The incident at Town Hall
MONROE — More information is now available surrounding Town of Monroe Supervisor Harley Doles’ Feb. 5 visit to town hall, when Village of Monroe police responded after a call was made saying Doles was acting in an alleged irrational fashion.
The police report, which is a public record and has made its way onto social media platforms, notes that Doles’ yelling and other alleged erratic behavior made employees feel scared for their safety. (Doles disagrees with that characterization; click here for his account.)
Doles wanted to speak to Town Comptroller Peter Martin about Town of Monroe Arts and Civic Center (TMACC) finances. Martin refused to open the locked door to Doles, and Doles continued to pound on it, according to reports. (Doles said he knocked, but did not pound.)
Friday, Feb. 5 also was the day that The Photo News published its story of an analysis of movie theater revenues and expenses prepared by United Monroe member Michael Egan. Those numbers, based on information provided to Egan by Martin, showed a $672,258 loss between May 22, 2015 and Dec. 31, 2015.
Additional figures published in The Photo News provided a 2016 projected loss of $828,855 loss on projected revenue of $1,257,792.
Controversy surrounding the town’s continued ownership of the movie theater, based at the TMACC, continues to exist, with ongoing pressure from residents - led by United Monroe grassroots membership - not waning.
It was Acting Town Supervisor Tony Cardone who made the call to police, with a partial audio recording of that call airing on News12 days after the incident.
“This is Tony Cardone,” the recording said. “We’ve got Harley Doles in the town hall presently. The employees seem a little nervous because he seems unstable.”
Doles has been on a leave of absence since December. He has not complied with a request from Cardone to provide a doctor’s note citing what his limitations are or when he expects to return to work. (In an interview Thursday, Doles said it could be as soon as the end of next week.)
Cardone said Doles is to not have any involvement with town business while on leave.
Doles does not accept the Town Board’s majority view on that. He continues to write emails to the town’s attorney, the town board and media outlets, including The Photo News.
Most recently on Super Bowl Sunday, he and Town Councilmen Gerry McQuade took officials from the Christian Life Fellowship on a tour of the movie theater, telling media outlets via email the group was interested in purchasing it.
But, church officials quickly told The Photo News they were not interested “in getting involved in that imbroglio.”
At the next town board meeting, the board voted by a 3-1 margin to bar Doles from any type of dealings related to the movie theater, including entering the building for any reason other than to attend a movie. Otherwise, the town would take official legal action to remove him from office.
Cardone, in published media reports, said he expected charges would not be filed against Doles.
“In the aforesaid date and time, I responded to an initial report of an unstable male at the Monroe Town Hall located at 1465 Orange Turnpike. I was the first officer to arrive on scene and enter the Town Hall.
“I was met in the entrance by security guard Joe Brown who escorted me to the rear office of the building belonging to Town Comptroller Peter J. Martin. Mr. Martin was also accompanied the office by Anthony Cardone, acting Town Supervisor.
“Mr. Martin stated that he observed Harley Doles enter the Monroe Town Hall with Eloy Garcia. Mr. Doles is currently on medical leave and has temporarily been relieved of his Town Supervisor duties.
“Upon seeing Mr. Doles, Mr. Martin entered his office and locked the door. Prior to this incident, Mr. Martin had received two phone messages from Mr. Doles requesting information regarding the Town of Monroe Arts and Civic Center.
“Mr. Martin stated he was in his office when Mr. Doles began to bang on the closed door. Mr. Doles began to demand that Mr. Martin speak to him about possible fraud issues as related to the Town Theater.
“Mr. Doles continued to order Mr. Martin to open the door to discuss the fraud issues as well directing him to answer e-mail requests for information including, e-mails to the town board, reviews of held private meetings, and purchase orders for work completed at the theater.
“Mr. Doles was yelling loudly enough that several town office employees felt unsafe and concerned.
“Mr. Doles was eventually guided out of the Town Hall by security officer Joe Brown and was not at the location when officers arrived.
“Lt. Conklin and Officer Ryle arrived on scene to assist. Interviews were conducted and depositions were secured from several employees of the Town Hall. All employees had a similar account of what occurred while Mr. Doles was in the building.”
“Bridget Flynn, who is employed as the bookkeeper, was asked by Mr. Doles to submit a resume. Mrs. Flynn felt this was strange due to her already passing a civil service test for the position. Mr. Doles also told Mrs. Flynn during the conversation that he was back to work as Town Supervisor.
“At this time there is no resolution preventing Mr. Doles from entering the Town Hall. Although the employees viewed Mr. Doles’ actions as unstable there is no crime that occurred. No further police action taken.”