State of emergency declared, mayor blames city official

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MOUNT VERNON, NY In declaring an official state of emergency, Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard said the city comptroller’s refusal to release critical funds created a clear and current security threat public.

“Due to the gross negligence and dereliction of duty of the Controller, who failed to process and pay invoices of approximately $ 500,000 for critical parts and maintenance of police, fire and work vehicles public, “Patterson-Howard said in a statement announcing the statement. . “As a result, almost all of our vehicle fleet has been affected by this crisis.”

Patterson-Howard said the declaration of emergency went into effect at 9 a.m. on Thursday. The mayor argues that the emergency designation will allow the Mount Vernon Board of Estimate and Contracts to allocate funds under New York state law.

This decision is only the latest escalation in the conflict between the city’s elected officials. Yesterday, the mayor announced that some garbage pickups would be suspended because most of the city’s sanitation trucks were deemed unsafe on the roads. Earlier this year, the controller was accused of failing to pay fuel bills, forcing police, fire and construction vehicles to ration gas.

The controller was also singled out after authorized repairs were not made to a town hall boiler. Eventually the boiler broke causing flooding and forcing the city’s seat of government to shut down for several weeks.

The mayor seems to believe that Thursday’s declaration of emergency will allow him to bypass the controller, at least temporarily. She said she would immediately call a special meeting to allocate emergency funds and said anyone who violates her emergency orders could face criminal charges.

The statement would seem to pave the way for a new legal confrontation between the controller and the town hall:

“As Mayor of the City of Mount Vernon, New York, Shawyn Patterson-Howard exercises the authority vested in me under Section 2-B of the Executive Law of the State of New York, to preserve public health and hereby make all required and available assistance vital for the safety, well-being and health of the citizens of this municipality. By virtue of this state of emergency, as mayor, and according to article 24-5 “anyone who knowingly violates any local emergency order of a chief executive of the article is guilty of a class B offense.” In addition, I hereby order all departments and agencies of the City of Mount Vernon to take all necessary measures at all affected locations to protect life and property, public infrastructure and to provide any other emergency assistance as deemed necessary. “

Mount Vernon elected officials have taken creative steps to bypass the comptroller in the past. In May, a judge ruled that Mount Vernon elected officials had exceeded their powers by voting to bypass the comptroller and demand that millions of dollars in US bailout money be received by the Clerk of the Town of Mount Vernon instead.

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