Double Dipping Town of Monroe Highway Superintendent Abruptly Resigns

The ongoing sage of James "Pat" Patterson comes to an abrupt conclusion, and what is Congressman Pat Ryan doing with Joel Stern and Isaac Ekstein in these photos?

New York State has yet to pass its budget. This is almost entirely the fault of Governor Kathy Hochul. She’s made a series of last-minute demands, one of which includes passage of James G. Skoufis’s fascist ban on masks.

And just like last year, there is also a last-minute attempt to obstruct the budget in order to roll back education equivalency requirements for Yeshivas.

Pat Ryan’s office was allegedly one of the culprits for that specific 2024 budget delay. That’s something we covered previously here at The Monroe Gazette. As readers will remember, Congressman Pat Ryan spent part of Election Day 2024 with Joel Stern and Isaac Ekstein in South Blooming Grove. The former is responsible for causing a federal EPA investigation into the Village. The latter is still under FBI investigation concerning voter fraud in the last South Blooming Grove election.

Congressman Ryan’s office refused to explain his involvement in the 2024 NYS Budget delay. They also declined to explain where the Congressman was on Election Day. As residents of South Blooming Grove will tell you, despite being legally required to do so in March of 2024, the Village of South Blooming Grove did not hold an election, and does not have a duly appointed Mayor or Village Board. This has continued to allow Stern and Eksten to operate the Village as they see fit.

Just this month in April 2025 — a full year after not holding an election — guess who was hanging out with Pat Ryan again?

Pictured Above: Congressman Pat Ryan, sitting next to Yitzchok “Isaac” Ekstein, currently under investigation by the FBI — as confirmed by both Orange County and The Monroe Gazette — and seated with them is Joel Stern. A man whose leadership of the Village of South Blooming Grove has triggered multiple investigations by various State agencies — The New York State Comptroller and New York State Department of Environmental Conversation for example — and the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Joel Stern has routinely denied that the EPA is investigating South Blooming Grove, but the EPA has confirmed multiple times to The Monroe Gazette that they are in fact investigating Stern and the Village. When area residents write to Congressman Pat Ryan about South Blooming Grove, his office responds with a form letter saying:

“Thank you for contacting me to share your thoughts. I sincerely appreciate your input as I work to represent your interests in Washington. While my staff and I will continue to track your concerns, this issue is not being considered by the U.S. House of Representatives. While I do not have jurisdiction over state and local issues, I encourage you to contact your locally elected Assembly Member or Senator in the New York State Legislature to advocate on this issue.

You can find your state senator at https://www.nysenate.gov/find-my-senator.
You can find your state assembly member at https://nyassembly.gov/mem/search/.

Thank you again for reaching out to me. To stay up to date on my work in Washington and the 18th district, sign up for my newsletter at https://patryan.house.gov/contact/newsletter-subscribe. If I can ever be of assistance with a federal matter, please do not hesitate to contact my office.

Sincerely,

Patrick K. Ryan.”

So, what you see here is Ryan passing the buck to Useless James G. Skoufis, without mentioning that, as a Congressman, he does have some sway and influence with the federal EPA and FBI.

He also has sway concerning investigating how federal dollars are spent. For example, Joel Stern identified himself to Congressman Pat Ryan’s staff as the “Village Executive.” This is a role that does not exist in South Blooming Grove, nor in any other village in New York State. Stern used the Village Executive moniker to apply for federal grant funding from the Congressman, which constitutes fraud. That is absolutely something Pat Ryan could look into since it’s, in his words, a “federal matter.” (The Monroe Gazette has put in a FOIL for all emails sent and received by the Congressman and his staff to Joel Stern and Isaac Ekstein, which the Village is doing its best to delay.)

Also, the Congressman’s office has refused to meet with residents from South Blooming Grove or speak to them directly beyond form letters like the one I just shared with you. Yet here is Stern and Ekstein, once again hanging with their best buddy in Congress.

The above photo comes from Mr. Stern and Mr. Ekstein’s United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove newsletter. Stern and Ekstein met with Ryan to discuss the delay in federal funding for new sidewalks in South Blooming Grove. Yes. You read that right. Sidewalks.

One more thing: Joel Stern and Isaac Ekstein’s United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove is an organization that lost its charitable status in 2022 by the IRS — yet another federal matter — but continues to operate and raise money.

