In less than two weeks the twisted tale of former Village of Sloatsburg Building Inspector John Layne will begin winding its way through the justice system. Layne, 59, of Rustic Drive in Airmont, is due to make an appearance before Justice Thomas J. Newman, Jr. at Justice Court Wednesday, June 27 at 5 p.m., to face felony charges for public corruption related to his tenure in Sloatsburg. The felony counts against Layne carry a maximum of four years in state prison.

“The felony bureau of the district attorney’s office will decide what they’re going to do,” said Marie Cush, Sloatsburg’s Clerk of the Court. “If they decide to reduce it to a misdemeanor, it means it stays in this court and everything goes from there. If it goes to a felony, they can send it to a grand jury.”

Layne was investigated by Rockland County District Attorney Thomas P. Zugibe’s Office of Special Investigations Unit along with the Ramapo police and is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Ameenah Karim and Executive Assistant District Attorney Gary Lee Heavner.

Whispers of corruption and intimidation have appeared to follow Layne from public post to post like ghosts of electricity. Layne began his political career as one of the first Airmont Village Trustees and then Mayor, where he eventually lost the support of residents and village board alike for what was perceived as obstructionist actions related to Airmont board initiatives. He left office in Airmont in 2007. During one particularly heated board meeting in the spring of 2006, a contingent of angry Airmont residents protested against Layne, requesting that he resign on the spot. Layne was quoted at the time as saying that what his opponents were “doing is juvenile, counterproductive and doesn’t serve the public good.”

According to district attorney information, Layne, a licensed electrical contractor, served as the Village of Sloatsburg Building Inspector between 2002 and 2009 — which means he served simultaneously as mayor of Airmont and as Sloatsburg’s building inspector, a highly unusual arrangement for a sitting mayor. While building inspector, Layne was also appointed village code enforcer — or, to paraphase an old saying, Layne became both judge and jury on all official village construction matters.

Layne was eventually followed to Sloatsburg by then Airmont Village Attorney Joel Grossbarth, who became Sloatsburg’s village attorney in 2007. Grossbarth himself has since fallen from grace and Layne’s charges pale beside those of the former village attorney. Grossbarth is accused of repeatedly pilfering client escrow accounts and was suspended from practicing law in 2011. He could face 15 years in prison for allegedly stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from clients.

Upon becoming ensconced as Sloatsburg’s building inspector, Layne appears to have set into action a way of doing business that would eventually cost the village $200,000 and poison the business and political environment of the village. People around the village spoke of numerous grievances related to Layne’s tenure — from his enforcing petty job change orders to requesting the re-berming of an already inspected foundation to incidents of “lost paperwork” or shuffling someone’s paperwork back to the bottom of the job pile to draw out the review process.

Local businesswoman and owner of Rococo’s Salon Susie McEnery McDonagh had an infamous and very public spat with Layne in 2008 when she moved her business into its current location in the center of the village. McDonagh complained with increasing urgency to village officials that Layne was holding up her business license by requesting last-minute code changes, changes that included disputes about elevators and electrical wiring as well as signage size and parking space location. Eventually McDonagh organized a protest rally and took her complaints to the Town of Ramapo. After  some delicate refereeing, Rococo’s finally opened.

“It took us a long time to get in here,” said McDonagh. “The fight was worth it. It’s a beautiful place. And when we moved in, we were really busy.”

Layne’s reign as both building inspector and code enforcer for Sloatsburg ended after becoming entangled in another public dispute, this time with former village resident and trustee Becky Kern. Kern publically questioned Layne’s qualifications and job performance and shortly afterward Kern and her husband began to run afoul of village codes on a house under construction. Kern eventually lowered the hammer, filing a lawsuit that involved the village and charged Layne with violating her First Amendment rights.

Layne’s actions included removing the Kern’s building permit from the job site and attempting to change the zoning on their property.

“I think Layne had some people fooled,” said Kern when contacted about Layne’s recent arrest. “He always hid right above the law (or so it was thought that he did). I know that many residents spoke out against Layne, but others were afraid to. He held an incredible amount of power as building inspector and he abused that power over and over. It would have taken a very strong Board to stand up to him and, unfortunately, that did not happen.”

Kern’s case went to trial and she won a $200,000 judgement against Sloatsburg and Layne. The village ended up paying out $150,000 to Kern. To date, it’s not known if Layne has paid his portion of the penalty.

“Our lawsuit against the village was a First Amendment case because John Layne retaliated against me for speaking out against him over the years, questioning his job duties, performance, and what appeared to be improprieties,” Kern said. “My public speech was protected and it was proven that he was guilty in Federal Supreme Court. But in reality, if the other members of the Board had pursued things more fully then perhaps this would have been uncovered sooner.”

The crux of the charges Layne now faces involve his ownership stake in two companies, Airmont Electric and Advanced Electrical Construction. Layne is accused of using the companies to steer customers through while working for the village. As building inspector and code enforcer, Layne essentially had final say in whether or not residents or businesses received any type of building permits or a license of occupancy.

The ethics charges against Layne came to light during a review of backlogged building permits and related paperwork by current Sloatsburg Building Inspector Ian Smith.

According to recent reporting by Dylan Skriloff, after leaving Sloatsburg Layne apparently continued his business practices on the public dime while a building inspector for Suffern — after the current charges were uncovered, Suffern discovered four instances of Suffern doing work with businesses that Layne had an interest in.

Layne moved from Suffern a year ago to the Town of Ramapo, where he was hired by Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence as deputy superintendent of highways, an $80,000 per year position. Since his arrest, Ramapo has placed Layne on unpaid suspension, pending his prosecution on the Sloatsburg corruption charges.

Town of Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence said that he was “shocked” by the allegations against Layne.

Layne still retains his position as building inspector in the Village of Wesley Hills, where the Rockland County Times reported that Mayor David Goldsmith said Layne is “innocent until proven guilty.” At the recent Rockland County GOP Convention held in Clarkstown, Layne’s name was stricken as a GOP Committeeman by Ramapo GOP chairman Michael Dolan.

“John’s arrest is vindication to everyone that has ever had to deal with him while he was in any position of authority that he abused,” Kern said about Layne’s abuse of the public trust.

Following is a list of current charges Layne faces, as well as additional litigation or incidents related to his former official positions in Sloatsburg and Suffern:

• Layne is accused of doing private electrical work in Sloatsburg and burying his activities in village files
• Layne is accused of not requiring certain residents and businesses to obtain building permits
• he was charged with not requiring the submission of proper paperwork for permits in order to conceal his unlawful work
• accused of taking money from individuals as an electrician to perform work that was never completed
• accused of not requiring either UL stickers or certificates of compliance or both for certain properties around the village
• found in violation of former Sloatsburg resident and Village Trustee Becky Kern’s First Amendment rights
• Layne and the Village of Sloatsburg lost a 2010 federal lawsuit brought by Kern and subsequently were ordered to pay Kern $200,000 in damages (Sloatsburg ponied up $150,000 of the settlement; to date it’s unknown whether Layne’s $50,000 has been paid)
• Suffern Mayor Dagan LaCorte said the village discovered four instances of businesses doing work for Suffern that Layne had an interest in

John Layne is scheduled to appear in Sloatsburg Village Court Wednesday, June 27, to face felony charges of public corruption related to his tenure in Sloatsburg. The felony charges carry a maximum of four years in state prison.