Will The Town of Blooming Grove Remove This Man From Office?

Associating with a hateful organization, and acting in favor of Keen Equities at the expense of Town and Village Residents, why is this Councilman still on the Town Board?

Unfortunately, for residents of New York State, Town Ethics Boards are mostly a joke.

They don’t (often) exercise their power when needed. In the case of places like Monroe, they’re stacked with people who will never rule against the Town Supervisor.

So if you live in Monroe, you *can* file a complaint against Supervisor Cardone for basically all of this, but the Ethics Committee won’t actually do anything about it.

Some of you might be thinking, “Ok. But doesn’t New York State have a Commission on Ethics and Lobbying?”

I’m glad you asked. Because I had that question as well, and here’s what they told me in a statement:

“The NYS Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (COELIG) was created to oversee, regulate, and ensure compliance with New York State’s ethics and lobbying laws. COELIG has broad authority over Statewide elected officials, candidates for those offices, executive branch officers and employees, members of the Legislature and legislative branch employees and candidates, as well as certain political party chairs, and lobbyists and their clients at the state and local level. The Commission’s authority and jurisdiction do not extend to town officials.” [Emphasis Added]

So, let’s play a fun game. If New York State won’t act, let’s see if the Town of Blooming Grove’s Ethics Committee will take action against Councilman Simon Schwartz and remove him from office.

Why? Who Is Simon Schwartz? I’m glad you asked. The following email, which you can copy and paste, will reveal all. So read it, send it, and let’s see if the Town of Blooming Grove’s Ethics Committee will do what few Town Ethics Boards in New York have: Actually do something.

Email: supervisor@bloominggrove-ny.gov

Subject: I Want To Submit An Ethics Complaint

Body:

Dear Supervisor Jeroloman,

During the April 3rd, 2024, DEC Public Hearing, Blooming Grove Town Councilman Simon Schwartz enthusiastically endorsed Keen Equities LLC and their request for the permits they are requesting. This is despite his knowledge of Keen Equities knowingly and willfully violating the laws of New York State. In fact, you were one of the people who pointed out this illegality during the hearing.

Despite signing a consent decree and being issued a stop work order in March of 2023, DEC Public Information Officer Dennis Slattery confirmed that just last month, Keen Equities LLC had, yet again, been found in violation of that stop work order.

As you know, Councilman Schwartz represents Blooming Grove’s 4th Ward, which encompasses the entirety of the Village of South Blooming Grove. Although Keen Equities LLC’s projects will impact the entire Town of Blooming Grove, their development will most directly impact the 4th Ward. As you also know, it is the responsibility of the councilman to act on behalf of all residents of the Village equally while representing them before the Town. In fact, he has a fiduciary responsibility to do so. Mr. Schwartz has violated this fiduciary responsibility with his endorsement of Keen Equities’s permit request during the DEC hearing.

In April of 2021, Mr. Schwartz was appointed to the Village of South Blooming Grove Planning Board by Mayor George Kalaj. This appointment came after Mayor Kalaj fired all members of the previous Village Planning Board. An act the mayor was handsomely rewarded for with the sale of his home for 890% its market value to Fort Worth Holdings LLC. Mr. Schwartz, along with the Village Board and New Village Planning Board members, would go on to approve the Clovewood development.

During his time on the Village Planning Board, Mr. Schwartz and other members were made aware of serious water concerns involving the Village by the Orange County Department of Health. Despite this, Mr. Schwartz continued to vote to approve projects that would make South Blooming Grove’s water situation worse. After later being elected to the Town Board with the endorsement of the United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove, Mr. Schwartz was again made aware of what is now a crisis in the village.

In a letter sent to the Village Board on September 5th, 2023, the Orange County Department of Health informed the village:

“This system is currently in violation for failure to exercise due care and diligence in the maintenance and supervision of all sources of the public water system to prevent, so far as possible, their pollution and depletion (Part 5, 5 5-1'71(a)); and failure to meet maximum day demand with the largest producing well out of service (Pad 5 Appendix 5-A 3.2.1), Please be aware that fines of up to $2000 per day, per violation, may be assessed if these violations continue to go unaddressed.”