Pat Ryan is not alone in looking the other way when it comes to Stern and Ekstein: New York State Attorney General, Leticia James, whose office oversees not-for-profits and their activities in the State, has repeatedly declined to comment concerning the legitimacy of Stern and Ekstein’s organization, and has ignored calls from South Blooming Grove residents to investigate.

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With Congressman Pat Ryan safely re-elected, someone in the New York State Assembly is now looking to roll back the Yeshiva education equivalency requirements. We don’t know who that person is, because the draft Assembly bill does not have a sponsor. But we do have at least one local suspect: Assemblyman Chris Eachus. More specifically, Fossil Fuel Loving Freak, David Rabbitts, who is Chris Eachus’s Chief of Staff.

Why do we suggest this? Because David Rabbitts is currently running to be the Democratic nominee for the Town of Monroe Supervisor. And if you’re not familiar, the Town of Monroe finds itself sandwiched between Joel Stern and Isaac Ekstein’s South Blooming Grove and the City of Kiryas Joel. There is no shortage of our Haredi brothers and sisters who live in Monroe and neighboring Woodbury (which Eachus’s district covers).

And while many of those voters support the education equivalency requirements privately, Hanhallah (the leadership) does not. In fact, James Skoufis, during his re-election campaign last Fall, ran ads in Yiddish language publications promising to fight for “Yeshiva Independence.”

We know for a fact that David Rabbitts — along with former Skoufis intern, Brandon Bernard, and Weird Asshole Paul Phelan, Rabbitts’s running mates — is another James G. Skoufis creation.

We also know Skoufis is verifiably coordinating with Convicted Felon Tim Mitts to attack Rabbitt’s challenger for the Democratic nomination, Councilwoman Maureen Richardson.

Skoufis has loudly threatened—including threatening to withhold state funding to Monroe—anyone who got in the way of David Rabbitts' nomination for Town Supervisor. (The New York State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying is now investigating Skoufis’s threat.)

So, it stands to reason that, since this bill came out of the Assembly where David Rabbits works as the Chief of Staff for an Assemblyman, he could be behind the latest attempt to roll back education equivalency requirements for Yeshivas in New York. After all, his boss James G. Skoufis ran on “Yeshiva Independence” last Fall. This could be part of Skoufis’s plan to deliver that promise and get Rabbitts votes for Monroe Town Supervisor.

Just something to think about with the Monroe Town Democratic Primary coming up soon. We’ve contacted Mr. Rabbitts for comment on his involvement with this unsponsored draft legislation. We’ve also contacted Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie to clarify who is sponsoring this draft legislation, whether or not the Speaker supports it, and its current status.

Speaking of Monroe, let’s now talk about Town Supervisor Tony Cardone’s latest scandal …

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Like, Subscribe, and All That Bullshit

I’m going to level with you. The state of local news is depressing. Just look at Straus News running ads — for a second year in a row — from the American Chemistry Council without properly labeling them. Giving a regular platform to local Nazi Jay Westerveld, and now running letters to the editor from Warwick in a newspaper that is supposed to only cover Monroe and Woodbury. That’s The Photo-News, and yet, they have the nerve to ask you to give them money to support “independent, local journalism.” No. Straus News wants your money to subsidize their advertising business. They think you’re a sucker. I say, fuck that. Give us your money instead.

If you want to spend your money supporting actual investigative journalism, you can subscribe to The Monroe Gazette for $10 a month. It’s less than any streaming service you subscribe to if you have an ad-free plan.

We do the work. Just read the story below if you doubt that.

You know what Straus News does? Pays someone ~ $35 to watch a YouTube video and write up their interpretation of what happened at a local meeting, often without any context or follow-up.

That doesn’t sound like local investigative journalism to me.

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Cardone Corruption Continues In Monroe

Pictured Above: 2x Loser for a State Senate seat, Dorey Houle, needs a job. Current Monroe Town Supervisor Tony Cardone wants taxpayers to cover his pension, which he is *this* close to collecting.

So both are running for re-election despite offering nothing to nobody except corruption and incompetence. You should do your patriotic duty and send these two schmucks, Scout Master Thau, and Convicted Felon Tim Mitts, packing this November.

