Another High-ranking Cop Leaves MVPD, Adding To The Disintegration of Thomas Administration

This week alone, two top police department officials left their posts. On Wednesday, BW reported Acting Police Commissioner Ronald Fatigate formally announced his departure, after 11 months on the job replacing Public Safety Commissioner Robert “Bob” Kelly who was fired by Mayor Richard Thomas, Friday, April 8, 2016 and Honorary Deputy Police Commissioner Anthony Mitchell resigning months later.

Deputy Police Commissioner who was over Parking is the new Acting Police Commissioner. On Thursday, Fios1 News reports Captain Ed Adinaro announced his resignation after being told he was being transferred to head the Parking Bureau. At the September 28, 2016 City Council Meeting PBA President Brent Gamble express no confidence in the leadership of the department who has been with a police commissioner for 11 out of 15 months since Mayor Thomas took office.

Its been a rough 15 months for the Thomas Administration who in addition to the aforementioned, also suffered losses of several other Commissioner positions including Deputy Fire Commissioner Ernie Richardson, HR Commissioner Rick Pogue, DPW Commissioner Ralph Uzzi and Superintendent of the Mount Vernon Water Department, Marianne Vogel and Malcolm Clark who played a key role in the Thomas Administration, all of whom has resigned. In addition to the firing of Planning Commissioner Jamie Martinez and the suspension of his successor, Shawyn Patterson-Howard (who its hard to tell if she was suspended indefinitely as we were told by the mayor or fired),  the firing of Deputy Building Commissioner Kendra Dolman, and Deputy Commissioner Diane Atkins (another hold-over from the Davis Administration), just to name a few.

That doesn’t include the musical chairs of key people like Maria Donovan, who has gone from 1st Corporation Counsel to Assistant to the Mayor to the $95,000-a-year position of the strategic planner of the city’s Industrial Development Agency in fourteen months, all while also holding down press secretary position for the Thomas Administration. The there was the demotion of DPW Commissioner Curtis Woods to Deputy DPW Commission who now serves as the new Building Commissioner. Donovan, Fatigate and Uzzi were among several appointees over whom the City Council has challenged the mayor in court for not meeting residency requirements.

We are told the Mayor’s office is working hard to find a new Commissioner to lead the Mount Vernon Police Department and has received as many as seventy-plus resumes. Mayor Thomas’s refusal to talk to Black Westchester in an effort to label us FAKE NEWS made it impossible to get a statement on the matter at hand, but stay tuned to Black Westchester for more of this developing situation.

AJ Woodson

AJ Woodson is the Editor-In-Chief of Black Westchester and Co-Owner of Urban Soul Media Group, the parent company, Host & Producer of the People Before Politics Radio Show. AJ is a Father, Brother, An Author, Journalism Fellow (Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism), Hip-Hop Artist - one third of the legendary underground rap group JVC FORCE known for the single Strong Island, Radio Personality, Hip-Hop Historian, Documentarian, Activist, Criminal Justice Advocate and Freelance Journalist whose byline has appeared in several print publications and online sites including The Source, Vibe, the Village Voice, Upscale, Sonicnet.com, Launch.com, Rolling Out Newspaper, Daily Challenge Newspaper, Spiritual Minded Magazine, Word Up! Magazine, On The Go Magazine and several others.