A Call for an Investigation of the Mayor and City Council of Mount Vernon, New York sign now

We the undersigned citizens of Mount Vernon implore the New York State Attorney General to launch an investigation into the official conduct of Mr. Clinton I. Young, Mayor of the City of Mount Vernon and members of the Mount Vernon City Council.

We are convinced that the current mayor cannot lead this city and is in over his head. He and the City Council are placing their own self interest before that of the citizens of Mount Vernon that they were elected to serve. The pressing needs of the community does not afford us the luxury to train elected officials in the art of responsible leadership. The citizens of Mount Vernon cannot afford spiked property tax increases due to smug arrogance, lack of concern and failure to respect the taxpayer dollar. We are tired of the excuse that everything is the fault of the previous administration apparant inability to lead. After 9 months things have not gotten better, only worse and the campaigned allegations of corruption have taken on new meaning with the present administration. The current practice of governing by a new set of rules is not productive to our community and may be in conflict with local, state and federal laws. Listed below are examples of what we determine to be flagrant abuses of taxpayer dollars and monarchal tendencies of elected officials:

1. Employment of unqualified individuals and campaign supporters to positions of authority with inflated salaries as political payoff, and failure to publicly advertise said positions so that any qualified applicant can apply. Most candidates hired fail to possess sufficient educational and/or prior experience requirements and no hires have been made without political or personal connection.

2. Employment of family members to key executive level positions despite public complaints and the appearance of impropriety.

3. Attempt to abolish key Civil Service position and reassignment of employee to department of family member in order to hide lack of required skills and qualifications of said family member.

4. Cutting of necessary funding to the fiscal officer as political payback, thereby stymieing city compliance with required local, state and federal requirements.

5. Eliciting an environment of fear, intimidation and compliance in order to control employees and the public who are not members of the political inner circle, thereby creating divisiveness in the community and amongst employees that is further promoted by a "them" and "us" mentality as it relates to the previous administration and the current administration.

6. Crime has increased in our community and we have not heard from our elected officials. Elected officials fail to address the concerns of the community and do not place much weight our cries for help and leadership. The public is not encouraged to bring issues before elected officials and when they do; their concerns and complaints are disregarded as trivial and not followed up.

7. City spending has gone unchecked for 9 months and will undoubtedly have an impact on liability to the Mount Vernon taxpayer and possibly the State of New York.

The Mayor and City Council in Mount Vernon must be investigated. They are putting their own personal self interest before that of the community they serve and have banded together in order to protect their own agenda. We, The People, must not ever be so complacent that we sit back and quietly allow a bloodless coup to be successful. This isn't just poor management; it is a lack of management and blatant disregard for the current and future well-being of the citizens of Mount Vernon and it's territory.

The complacency of our elected officials is cause for concern among Mount Vernonites and so should it be for the State of New York. As residents of the State of New York we are requesting that you immediately launch an investigation into the activities of public officials in the City of Mount Vernon.