Petition builds calling for DA's resignation, but officials stop short of targeting Walsh

NEW CITY − A petition movement has garnered more than 2,800 names demanding Rockland District Attorney Thomas Walsh resign over his no-jail plea deal for two rabbis who admitted causing the 2021 adult home fire in which firefighter Jared Lloyd and resident Oliver Hueston died.

While petition organizers and supporters, including dozens of Rockland volunteer firefighters, don't believe Walsh will resign, they say they want to send a message about how the plea deal disrespects Lloyd and Hueston, their families, and first responders. Walsh is running on the Democratic and Republican ballot lines Nov. 7.

Some are also considering a longshot write-in campaign.

The case involves two major Rockland constituencies — the Orthodox Jewish community and the county's firefighters — with emotions running high. Firefighters blast what they see as a light sentence. Leaders of the Orthodox community have largely refrained from offering public comment, but some have denounced what they feel are antisemitic comments on social media and in media reports about the plea deal.

Petition supporters counter that their goal is not bigotry but to show Walsh and county residents that their pain runs deep and personal.

Under the deal, Rabbi Nathaniel Sommer, 71, and his son Aaron, 28, will not serve jail or prison time for their guilty pleas in causing the fire at the Evergreen Court Home for Adults in Spring Valley.

Nathaniel Sommer pleaded to two felony counts of manslaughter, admitting his use of a 20-pound propane blowtorch to cleanse the kitchen and ovens for Passover caused the fire. His son admitted to a misdemeanor reckless endangerment charge.

The plea bargain means the men will not face a public trial. Judge Kevin Russo accepted the plea agreement June 20, and will sentence the men Sept. 20.

"I am not confident that it will work, but I love the fact that it will put pressure on him," former Spring Valley Fire Chief Michael Johnson said of Walsh and the petitions. "I suggest a write-in of Jared Lloyd. I know that would never work, obviously. It's more about the pressure that we're here and to embarrass him."

'This was a horrible accident'

Rivkie Feiner, an Orthodox Jewish community activist, said the tragic deaths of Lloyd and Hueston should not pit people against Orthodox Jews.

"This is a tragedy, but they didn't do anything malicious," she said. "I don't appreciate the Orthodox community being a target. I get that people are upset. I am, too. I absolutely know that as Orthodox Jews we never intentionally hurt people. The way this has played out in social media has been a shame. This was a horrible accident, something that happened by mistake."

More: Rabbis who caused Evergreen Court fatal fire get plea with DA for no jail time

She said the Orthodox community doesn't take what happened at Evergreen Court as anything but tragic and she's sure the Sommers feel pain from the loss of life. Nathaniel Sommer, a first responder for an ambulance corps, had been koshering for years without incident.

"No one in the community is taking this lightly," Feiner said of the two deaths. "No one should think otherwise. We support first responders. Community members are first responders."

Thomas Walsh is not talking, but party bosses are

Walsh has repeatedly declined to comment on the calls for his resignation or on the plea deal itself, a decision that has been questioned by the county's political chairs.

Rockland GOP Chair Lawrence Garvey said Walsh has some explaining to do.

“The family and the firefighting community and the first-responder community and everyone has a right to understand what happened,” Garvey said. “And to the extent that District Attorney Walsh has to be part of that explanation, he absolutely should. They absolutely have a right to understand what happened to make their feelings known and to be angry if they feel that justice wasn't served.”

Rockland Democratic Chair Schenley Vital agreed, writing in a statement: "I urge District Attorney Walsh, as well as our federal and state representatives to address our community. We are in pain, and deserve to hear from our leaders."

Seeking answers

Others have been more pointed in castigating the DA's silence.

Rockland Legislator Laurie Santulli, R-Congers, a firefighter, has been outspoken on the plea deal, the investigation, and the response to the two deaths from elected officials. She has asked that Walsh and his lead investigator Matt Wohl explain the rationale behind the plea agreement and the details before the Legislature's Public Safety Committee.

"I’ve been bombarded with emails and calls from firefighters and citizens," she said. "They have questions. I have questions that need answers. We want to know the reasoning behind the light plea deal."

Santulli said she strongly doubts Walsh will voluntarily appear or allow his investigators or prosecutors to discuss the case. No hearing date has been set.  Committee Chair Toney Earl, D- Ramapo, told Santulli he doesn't feel it's appropriate to ask Walsh to appear since sentencing is pending.County Legislator Charles Falciglia, R-Ramapo, took to his Facebook page this week to blast Walsh. He supported Santulli for making her views public.

"Should Tom Walsh resign? Tom Walsh has been another Rockland political lifer and it is time to turn the page," Falciglia wrote. "He should take the honorable route and step down as he has lost the confidence and trust of our county residents."

