Dissolution Dismissed: Spring Valley rallies to keep its status

Community leaders gathered in front of Spring Valley’s Village Hall on Tuesday evening, July 24, urging residents to remain vigilant after a petition to dissolve the was declared null and void by the Village clerk last week.  

The petition had more than 2,500 signatures in favor of the dissolving the village and letting the bulk of it be absorbed into the Town of Ramapo, with a small portion absorbed by the Town of Clarkstown. The petition was presented to at Village Hall on July 1, 2025.  Authored by Spring Valley resident and Realtor Joseph Fuchs, it failed to pass muster after Village Clerk Diana Montgomery declared half the signatures null and void.  Montgomery said more than half of its signers did not live within the village’s borders or were not registered to vote. As a result, it did not have enough valid signatures to become a referendum on Election Day, November 5. 

Spring Valley’s advocates are concerned that another attempt to dissolve the village may be in the works, since this latest petition is the second attempt within the last three years to dismantle one of Rockland’s largest villages.  Resident Winsome Wright told listeners she loves her community and wants it to remain a separate and distinct entity, praising its police force and EMT workers who live and work there who know and value its citizens. CSEA union members also rallied in front of Village Hall; its more than 60 members have been working without a valid contract for five years nor have they received an increase in pay, despite skyrocketing cost-of-living expenses. 

Spring Valley has faced a myriad of challenges, including lack of code enforcement that has resulted in a multitude of violations, some lethal. For the past three years, Rockland County has been in control of the village’s building department after New York State found officials failed to enforce them and has more than its share of challenges Spring Valley. 

Former NAACP leader Vivian Street urged rallygoers to get out and vote in the general election in November and to encourage their 18-year-olds to register and become part of the process.