At the time of this writing, and after speaking with the Department of Health, it does not appear that the Village is in compliance. The Department of Health letter continues:

“This department continues to express our significant concerns with new and ongoing developments in the Village, despite a serious lack of water quantity. Since the last inspection, there is reportedly a new market, three-story building for lease, school, and two new synagogues, to name a few known to us, which combined, can potentially add thousands of gallons of daily water demand to the Village. We urge you to strongly consider water quantity, and quality, and how the village may be impact, or how existing and potentially new residents may be impacted when approving new developments. A lack of water quantity puts residents and the entire Village at risk and is a potential public health hazard. [Emphasis Added.]

As a member of The Village Planning Board, Councilman Schwartz has continued to disregard these warnings from the Orange County Department of Health. His continued votes in favor of development violate his fiduciary responsibilities to both Village and Town residents.

Under the Blooming Grove Town Code, there is a clause in the Standards of Conduct which states, “Use of position to achieve preferential treatment. No officer, employee or consultant of the Town shall use or attempt to use his or her official position to secure unwarranted privileges or exemptions for himself or herself or others or grant any special consideration, treatment or advantage to any citizen beyond that which is available to every other citizen.”

The organization known as United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove was founded by Mr. Joel Stern and Mr. Isaac Eckstein. Both are currently paid employees. of the Village of South Blooming Grove. Mr. Stern has also been previously identified as Mayor Kalaj’s “campaign manager.” Mr. Stern also happens to work for Jacob Gold, an investor in Keen Equities LLC. Mr. Stern’s United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove has provided support for Councilman Schwartz’s election campaign as well. In fact, after being sworn in as councilman, Mr. Schwartz posed for photos with both Mr. Stern and Mr. Ekstein at the ceremony.

There is a more than reasonable impression created here that Councilman Schwartz is using his position to achieve preferential treatment for United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove, Mr. Stern’s employer, Jacob Gold, and Keen Equities LLC. There is no other explanation for Councilman Schwartz’s enthusiastic endorsement of Keen Equities LLC beyond his attempt to secure unwarranted privileges and grant special consideration, treatment, and advantage to United Jewish Community of South Blooming Grove, Mr. Stern, Mr. Stern’s employer, Jacob Gold, and Keen Equities LLC.

Given Mr. Schwartz’s affiliation with United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove, it is also worth investigation by the Town Ethics Committee of what, if any, financial relationship Mr. Schwartz has with this organization. After being asked for their three most recent Form 990s, this organization removed its English language website and kept the Yiddish language one. It is against the law, according to guidance provided by the New York State Attorney General’s Office, for non-profits to fund, donate, or otherwise provide resources to candidates for political office, as Mr. Schwartz was when running for Town Council.

One final point concerning United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove. This organization has continued to spread hate speech and made other discriminatory statements concerning residents of both the Town of Blooming Grove and Village of South Blooming Grove. This includes calling opponents of Keen Equities, “half-jews”, “antisemites”, all while saying residents are engaged in a “conspiracy of hate.” All because the organization is called United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove does not mean the organization is immune from making antisemitic and bigoted statements of its own.

This is relevant because the Blooming Grove Town Code covering Standards of Conduct also has a statute concerning discrimination. It states, “No officer or employee of the Town and no organization or service chartered by or directly or indirectly sponsored or supported by the Town shall: Discriminate or cause segregation, directly or indirectly, based upon gender, creed, race or national origin or allow said factors to affect the recruitment, selection, placement, assignment, compensation or promotion of any officer, employee or member of said organization or service.” [Emphasis Added.]

The continued hateful and discriminatory comments made by United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove meets this standard. Mr. Schwartz’s connection with this organization is indisputable, given his use of United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove newsletters to make statements in his capacity as Councilman. No other member of the Town Council has been afforded this opportunity.

As the Town Code states, “In addition to any penalty contained in any other provision of law, any person who violates any of the provisions of this code may be fined, suspended or removed from office or employment in the manner provided by law.”

I believe Mr. Schwartz should be suspended from the Town Board, pending a thorough and fair investigation by the Ethics Committee. If upon finding that Mr. Schwartz has acted in such a way as to violate his fiduciary responsibility to Town and Village residents, acted in such a way to benefit the parties identified in this letter using his position, and continues to associate with an organization spreading hate, the Ethics Committee and Town Board should proceed with his removal from office at the soonest possible opportunity.

(Put your name here.)