MONTICELLO — Earlier this month, Village of Monticello Mayor Gary Sommers appointed Trustee Rochelle Massey to the position of Deputy Mayor, replacing George Nikolados.

“[Massey] is very on top of everything that's going on as far as our DPW and Sanitation Department. She always has been,” Sommers said. “She's out there all the time making sure everything is right … that's what we need.”

The post of Deputy Mayor is responsible for leading board meetings if the mayor is not present or fulfilling the mayor's responsibilities in the event they're incapacitated. Massey did not respond to a request for comment.

In a press statement released on July 9 explaining his decision, Sommers said the board has a system set up where each trustee is a “touchstone” for certain village departments. According to the statement, Nikolados is responsible for the Department of Public Works, Parks and Recreation and the Water Department.

“In addition, Mr. Nikolados also served on additional committees with the Town and County as a liaison for the Village, and the Board never received any reports from those committees from Mr. Nikolados and more importantly, he never reported on any issues that were or possibly ensuing in the Department of Public Works and because of this, he was replaced.”

Speaking about his replacement as Deputy Mayor, Nikolados said, “I wasn't surprised, because the mayor and I are obviously not on the same page when it comes to things in the Village. The press release is a little bit skewed, I would say.”

Nikolados contends that he's had committee heads, including from Grow the Gateways and the Sullivan County Land Bank, come and report directly to the Village at their regular meetings. Nikolados also pointed to his efforts with the Village Parks and Rec department to enter into an agreement with the Town of Thompson to help keep the Dillon Park pool open, which ultimately fell through. The pool has recently been closed due to COVID-19.

By saying, “Any issues ensuing in the Department of Public Works,” Sommers was likely referring to an incident in early May when DPW Acting Superintendent Raymond Jones was recorded on cellphone using racial slurs to refer to DPW employee Stefon McGinnis. A series of protests ensued over the following weeks with demonstrators calling on the Village board to terminate Jones' employment.

Before that took place, Nikolados alleged that the superintendent was telling DPW employees not to communicate with him. “[Sommers] is going to blame me that the racist supervisor didn't come tell me he was racist?” Nikolados asked.

Nikolados was named Deputy Mayor in 2018 by then-Mayor Doug Solomon and was later reappointed by Mayor Sommers. Nikolados is currently challenging Sommers in the village mayoral election on September 15.