 |
| Comptroller Maureen Walker |
Sources have told Mount
Vernon Exposed that a subpoena is expected to be served on Comptroller Maureen
Walker within the next 24 hours. The
subpoena is to be signed by City Council President Yuhanna Edwards. According to sources, the subpoena is seeking
public documents that the Comptroller’s officer is refusing to hand over to the
City Council so they can make decisions to adopt the annual estimate.
Mount Vernon is still
healing from a bitter Mayoral election that left the city divided. The
candidates that ran for Mayor was; Mayor Ernie, Comptroller Maureen Walker,
City Council President Yuhanna Edwards, and former Mayor Clinton Young. The favorite to win the Democratic primary
was Maureen Walker, but then former Mayor Ernie Davis narrowly defeated Walker
by a little over 100 votes.
Today the infighting
continues in City Hall and the residents are victims of the ambitious, higher
office seeking elected officials. Many in Mount Vernon view Maureen Walker as
the “financial watchdog”, but critics of Walker view her as an obstructionist
to progress in the City of Mount Vernon. Several taxpayers have slammed the
Comptroller in recent weeks to Mount Vernon Exposed saying she has not stepped
up for taxpayers and the citizens of Mount Vernon and virtually remained silent
on matters of great public interest and even accused the veteran Comptroller of
engaging in retaliatory politics to further her political agenda.
This is the second year in
a row that the annual budget will be adopted after January 1st. Mount Vernon Exposed was in attendance at the
City Council meeting last week when a third reading was done of an ordinance
authorizing the City of Mount Vernon to override the state mandated 2% tax
cap. Two prior reading of the
legislation seeking to override the tax cap failed to win approval. Some legal experts say that after two
attempts the City must stay within the 2% tax cap and cannot have any further
votes or readings on the tax cap matter.
Other political insiders are saying the City Council is waiting until
Marcus Griffith is sworn in to have another vote on passing a budget exceeding
the state mandated 2% tax cap.
Councilman Thomas compared
adopting a budget without thoroughly examining financial data in possession of
the Comptroller, to purchasing a house without first obtaining a home
inspection. Does current technology
allow the Comptroller’s office to comply with Councilman Thomas’ request? It would be troubling to find out that the
City of Mount Vernon does in fact posses the technology to share financial data
in the requested medium and the Comptroller is purposely withholding
information for political purposes.
Taxpayers cannot afford the petty games and infighting anymore. Taxes are
souring, foreclosures are rising, and our infrastructure in crumbling right
before our eyes. Low income, tax abated projects, which will destroy Mt
Vernon’s tax base, will be built all around Mt Vernon.
Last week during the City
Council meeting, Councilman Richard Thomas appeared frustrated with the budget
process and informed the public of his many unsuccessful attempts to get basic,
public information from the Comptroller’s office in Excel format. Thomas stated that the data received by the
City Council from the Comptroller’s office is on black and white paper and not
in electronic format. Many times data is
denied to the Council Thomas said and the Comptroller deems this public
information “proprietary”.
In a statement to Mount
Vernon Exposed Thomas said “The City of Mount Vernon’s financial books have been closed for far too long
resulting in taxpayers paying among the highest taxes in the State of New York.
The time has come to open the books to begin an honest dialogue about how to
reduce the crushing tax burden and finally grow our local economy.”
To
be continued…
Next
issue…. Analog or Digital? Is lack of technology in the Comptroller’s office
putting the City of Mount Vernon’s financial health at risk?
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.