UPDATE: COMPTROLLER FIRES HER 1ST DEPUTY

Comptroller Maureen Walker

A New Beginning

In a bizarre end of the year move, Mount Vernon Comptroller Maureen Walker fired 1^st Deputy Comptroller, Tom Rajala. It has long been known that Mr. Rajala ran the operations of the Comptroller’s office on a day-to-day basis. Since Maureen Walker’s Mayoral defeat in 2011, she has joined forces with her past enemies. Her supporters would be shocked to discover how much she has aligned herself with the destructive policies she fought against all of her career.

According to political insiders, Comptroller Maureen Walker is desperately trying to receive the Democratic Committee endorsement for Mayor in 2015, and will do anything to secure it. Sources have told Mount Vernon Exposed that the firing of Tom Rajala was an inside deal between Maureen Walker and her new allies.  Sources said that Maureen agreed to fire Tom Rajala by trumping up charges of racism against him. Comptroller Walker would then hire someone to replace Mr. Rajala who is favorable to her new political allies.  If Maureen Walker becomes Mayor, she will then appoint that person to Comptroller. This will guarantee a stranglehold on the Board Of Estimate. This will also guarantee the bankruptcy of Mount Vernon.

According to City Hall sources, a former employee of Comptroller Walker named Margaret who now works elsewhere in City Hall, was berating employees in Comptroller Walker's office telling them that if they didn't attend Comptroller's Walker holiday gathering and inauguration  they would be fired.  Deputy Comptroller Rajala happened to stumble upon Margeret giving a tongue lashing to the employee.  Rajala spoke up and told Margeret that she didn't have the right to make such demands and speak to his employee in the manner she was addressing them.  

Margaret, a close friend and former student of Comptroller Walker, then went to Comptroller Walker and said that Rajala called her a "Nigger".   Walker then took it upon herself to terminate Rajala without proper due process.  It is unclear if Comptroller Walker notified the law department or went through the Human Resources Department when terminating Rajala.  If Comptroller Walker circumvented the personnel process, taxpayers will be liable for damages if Mr. Rajala decides to sue the City of Mount Vernon.  

 Maureen Walker no longer speaks out against any legislation detrimental to the citizens of Mount Vernon. The City Council is working on a double-digit tax increase. Our same City Council has passed legislation to allow the construction of dozens of tax-abated buildings. This will add thousands to Mount Vernon’s population, a city already overcrowded. With developers not paying their fair share of taxes, homeowners will have to pick up the additional cost of services. Taxpayers will be on the hook for $29,000 per year for each student who enters the school system. Crime will rise significantly. This is a doomsday scenario for Mount Vernon’s future.

Comptroller Maureen Walker is the financial watchdog of Mount Vernon. She owes her constituents answers as to why she has been so silent the past 2 years while our city heads towards financial ruins.

 The firing of Tom Rajala, a tireless worker for The City of Mount Vernon makes no sense whatsoever. In the last two years we have seen a total transformation of Comptroller Maureen Walker. She was once a politician we could trust, but she has now turned her back on the people of Mount Vernon in order to advance her career. Maureen Walker ran for Mayor under the slogan “A New Beginning”. This is not quite what we imagined.

COMPTROLLER FIRES HER FIRST DEPUTY

Comptroller Maureen Walker

Mount Vernon Exposed has learned that Comptroller Maureen Walker has fired 1st Deputy Comptroller Thomas Rajala.  A reason has not been provided to Mount Vernon Exposed for Mr. Rajala's dismissal.

Mount Vernon Exposed is investigating this matter and will keep you updated.  

MOUNT VERNON CITY COUNCIL EXPECTED TO SERVE SUBPOENA ON COMPTROLLER FOR FAILING TO TURN OVER FINANCIAL RECORDS

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 1^st.  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?

  

BREAKING NEWS: REORGANIZATION OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS DEPARTMENT

Sources have informed Mt Vernon Exposed, that The Mt Vernon School District is in the process of hiring a Buildings and Grounds Superintendent and assistant. It will be a monumental task to straighten out this horrendous department. We will wait to see who will be chosen for these positions. Hiring a management team is a step in the right direction. Hopefully these are qualified individuals, and not political appointments.

Stay tuned.......

VOTER FRAUD ALLEGED AT SENIOR ASSISTED LIVING FACILITY; TOP CITY OFFICIALS INVOLVED

CITY OF MOUNT VERNON HUMAN RESOURCES COMMISSIONER
JUDY WILLIAMS

THE GREAT LIE

Pass the budget for the children, was the rallying cry of Judith Johnson and her cronies during the 2013 revote of the budget. There is just one problem; the Mount Vernon City School district hasn’t been in the business of educating children since 1996. Millions of dollars were stolen from the district. Stopping the theft of public funds was not an option in bringing the budget down, so a campaign of fear was unleashed by the district, and preached from the pulpit from CEPA churches. “Children will be hurt” was heard all over the city. The same people who had been hurting children for 17 years, were saying,  “don’t hurt the children” to scare the public into approving the budget.