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If you’re a paid Monroe Gazette subscriber, you can access our stories from this time last year like this one about Patterson and Cardone. But since this is a big enough news story, I’ll quickly recap where we were with the ongoing saga of Monroe Town Highway Superintendent James “Pat” Patterson:

-Mr. Patterson was credibly accused of sexual harassment of a Town employee. That employee resigned. Tony Cardone and Dorey Houle then covered up that sexual harassment case. The Town then also refused to provide any information via a FOIL Request — including any complaints about Pat Patterson’s behavior. By contrast, here is the Town of Cornwall’s Human Resources file concerning the Village of Woodbury Mayoral Candidate, and alleged Proud Boy member, Brandon Calore.

So, let’s be clear: The Town of Monroe could have released this information and chose not to because Dorey Houle and Tony Cardone would rather town taxpayers pay for an expensive Article 78 lawsuit. A lawsuit that would cost at least $50,000, rather than release information concerning an incident of sexual harassment that happened on their watch.

Got all that? That’s Tony Cardone and Dorey Houle, whom you can see running on a platform of “Accountability” in the image above.

-This sexual harassment incident led to William Brown Junior running against Patterson for Highway Superintendent. Brown Jr lost. But not by much. Patterson won by only 385 votes (1,396 to 1,011.)

Instead of letting the situation die like normal people would, Tony Cardone and Dorey Houle opened the Town up to a PERB (Public Employee Relations Board) complaint with New York State. How? By retaliating against Brown Jr for running against Patterson. At the time, Mr. Brown Jr. was the Deputy Highway Superintendent. So Houle and Cardone took that title away from him via union negotiations with the IBEW Local 363.

Tony Cardone then accused Councilwoman Maureen Richardson of opening the Town to a PERB complaint, using the age-old MAGA Chestnut of accusing your enemies of doing the thing you just literally did yourself. What a guy.

But wait. It gets better because…

-Tony Cardone then took the money going to William Brown Jr. and gave it to himself (~$5,000). That’s right. Tony Cardone used union negotiations with the IBEW to retaliate against an enemy, and then took that man’s money and gave it to himself. Because the more Tony Cardone makes, the larger his pension will be, which all taxpayers will be on the hook for. Including you.

To this day, Tony Cardone refuses to release his tax returns to show Town residents how much money he's been stealing from them. It could be up to $168,000 a year when all is said and done. The Town of Monroe has also stated Cardone does not file any 1099s. So how, where, and when he’s taking your money is something you should probably be asking this man at your upcoming Monroe Town Board meeting. You should also loudly and emphatically ask him to release his tax returns.

That’s where the situation with Highway Superintendent Patterson was, until about a week ago.

Pictured Above: A Town of Monroe vehicle was spotted outside of James “Pat” Patterson’s home during work hours by multiple Monroe residents. After The Monroe Gazette began its investigation, Mr. Patterson abruptly resigned his position with the Town and turned in the vehicle, as you can see below.

So, What’s Happening With James Patterson?

There have been some recent sudden, and unexplained to the public, resignations from the Town of Monroe. For example, the Town Assesor just resigned. No explanation was given to the public. You’ll notice “transparency” isn’t a thing Houle, Cardone, or Thau is running on. I sure hope Steve Thau isn’t teaching lessons on good governance to those Boy Scouts of his.

About a week ago, we got a tip that James “Pat” Patterson had accepted a sales position at Peckham Industries. He was dumb enough to brag about it, and one of those people told a friend, and one of those friends told The Monroe Gazette. Peckham Industries is a multimillion-dollar business with contracts throughout New York State, including with the Town of Monroe. In fact, the Town of Monroe has had a relationship with Peckham going back to around the time Tony Cardone came onto the Town Board, and later became Supervisor. (The first time Peckham Industries appears in the Town of Monroe Board Docs system, for example, is 2018.) So it’s entirely possible either Cardone, or Patterson, or both, leveraged their relationship with Peckham Industries to get Patterson this new job.

The story from the Tipster goes that Patterson submitted his resignation to Cardone and Houle, and they told Patterson not to resign.

Instead, Houle and Cardone allegedly told Patterson to keep working for the Town while also working for Peckham Industries. That would mean Dorey Houle and Tony Cardone offered to turn the Town Highway Superintendent job into a no-show job, which would explain resident reports that Patterson had a Town truck parked outside his home during work hours. (The Monroe Gazette has FOIL’ed for all communications between Houle, Cardone, and Patterson, as well as Patterson’s work logs since 2025 began, and for any letters of resignation submitted from him to the Town.)

