Americans love a comeback, but every great comeback starts with a setback. Tiger Woods, Bill Clinton and Apple Computers all have had successful comebacks of sorts. And we love it even more when an underdog succeeds in their comeback.
For former Mt. Vernon Mayor Richard Thomas, that setback happened in 2019 , when he was force to resign his position for campaign finance violations and spending on personal items. Now two years later, the former Mayor hopes to make a political comeback by running for Mt. Vernon Comptroller in a democratic primary.
The current Comptroller, Deborah Reynolds, is involved in a scandal for a lack of cooperation with the Mayor and City Council for a laundry list of allegations, violations and withholding of financial data that has resulted in Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard asking for both the Westchester DA and the State Attorney General to intervene and investigate.
Thomas, 38, faces several obstacles to make his comeback.
I-First, most comebacks start with a Mea cupla. Bill Clinton appeared with Hillary on 60 Minutes and confessed (sort of) his marital infidelities. Tiger Woods did the same.
While Thomas admits to clerical errors in how he spent campaign funds, he also asserts that the criminal charges against him were part of a large political conspiracy, and claims that his democratic primary election loss, also in 2019, was based on voter suppression and voting irregularities, similar to those alleged by former President Trump.
Thomas was arrested in 2018 and charged by then NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman with felony grand larceny. He pled guilty to misdemeanor charges of misappropriating $13,000 from his campaign committee and for taking $2,500 in campaign funds improperly as a reimbursement. A $2,000 Channel purse for his wife was one expense that shocked the community. He was also accused of using his inauguration committee as a slush fund or sorts, to the tune of $83,000 in unreported donations.
We agree with Thomas on one thing: politicians are rarely, if ever, charged or convicted for campaign finance violations and he was never given the chance to make amendments or corrections before his arrest.
Part of his guilty plea was the agreement that he would not run for office for one year. That one year has expired and Thomas is running for Mt. Vernon Comptroller.
II-Thomas will receive little support from the Mt. Vernon Democratic Party, but that hasn’t stopped him before. Chief Westchester Democrat Reginald LaFayette has put the kibash of Thomas receiving the endorsement of the party to run for Comptroller. But in 2015, Thomas won the democratic primary for Mayor against the same party establishment, and even today, he enjoys support from democrats outside of the party leadership.
Some members of the Mt. Vernon Democratic party have considered expelling Thomas from the party and from running in a democratic primary for any office in the City.
III-Thomas doesn’t have the usual experience, (CPA or accounting degree), that comptrollers usually have, similar to Comptroller Reynolds, who also had neither. And while Thomas likes to write, “here we go again,” in regard to the City’s fiscal troubles, he was part of the here we go again when he clashed with Comptrollers Maureen Walker and Deborah Reynolds.
“The only nightmare is the one we are living now with the incompetence in City Hall. The people in charge there and the Political Mob that protects them are dangerous. Mount Vernon needs safety and structure. I re-submit my fighting spirit and proven results to serve and save Mount Vernon as its next Comptroller,” wrote Thomas in his recent campaign comments on Facebook.
Two other candidates have announced for Mt. Vernon Comptroller: City Council President Marcus Griffith and former auditor and congressional candidate Derickson Lawrence. Comptroller Reynolds has yet to announce if she will seek re-election.
Griffith has wanted to serve as Comptroller since 2009 when he ran and lost against then Comptroller Maureen Walker and will give up another run for Council to do so this year. Derickson Lawrence has been an independent democratic voice in Mt. Vernon for decades. He ran for Congress in 2018 and is a former auditor with KPMG and currently serves as a financial consultant.
Mayor Patterson-Howard has not said who she supports but questioned whether Thomas and Reynolds can serve without oversight from the State.
One Sound Shore Democrat said, “If Thomas does the right thing, and works to fix the City’s problems, then his political future could be bright again, and he could seek office outside of Mt. Vernon.”
While we are all hoping that America makes a comeback after we all get vaccinated, the voters in Mt. Vernon will decide if Thomas can be trusted with their tax dollars, and if they will validate his comeback.
The mt Vernon democratic city committee will meet next week to make their endorsements.
