Mount Vernon – Councilman André Wallace held a press conference, Friday morning in the City Hall Rotunda to addressing the summary judgement by Supreme Court Judge Sam D. Walker in favor of company in the case of Creative Direction Construction & Design, LLC -v.-City of Mount Vernon.
Councilman Wallace stood in the City Hall Rotunda and addressed all questions surrounding his lawsuit against the city for payment being withheld by the city after he completed his portion of the work in the Emergency Operations Center at the Third Street firehouse. For months accusations from the Thomas Administration about Councilman Wallace not completing the work and failing to pay the workers on the job prevailing wages. Councilman Wallace was eager to address the matter in its entirety once and for all.
When BW ran the story of Judge Walker’s ruling, Mayor Richard Thomas also appeared to claim victory of sorts, Thursday.
“The City of Mount Vernon is more than prepared to go to trial to defend the taxpayers’ wallets and the safety of our firefighters who are suffering from the disrepair of the Third Street Firehouse,” Mayor Thomas tells BW. “We are eager to resolve the issue of defective workmanship and failure to pay prevailing wage that this contractor has forced upon the City of Mount Vernon. “The judge’s order acknowledges the missing records and documents from Mount Vernon,” Mayor Thomas adds. “We believe these papers were part of the missing documents that were removed in an unauthorized manner during a late-night visit to the City’s planning and grant office. We have repeatedly stressed our concern over the numerous files and documents that have been removed from City Hall. We look forward to appearing on November 28th to further defend the taxpayers of Mount Vernon.”
Councilman Wallace was asked by the press about the Mayor’s comments and addressed them as well, (see full press conference below).
The parties are directed to appear before the preliminary conference part on November 28, 2016 at 9:30am in Courtroom 811 on the City’s counterclaim regarding the work done by the plaintiff being defective, deficient and incomplete. Payment of the plaintiff’s grant of $234,065.09, is to be held in abeyance pending the determination of a hearing on the City’s counterclaim. Barring any addition evidentiary proof in admissible form provided by the City of Mount Vernon on Monday, November 28th, this chapter should come to a conclusion once and for all.
Mayor Richard Thomas was not in City Hall when we went to his office for comment after the press conference.
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.
