“We the undersigned residents, voters and taxpayers of Mount Vernon, NY, are submitting this petition to demand that the City Council use the powers it is accorded, under the City Charter, to restore the rule of law immediately as the governing principle of city affairs.”
Mount Vernon — In an unprecedented move, a group of residents known as Mount Vernon Residents For The City Charter (MVRFCC) are gathering signatures for a petition against Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Thomas and The City Council, Dr. Robert Baskerville informs on Episode 88 of the People Before Politics Radio Show (PBP Radio), Sunday night.
You could not turn on a television, open a newspaper or get online without hearing or reading about the highly publicized Civil War between Mayor Thomas and The Council in 2016. With everything from City Hall locks been changed, the Council serving Mayor Thomas and members of his administration subpoenas over the demolition of a zombie home, Mayor Thomas overriding the Council and Comptroller to hire more firefighters, Council members accused of breaking in City Hall after hours, one Councilman suing the city for money owed to him before he was elected, the missing checks fraud scandal that had the mayor and Comptroller pointing the finger at each other’s offices, the threatening of Councilman Wallace by Thomas appointee, Deputy Police Commissioner Joseph F. Spiezio III, the Council President signing checks in place of the mayor even though he was still in town to prevent health benefits from being cancelled for non-payment, Mayor Thomas taking the Council and Comptroller to court and a war of words on Facebook, just to name a few incidents and that was all in the opening months of 2016.
No matter who was right or wrong in the aforementioned incidents, the residents of Mt. Vernon were and continue to be on the losing side every time. While it’s not unheard of for the two branches of government to not exactly be on the same page in the city of Mount Vernon, it appears residents have had enough. Dr. Baskerville, a new addition to the PBP Radio Show breaks down the historical move of residents fighting to take back their city and holding all of their elected officials accountable, even going as far as threatening to have them removed from office if they can not all get their collective act together on Sunday’s show (see video of show below).
For more information on The Mount Vernon Residents For The City Charter, check their Facebook page and click here to read and or sign their petition online.