Officials stop short of targeting Thomas Walsh

Some elected officials in the county have offered more nuanced responses to the plea deal, taking issue with the deal but not with the DA. This approach contrasts with the full-throated sort of condemnation some have had for other events, such as New York City Mayor Eric Adams' attempts to house asylum seekers in Rockland.

Officials have uniformly reaffirmed their support for the county's volunteer firefighters, whose ranks approach 2,000, including those who no longer actively fight fires.

County Executive Ed Day said he fully supports calls for the incarceration of the Sommers.

"As a former first responder, I am appalled at the fact that the Lloyd and Hueston families will not get the justice they deserve," Day, a retired NYPD commander, said.

He said he has spoken at length with Lloyd's family, who believe some jail time is warranted. "Their position is that the victims are serving a death sentence and the families are serving a life sentence," Day said. Day said that at times the judicial system falls short, but "I feel the same anger as everyone else and encourage everyone to direct their questions to the prosecution and judge in hopes of garnering answers."

More: At Jared Lloyd's Spring Valley firehouse, a plea deal in his death hits hard

Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski, one of the Democrats who lost a 2019 primary for district attorney, said: "I stand with the firefighting community and believe these crimes should have resulted in incarceration.”

He added that as a former opponent of Walsh’s, "I’m not going to comment on whether he should or should not be in the office."

A push for stronger code enforcement

Zebrowski and GOP state Sen. William Weber are pressing for a state law to enhance zoning and code enforcement, saying that first responders and neighborhoods are now at risk.

They noted that questions have been raised about the competence of inspections done by the Spring Valley Building Department over a few decades. The state stepped in and deputized the county government in 2021 to inspect, issue violations, and prosecute.

"Due to an overall culture of non-compliance, I have reintroduced significant legislation in the New York State Senate to transfer the penalty of unpaid code enforcement fines to landowners' tax bills," Weber said. "The safety of our volunteer firefighters and residents is paramount."

Weber, who has family in law enforcement, said he found the plea agreement disappointing and Walsh needs to explain his reasoning.

"I find it disturbing that the charges brought by the Rockland County District Attorney's office against multiple prior defendants did not result in convictions," Weber said. "The accepted pleas of a second-degree felony and second-degree reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor, were presumably offered in light of the previous court decisions. While five and three years of probation are not ideal, these penalties are better than the prior court dismissals."

U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler, R-Rockland, who emerged as a Rockland power broker in his first term, also took a dim view of the no-jail plea but didn't echo calls for Walsh to resign.

He said he supported Walsh's prosecution in the Evergreen Court cases and there should be accountability for those responsible for the deadly fire, regardless of the intent.

"It is my hope that when the court considers sentencing in the weeks to come, they will strongly consider the wishes of the Lloyd and Hueston families and the need to ensure this type of reckless conduct never happens again," Lawler said. "Jail time must be on the table."

Signatures on petitions, and write-in long shots

At least 24 letters from fire companies and volunteer firefighter organizations have been sent to Walsh, condemning the plea and pulling no punches in who they blame for it. Walsh, a former judge, won election to a four-year term in 2019.

Among the notes in Walsh's inbox is a scorching letter from the Spring Valley Fire Department that declared the DA persona non grata in the village.

"YOU and your staff are not welcome at any Spring Valley Fire Department function or event held in the Village of Spring Valley or anywhere else," the letter read. "May you have triple the amount of sleepless nights that the family members and Fellow first responders have had since the fire."

There are two petitions started by First Responders For Justice. One is for local residents and one for national supporters. As of Friday, the Rockland-based petition had garnered 1,253 names while the national petition had 1,586 supporters.

Kristen Ann Ross, who started the petition drives, said she's hoping for 100,000 signatures by Sept. 20, when Russo sentences the Sommers.

"I know that’s a high number to hope for," she said. "But Jared's family and the other gentleman's family deserve justice."

Writing in Lloyd's name for district attorney would never work, she said, but is a grand gesture.

"I would be open to talking to people interested in a write-in campaign," she said. "It's more about pressure. (Walsh is) on radio silence now."

One person who doesn't think a write-in campaign would work is civil rights attorney Michael Diederich, who lost an independent run against Walsh in November 2019 on his Serve Rockland line. He said that if people put up his name and he won, he'd serve. But he said he doesn't have the finances or desire to campaign.

"I don’t know anyone in the history of the United States who has won a write-in on the county level," he said.

Steve Lieberman covers government, breaking news, courts, police, and investigations. Reach him at [email protected]. Twitter: @lohudlegal. Read more articles and bio. Our local coverage is only possible with support from our readers.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Petitions build for Rockland DA to resign over plea in fire deaths