Village Rehires Felon For $50K, 6-Month Contract

SPRING VALLEY, NY — The Ramapo building inspector who resigned in 2017 after pleading guilty to felony corruption, and whose subsequent job with Spring Valley was discovered and halted in 2019, has been hired for a second time by the mayor.

Spring Valley Mayor Alan Simon rehired Anthony Mallia, who worked for Simon in Ramapo and was Ramapo's building inspector until he was removed for professional misconduct. Simon previously served as the head of Ramapo's building and zoning department and was a judge in Spring Valley and Ramapo. He was removed from the judgeships for professional misconduct.

The first time Simon hired Mallia in Spring Valley in 2018, it was over the objections of the county Probation Department and the district attorney. Then, the county Personnel Department found out the mayor had bypassed the civil service process. The contract was terminated. That job carried a salary of $125,000.

Simon rehired Mallia in 2019 on a contract capped at $75,000; once he had been paid that amount, he stopped work.

Then the mayor rehired Mallia last week. At a special village board meeting Aug. 11, he proposed a one-year, $100,000 contract for Mallia "for any work that is necessary ... We're going to need a construction supervisor and that's one of the things I would assign him to," Simon told the trustees.

Trustee Eudson Francois balked. "I'm not understanding the $100,000, I need more clarification on that, and since I don't have anything in front of me," he said.

Francois said he would be willing to revisit the contract in six months, so Simon modified the motion: For a salary of $50,000 over six months, Mallia must work 35 hours a week. The proposal passed.

You can watch the meeting on Facebook.

Simon already employs Mallia's wife as his assistant.

According to the criminal complaint in 2016, Mallia was grossly undercharging contractors for building permit applications for new residential construction projects. Mallia faced almost 2oo criminal counts, but negotiated a deal to plead guilty to one felony, with no jail time and no restitution. The judge complimented him on his legal team, TJN reported.

SEE:

• Spring Valley Mayor, County Fighting Over $125000 Aide
• NY Appeals Court Upholds Removing Bullying Judge
• No Jail Time For Building Inspector Guilty Of Corruption