SCHOOL BOARD VICE PRESIDENT AND CFO NAMED IN $1.3M KICKBACK SCANDAL

EMBATTLED MT VERNON SCHOOL CHIEF JUDITH JOHNSON

CORRUPT SCHOOL BOARD TRUSTEE LEN SARVER

SCHOOL BOARD TRUSTEE FRANCIS WYNN

CORRUPT MT VERNON SCHOOL CFO TIMOTHY COSTELLO

Sources have told Mount Vernon Exposed that a massive cover-up is under way at the Board of Education central office located at 165 N. Columbus Avenue.  Mount Vernon School Chief Judith Johnson is spearheading the cover up with assistance from School Board Vice-President Len Sarver and Assistant Superintendent of Business Timothy Costello.

According to sources deemed reliable, school personnel, on orders from Judith Johnson have been working night and day shredding documents and destroying any paper trail regarding asbestos reports for schools within the district.  Inspectors from the New York State Department of Health cited Mount Vernon school officials in December 2012 for negligence in remediating asbestos in the district. 

The Mount Vernon City School district has been negligent in properly maintaining safe and healthy learning environments for the past 25 years.  Voters have gone to the polls twice approving upwards of $130 million dollars to repair the aging and dilapidated schools in Mount Vernon. 

“They stole all the money”, is a phase often used by school board Vice President Len Sarver.  We must now investigate to find out who “they” is that Sarver frequently refers to. 

There also seems to be a strange and uncanny connection between City Hall and the Mount Vernon City School district.   While city officials are elected to handle city business, they often meddle in the affairs of the Mount Vernon City School District. 

In 2009, County Legislator Lyndon Williams headed up an aggressive and fierce campaign to persuade voters to vote yes on the ballot for a $20 Million dollar EXCEL bond.  Williams made his pitch by stating that the $20M million bond would have no tax implications for homeowners.  A stipulation of this bond was that the funds can only be used for construction and could not be transferred into the general fund balance to offset or lower the tax levy. 

Timothy Costello, the shyster, CFO of the Mount Vernon City School District, began to shuffle monies around and place it in areas that would be financially beneficial to him. 

Costello talks out of both sides of his mouth and cannot be entrusted to prepare a budget in excess of $215 million.  This is just another example of the fox watching the henhouse.  An example of Costello’s hypocrisy was displayed during the heated public debate of the Armani Charter School, which, according to public statements made by Costello, would drain the already scare resources of the Mount Vernon City School district. 

Costello was working as a double agent during the several years long legal battle over the Armani charter school.  Costello worked hand in hand with former School Board President Charles Stern to find out where the money was to start the Armani Charter School. Stern also attends the Sinai Free Synagogue with his fellow partners in crime, Len Sarver and Timothy Costello. Stern’s wife Debra is the Executive Director of the Armani Charter School and pulls in an $80K salary courtesy of Mount Vernon taxpayers.  Not bad for someone who doesn’t have a teaching certification.  Stern is a licensed Social Worker. 

Sources allege that in exchange for receiving 100% healthcare coverage, Costello would then help Stern find where the money was to start the Armani Charter School.  

The Armani charter school leases space in the basement of The Friendship Worship Center.   They also rent four classrooms on the first floor of St. Ursula School located on Lincoln Avenue.   Armani charter school did not file the necessary paperwork with the City of Mount Vernon building department.  Homeowners again were cheated out of thousands of dollars of building permit fees.

On Friday, investigators with Mount Vernon Exposed visited St. Ursula School after an anonymous tip was received that major funds have been expended in the past month in excess of $200,000.  Investigators discovered a brand new Dell file server, dozens of brand new laptops, custom purple molding, custom purple chairs, and brand new desks.  The laptops were not secured and left in plain sight. 

Investigators also discovered new electrical lines installed.  Sources familiar with investigation told Mount Vernon Exposed that the company that did the electrical work is a close friend of Trustee Len Sarver, who is also a Licensed Electrician. 

Where did all of this money come from?  How much did Stern, Costello, and Sarver unjustly enrich themselves?

Just this past summer, Costello with the assistance of Trustee Len Sarver, spent in excess of $1.3M to install a brand new roof at Pennington School.  Undocumented illegal immigrants were used at the direction of Trustee Len Sarver and Timothy Costello to install the roof.   Sources also told Mount Vernon Exposed that the company hired to install the roof also is connected to Costello and Sarver.  Any person with an ounce of common sense knows that a roof doesn’t cost $1.3M to replace.

It is important that which board members voted to approve the expenditure of the funds to replace the roof at Pennington.  Where did Costello find the money to replace the roof?  This is the same Timothy Costello that said he couldn’t find $750K to provide buses so that the children could get to and from school.  There are no buses in the City of Mount Vernon.  Children must get to school the best way they can. 

