Sunday, February 7, 2010

Mount Vernon City Council acts in the dark - yet again

Fellow Mount Vernonites, it has just been told to MV Exposed that the Mount Vernon City Council, led by its President Yuhanna Edwards, has held yet another special meeting with no public notice. This meeting is supposed to have happened late yesterday afternoon. These sunlight hating elected representatives didn't even have the decency to hold the meeting at the usual 7:00pm time. Instead, they held it at 5:30pm - a time when most are traveling home from work and unable to attend.

It seems that all of that campaign pillow talk about transparency was all a load of you know what. In their very first month, they now have held two secret special meetings, both of which have had zero public notice. Just what is it that they are trying to hide?

It is time for the antics to cease. Stop with the window dressing and get onto the people's business. Maureen's puppets made a big deal out of extending public comments to four minutes from three. However, 95% of the speakers never had a problem staying under three minutes. In the meantime, the more important issue of transparency is out the window with these in the dark "special" meetings.

Also important to note: there are five members of the City Council, however, having a four person stranglehold on the council isn't enough for the four blind mice. It seems as if they are trying to run Councilman Steven Horton out of the council so that they can appoint a fifth member. Just which crony is it that they are trying to add to their power base?

So let's sum up the council's actions so far this year.

  • One special meeting called on less than 24 hours notice to raise the salary of a part time entry-level legislative aide position from $35,000 to $85,000/year - all so that they could add crony Nichelle Johnson to the payroll. Question, on top of her $85,000 part-time salary, is Ms. Johnson also practicing law at a certain Mount Vernon law firm?
  • A second special meeting at 5:30pm with no public notice. Still trying to find out the dirt that they were trying to do on that one
  • A behind closed doors attempt to eliminate the Office of the Inspector General. An office that has saved Mount Vernon taxpayers millions of dollars in fines and penalties, fought for restitution from those who have stolen from the taxpayers, and has created oversight in a city that has reeled in the face of three high profile corruption cases that occurred during the Ernie Davis era. Maureen Walker's fingerprints are all over this one.
  • They have bellied up to the feeding trough with career criminal Scam Rivers, a detestable slug if there ever was one.
  • In coordination with Maureen Walker, they have tried to create a brand new $52,000/year job for a Secretary in their office. The crony chosen for this position was to have served as secretary to the $85,000 part-time Legislative Aide.
Mount Vernon, this is your new City Council. Help shine a light on their antics by forwarding this email to those who have a stake in our future.

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