More financial follies from the Comptroller & City Council

Dear Readers,

First, I want to thank those who are responding to these emails - both those who offer words of support as well as those who offer information about the City Council and the Comptroller. Without those who offer such information, it would be hard to compile enough to get these emails out.

Now, onto yet another story just getting out that you won't read about in the Journal News about the sheer silliness regarding the financial irresponsibility of our Comptroller Maureen Walker and her four allies on the Mount Vernon City Council.

Last week and into this week, when the area was plagued by a heat wave with temperatures into the 90's, the air conditioning units at the Doles Center and the Police HQ/City Courthouse completely broke down. Both units are beyond their useful lifespan and need complete replacement.

The Doles Center, which houses a senior program and a day care center was repaired within a few days. The Police HQ/Courthouse however, was out for over a week and the courts were forced to close for at least two days due to unbearable temperatures. The hardworking cops. unfortunately, had no such option as their job is to protect and serve the public through whatever the conditions may be. The original contractor who installed the unit at the PD/Courthouse refuses to ever come back into Mount Vernon due to not being paid by the Comptroller's Office. A second contractor who was brought in to try to get the system working, also walked off of the job due to poor payment history from the Comptroller's Office. This left workers in this vital facility to face stifling temperatures. Fortunately, a third company was brought in to get the system back up, at least temporarily. However, a permanent solution must be found to replace these units so that these expensive temporary patch jobs can end.

The cause of the outrage of this whole situation does not just rest with the Comptroller for poor accounts payable processes. It also lays at the feet of the new city council, her political allies. According to a source, last year the City Council unanimously approved a capital projects plan that would have provided money to repair and replace HVAC systems at city buildings. This foresight would have avoided the a/c issues that affected the health of our seniors. children, cops and other workers and public. However, at the urging of their political master Maureen Walker, the new city council, namely President Edwards and members Watts, Munro and Appuzo, gutted the capital projects plan removing money for replacement of HVAC systems and other infrastructure projects.

This kind of backwards thinking should be a thing of the past and is no surprise coming from the same group who is trying to force the elimination of the Office of the Inspector General. Week after week, at the direction of Comptroller Maureen Walker, Edwards, Watts, Munro and Appuzo stand in the way of our city's progress all due to a political agenda that serves only to increase Walker's chances of being elected Mayor in next year's election. Fellow Mount Vernon residents, you do not deserve this kind of governance. Councilmember Diane Munro-Morris is also up for election next year. Tell her loud and clear that she is betraying the trust and best interests of the public.

Stand up Mount Vernon and make your voice heard.

Send your letters to the city council to the below address:
Mount Vernon City Council
c/o City Clerk's Office
1 Roosevelt Sq.
Mt Vernon, NY 10550

Or, speak at the next City Council meeting on Tuesday, July 13th. You must call the City Clerk's office at 665-2300 to register as a speaker by 3pm on the same day of the meeting. Thanks to the reader who sent in the correction about the deadline to register as a speaker.

Finally, forward this email to your friends and family to alert them to the unethical practices of the Comptroller and the City Council President. Spread the word about what is going on.

To catch up on all of the latest goings on visit http://mvexposed.blogspot.com

Walker's & Edwards' gift to tax deadbeat political ally

Dear Readers,

As mentioned in last week's post, Comptroller Maureen Walker and City Council President Yuhanna Edwards, acting in their official capacity on the city's Real Estate Committee, voted to approve the sale of a city-owned East 3rd Street commercial property to a political ally who owes the city over $228,000 in back property taxes. Walker and Edwards votes were the two "Yes" votes on the three member panel. You can read the Journal News article here.

The property, appraised at $125,000, was sold to Henry Solly for the bargain price of $25,000. What the above-mentioned Journal News article failed to point out is that Solly is a longtime political supporter and donor of Maureen Walker and apparently this deal is the payback for that steadfast support. Solly is also the President of the All Islands Association, which is a prominent West Indian/Caribbean organization that has honored and backed Walker for many years.

Besides this outrageous act, which still must be voted on by the City Council, the question that begs to be asked is why Maureen Walker has failed to act to collect the back taxes owed by Solly. Rumors have swirled for years now that Walker has many political allies and friends who also owe past due property taxes, yet they get a free pass when it comes to collection action on those debts. Can this be why Walker enjoys the political support of some longtime City Hal insiders? How many other friends and allies owe back taxes to the city? This would make for an interesting query on the part of The Journal News who to date seems to have largely ignored the lack of financial management within Mount Vernon.