Tonight school board members are meeting to discuss important issues regarding the school district.  School board members can no longer remain silent while officials high up the food chain continue to fleece taxpayers.  School board members must step up to the plate and demand that school officials do right by our children.  We can no longer have 2 or 3 board members fighting for what is right while the other board members allow Judith Johnson, Timothy Costello, and Len Sarver destroy the City of Mount Vernon.  

When it was made public that there was asbestos at Parker School, School Board Trustee Francis Wynn told News 12 that she was going to investigate the matter immediately.  Instead Wynn is working behind the scenes with Sarver and Johnson to cover up the asbestos at Parker School and other schools in the district.  Attached to this article you will hear the full-unedited interview between News 12 and Francis Wynn.

School Board Trustee Francis Wynn’s relationship with Judith Johnson is troubling.  Wynn defends Johnson at any cost, even when the education and the safety of our children have been compromised.  Over the next few weeks, Mount Vernon Exposed will inform the public as to which board members are working interest of the taxpayers and which ones that need to be fired next year come election time.  Stay tuned…To be continued…………..

MOUNT VERNON CITY SCHOOL CFO STEALS FROM POOR STUDENTS WHILE CREATING $2 MIL SLUSH FUND FOR SCHOOL CHIEF

CORRUPT SCHOOL CFO TIMOTHY COSTELLO

EMBATTLED MT VERNON SCHOOL CHIEF JUDITH JOHNSON

CORRUPT SCHOOL BOARD TRUSTEE LEN SARVER

It has been one week now since news broke of the asbestos scandal involving Mount Vernon School Chief Judith Johnson.  Johnson still isn’t forthcoming and still has not provided board members with asbestos reports even though the reports have been made public on this site.  Instead she has been hiding behind school board attorneys and using tactics to stall and deny information to the public and school board members. 

Johnson treats board members as if they are her servants and her employees. Johnson lacks integrity and accountability.  Three guidance counselors personally hired by Johnson are now facing criminal charges for changing test scores in Peekskill, Johnson’s last place of employment. 

Judith Johnson must come clean with the taxpayers and the children of Mount Vernon.  Why hasn’t she released the reports to the public or to School Board Trustees? Are our children at risk for asthma and lung cancer?

We must get to the root cause analysis on exactly how these problems came to exist in city schools and why they went unaddressed for such a long time.  Mount Vernon Exposed will now begin to connect the dots and show the public how long the corruption has been permeating the Mount Vernon City School District.

Money disappearing from school budgets and going into a slush fund for Superintendents started with the hire of Assistant Superintendent of Business Timothy Costello, a very close friend of embattled school board trustee Len Sarver.  Len Sarver stands accused alongside Mount Vernon School Chief Judith Johnson of purposely hiding asbestos reports from the public and steering lucrative school contracts to vendors favorable to both.

Mount Vernon Exposed is pleased to announce that work was done at Cecil H. Parker Elementary School to remediate the mold issue.  Sources have reported to Mount Vernon Exposed that crews have been working feverishly day and night to cover up any trace of mold and water damage after it was made public that Parker school has been neglected since 2005 and didn’t address deficiencies found by inspectors from the New York State Department of Health.  However, sources confirmed to Mount Vernon exposed that friable asbestos wasn’t disposed of properly in accordance with applicable state laws. 

Many questions remain regarding the removal of mold and the abatement of asbestos at Cecil H. Parker Middle School.  For starters, who removed the mold?  Was this put out for competitive bid?  Did Judith Johnson and school board trustees Len Sarver unjustly enrich themselves by awarding lucrative construction and electrical contracts to vendors of their choosing?  Was the mold and asbestos removed by a licensed professional?   

Let’s get back to Timothy Costello.  Mr. Costello is a crook and a sheister in every sense of the word.  Costello was hired by former Mount Vernon Superintendent W.L. Sawyer, another crook who was more concerned about having sexual relations with his subordinates than the education of the children.  Sawyer was cited for having an improper relationship with an employee of the Mount Vernon City School District. 

Costello, a failure, never surpassed the $100K salary mark in life.  That is until he came to the Mount Vernon City School District to drink from the public till.  Costello’s salary prior to arriving in Mount Vernon was $92,000.  Today Costello receives a whopping $190,000+ salary and benefits courtesy of Mount Vernon taxpayers.  Not bad Timothy.

Timothy purchased his current house at 4 Alameda Place in 2007 for $478,000.  In recent weeks, Mount Vernon Exposed has received complaints from taxpayers in Costello’s neighborhood stating his property assessment is well below the average that homeowners in Costello’s neighborhood pay for similar structures with the same square footage.

