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MOUNT VERNON’S DONALD TRUMP

I’m sure neither of them would appreciate being likened to the other, but it’s hard not to see a bunch of parallels between Mount Vernon’s Mayor, Richard Thomas, and President Donald Trump. Those similarities are all the more striking in the context of recent fights about government finances. Both the Federal government shutdown and the recent budget crisis in Mount Vernon have shown what happens when arrogant, imperious executives who want total control to spend beyond their means come up against an opposition that disagrees with their approach and their methods. Setting apart their obvious age differences, the other similarities are eerie. Both serve as chief executives in their governm

A RESPONSIBLE BUDGET FOR MOUNT VERNON

There’s been a lot of name-calling and finger-pointing, but it looks like Mount Vernon’s budget for 2019 is going to move forward – and it’s going to do so responsibly, utilizing actual numbers, and with the support of both the Comptroller and the City Council. That’s the good news. Below, you’ll see a summary of the joint budget of the City Council and the Comptroller. It involves a tax increase of only 1.93%, which represents a reduction of approximately 30% from the budget originally proposed by Mayor Thomas (a 2.69% increase). We have worked closely with the Comptroller to place some realistic projections around revenues and combined that with some reasonable cuts in spending. Mostly, we

UPDATE: “MONEY BURNIN’ MOUNT VERNON” – Part 2

Thursday, Mayor Thomas and several of his commissioners, including Brett Erasmus, the Commissioner of Management Services, held a press conference to discuss the budget for 2019. Mayor Thomas has been suggesting over and over that his budget results in “only” a 2.69% increase in your property taxes. This is just outright false, a “bait-and-switch” tactic designed to fool the taxpayers of Mount Vernon. As I will quickly point out below, his budget actually represents an outrageous increase of 10.68%. This is what happens when you can’t or won’t control spending. First, Mayor Thomas’ budget expert agrees with the City Council that the “Appropriated Fund Balance” line item of $3.75 million ca

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