Edwards, along with Councilmembers Watts, Munro and Appuzo, have been solid supporters of Walker since they began the term of this new City Council in January. Walker was also their prime supporter during their election campaign. What is behind this alliance? Walker has been the ringleader in the push to eliminate the position of Inspector General in Mount Vernon and the above-mentioned city council members have supported her to no end. Are we now seeing the real reason behind this attempt to eliminate the only City Hall office responsible for ending fraud, waste and corruption in the city government?

Speak out against this travesty. Send your letters to the city council to the below address:
Mount Vernon City Council
c/o City Clerk's Office
1 Roosevelt Sq.
Mt Vernon, NY 10550

Or, speak at the next City Council meeting on Tuesday, July 13th. You must call the City Clerk's office at 665-2300 to register as a speaker by 12noon on the same day of the meeting.

Finally, forward this email to your friends and family to alert them to the unethical practices of the Comptroller and the City Council President. Spread the word about what is going on.

To catch up on all of the latest goings on visit http://mvexposed.blogspot.com

Comptroller and new City Council at it again

It's been a little bit since I've posted. However, the sheer audacity of the new City Council and Comptroller Maureen Walker continue on, unabated.

Last week was a perfect example of the perverted sense of public service maintained by Maureen Walker, City Council President Yuhanna Edwards and Councilmember Karen Watts. The first instance of ridiculousness occurred at Tuesday's meeting of the Board of Estimate and Contract. Now a little bit of background is necessary here. In May, Mayor Young filed a lawsuit in State Supreme Court against the Mount Vernon City Council over their attempt to eliminate the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The judge gearing the case issued an order preventing all parties involved from partaking in any action that would eliminate the OIG.

Well last Tuesday, City Council president Edwards, acting in concert with Maureen Walker attempted to push a resolution through that would reduce the salary of the IG from $110,000 to just $1, yes one dollar. Reportedly, the Mayor fought this attempt as it would have violated the judge's order. However, Edwards and Walker forced a vote on the matter which passed 2-1 with the Mayor's vote being the one nay vote.

Now what was reportedly perhaps the most controversial part of the meeting occured after a brief recess. In order for this resolution to be voted on and take effect, the City Clerk, George Brown, must sign the resolution in order for it to be executable. Brown refused to sign the document stating that doing so would be in violation of the judge's order and he wanted to operation within the parameters of the court's instructions. Well, after a recess, Brown returned to the room, swithced the audio recorder back on and clearly stated for the record that Councilmember Karen Watts threatened his job if he did not sign and execute the resolution. He alst stated that no matter what threats were made against him or his job, he would not sign the resolution. It is important to know that it is the City Council that hires or fires the City Clerk and Karen Watts, being the leader of 4 of thr 5 City Councilmembers, has considerable sway over the jobs of the City Clerk and the Deputy City Clerk.

It is refreshing to those who are interested in good government that Mr. Brown made a stand against cronyism and the City Council's and Comptroler's attempt to eliminate the one office (OIG) that stands in the way of corruption and fraud.

The second act of outrage happened one day later at a meeting of the Real Estate Committee. The committee consists of Comptroller Maureen Walker, Council President Edwards and Assessor Anthony Debellis. Among the powers of this committee is the decision-making authority to sell city-owned properties. At this meeting, Comptroller Walker introduced a measure that would sell an East 3rd Street commercial property to one Henry Solly. Now again, some background is necessary. Solly is the President of a very prominent West Indian/Caribbean association and is a longtime friend and campaign contributor of Maureen Walker. In addition, Walker has allowed Solly to use the very same city-owned property for free for his auto repair center for many years now. Finally, Solly owes the City of Mount Vernon $300,000 in back taxes. Yes, THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS IN BACK TAXES.

In the end, Walker and Edwards voted to sell Solly this property for the low bargain basement price of $25,000. Debellis voted no. So there you have it folks, a longtime friend and campign contributor who owes the city $300,000 was allwoed to purchase a property likely worth in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for just $25,000. Will Solly now begin to pay down his enormous debt to the city. Will he finally be held to account by his friend and be forced to pay back his tax obligations? Does he even plan on paying any property taxes on his new property? Maureen labels herself as the city's financial watchdog. Do you really believe her?

