Breaking: Croton's Code Enforcement Officer resigns in wake of Lenny Amicola affair.
Thor Snilsberg had been on unpaid leave after receiving death threats.
The Chronicle has learned that Croton Code Enforcement Officer Thor Snilsberg has resigned his position today after an extended unpaid leave expired.
Snilsberg was at the center of a controversy over a Trump display on Grand Street that drew national attention, including a Truth Social post from the president himself. Trump praised Lenny Amicola, who had strung the display across his property, for his free speech stance after Amicola resisted threats from the village to prosecute him if he did not take it down.
The village eventually withdrew the threatened prosecution in the face of the intense spotlight it had put on our community, as well as death threats that were sent to a number of village employees.
Shortly after the episode began, Snilsberg sent a whistleblower letter to the village HR department and his union representatives, claiming that he was pressured by Village Manager Bryan Healy into carrying out the enforcement action against Amicola, even though his display consisted of political rather than commercial speech. Under a number of court rulings, political speech is normally subject to greater protections than commercial displays.
Healy and other village officials have denied these allegations, claiming that the actions against Amicola were part of a routine, “content-neutral” code enforcement effort that involved an additional 17 cases. We have asked both Snilsberg and Healy for comment on Snilsberg’s resignation, and will update this story if and when we receive it.
This is very unlikely to be the end of the story, however. Amicola’s attorney, Roseann Schuyler, has hinted broadly that she might take legal action against the village, although no such litigation has been filed as we go to press. Schuyler has argued that Amicola, who has now been the subject of two village enforcement actions for political displays on his property over the past several years, could still face prosecution from Croton officials.
Also today, we received documents via the NY Freedom of Information Law related to the 17 other code enforcement actions against banners in the village which officials claim were essentially the same as the case involving Lenny Amicola. We are analyzing those documents and will have more to say about them soon.
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The wrong man resigned. Hoping that Mr Snilsbergs next position is brighter.
One would have to imagine that this is not the end of this saga. Perhaps someone high up in our tiny village government will be forced to resign as well.