By Dan Murphy
The headline from the New York Times last week says it all about the City of Mt. Vernon: “Mt. Vernon Has Two Mayors, and its Police Commissioner Was Just Arrested… Things Are Really Not O.K. in This New York Suburb.”
The City of Yonkers and the City of Mt. Vernon recently appointed new police commissioners to lead their respective police departments in two of the largest cities in Westchester. In Yonkers, Mayor Mike Spano announced his appointment of Yonkers Police Deputy Chief John Mueller as the city’s new police commissioner. Mueller will replace outgoing Commissioner Charles Gardner, who is retiring later this month after 39 years of service in YPD.
Mueller’s appointment comes after serving the department for 25 years and holding various leadership positions, including most recently as commanding officer of the Investigative Services Bureau, which is responsible for investigative activities within YPD.
“Chief Mueller has been a shining star in our police department for decades,” said Spano. “John has risen amongst the ranks with honor, demonstrating his in-depth knowledge, training and dedication to the men and women of our police force. We look forward to working with him and continuing to keep our residents safe.”
“It is a tremendous honor to be asked by Mayor Mike Spano to serve as Yonkers police commissioner,” said Mueller. “I am extremely proud of the many accomplishments this administration has achieved in moving Yonkers forward. To serve as police commissioner has been a lifelong dream of mine and I pledge to serve our residents with valor and respect. I am excited to continue the great work of Commissioner Gardner, and look forward to working hand-in-hand with all the dedicated members of our department.”
Prior to his appointment to chief of the Investigative Services Bureau, Muller served as deputy chief of the Support Services Bureau, commanding officer of the fourth precinct, commanding officer of the Intelligence Unit, and president of the Yonkers Captains, Lieutenants and Sergeants Association. He is chairman and founder of STRONG, a federally-funded opioid substance abuse prevention program for adolescents; board member of Break the Hold Foundation, which addresses mental health issues for young adults; and is a co-founder of the Yonkers Police Fire Toughman.
Muller holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the Police Executive Research Forum and John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
In welcoming the new police commissioner, Spano also expressed his appreciation to the outgoing chief.
“I want to thank Commissioner Gardner for his service to the residents of the city and to our police department,” said the mayor. “Under his leadership, Yonkers has achieved unprecedented successes, including a reduction in overall crime by 42 percent, a more diverse police force, and the introduction of various community policing initiatives that have transformed our police department. I congratulate him on a stellar career and wish him the very best in his well-deserved retirement.”
In Mt. Vernon, one of the declared mayors of the city appointed Shawn Harris as commissioner of public safety, only to have Harris arrested and detained for nine hours. That is not a misprint, folks – the appointed police commissioner in Mt. Vernon was arrested, after being appointed by supposed Mayor Andre Wallace.
Wallace, who was elected City Council president, claims he is the mayor after the City Council voted to remove Mayor Richard Thomas from office after Thomas copped a plea deal that includes having him resign by Sept. 30. Wallace and the other elected officials in Mt. Vernon didn’t want to wait for Sept. 30 to remove Thomas, and now a legal dispute between Thomas and Wallace over who is the mayor of Mt. Vernon is ongoing in the courts.
Yet the political dysfunction – from those of us looking at Mt. Vernon from the outside – continues, and hurts the image of the city. The next mayor of Mt. Vernon will be Shawyn Patterson-Howard, who won the Democratic primary on June 25, defeating both Thomas and Wallace. Patterson-Howard will have to wait six months, until Jan 1, to take office and try to clean up the image of the city and restore confidence in its government.
On July 16, Harris walked into the Mt. Vernon Police Department to take over as police commissioner, but instead was arrested for criminal trespass and detained by other MVPD officers. Eventually he was released. Harris, who called the situation for himself and his family an embarrassment, was formerly the deputy police commissioner for parking in the MVPD, until being fired by Thomas in March.
Thomas continues to insist there was an “illegal coup d’état” against him by the City Council, comptroller and the “powers that be” in Mt. Vernon.
“There is an organized effort to undermine democracy in Mount Vernon and hide the truth about the ‘undocumented’ $95 million in loans by past administrations,” said Thomas, who continues to have supporters who believe that he has been set up and conspired against not to succeed. “These are the same people that won’t vote for garbage trucks nor toilet paper for seniors, yet they illegally anoint themselves as mayor. Get ready for another waste of time and money on unnecessary litigation.”
Thomas continues to try and make excuses as to why he agreed to plead guilty last month to campaign financial violations. “I plead to it because I had two young children, a 6-year-old and a 3-year-old, and I did not trust I would get a fair trial,” he said at the time of his sentencing, and to the NY Times in a new explanation to reporter Sarah Maslin Nir. “I’m 30-something years old, I’m putting stuff on my credit card, I’m not rich like Chelsea Clinton, I don’t have it. I’m a poor kid from the south side of Mount Vernon, so I used everything I had.”
One legal issue that remains unresolved and has not been explained by Thomas was the recent arrest and charges filed against Mt. Vernon Corporation Counsel Lawrence Porcari, stemming from accusations that he funneled $365,000 from the Mt. Vernon Board of Water Supply to pay Thomas’ legal bills and to a public relations firm.