TIMOTHY COSTELLO'S HOME

Costello also receives several other perks not afforded to other employees of the Mount Vernon City School district.  Mr. Costello receives 100% medical coverage courtesy of taxpayers while Administrators and teachers pay 50% towards their medical coverage and civil services employees contribute 35% towards their health care costs.  What type of quid pro quo arrangement is in place that allows Timmy to receive 100% medical coverage? It is time for Obamacare Mr. Costello. 

So why does Timothy get 100% medical coverage?  Timothy wins favor with every school Superintendent that he works for.  Timothy is responsible for preparing the budget and finances as the Assistant Superintendent for Business.  In other words, he is the Chief Financial officer or CFO for the Mount Vernon City School district. 

Every school is allotted $150K per year for textbooks, visual aids, and other materials for educating our children.  The schools that are succeeding and have passing test scores spend all of their allotted funds by the end of the school year while the failing schools, had nearly 90% of the $150K left in their budget at the end of the school year.  Makes no sense. 

So Timothy, thinking he was a genius, illegally and without authorization from the School Board Trustees, diverted the funds from the schools that never used their textbook money into something called the “general fund”.  Such diversion requires approval from the State legislature.  At the time of press, Mount Vernon Exposed could find no such legislation authorization Mr. Costello’s unethical actions.

Timothy then goes to the Superintendent and tells them that he has “newfound” money and they are free to spend it how they see fit.  They Superintendent’s are now beholden to Mr. Costello and free to hire as many consultants as possible.  Consultants connected to Costello are now legally allowed to rape Mount Vernon taxpayers for millions and millions of dollars.   The consultants are usually friends of Costello and Johnson or Costello and Johnson are looking to gain employment from after their tenure is done with Mount Vernon City Schools.     

Mount Vernon Exposed has also gathered evidence to suggest School Board Trustee Len Sarver is in financial trouble.  The evidence also suggest that former school board trustee Marc Stuckey was correct when he stated that Sarver’s hand is in the cookie jar. 

Sarver owns property located at 138-140 N. 5^th Avenue.  This is also the building where Sarver runs his  “so called” electrical business.  On June 23, 2010 Sarver put the building up for sale for $599,000 and also for lease at $10 per square foot or $4583.33 per month. 

LEN SARVER'S PROPERTY

With no buyers in site, Sarver again put the property back on the market on October 25, 2012 at $525,000 and also for lease at $12 per square foot or $5,500 per month. 

On October 18, 2013 the very next day after a press conference was held announcing the asbestos cover up at Cecil H. Parker elementary; school trustee Len Sarver put the property located at 138-140 N. 5^th Avenue, back on the market for $500K, $100K less than he was seeking.

  IS SCHOOL BOARD TRUSTEE LEN SARVER IN FINANCIAL TROUBLE?

All evidence suggests that Sarver is trying to unload this property very quickly because he is having cash flow issues.  Could it be that Sarver knows it is only a matter of time before he is indicted for betraying the public trust?  Does Sarver need the proceeds from the sale of the house for his legal defense?  If Sarver was such a successful businessman, why is he selling the building where he runs his business?

Mount Vernon Exposed checked with city officials and it was discovered that taxes are up to date on 138-140 North 5^th Avenue and on Sarver’s primary address located at 12 Carwall Avenue.  Where is Sarver getting the funds to pay his property taxes taxes?  School board trustees serve 3 year unpaid terms. 

Timothy Costello and Len Sarver are good friends and also attend together, the Sinai Free Synagogue located at 550 N. Columbus Avenue.

Next Issue………”Millions diverted from school fund balance to contractors connected to Timothy Costello and Len Sarver” ………

MOUNT VERNON SCHOOL CHIEF JUDITH JOHNSON CAUGHT STEALING FROM TAXPAYERS; GIVES CRONY $60K NO SHOW JOB

CORRUPT SCHOOL CHIEF JUDITH JOHNSON

Already under fire for hiding failing test scores from board members and keeping board members in the dark about dangerous levels of asbestos in city schools, more explosive allegations are being made against Mount Vernon Interim School Superintendent Judith Johnson.

Johnson stands accused of electioneering and using the school district’s K-12 emergency response system to get the school budget passed by voters. Johnson even went far as using taxpayer funded school resources including but not limited to copiers, computers, and personnel during the last election to get the school budget passed. 

According to sources familiar with the probe, school board attorneys are investigating the matter to determine if criminal charges are warranted before the matter is referred to law enforcement authorities.

The scene of the crime was Mount Vernon High School, where Jason Pritchard, at the expense of Mount Vernon taxpayers, printed thousands of flyers and had them put into each and every child’s backpack in the entire Mount Vernon City School district.  

Johnson instilled fear and anxiety in parents by telling them that a “NO” vote would hurt the kids, however Judith Johnson did not tell parents that she awarded her crony, Pennington PTA Vanessa Ritter with a no show $60,000 per year job disguised under the bogus title of “Web Designer”. 

