“I gonna bust your fucking ass so bad, you not gonna even recognize your body,”
Spiezio yells at the Councilman André Wallace, inviting to meet him across the Yonkers borderline.
Mount Vernon — Disputed MVPD Deputy Police Commissioner Joseph Spiezio threatened to physically beat up Councilman André Wallace, when the councilman questioned him, Saturday afternoon after observing a truck owned by Spiezio, illegally carting debris at 46-48 Mount Vernon Avenue.
While travelling about the city, Councilman Wallace noticed Competition Carting and Rubbish Removal removing garbage and debris from the aforementioned Mount Vernon Avenue business on the corner of Bleeker Avenue. Under the Mount Vernon City Charter, no company may cart debris unless a license has been granted to do so by the City Clerk. In response to an inquiry from Black Westchester, George Brown, the City Clerk, indicated that Competition Carting never applied for a license to haul trash in the city.
Councilman Wallace questioned who was in charge, inquiring whether this was Spiezio’s carting company from Yorktown, NY, and a worker confirmed in fact it was, and then informed Wallace, ‘Joe [Spiezio] and Roberta [James] had just left.’ The worker stated Roberta had gone to Fordham Road and she and Mr. Spiezio would be returning soon.
As the worker was talking, another worker on the phone alerted everyone that Joe was on his way.
“When outside companies are allowed to illegally cart in our community, without paying their fees to the City of Mount Vernon, the taxpayers of Mt. Vernon end up being the losers,” Councilman Wallace tells BW. The city charter requires a carting company to pay the city an annual fee of $180 for each vehicle that hauls trash. “For too many years this has been going on, and I purposely asked to chair over DPW to help stop all this illegal carting and force companies to pay their fair share of the bill.”
Competition Carting is the name under which Spiezio does business in Yorktown, NY, where he engineered a takeover of the carting contract formerly held by C.R.P. Sanitation. C.R.P., as it turns out, is the carting company that has the contract to pick up OK Freddy’s Meat Market‘s trash. City Clerk George Brown confirms for BW that Competition Carting is not authorized to do business in the City of Mount Vernon. The question that needs to be asked is how is the carting company owned by a disputed Deputy Police Commissioner allowed to do business in the City of Mount Vernon. Isn’t that a conflict of interest?
The City Charter states in
Article 4, Section 19 Restrictions; Officers Not To Be Interested In Contracts
No member of the City Council or other officer or employee of the City, or person receiving a salary or compensation from funds appropriated by the City, shall be interested directly or indirectly in any contract to which the City is a party, either as principal, surety or otherwise; nor shall any such member of the City Council, City officer or employee or person, or his partner, or any agent, servant, or employee of such officer, employee or person, or of the firm of which he is a partner, purchase from or sell to the City, or any officer thereof, any real or personal property for the use of the City, or any board or officer thereof, nor shall he be interested directly or indirectly in any work to be performed for, or services rendered to or for it, or in any sale to or from said City, or to any officer, board or person in its behalf. Any contract made in violation of any of these provisions shall be void.
The councilman called the MVPD, asking Acting Police Commissioner Ronald Fatigate to send police officers over to get the carting company to cease their actions.
Approximately ten minutes later Mr. Spiezio arrived on the scene wearing a burgundy Competition Carting t-shirt, and immediately became aggressive and combative. Mr. Spiezio began to call the councilman a “cross dressing fag,” and vowed to make the councilman his number one priority. Mr. Spiezio then began to shout: ‘Did you pay your prevailing wages?“ [Editor note: Mr Spiezio has been making this accusation for a while but will not provide BW with any proof of any proceeding against the councilman, but we managed to find proceedings against Spiezio that we previously reported and another one has circulated recently where he didn’t pay.]
After Councilman Wallace informed Competition Carting they were not authorized to operate in Mount Vernon, the truck drove off, and a R&S Waste Services truck (Spiezio’s New Rochelle based carting company that is authorized to operate in Mount Vernon) pulled up to remove the debris. It is apparent that had Councilman Wallace not been driving by, Spiezio’s Competition Carting would have continued to illegally remove the garbage and debris from the Mount Vernon Avenue business.
It appears that Mayor Richard W. Thomas and his administration may be turning a blind eye to all illegal carting activities by Spiezio’s carting companies because of various campaign donations made by said companies owned by his trusted adviser.
“It’s time we force the city to stop looking the other way because of family, friendships and personal relationships, which hurts the taxpayers,” the Councilman stated.
We have a problem when we have a supposed Deputy Police Commissioner threatening the life of a sitting City Councilman, in an attempt to try to intimidate and retaliate against him from stopping his unregistered carting company from illegally doing business in Mount Vernon. We can no longer have outsiders thinking they can come into the City of Mount Vernon, and break the law with impunity, especially as an appointed Deputy Police Commissioner. Who do we go to when the Deputy Police Commissioners who are sworn to protect and serve are the very ones violating the law.
There has also been some question about the legitimacy of Spiezio’s swearing-in and the Westchester District Attorney’s office has an open investigation into Spiezio’s allegedly impersonating a police officer.
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.
