PLATTSBURGH — The City of Plattsburgh is facing two civil lawsuits filed by two Clinton County residents, one regarding the appointment of Jarrod Trombley as police chief and the other for not yet releasing an investigative report into the police department.
Residents Joan Janson and April Wood, represented by local attorney Frank Zappala, filed the lawsuits in Clinton County Supreme Court June 16. The parties are due in court for a conference in mid-July, he said.
“(To) see if we can resolve the issues that are there,” Zappala said at a press conference Thursday.
TROMBLEY APPOINTMENT
Wood, who was removed by a city police officer from a Common Council meeting last month before Trombley’s appointment, has publicly spoken out against Trombley the past few months, citing previous allegations made against him.
As previously reported by the Press-Republican, former Mayor Chris Rosenquest suspended Trombley and placed him on administrative leave in September of 2024, accusing him of misconduct, incompetence, insubordination and falsifying work hours, according to city documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request.
Trombley eventually opted to sign a disciplinary settlement agreement with Rosenquest, which outlined he could not seek or accept any other employment with the city other than police lieutenant, before retiring from the department Sept. 20, 2024.
When Mayor Wendell Hughes took office in January after winning the November election, reinstating Trombley as lieutenant was one of the first moves he made.
Then, in May, Hughes appointed Trombley police chief after modifying the original settlement agreement to allow Trombley to return to any position he was qualified for, according to city records.
Zappala said Trombley should have never been considered for police chief because of the original settlement agreement terms he signed last year. In the lawsuit documents, the Clinton County Personnel Department is named because it approved the mayor’s request to appoint Trombley as police chief without knowledge of the initial settlement agreement terms.
“Mr. Trombley should never have been on the list (for police chief),” he said at a press conference Thursday.
“I filed this lawsuit, because I believe the appointment was made without transparency or full disclosure to the public,” Janson said.
INVESTIGATION
In February, the city hired an outside agency to lead an investigation into its police department and last fall’s allegations against Trombley.
At the time, Hughes confirmed the city entered into a retainer agreement with Bond, Shoeneck & King and M M. Rusin Consulting, LLC out of Syracuse, to lead the investigation. Councilors approved the agreement during a special meeting Jan. 24.
“We have retained two professionals, an attorney with experience advising police departments as well as a respected law enforcement consultant, to work together to perform a comprehensive review of the Plattsburgh Police Department,” Hughes said in a statement to the media in February.
“Their review will include an examination of the Department’s policies, training, supervision, and disciplinary processes. This is primarily a forward-looking review, with recommendations for best practices that will allow the next Chief of Plattsburgh Police Department to improve on the good work our department is already doing to even better serve our community. They are reviewing Plattsburgh Police Department documentation and speaking with various members of Plattsburgh Police Department.”
The agency’s findings have not been made available, and it’s unclear when or if they will be any time soon, but Janson and Wood hope their lawsuit brings the results of the investigation to light.
“The public was led to believe that an independent investigation into the police department was conducted and paid for with public funds. The findings must be made public,” Wood said.
“This is not just a transparency issue, it now appears to be a deliberate cover up,” Wood said.
She said she was driven to file the lawsuit after not getting the information she wanted from previous FOIL requests.
“The more that I requested and dug and the more lack of transparency that there was to my FOIL request, I knew that there had been something more that they were hiding,” Wood said.
“I’ve exhausted all avenues to try to get the information through FOIL. I’ve even reached out to the committee on open government and asked for advisory opinions, and in every instance, they’ve sided with me that this information should be released, and I have no other avenue after the committee on open government than to file this petition,” Wood said.
Hughes, who declined to comment on the new litigation facing the city, previously defended his appointment of Trombley in May, telling the media then that he was “fully confident” in his decision to do so despite the investigation report not being released.
“There were some charges that were put on him last year and he chose to retire … he never had his day,” Hughes said ahead of the appointment in May.
“But I’m fully confident in what we’ve done, and I know where we’re at with all those allegations. I wouldn’t make the recommendation if I didn’t feel I was justified in doing it.,” Hughes said.
END GOAL
If their lawsuits are successful and the investigative reports are released as a result, Zappala said their next step would be to make them public.
“Step two will require — if we’re successful — … them to do a second vote on whether or not he (Trombley) should even be eligible to be the chief of police,” he said.