This Wednesday, the City Council will take a vote on whether or not to approve this real estate sale/giveaway. Show up at the City Council Chamber and speak out against it. In order to speak before the council, you must call the City Clerk's office by 12 noon on Wednesday. The number is 665-3000.

One last note. It is no secret that Maureen Walker was holding back a substantial portion of the city Chief of Staff's annual salary. Why she did so was a mystery as noone could find a good reason for it. For the first three months of the year, the withheld amount totalled $7,500 according to the Journal News. It turns out that the Chief of Staff, Yalonda Robinson sued Walker personally for the withheld portion of her salary. Reportedly, within minutes of being served with court papers notifying her of the lawsuit, Comptroller Walker called Robinson's boss, Mayor Young, whining about the lawsuit and promised to have a check cut for Robinson the next day. Sure enough that check was in the Comptroller's office waiting for Robinson the very next day - clear proof that Walker was playing silly political games and withholding Robinson's pay for no reason whatsoever.

Good readers, these shenanigans are typical of the new City Council and their alliance with the Comptroller. Unless we start to speak up and make some noise about this behavior, it will continue.

Sam Rivers Mugshot?

Came across this mugshot online and at first glance, the resemblance to Samuel L. Rivers was uncanny. However, on further review, it appears not to be Scam Rivers. However, you be the judge. Given his criminal history and his series of run-ins with the law, I'm sure that there are at least a few of Scammy Sammy's mugshots out there.

Given Scam Rivers' criminal history that spans his adult life, why does City Council President Yuhanna Edwards and the rest of the city council, along with Maureen Walker tie themselves to this crook.?

Mount Vernon City Council - A Little Bit of History

A Little Bit of History

Due to a election petition error, a new city council was elected in the 2009 elections. Councilman John Yuhanna Edwards, former Councilwoman Karen Watts, former School Board Trustee Diane Munro-Morris and Roberta Appuzo all ran together on a Maureen Walker backed ticket and these four espoused transparency and leadership throughout their election campaign. Sadly, in their first seven weeks, they have shown no tendency whatsoever towards transparency and the leadership that they talked so much about comes in the form of their puppetmaster, Comptroller Maureen Walker.

Walker, who is without a doubt running for Mayor in 2011, has made it clear that she wants to see zero progress in Mount Vernon during the current administration which would benefit her election campaign. In this effort to obstruct and divide, the most powerful tool in her box is her four puppets on the City Council. Thanks to their 4-1 margin on the council, they have performed flawlessly in following Maureen's orders and in doing so, their campaign promises of transparency and leadership have been thrown out the window.

The most severe travesty to date has been the City Council's illegal vote to eliminate the Office of the Inspector General. For the past two years, the biggest thorn in Maureen's side has been the Office of the Inspector General. The IG position was funded and staffed by the current administration due to the corruption and fraud that took place during the Ernie Davis regime. In its first two years of existence, the IG has saved the city millions of dollars in federal fines and penalties in the HUD affair, has fought for and was awarded restitution in the A&D Carting corruption case and has worked with federal prosecutors in the Gerri Post/Wayne Charles corruption case that has yet to go to the sentencing phase. These three embarrassing cases of corruption, fraud and mismanagement happened during the Davis administration and it is important to note that during the 12 years of the Davis era, provisions existed in the City Charter for an Office of the Inspector General but the position was never funded or staffed. Do we really need to wonder why? It is also important to note that during the Davis era, Comptroller Maureen Walker supposedly stood as the city's financial watchdog. However, it was on her watch both as Comptroller and Treasurer of the IDA, that these cases of corruption and theft of taxpayer dollars happened right under her nose. Yuhanna Edwards and Karen Watts were also intimately entangled within the inner workings of the Ernie Davis administration. Edwards held a high ranking position in the Comptroller's Office, served as Commissioner of Emergency Management and as Recreation Commissioner. He was also Ernie's hand-picked choice to fill a vacant City Council position. Karen Watts also served as a Councilwoman during the Davis administration and was appointed by Ernie to the position of Recreation Commissioner. It is safe to assume that these three want to return to the old days of corruption and fraud and along with their other team members, Diane Munro and Roberta Appuzo, they will stop at nothing to accomplish their mission.

