Town attorney says meeting attendee is a security threat

LAGRANGE – Town Attorney Rebbeca Valk considers Hopewell Junction resident David Mashiah to be a threat to the safety and security of LaGrange town employees and consultants.  Mashiah is a resident of Hopewell Junction who routinely appears at LaGrange town meetings to record them on video and make statements many view as disturbing.

Mashiah is named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by Town Councilman Alfred Rabasco, which also names Town Councilman Rich Ryan as a defendant.  Mashiah and Ryan, according to Rabasco, conspired to produce videos that appeared to be public town meetings but were dubbed over with secret audio recordings of executive sessions that Ryan allegedly made.  The two then published the fake videos on a YouTube page that was made to appear like an official LaGrange production.

Town board members, with the exception of Councilman Ryan, all sat for polygraph exams to prove they were not responsible for the illegal recordings of the executive sessions.  Ryan refused to take the polygraph exam because he wanted Mashiah to be able to record the process on video but the request was denied.

Mashiah has a history of interactions with town officials including making gestures and comments that have resulted in the town board having state police remove him from meetings.

According to Town of LaGrange Attorney Rebecca Valk, Mashiah poses a security and safety threat to herself and other female employees of the town.

Valk read a statement to the town board at last week’s meeting that brings public awareness to Mashiah’s “obsession to stalk, harass, and demean all town employees and consultants to deflect from his own lawbreaking.”  Mashiah, Ryan’s co-defendant in the lawsuit, has accrued several violations for illegal work he has performed on a parcel of land he owns in LaGrange.  The town recently obtained a favorable Supreme Court decision against his corporation and his wife.  He managed to remain insulated from the action,…