Jenkins rips fraud chief's hiring

Monticello mayor sounds off in letter

MONTICELLO — Monticello Mayor Gordon Jenkins is not a fan of Sullivan County's new chief fraud investigator.

Jenkins on Monday faxed a letter from the village offices to the Times Herald-Record editorial page, questioning the appointment of former Monticello Detective Gerard Dietz.

Dietz was introduced for the $70,000 a year job at a news conference April 2. He is working with the Sullivan County District Attorney's Office and police agencies to ferret out fraud against Medicaid and other county social service programs.

Jenkins, who used plain letterhead and didn't identify himself as the mayor, titled his memo "It's Fraud" in bold. He then went on to say that Dietz was given "a very lucrative retirement package" that included unaccounted overtime.

"I say there are a lot of good qualified people who would like to feed their family, but are not of the Good Old Boys in Sullivan County, so that makes it where they cannot get a fair job opportunity," he wrote.

Jenkins also criticized the county for hiring former County Legislator David Sager (whom he calls 'Sayer') as deputy commissioner of family services.

"I could name plenty of more names and situations, but my point of the matter is before you call fraud on any one or any circumstance, look in the mirror and for once give everyone a fair opportunity to feed their families and maybe we wouldn't have to arrest so many people for fraud."

Dietz, who served for 23 years in the village police force and retired as a detective sergeant, said he was among several veteran officers who retired early rather than work under Jenkins' turbulent village government.

"He is nuts," Dietz said when he read the letter Tuesday. Dietz said he knew Jenkins before he was mayor, and once liked him. "I think the power went to his head and he went crazy. He is definitely not the same person."

District Attorney Jim Farrell said he has known Dietz for 18 years, and praised his skills and work ethic. "They have hired the right person for the job," Farrell said.

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