EMBATTLED MAYOR ELECT RICHARD THOMAS DEMANDS $10K PER MEETING; WILL BECOME PART OWNER OF PROJECT HE STEERED TOWARD "PREFERRED" DEVELOPER

EMBATTLED MAYOR-ELECT RICHARD THOMAS

Embattled Mayor-elect Richard Thomas ran a campaign of thuggery, shakedowns, bribery, and thievery.  Thomas promised a campaign and an administration of transparency, but has miserably failed to deliver on that promise.

Thomas has committed serious crimes and Mount Vernon taxpayers are wondering where is the long arm of the law to prosecute Thomas and his gang of thieves for the crimes they committed.

On Wednesday, October 7, 2015, Mayor-Elect Richard Thomas held an illegal fundraiser at Leewood Golf Club.  Kyle Munoz, Anthony DeBellis, and Frank Fraley hosted the fundraiser.  The price to attend this glitzy event was a whopping $2,500 per person.  The maximum contribution allowable by law was only $1,801. Richard Thomas named this illegal fundraiser "Win The Future".

RICHARD THOMAS ILLEGAL "WIN THE FUTURE" FUNDRAISER

A Mount Vernon business owner contacted Mount Vernon Exposed last week to report an attempted shakedown by Richard Thomas' campaign staff.  The business owner told Mount Vernon Exposed that he had scheduled a private meeting with Richard Thomas' prior to the "Win The Future" fundraiser.  The business owner who did not attend the "Win The Future" fundraiser met with Thomas about quality of life issues and about improving Mount Vernon's business climate.  The business owner said that at the conclusion of the meeting, Thomas gave him several invitations to the "Win The Future" fundraiser and Thomas said to the business owner, "I hope to see you there."

The business owner told Mount Vernon Exposed that they did not formally commit to going to the fundraiser because of the hefty price tag and because they thought that amount was a bit much for a fundraiser.  The business owner told Thomas that he will "see what they can do" about selling tickets.  The business then told Thomas that they will "see" if they can sell four tickets to the event.  The business owner told Mount Vernon Exposed that they did not sell any tickets to the "Win The Future" fundraiser. 

Several weeks after the fundraiser, the business owner said they were contacted by Richard Thomas' campaign team about the fundraiser.  The business owner said that the person from Richard Thomas' camp said, "You had a meeting several weeks ago with Richard Thomas and you committed to raising $10K."  The business owner told Mount Vernon Exposed that they were totally caught off guard by the phone call from Thomas' camp and at first thought it was a joke until the caller from Thomas' camp gave explicit details regarding the meeting held between the business owner and Thomas.

The caller then further stated, "Richard keeps a log of everyone he meets with and it doesn't show in the log that you gave $10K".  The business owner told Mount Vernon Exposed that the caller from Thomas' camp was very aggressive and demanding.  The caller further stated, "Richard remembers all of those who gave and all of those who didn't give and won't be having any meetings in the future with those who don't commit to him".   The business owner then said, "What do you want me to do? Cut a check for $10K right now?"  The caller then said "That will be nice".  The business owner then said "Not happening and hung up the phone".

Federal investigators must subpoena Richard Thomas and his campaign staff's financial records at once.  A paper trail of contributions and expenditures must be properly established since Thomas' campaign financial disclosures are permeated with fraud and riddled with errors. 

Richard Thomas has indicated that his administration will be "pay to play".  In other words, only those with serious cash will be able to develop and get things done in the City of Mount Vernon.

Thomas has aligned himself with shady businessman Joseph Spiezio who is alleged to have ties to the Lucchese Crime Family.  Spiezio, a known con man and fraudster, has a trail of lawsuits in State and Federal Court to support this claim.  Spiezio has even been named as a defendant in a Federal R.I.C.O. lawsuit claiming he swindled millions of dollars from a development project for his own personal gain and use. 

A political insider has informed Mount Vernon Exposed that all development projects will go through Spiezio.  One such project that Thomas has committed to building is a massive low-income project near the Mount Vernon East Train Station.

Sources have told Mount Vernon Exposed that in recent weeks, Thomas gave the "OK" for the project to move forward as soon as he takes office. It is unclear how much cash Richard received and what kickbacks he was promised for giving his blessing on the low-income project. 

