mayor, who is a Haitian-American, has a close relationship with the village’s Orthodox Jewish population, who supported her in the election.

But Joseph Gross, a Chassidic trustee, on Wednesday joined the growing list of people running for mayor, according to LoHud.com.

“I am staying silent on the issue of whether they should step down,” Gross said. “I don’t act on allegations. We will have to be patient. For now, it looks like I am a candidate for mayor.”

Aside from Gross and Leon, other candidates include trustee Demeza Delhomme, Ramapo Councilman Daniel Friedman and Bernard Charles, an employee in the Spring Valley Parks and Recreation Department.

This article appeared in print on page 5 of the April 12th, 2013 edition of Hamodia.