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Judge agreed to issue an arrest warrant against Spring Valley mayor for not showing up in court.

A state Supreme Court judge Thursday told Spring Valley's mayor to let the village's summer camp open.

But whether the program can hire staffers and attract campers halfway through the summer remains to be seen.

At a court hearing Thursday afternoon, Justice Gerald Loehr told Mayor Demeza Delhomme to comply with his temporary restraining order and honor the July 2 village board resolution that called for restoring the village's summer camp that has been suspended this year.

"Tomorrow morning, the room has to be open, and the program has to be given access," Loehr told Delhomme, referring to the 14-year-old summer day camp at the Louis Kurtz Civic Center on Main Street.

Village Attorney Jerrold Miles then tried to explain to Loehr that the camp couldn't be held because of an unresolved personnel matter involving suspended Youth Director Sonia Barton who had been in charge of the camp.

Delhomme told the judge that as mayor, he should be the one to lead the village, not the trustees who adopted the July 2 resolution.

Loehr brushed them off, saying that he wanted Delhomme to comply with his order and let the summer camp have access to the civic center as of Friday morning. Otherwise, Loehr said, he would issue an arrest warrant against Delhomme as he had warned in his July 18 contempt order.

After the hearing, Miles said the village will follow Loehr's order.

"The mayor was told by the judge to make sure the door is open," Miles said. "I don't think the mayor has ever intended to have the Kurtz center closed. But it will be open."

Village Trustee Vilair Fonvil, who has been leading the effort to restore the camp, said although the victory might have come a little too late to actually open the camp for the summer, he would take steps to try to make it happen.

Dennis Lynch, the attorney for Fonvil as well as Trustees Asher Grossman and Emilia White, said some children and families can still benefit from the free summer program even if it's going to be a two-week camp.

Earlier Thursday, Loehr was about to issue an arrest warrant for Delhomme when he didn't show up for a 9:30 a.m. hearing to answer the judge's contempt order.

Miles later said a misunderstanding caused Delhomme's absence, and another hearing was called for 2 p.m.

The day camp program came to a halt amid a conflict between Delhomme and Barton, who has been suspended since May.

At a special meeting July 2, Fonvil, Grossman and White approved a resolution to restore the summer program. Delhomme and his deputy were absent. The resolution called for hiring Barton as an independent contractor to start the camp in mid-July.

When Delhomme seemed to ignore the resolution by blocking Barton from entering the facility, the trustees brought the issue to Loehr, who has been presiding over a pending case between Delhomme and the three trustees.

Delhomme denied blocking Barton and later held a press conference, telling reporters that the summer program had to be discontinued because of an ongoing renovation at the center and a lack of qualified personnel.

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