Mayor Young continues to blow hot air up the rear ends of Mount Vernon taxpayers. Mayor Young’s latest shenanigan of holding a press conference to announce the creation of a new Advisory Council on Community and Police Relations was a mere ploy to distract and hoodwink taxpayers from the issues of gross mismanagement within the Mount Vernon Police Department and the corruption that is plaguing his administration. Instead of prancing in front of the camera for a photo-op he should have been behind closed doors addressing the budget that is already a month behind schedule.
Mount Vernon Exposed questions the legitimacy of this new advisory council. The City Council of 1982 established the Civilian Advisory Board for Police Affairs, a totally different name than the Advisory Council announced by Mayor Young.
§14-1 of Mount Vernon City Charter
The purpose of this chapter is to create a group of interested citizens and to provide for them an opportunity to make their views and the community's views known to the Department through a democratic process. The Committee shall serve in an advisory capacity, attempting to identify community hazards, add input to the Police Commissioner's field of information, review police procedures for discipline, planning and training, and thus provide assistance in managerial decisions. In order to achieve these goals, the Board, through its regular meetings, will strive to assist, advise and aid the Police Commissioner in matters relating to public relations, discipline, planning, training and in the establishment of priorities of services to be rendered to the public.
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Council of the City of Mount Vernon 7-14-82, approved 7-15-82. Amendments noted where applicable.]
It has only taken Mayor Young 23 months and 23 homicides to finally appoint members to this council. It is a shame that not one individual in Mayor Young immediate “Brain Trust” did not bring to his attention the existence of this advisory board. Mayor Young has clearly demonstrated by his past actions that he doesn’t care or does not possess basic reading comprehension skills, neither is good.
We at Mount Vernon Exposed question whether Mayor Young even bothered to explain the duties and responsibilities of the advisory council to the new members. The advisory council consists of 12 members.
§14-2
The Board shall consist of seven members and five associate members to be appointed by the Mayor. In addition, the Second Deputy Commissioner of the Department shall be a member of the Board. Members shall be residents of the city for a period of not less than three years. Neither a member nor an associate member shall be an employee of the Municipal Government of the City of Mount Vernon.
Three members appointed to this advisory council are high school students. One can assume that these three members will not have any voting power and were appointed as associate members. Mayor Young as usual expected taxpayers to jump for joy upon the announcement of his new appointees. He was not clear nor did he release to the press the names of the “official” members or the associate members of this advisory council. Taxpayers can assume that Mayor Young will appoint the most docile members to hold voting power. The Chief of Police as mandated by the City Charter will serve as the chairwoman of the council.
§14-5
Members shall each have one vote on matters before the Board for consideration. Associate members shall not have voting privileges, but shall otherwise participate in all matters and discussions of the Board.
§14-7
The Chairperson shall be the Second Deputy Police Commissioner. The Vice Chairperson and the Secretary shall be elected by a majority of the members present at the first meeting in January in each calendar year. The Vice Chairperson and Secretary may serve no more than two consecutive years in their respective offices.
§14-6
The Committee shall have three officers, a Chairperson, a Vice Chairperson and a Secretary.
The Chairperson presides at all meetings. The Chairperson or his/her representative shall be responsible for meeting with the Police Commissioner following each meeting to advise him as to the Board's recommendations and discussion. The Chairperson shall meet with any group or individual expressing a grievance concerning police policy, action or procedure, in order that the Board may adequately discuss and make recommendations concerning said grievance.
Mount Vernon Exposed will assume that it will be business as usual for Mayor Young. While 98% of violent crimes take place on the south side, the majority of Mayor Young’s appointees to the advisory council do not reside on the south side of Mount Vernon. How can these individuals give opinionated assessments as to the problems in these neighborhoods? We can remember that Mayor Young and his band of thieves tried to force a gang a candidates upon Mount Vernon taxpayers all from the North Side of town.
To enhance the Boards effectiveness, the cities have implemented the following:
- Appointed a Board with a team of non-police investigators
- Address the complaints received by civilians.
- Obtained Power of Subpoena vested in Board.
- Review Police policy and training as a regular function
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