SPRING VALLEY — Court testimony fuels new allegations of political wrongdoing against Spring Valley Mayor Demeza Delhomme, who once declared himself “king of the village” during an outburst at a workshop meeting at Village Hall in June.
The Journal news reported, a Spring Valley building official has testified in court Thursday, that the mayor directed him to issue a certificate of occupancy for a school at 50 Commerce St., despite the official’s concerns that safety inspections weren’t completed.
Assistant Building Inspector Jackenton Lavalasse testified that he documented what happened by writing a memo in August describing how the mayor gave the order under pressure from political donor Alex Goldberger, who was a contractor for the school.
It’s “very apparent” Mayor Demeza Delhomme interfered with the CO at Yeshiva Oholei Shem D’nitra, said Rockland County Executive Ed Day. Before the CO was revoked and the property ordered vacated in September, students were seen entering and exiting the building.
“You don’t put people in harm’s way, particularly as an elected official,” Day said.
The testimony, obtained by The Journal News, appears to lend credence to allegations by state Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski, that Lavalasse was both ordered to approve occupancy at the building and then pressured to amend a memo that implicated the mayor in directing the action.
Demeza Delhomme says he did not force a Certificate of Occupancy for a Yeshiva to be issued as a favor to a donor.