Now, you should know, the Town Code explicitly prohibits a Town employee from going to work with someone the Town has a contract with, like Peckham Industries. That means Mr. Patterson would be legally barred from working with Peckham for up to two years. (We have contacted Peckham Industries’s Head of Human Resources to discuss Mr. Patterson’s employment, and the legal requirements under the Town Code that he not work there. We have also contacted the IBEW 363 about whether or not it’s appropriate for the Town Highway Superintendent to hold both jobs simultaneously.)

Of course, who follows the Town Code, right? Brandon Bernard, James Skoufis’s former intern, is running for a seat on the Monroe Town Board despite not being a regular full-time resident of the Town of Monroe. Something the Town Code explicitly prohibits. That didn’t stop both the Working Families Party in Orange County and the Monroe Town Democrats from endorsing Mr. Bernard. It must be nice to be James Skoufis’s former intern, huh?

The other thing you need to know is Why. Specifically: Why Cardone and Houle would want Patterson — at taxpayer expense — to keep his Town Highway Superintendent job until at least August.

Well, that one is simple: Tony Cardone and Dorey Houle are up for re-election. And much like Tony Cardone and Dorey Houle did to the Town’s Tree Code, they abused it and made exceptions for their friends — which is why Cardone delayed the Tree preservation proposal for so long. Cardone did that in order to get re-elected. You’ll notice, by the way, that the final Tree Preservation bill is much friendly to developers than it is homeowners. (Don’t worry. We got that story coming up soon too.)

If Patterson officially resigned in August, that would prevent an election being held for Town Highway Superintendent in November. This means Houle and Cardone would then get to appoint one of their buddies to the job, instead of letting Town of Monroe residents have a say in it.

That was the story up until a couple of days ago. Then, The Monroe Gazette did what The Photo-News asks you to give them money for, but then does nothing. We investigated.

We sent James Patterson questions; he did not reply. We also sent Tony Cardone questions; he did not reply. We sent Dorey Houle questions; she did not reply. We sent Peckham Industries questions; they did not reply. (We did call and record a conversation with a secretary at Peckham Industries about Patterson. They confirmed they did just hire someone with that name, but could not confirm if he was the Town of Monroe Highway Superintendent.)

But then …

James Patterson abruptly resigned. As Town Councilwoman Mary Bingham told us this morning: “I can only say I was totally surprised by the sudden resignation of the Highway Superintendent. Based on the few details coming to light, I believe Mr. Patterson acted appropriately by tendering his [resignation] now.”

Democratic Monroe Town Supervisor candidate David Rabbitts was too busy holding up the New York State budget to comment. (I’m kidding. For now. If you read our story above, you’ll know we’re still investigating who is the sponsor of that bill in the Assembly.)

Rabbitt’s opponent in the Democratic Primary, Town Councilwoman Maureen Richardson said, “If these allegations prove true, it would be deeply concerning. Dual employment, particularly while overseeing contracts with the very supplier paying your other salary, fundamentally undermines public trust and damages our community’s confidence in government. The public could never know if this contract was secured and continued because it’s the best value for the town, or the best value for the accused. Monroe residents deserve absolute transparency and integrity from their public officials. This matter should be addressed immediately.”

Convicted Felon Tim Mitts was too busy getting drunk and spraypainting hateful graffiti in the Village of Monroe to comment. (We’re also kidding. But again, only a little. There’s just as much evidence to suggest Mr. Mitts did that graffiti as there is anything that comes out of his mouth.)

That’s the story. It’s also a testament to why local investigative journalism matters. Because had I not bothered to write this post? Had we left this story to The Photo-News? Mr. Patterson, at the behest of Tony Cardone and Dorey Houle, would still be collecting a salary paid for by town taxpayers while simultaneously working a job for a company that has contracts with the Town of Monroe.

I’m not going to ask you for a pat on the back. I’m not even going to ask you to subscribe, although you certainly can click on the button below to do that. Instead I’m going to say simply: Maybe you should pay attention to what we say. Journalism ain’t a growth industry, and we’re one of very few outlets doing the work on your behalf. Often in exchange for little pay, a lot of abuse, and countless hours spent dealing with bullshit.