Clinton I. Young ran on a platform driven by the faulty notion that Mount Vernon taxpayers were being robbed blind, that city hall was corrupt and Mount Vernon was going nowhere. Citizens were brainwashed into believing that County Legislator Young could and would bring “change.” Voters blindly gave him the keys to city hall with high hopes; lock, stock and barrel. Mr. Young, like Ali Baba, waited for the clock to strike 12 on his first day and immediately went to City Hall shouting “Open Sesame.” When the doors finally unlocked on January 2nd, he had the support of co-conspirators on the City Council. Mayor Young immediatly inflated the Annual Budget and hired a gaggle of inept assistants as expert leaders of his new team to move the city forward. How wrong the public was.

The City Council, in its infinite wisdom, has now reauthorized the administration of Mayor Clinton Young to spend, spend, and spend some more by giving him a new source of income. On the evening of October 14th the City Council unanimously voted in favor of floating a $20.7 million bond in the midst of what has been described as the worst economy since The Great Depression. The money was hastily approved by the mayor’s minions without public clarity or discussion. The mayor claimed he needed the money to cover the proposed changes to Memorial Field and for bogus capital projects like parks improvements, among other things, so they obediently granted his wish.

Citizens need only ask themselves, “What city parks?” Most, if not all city playgrounds have been upgraded. Brush Park plans had been laid out and was in the process of improvement before the mayor arrived. Those plans were scrapped because of unadulturated hatred for anything having to do with the previous administration. All he had to do was follow through instead of spending money on unnecessary expenditures. The mayor and his cronies threw out any foundation laid in favor of starting anew. While the city waits to see something, anything. The fountain at Hartley Park cost millions to construct is no longer properly operating because of negligence. Public works equipment planned to be purchased has instead been leased and equipment that should be operational is not. Designer sidewalks laid in areas leading to nowhere or surround property of individuals associated with the administration look out of place. Public byways look like detonated minefields. Is this the “master plan” the administration had? Does the administration intend to make living in the city so miserable that even the city’s most vulnerable citizens pick up and leave with nowhere to go? Is all of this a planned effort in order to fatten the purses of Ali Baba’s real estate hungry band of thieves?

RoadRunner brings to citizens’ attention the fact that the city, with its once excellent bond rating, is being royally ripped off of its resources. Politicians hungry to make a personal fortune off of the backs of overburdened taxpayers and dedicated public servants feel they’re doing a great job. They boast about sparsely attended forums designed for the benefit of their personal connections, not the public. They brag about their alleged business connections and plans for the city that seem never to materiaize. Citizens too believe the administration is doing a wonderful job – in flushing a city that was moving forward straight down the drink.

Mayor Clinton Young and County Legislator Lyndon Williams sold citizens snake oil in a bottle labeled Memorial Field. Yes, citizens drank the Kool-Aid. They were brainwashed into believing that renovations to the field would cost taxpayers nothing. The administration said that the best and brightest were going to save the day. While citizens joyously celebrated in psychotic frenzy over the emergence of their city and county messiahs bringinging free gifts, Mayor Young bragged to Sam Zherka that he has it all under control. The mayor said he was getting $10 million from the county for Memorial field. He even offered Mr. Zherka a ground floor opportunity to join him and a few others in building a hotel before he threw Zherka under the bus and found out that the free money wasn’t free for him to spend at will.

There will be no renovation at zero cost to the taxpayer because the renovation was changed to new construction, half of which will be paid by Mount Vernon taxpayers. The cost of the project is expected to be the total amount of the bond. The city will in fact have to put up the county’s and its own so the work can begin – hence the big hurry for the City Council to pass bond financing. The mayor can’t risk putting this before a new City Council, they’ll likely be more dedicated to the public’s best interest than his own and would certainly question the soundness of placing additional burden on the taxpayer of today and tomorrow.

Mayor Young will not get to put county funds in his hot hands right away. The city will be reimbursed for the County promised Legacy Fund grant expenditures. The city (taxpayers) must pay for the $20.7 million project first. As is usual with most large construction projects, there will probably be cost overruns that can raise the final tally for the taxpayer. The hasty press conferences done right before elections sealed the deal for the mayor and County Legislator Lyndon Williams. Mr. Williams got re-election mileage while the mayor committed citizens’ money without fully disclosing the real deal. Disrespect and disregard for burdening the taxpayer is nothing new for the mayor but he feels he can handle citizen outrage. He gets to say that the new Memorial Field was constructed under HIS administration. Oh, the transparency in the slick ranting of arrogant madmen with their eyes set on the bottomless public till.

The best part of this new scheme is that the City Council additionally approved Marcus Griffith as the watchdog of the bond monies. Remember, the Councilman was the mayor’s choice for Comptroller. He lost the Democratic Primary because voters lacked confidence in his ability to oversee their money. Now he’ll get his hands on our $20.7 million – if we let him. What a slap in the face of the soon to be re-elected Comptroller and an insult to every sane taxpaying citizen. Mayor Young, intent on having his way, planned to make sure Marcus Griffith oversees a hefty sum of money for him during his lame duck days. He’s planning to sit smugly in his publicly paid fortressed hideaway administering over a fresh new pot of gold. The mayor and his cronies have set it up to bypass the Comptroller’s strict checks and balances when it comes to Memorial Field expenditures. The lucrative contracts and employment opportunities will be granted to the favored and connected. Mayor Young and Marcus Griffith will make the rules and break them as they see fit. Who would be the wiser? Who would have the power to say “NO?” The taxpayer will foot the bill while Ali Baba counts HIS gold.

The peoples’ representatives sold them out again – for a vote, a perception of power and undoubtedly personal gain. Whether property owners or renters, every citizen will be affected by this abuse of public trust. Citizens can no longer stand by while their elected officials feast like vultures from the coins in their purses. It is time that an investigation is launched to root out corruption in city hall by somone other than Mayor Young’s Inspector General.

The Mount Vernon Board of Estimate and Contract is respectfully forewarned that should they vote in favor of expenditures associated with ANY additional liability to the Mount Vernon taxpayer relating to Memorial Field, THE PEOPLE WILL MARCH UPON CITY HALL IN FORCE TO PERSONALLY RECLAIM THEIR PUBLIC HOUSE AND PROMPTLY TAKE STEPS TO HAVE EACH OF THEM REMOVED FROM PUBLIC OFFICE.

The choice to walk away with a legacy of doing that which is in the best interest of the public now lay in the hands of the honest politician. The people can no longer trust the City Council and the Mayor. The public will soon see who has the courage to stand up and do what is honorable – because it is the right thing to do by the people, for the people.