Mayor Thomas urges Mount Vernon to delay charter proposals, fix the process, and return stronger in November 2026.
Former Mayor Richard W. Thomas released a statement calling for a pause in the Charter Revision process until November 2026 to give the residents time to rebuild the process with proper staffing, clear rules, ethical disclosures, a public website, and real opportunities for residents to weigh in.
“Mount Vernon deserves a Charter Revision process that’s open, ethical, professional, and truly shaped by the people. Right now, it’s not,” Thomas said. “Rushing ahead now, without transparency or trust, risks writing changes into law that do not reflect our community’s best interests, or prepare us for the real financial challenges ahead. Before we rewrite the Charter, let’s pause and rebuild the process.”
You can read Mayor Thomas’ full statement below;
“Mt. Vernonites, My Friends, My Neighbors,
I come to you today not as someone standing on the sidelines, but as the former Mayor of Mount Vernon, the very person who first empaneled the Charter Revision Commission because I believed deeply that our city’s biggest problem was politics. And I still believe that the solution to Mount Vernon’s problems is to detox City Hall of politics and replace it with systems that work for everyday people.
But let me also be clear: process matters. How we do things is just as important as what we do.
In New York City, the Charter Revision Commission is supported by a team of over 30 full-time professionals. They have clear rules, established procedures, dedicated staff, a robust website, public records, and a transparent system of ethics disclosures that protect the integrity of their work and reassure taxpayers that decisions are being made above board.
Unfortunately, here in Mount Vernon, we have taken a very different and frankly troubling approach. We have a Charter Revision Commission that is moving forward without rules, without procedures, without required ethics disclosures, without a website, without adequate staff support, and critically, without meaningful opportunities for the public to comment at its meetings. The last meeting I watched in dismay as Commissioners and Advisory Board members were close to throwing blows.
Just as bad, if not worse, one survey conducted on these proposed changes found that just 0.6% of residents in the 10551 zip code participated. That is not public engagement. That is a fig leaf. And this is why Jesus cursed the fig tree… because it flowered before producing fruit for the people. This is fitting because the proposed charter revision proposals seem to come from a poisonous tree.
That’s why I’m urging the Charter Revision Commission to pause and not put this up for a vote in November 2025. Stop this rushed process. Restart it with proper rules, staffing, budget, and genuine public input. This will empower truly transformative work, re-engaging residents to tackle real issues throughout next year. Then, after these careful reforms are in place, we can achieve the Charter Revision goal of voting on meaningful policy priorities in November 2026.
Even Dr. Martin Luther King, standing at the head of thousands marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, chose to turn back when he realized his people weren’t yet ready for what lay ahead. There is no shame in pausing. In fact, sometimes it is the most courageous thing we can do.
- Let us use this time to rebuild trust in the process.
- Reinstating the Commission with proper staffing and resources.
- Establishing a clear calendar that invites more ideas, more surveys, and more resident-led solutions.
- Setting up a robust website and publishing all proposals, minutes, and reports online so no one has to find out what is being decided for them by downloading a document off a third party site.
- Instituting ethical disclosure requirements, like New York City’s, to ensure every member’s private interests are fully transparent before they reshape the very foundations of our local government.
Because we have big challenges ahead. Washington is already signaling that massive federal funding may dry up, forcing cities like ours to rethink how we protect home values, maintain infrastructure, and fund parks, senior programs, and public safety. Mount Vernon homeowners deserve options that unlock their equity and keep neighborhoods strong. Imagine giving parents the power to have their school tax dollars follow their child, a true home rule idea that could raise property values and give kids better educational outcomes. Whether we pursue that or not, it is just one of many ideas we need on the table.
We also need to think about how to eliminate our unconstitutional Board of Estimate and give the City Council a stronger voice for taxpayers. How to introduce neighborhood budgets tied to capital plans that actually fix sidewalks, sewers, streets, and get rats out of our lives, so we are not all stuck dodging potholes and waiting until the next election cycle for help.
But we cannot solve these problems with a process that feels rushed, opaque, or compromised. Right now, there is simply not enough evidence that this process has met the standard of transparency or ethical integrity that the people of Mount Vernon deserve.
That is why I am asking the Charter Revision Commission:
- Pause. Regroup. Do not rush to vote on these proposals now.
- Instead, vote to re-establish the Commission with a proper structure, clear rules, ethics disclosures, a professional team, and a robust plan for true community engagement.
Because the future of Mount Vernon is not just about what is written in our Charter. It is about whether people trust the process that wrote it.
As President Obama often reminded us, “democracy does not require uniformity.” But it does require a basic sense of mutual respect. And my faith is real, as scripture has taught me, and life tests created a testimony that I can share is that God’s delays are not his denials. Sometimes the pause is exactly where the groundwork gets laid for an even greater victory ahead.
So let us take a moment. Let us do it right.
For our homeowners. For our kids. For our seniors. For pets and rescue animals. For everyone who wants Mount Vernon to rise up to its highest promise.
Because if we get the process right, we can get the outcomes right, together.”
You can read the entire proposed Charter Review Commission report for 2024–2025 here, and check Damon K. Jones’ column, From The Publisher’s Desk; It’s Not The Mount Vernon Charter — It’s Who Mount Vernon Elects.