It is important to note that the City Council will once again have to vote on the elimination of the Office of the Inspector General. Since council president Edwards was mysteriously absent from the last meeting, the vote to eliminate the OIG was only a 3-1 vote. Council rules state that when a 3-1 vote occurs, that they must vote on the item again at the next council meeting. So this Wednesday, February 24th at 7:00pm there will be a City Council meeting where this vote will again come up. Be sure to attend and sign up to speak at the meeting by calling the City Clerk's officeat 665-2348 by 3:00pm on Wednesday.

Since we're talking history here, we would be remiss to not discuss newly installed Councilwoman Diane Munro-Morris. Diane was a long-time school board trustee who served on the board during an era that saw the ushering in of outrageous school tax increases and rapidly declining academic performance in the schools. In the 2008 school board elections where there were five vacant positions up for election, Munro-Morris was trounced at the polls and finished 8th out of the 10 candidates vying for those five positions. How did a woman with this record of failure become a city councilmember? Well it was due to a flawed election petition that eliminated much of the competition as well as the support of Comptroller Maureen Walker. Another question to ask is why would someone who claims to be fiscally responsible back a candidate who played a substantial role in the skyrocketing school taxes that are now forcing city homeowners out of their homes? There is some good news though, Diane Munro-Morris is only filling a vacant term that expires next year, so she will be up for re-election very soon. If she doesn't change her ways and become an independent and responsible voice for city residents, we will have an opportunity to remove her from office in 2011.

Mount Vernon residents, this new City Council does not represent you. They represent and work to fulfill the agenda of Maureen Walker. Continue to pay attention and spread the word. Only when they realize that their actions have consequences will they understand they they must work to move our city forward for the benefit of our citizens and not to benefit a Comptroller with greater political ambitions.

City Council President Edwards - oh what a tangled web you weave

It seems that Mount Vernon's newly sworn in City Council President has chosen to further align himself with criminal and all around dirtbag Scam Rivers. As previously noted, at a city council meeting on January 13th, Yuhanna Edwards publicly embraced Scammy Sammy in an attempt to position Rivers as an important community asset. Well, Edwards seems to have gone even further off of the deep end when at the Jan 27th council meeting he again praised Rivers, a gun-toting drunk and convicted criminal, and even assigned him marching orders and tasks to work on. What's next Mr. Edwards, creating another $85,000 a year part-time city council office position for Rivers similar to what you did for another close friend?



Scam Rivers, who became infamous this past summer when he was found by New Rochelle police passed out drunk on a doorstoop with a handgun protruding from his waistband. Fortunately, a passerby notified police before someone walked off with the idiot's gun and used it to commit a crime or kill someone. However, Rivers contact with law enforcement last year wasn't just limited to being passed out drunk while armed on a city sidewalk. No, indeed 2009 was a banned year for the career criminal as he was also arrested on the Saw Mill River Parkway after being pulled over by a county cop who discovered that Rivers was driving with a suspended NYS driver's license and without insurance. Not only was he charged with these crimes, but he also was in possession of a Georgia driver's license. Now state laws are quite clear and they state that you can only possess a driver's license from one state - Rivers had not only a NYS license (currently suspended) but he also had a Georgia DL. Fortunately for the law-abiding citizens of Mount Vernon, reports are that the Westchester County Police went to his home and finally confiscated his gun and he currently does not have driving priveleges in New York State. Since he cannot drive, Scam is often seen walking the streets of Mount Vernon, which may be a good thing for him as his suits seem to be getting tighter and tighter. Could his recent rapid weight gain have anything to do with him slothing at the free buffet tables at the strip clubs owned by his close friend Sam Zherka, who reportedly is also under investigation by the Manhattan D.A.'s office??



Rivers' criminal history isn't just limited to his 2009 dalliances, he has a long record of contact with the law which includes bank theft, harassment and threats of gun violence against women. Sadly, our new City Council President Yuhanna Edwards has chosen to throw in with this despicable character and his fellow Maureen puppets on the council - Watts, Munro and Appuzo are falling right in line. However, this alliance is no surprise as Rivers and the Four Blind Mice are frequent visitors to the comptroller's office in city hall where they receive their marching orders which are clearly to destroy and divide our city for the next two years.



Those concerned with the direction that the new city council will take us really needs to ask themselves this question, do you expect your city council members to embrace and support someone like Sam Rivers? Do you want your city council to follow an agenda of division and destruction? Do you want your city council members to conduct business in the dark, behind closed doors like they did when they voted (with no public notice) to increase the salary of a part-time legislative aide position from $35k to $85k so that their close friend can benefit? How comfortable are you with a City Council President that has made it a point to publicly praise a career criminal?



