SCHOOLS OFFICIALS HIRE ADMINISTRATOR WITH SHADY PAST; DID NOT DO BACKGROUND CHECK

THE CABAL OF CORRUPTION

FORMER SCHOOL ATTORNEY DEVERAUX CANNICK
CONTROLLED BY BLACK CHURCHES

FORMER SUPERINTENDENT W.L.SAWYER
CONTROLLED BY BLACK CHURCHES

CORRUPT CURRENT SUPERINTENDENT JUDITH JOHNSON
CONTROLLED BY BLACK CHURCHES

CORRUPT SCHOOL C.F.O. TIMOTHY COSTELLO
CONTROLLED BY BLACK CHURCHES

CORRUPT SCHOOL BOARD TRUSTEE FRANCES WYNN
CONTROLLED BY BLAC CHURCHES

CORRUPT SCHOOL BOARD TRUSTEE ELIAS GOOTZEIT
CONTROLLED BY BLACK CHURCHES

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History tends to always repeat itself.  If one would look into the history of the Mount Vernon Board of Education administration, you will find that it is infested with corruption.  Hiring frequently circumvents civil service law, there is little to no oversight on how public funds are spent, and elections are rigged year after year.  The system is a mess by design. 

Trustee Elias Gootzeit self-anointed himself as the go to go-through person for the Superintendent search.  His partner in crime Judith Johnson who is joined by their enforcer, Len Sarver, joins him.  These three are protégé’s and supporters of former Superintendent Dr. Sawyer’s failed policies.  These three have adopted Sawyer’s practice of hiring unqualified, scandal plagued individuals to high paying positions. 

Trustee Elias Gootzeit was on the board when former Superintendent of Curriculum Shelly Jallow was hired.  This was right around the time Gootzeit began to strengthen his bond with the black clergy.  Gootzeit began to let resolutions pass that were financially harmful to the taxpayers of Mount Vernon.  Gootzeit, at the helm of oversight when Jallow was hired, missed quite a few things in Jallow’s background that even Ray Charles could see.  We are here to fill in Mr. Gootzeit on what he missed.

A simple search in Google inserting Shelly Jallow’s name would point you to her pervious employment stint in Prince George’s County, Maryland where she was employed prior to joining Mount Vernon Public Schools.  Sources have told Mount Vernon Exposed that Sawyer and Jallow were also alleged to be “close friends” prior to Jallow joining the Mount Vernon School District.

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT SHELLY JALLOW'S CREEPY PAST WITH PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY SCHOOLS

Jallow was hired in Prince George County by Andre Hornsby, the Prince George County school chief who was convicted in 2008 on Federal charges for steering millions of dollars worth of contracts to his long time pal that worked for him while he was the Yonkers school chief, and to his girlfriend, who worked for LeapFrog, a technology company that sells tablets and other educational toys for children. 

If a proper background check were done on Ms. Jallow, a red flag would have been raised when she was questioned about her former employer.  Jallow was a high-ranking official in the scandal plagued Prince George County school system, so it would be hard not to believe that she did not know what was going on.  Jallow then brought her criminal behavior to Mount Vernon and teamed up with Timothy Costello, Dr. Sawyer, Trustee Gootzeit and proposed high abusive tax increases year after year.  Property values sunk to an all time low while Sawyer and his cronies received hefty compensation packages that included a take home car amongst other perks. 

Today, we fast forward to the present day board of education.  The same shenanigans continue to play out day in and day out.  There is no accountability and no oversight.  The fox is watching the henhouse. 

One such act of no oversight was the creation and execution of an employment contract for Timothy Costello, Assistant Superintendent for Business.  The contract given to Timothy Costello was the third biggest act of fraud committed on the taxpayers of Mount Vernon.  The other two acts of fraud committed upon the people of Mount Vernon was the hiring of former Superintendent W.L. Sawyer and the hiring of current Superintendent Judith Johnson. 

For starters the contract executed between former embattled Board President Frances Wynn and Timothy Costello calls for Mount Vernon taxpayers to pay 100% of Costello’s medical coverage for three years after his separation from the Mount Vernon School District.  Thereafter, taxpayers must pay 60% of his medical coverage while other administrators of the district only receive 50% medical reimbursement from Mount Vernon taxpayers.  Timothy contracts also calls for him to receive 100% medical coverage for him his family while he is working full time for the Mount Vernon City School District.  Timothy is the only such person in the Mount Vernon City School District that receives such a perk. 

Deveraux Cannick of Aiello & Cannick, the previous law firm that represented the Mount Vernon School District, prepared the contract.  Cannick, was involved in corruption himself, as he had himself improperly listed as a district employee and was receiving pension credits he was not entitled to.  As a result, Cannick had to pay a $75,000 fine to the New York Attorney General. 

Costello also received quite a hefty compensation package that saw pay raises year after year, higher than the cost of inflation.  In Costello’s first year, in 2007, he received a salary of $172,000 then $177,160 in 2008, $182,445 in 2009, $187,918 in 2010, and  $193,556 in 2011.  Prior to Costello’s stint in Mount Vernon he earned about $90K per year after working for about 15 years in an upstate school district.  What special talent did Costello possess that earned him the right to nearly double his salary? 

Costello’s special contract also included a stipulation that said that he couldn’t leave his position until a new person is hired.  Ironically, board members did not seek a new person for Costello’s position and he therefore was rehired after his initial contract ended.  Costello continues to abuse the public till with his shady, Bernie Madoff style accounting practices. 

School Board members must remain diligent and bring in competent people for any positions that may open up in the future.  Background checks and drug tests must not be waived as Superintendent Judith Johnson did for Rene Davis.  To be continued…