Jewett Turmoil Deepens - Board Demands Member Step Down

JEWETT - A second government official has been called upon to resign in the town of Jewett which is beleaguered by political and legal turmoil.

Four town council members have sent a letter to the fifth council member, John Pumilia, demanding his resignation for allegedly meddling in local highway union negotiations.

Their demand comes on the heels of a request for councilman John Giordano to step down made by local resident Tammy Vanucchi.

Vanucchi, in February, disrupted a council meeting to ask Giordano to leave office following a text message allegedly sent by Giordano to a town highway worker which the union has termed “wholly inappropriate.”

Giordano has stayed put. The four council members have made their accusation after a tense exchange between Pumilia and town supervisor Greg Kroyer at a council session in mid-March related to union matters.

“This letter shall serve as the Town Board of the Town of Jewett's formal sanction of your recent actions which have violated your oath of office and your duties and responsibilities as a Town Board member,” the four council members collectively state.

“The Board therefore demands that you resign your position immediately. Specifically, the Town has recently been involved with negotiations with the Laborer’s Union to address certain issues with the Highway Department employees,” the letter states.

“Those negotiations resulted in an agreement with the Union regarding the manner in which security cameras are to be installed. You voted to ratify that agreement along with the rest of the Town Board,” the letter states.

“Thereafter, you participated individually and without authorization from the Town Board in several discussions with the Union and/or highway employees which resulted in the Union withdrawing its consent to the agreement,” the letter continues. 

“These actions are an egregious violation of your duties and your oath of office. You admitted during an open session of the Town Board's regular

meeting that you engaged in those discussions,” the letter states.

“The Board cannot emphasize the displeasure and distrust that your actions have caused and in the strongest possible terms demands your immediate resignation,” the letter states.

The correspondence, sent as a certified letter and email to Pumilia on April 1, is signed by Supervisor Kroyer and council members Jeannie Scotti, James Pellitteri and Giordano. 

Pumilia, in a response by text to the Mountain Eagle on April 1, stated, “the town’s letter asking for my resignation after accusing me of interfering with ongoing union negotiations is ridiculous.

“I never did any such thing. I was approached by a union member. I was told something about a board member [Giordano] being asked to be removed from a [special town] committee,” Pumilia said.

“I questioned whether that was true or not. That’s all I did. This is an attempt by our, in my opinion, corrupt town supervisor and his gang of three board members to isolate me because I am pointing fingers,” Pumilia said.

The three board members will, “follow [Kroyer] into hell if they were told to. I will not resign. I deny all accusations in the letter and I’m going to ask for an apology,” Pumilia continued.

“And I should mention the letter that I have received was not signed by the town attorney. I wonder why?

“The union will tell you exactly what I’m telling you. We never spoke about negotiations about any union issues with the town,” Pumilia said.

“I should also mention that as a town councilman, I have a right to speak to anyone I want involving town business as long as I don’t interfere with ongoing negotiations which I didn’t,” Pumilia said.

Pumilia has been vocal over the past year calling for transparency related to a search warrant executed by the Greene County Sheriff’s Office in July, 2025, at the municipal hall. That investigation is reportedly ongoing.

Pumilia and Kroyer also faced off in a contentious race for the town supervisor’s job, last fall, won handily by Kroyer.

The next town council session is slated for April 8 at the Jewett municipal building. The letter from the town council and Pumilia’s response were received too late for our Wednesday deadline to contact the union.