Mount Vernon, your future is at stake.

Please help to shine a light on this absurdity and forward this email to friends and family.

The NEW Mount Vernon City Council - Week (and a half) in Review

The first get down to business session of the new city council took place on Wednesday, January 13 and Maureen's four council lackeys wasted no time in displaying their lack of independence and leadership. The session started off with public comments by Scam Rivers directed at Councilman Steven Horton. Scam painted Horton as corrupt and unethical, and as usual, provided his own brand of fiction to back up his claims. After the public comments were over and the councilmembers offered their response, Councilman Horton took the high ground and stated simply that since he's been in public service he has acted honorably, ethically and above board. Sadly, when given the opportunity, none of Horton's colleagues on the city council spoke up on his behalf and it was quite shocking that Council President Edwards actually embraced Scam Rivers comments. Well, maybe it wasn't all that shocking since both Edwards and Rivers are under the thumb of the city's Comptroller and all are working together to stifle progress in Mount Vernon until the next mayoral election when Walker expects to be annointed Mayor. Those in the audience couldn't help but wonder how Councilman Horton felt sitting there as his colleagues, people he's known for decades, failed to call out Rivers for his wild and crazy accusations. In their first opportunity to display the leadership and independence that they crow so loudly about, the four failed miserably.



The shenanigans continued the following week at the Board of Estimate meeting. From various reports, it was a typically mundane meeting with routine matters being handled. However, when the official meeting agenda items were all completed and an adjournment was called for by the Mayor, the comptroller indicated to the City Clerk that there were still two items left to be discussed - unbeknownst to anyone in the room other than her royal comptrollerness and her puppet, the City Council President. These remaining items that she was referring to were in sealed envelopes, which were opened and then read to those in attendance. The first of these surprise items was legislation to eliminate the Office of the Inspector General. The second was to transfer the money budgeted under the IG's office to reinstate positions eliminated in the 2010 budget. Among those positions they tried to reinstate were the Chief Accountant position in the comptroller's office (an office that in 2009 had 7 people earning over $100k/year), and the Deputy Registrar's position in the City Clerk's office. In addition, they tried to raise the salary of the vacant part-time Legislative Assistant position from $34k to $50k and they sought to create a brand new position in the City Clerk's office titled Secretary to the Legislative Assistant at a salary of $52k per year. Now I'd like the taxpayers of this city to try and figure out just why a part-time assistant's position, which is essentially entry level work, needs a secretary which would earn more money that the person whom they would work for.



Fortunately, this illegal attempt by the comptroller and city council president was thwarted by the mayor who refused to allow this scheme to go through. It would be interesting for Walker and Edwards to explain to the taxpayers the logic behind such a move. The Office of the Inspector General was funded and staffed by Mayor Young soon after he took office has saved this city millions of dollars in fines and penalties from three high profile fraud/corruption cases that occurred during the Davis regime. Eliminating the OIG's office would send a clear signal to federal and state authorities that Mount Vernon does not have any interest in ridding Mount Vernon of the Davis era fraud and corruption and would put at risk both the city's finances and reputation.



Behind Closed Doors - are they allergic to sunlight?
Sadly, the four blind mice weren't finished with their funny business as a non-scheduled special meeting of the city council was called on less than 24 hours notice. Stymied in their attempt to illegally eliminate the OIG, they went and transferred monies around in the city clerk's budget lines to raise the salary of the vacant part-time Legislative Aide's postion from $34k/year to $85k/year. Again, this is a part time position that is typically filled by recent college grads and is more or less an entry level position, so perhaps someone from the new city council could explain why they felt the need to more than double the salary for this job. They could also explain just why they couldn't wait just 7 more days until the next regularly scheduled city council meeting to conduct this business in a public meeting. Or, are they trying to keep the public in the dark about their true agenda?



Although Edwards is the President of the council, it appears that councilperson Watts is the Walker Lieutenant who is leading this squad. In all, it didn't take long for councilmembers Watts, Edwards, Munro and Appuzo to show that they do not have the best interests of the taxpayer in mind and are more than willing to be led over the edge of a cliff by the pied piper in the comptroller's office. Unfortunately, it appears that they will be taking the rest of the city crashing down with them.