The flyers in question told voters to vote “YES” for the budget.  Johnson had former school board trustee Delia Farqharson record a message urging all to vote “YES” for the budget.  The recorded message was then illegally blasted using the K-12 emergency alert system.  The K-12 alert is used to call and notify parents in the event of school closings or other perilous events. 

Johnson’s highhanded behavior and blatant disregard for the law began long before her arrival in Mount Vernon.  According to a recent article in the Journal News this past weekend, three guidance counselors handpicked and hired by Johnson are now facing criminal charges for changing test scores on standardized tests.  As a result of this flim flam grade changing scandal, Johnson received several awards, including most improved school district.  Johnson was also named superintendent of the year.

School Board trustees who are elected at large by members of the public have had a very difficult time navigating the waters of the Johnson administration.  Johnson is deliberately withholding information, including asbestos reports and failing grades from board members.  To add insult to injury and to stall board members, Johnson requires that all board members seeking basic information must file a Freedom of Information request with the clerk of the board.   

Is Johnson fit to continue to serve as school superintendent?  Will criminal charges be brought against Johnson? Only time will tell.  Johnson has failed to realize that she works for and serves at the pleasure of the school board and the taxpayers and not vice versa. 

It is quite obvious that Johnson does not believe in transparency.  When it was made public that there are dangerous levels of asbestos still present in Cecil H. Parker Elementary School, Johnson deployed extra security guards and even called for a police presence to ensure that reporters from News 12 did not gain access to inside the school. 

Prior to the 9 A.M. press conference at Parker school, school board trustee Frances Wynn went to the school to ensure that security was in place to make sure the press did not gain access to the areas of the school identified in the report that contains mold and asbestos.

Wynn, who at the time of the press conference did not see the report, went on the defensive stating that “the Interim Superintendent hides nothing”.  When the News12 reporter asked Wynn about why the report wasn’t given to board members, Wynn could not answer and began to speak gibberish.  Wynn also admitted to the reporter that school board members should have been notified and received the asbestos report. 

“I am not employed by nor do I work in any capacity for the school board,” said Rivers. “The buck stops with Judith Johnson, she must come clean with taxpayers or resign. It is time to tighten up or ship out.  It is not my job to inform board members about asbestos when Johnson gets paid over $260K a year to do what I am doing for free.  Taxpayers can no longer afford Johnson’s arrogance and ignorance of the law.”  Rivers added.     

  Mount Vernon School Chief Judith Johnson Hides Asbestos Report From Taxpayers by Samuel L. Rivers

JUDGE ADAM SEIDEN ILLEGALLY APPOINTED TO BENCH; THOUSANDS OF CASES MAY BE VACATED

CORRUPT ASSOCIATE JUDGE ADAM SEIDEN

Mount Vernon Exposed would like to inform the public that an investigation is currently under way into the judicial appointment of Mount Vernon City Associate Adam Seiden.  Thousands of cases presided on by Seiden through the years may be vacated and adjudicated.

According to the Mount Vernon City Charter, the term for Associate Judge is two years. It is unclear and could not be determined under what law or authority did city officials use to appointment the disgraced Associate Judge .  Were city officials that negligent that they didn’t bother to read the charter or was the appointment of Judge Seiden part of a larger conspiracy to gentrify the City of Mount Vernon? 

Mayor Ernie Davis appointed Judge Seiden to the bench in 1995.  Many say that this appointment was political in nature and payback for services Seiden provided during his tenure as a Mount Vernon School Board Trustee.  We will explore the facts surrounding Seiden’s judicial appointment at a later time.  

The ethically challenged Seiden was caught on tape calling people living on the South of Mount Vernon “animals”.  Very soon these “animals” will have their sentences vacated and will hopefully get the chance to have a new case heard before a Judge legally authorized to hear the case.

It is unclear why City officials chose to ignore the City Charter, which clearly would take precedence over any State law as the local city law is more restrictive than the State law. 

Community activist Samuel L. Rivers has asked the City of Mount Vernon Corporation Counsel for an opinion.  “City officials must adhere and follow the charter.  Judge Seiden must be immediately removed from the bench or documentation must be provided to the public of a referendum passed by voters authorizing the increase of the Associate Judge term from 2 years to 6 years”, said Rivers.  

Mayor Ernest Davis just recently appointed Seiden to another term in office that began on January 1, 2013 and runs untilDecember 31, 2018.

  MOUNT VERNON Associate City Judge Appointment ILLEGALY APPOINTED TO BENCH

  JUDGE ADAM SEIDEN ILLEGALLY APPOINTED TO SERVE by Samuel L. Rivers

Activist Samuel Rivers claims Mount Vernon School District covered up pr...