The developer of the project is Larry Regan, CEO of Regan Development.  Thomas has promised Regan massive tax breaks through the City's Industrial Development Agency.  So what is in this deal for Richard one may ask? Did Larry Reegan drop an envelope in Richard's lap in exchange for Thomas allowing Reegan to construct low-income housing near the Mount Vernon East train station? Sources have also confirmed to Mount Vernon Exposed that Thomas is pushing for this project to go through because Thomas will become a part owner of the project once the development is completed. 

LARRY REEGAN OF REGAN DEVELOPMENT 

LOW INCOME VILLAGE PROPOSED BY WEINGARTEN AND REGAN

Reegan has retained Mark Weingarten of the law firm DelBello, Donnellan, Weingarten Tartaglia, Wise, & Wiederkehr L.L.P.  Many in political circles throughout Westchester County view Weingarten as a shady land use attorney that is involved in many controversial projects throughout Westchester. 

CORRUPT ATTORNEY MARK WEINGARTEN

According to a Journal News article published on June 20, 2015 titled "Party favors: Dual posts, perks for political bosses", Weingarten represented G&S Investors of Long Island in a controversial development along the Port Chester waterfront.  Westchester County Election Commissioner Reginald Lafayette was also named in the controversy.

The Chairman's Circle

While not paid as party boss, LaFayette runs the Chairman's Circle, a committee that has spent $183,449 since 2008, when The Journal News first revealed the committee, according to records from the state Board of Elections.

Only $58,276, or 32 percent of the total, went to campaign-related expenses, and nearly half of that was for one Port Chester village election. The rest of the money paid for the various costs of vehicles LaFayette leases, unitemized reimbursements and for dozens of meals, including 21 at Mulino's Restaurant in White Plains.

To pay for it, LaFayette used $102,831 in contributions he received from 2008 through 2014, more than half of it from developers, contractors, and law and accounting firms that do business in Westchester. Other committees donated $43,826, including those of U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel and Westchester District Attorney Janet DiFiore, both Democrats.

In February 2013, the Chairman's Circle also received $5,000 each from Greg Wasser, Douglas Riley and Lawrence Traub, partners with the development firm G&S Investors of Old Bethpage. Another $2,500 came from G&S partner Robert Weinberg, and $5,000 from RMC Development Company, Weinberg's Elmsford-based firm.

G&S developed the Port Chester waterfront, and has been part of a lingering controversy over a damaged bulkhead along the Byram River. G&S, the village and Westchester County are at odds over who is responsible for rebuilding the bulkhead, a repair expected to cost upwards of $7 million.

Port Chester Republicans, who threatened to take control of the village board in 2013, were pushing for G&S to pay for the repairs, and also opposed rezoning a property on Main Street that the developer owns.

In March 2013, LaFayette's committee spent $25,018 on the village election, 93 percent of all campaign-related expenses that year and 43 percent of all campaign-related spending from 2008 through 2014. It was the only election that the committee devoted significant funds to over that span, according to the records.

Democrat Dennis Pilla lost the mayoral seat, but the board ended in a virtual deadlock between the parties. Bart Didden, a Republican trustee who lost a re-election bid, was among those who cried foul.

"G&S has, from the very beginning, supported the Democrats and their actions have hurt property owners through this whole development to the tune of millions of dollars," said Didden, who has a separate legal dispute with G&S. "It definitely doesn't smell right because the people of Port Chester would never know how their politics are being influenced by the largest property holder in the village of Port Chester. There is no transparency here."

Officials at G&S did not return calls seeking comment.

LaFayette maintained that he was not aware that G&S developed the Port Chester waterfront, nor that there was a dispute over the collapsed bulkhead. He said village Democrats simply asked for help and he provided it.

"In terms of coincidence, these are big companies who do business all over," he said. "You know, you do mailings out to people and ask for contributions, and you have a mailing list and you mail to the same people. You don't necessarily know where they're building."

Sources have told Mount Vernon Exposed that Thomas told folks during the campaign that Weingarten and his law firm pledged to raise $150K for Thomas' Mayoral campaign but according to sources, Weingarten never came through with any funds and has only surfaced recently in Mount Vernon with the Reegan development.

What did Weingarten promise Richard Thomas?  Did he promise to make Richard a partner in the deal?  Why is Richard selling off the City of Mount Vernon to the highest bidder?

Federal investigators must investigate the Thomas/Reegan/Spiezio/Weingarten relationship at once before they further destroy the City of Mount Vernon. 

To be continued...