School Superintendent Judith Johnson, Assistant Superintendent of Business Timothy Costello, and School Trustee’s Len Sarver, Francis Wynn, and Elias Goodzeit knew the June 18, 2013 budget revote would be close. School officials resorted to a common voter fraud tactic.

The scene of the crime would be the Wartburg; an assisted living 34-acre assisted living facility located in Mount Vernon off of Lincoln Avenue near the Pelham border. Fabricating absentee ballots at The Wartburg is a tradition in Mount Vernon politics. This closed community is ripe for voter fraud, because the campus is purposely closed to opposition groups. Cheaters have full reign to steal elections. Sources have informed Mount Vernon Exposed, that Judy Williams, currently Commissioner of Human Resources at City Hall and a close   associate to the Mayor, and a Wartburg board member, helped arranged access to people who intended on stealing the election. Residents were coerced to vote yes for the budget, and absentee ballots were fabricated. Federal investigators need to look at the absentee ballots from all school elections for the past 20 years. 

As the votes were being counted at the Board of Education building on the night of the revote, Jeff Yonkers, UFT (United Federation Of Teachers) President, was worried about the outcome. Mount Vernon teachers are the most over paid Teachers in America. Jeff Yonkers wanted the budget vote passed, so he could continue the gravy train for his members. With almost 100% of the votes tallied, the “no” votes to defeat the budget were leading the “yes” votes to pass the budget, by a small margin.

Tim Costello then walked over to a very worried Jeff Yonkers and said “don’t worry, we have The Wartburg absentee ballots”. Mr. Costello knew what he was talking about because out of nowhere the budget was passed overnight, and the absentee ballots at The Wartburg made the difference. Machine votes, and absentee votes citywide were about 50% for, and 50% against the budget. The Wartburg’s absentee ballots were almost 100% “for” passing the budget. It is impossible for this to occur without election fraud and inside help at the Wartburg.

After the budget was passed in Judith Johnson’s favor, a special concert was then held for The Wartburg residents to thank them for their overwhelming help in getting the budget passed. One can come to the conclusion that Judith Johnson owned the Wartburg community dearly. It was also reported that school building workers who helped with the absentee ballot plot were promoted. Once the budget was passed, Judith Johnson went on a spending spree with taxpayer funds. Friends of church and City officials were hired at an alarming rate and as usual, the children were ignored.

Mount Vernon Teachers are one of the highest paid teachers in New York State, yet Mount Vernon Schools perform at the bottom of school districts in New York State. How is this possible? Most teachers employed by the Mount Vernon City School district do not live in the City of Mount Vernon, and therefore, take their money out of the city, leaving homeowners with the burden of paying for Mount Vernon’s awful school system. Where in America can the lowest performing workers, become the highest paid?

Is it too much to ask our teachers to perform better and take less?

With 75% of our middle school children performing below grade level, where is the accountability? Eighty percent of the school budget goes to teacher salaries, benefits, and pensions. Judith Johnson continues to hire and promote teachers outside of Mount Vernon even though qualified people live in Mount Vernon.  By hiring local Mount Vernon talent one would ensure that those hired to work in the community would have a vested interest in the children and taxpayers of Mount Vernon.

The median salary for Mount Vernon teachers is close to $100,000; not inclusive of benefit and pension costs.  Do Mount Vernon teachers understand what their contracts are doing to this city? The suffering is everywhere. Mount Vernon has the highest foreclosure rate in the State of New York. On a daily basis families are being tossed out into the street, because they cannot pay their property taxes. The elderly are constantly faced with the choice of eating, buying medicine, or simply paying their property taxes.

Before being hired into the Mount Vernon School System, all prospective employees should be required to witness the misery that many people in this city go through, each and every day. If the UFT and their members care about the city of Mount Vernon, they should have their members take an across the board 10% salary cut. Maybe charter schools are the answer. Mount Vernon is collapsing under the weight of school taxes.  When it does collapse, everyone loses. Corruption is destroying our schools and the teacher’s contract is bankrupting it.

Mount Vernon Exposed has been repeatedly denied information that was requested under the Freedom of Information Law (Foil). Judith Johnson and Mount Vernon City school district is breaking the law by not releasing this information. Is Ingerman Smith, the law firm hired by the Mount Vernon City School district advising the district to break the law?

Furthermore, is Ingerman Smith, aware of illegal activities occurring throughout the district?  Is it unlawful for a law firm to have knowledge of illegal activities in the school district and not report it? Finally, is attorney Gus Mountanos putting Ingerman Smith in jeopardy of major lawsuits and the loss of their law license?  To be continued………