By Dan Murphy
On Jan. 11, Mt. Vernon Mayor Richard Thomas invited rapper FatBoy SSE to the city and named him “mayor for a day.” During the visit, which Thomas claims was supposed to be an anti-bullying message to the young people of Mt. Vernon, the mayor and FatBoy decided to make an unannounced visit to Mt. Vernon High School.
What resulted was a “melee,” according to the Mt. Vernon Board of Education, which passed a resolution against the mayor and FatBoy for the damage incurred at the high school during their visit. More important, the visit also resulted in disruption of mid-term exams and the highlighting of fights at the high school, which some parents claim “occur on a daily basis.”
The resolution passed by the Board of Education reads: “Whereas, on Jan. 11, 2019 during class hours while mid-terms were ongoing, Mayor Richard Thomas arrived announced and unauthorized at the Mount Vernon High School with a social media personality and a large entourage;
“Whereas, this group was asked and directed multiple times to leave the premises, and refused to follow the directives of security personnel and the building principal for some time;
“Whereas, even after finally exiting the building, this group continued to interfere with classes by walking around the building causing further disruptions;
“Whereas, the incident resulted in a melee and extensive damage to public school property, a full missed class period and prevented hundreds of students from completing scheduled exams;
“Whereas, this Board of Education is charged by the citizens of Mount Vernon with protecting and ensuring the education and safety of the students, teachers and staff in our care;
“Now therefore be it resolved that this Board of Education unequivocally condemns the intentional and/or reckless actions that took place on Jan. 11, 2019 and herewith authorizes counsel to pursue any and all available legal remedies against Mayor Richard Thomas, the City of Mount Vernon, Tariq Thomas Kimbrough also known as ‘Fatboy SSE,’ and/or any other individuals and/or entities responsible for causing the civil disturbance and related damages that occurred at the Mount Vernon High School on or about Friday, Jan. 11, 2019.”
Mt. Vernon Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kenneth Hamilton said there were unconfirmed reports that Fatboy threw money around, causing a mad scramble in the high school with fights ensuing among students and damage to the school.
Before his visit to the high school, Fatboy, whose real name is Tariq Thomas Kimbrough, accompanied the mayor to an announcement of a hotel, parking garage and event center on South Fourth Avenue. But as the mayor was announcing plans for development in downtown Mt. Vernon, Moody’s “A” credit and bond rating agency, “took the dramatic step to withdraw its credit rating for the city, blaming the city’s lack of transparency with its financial records as the cause” reported News 12.
“The political dysfunction at Mount Vernon City Hall is now creating a major financial headache for the city…City Council President Andre Wallace calls devastating because what it means is when the city needs to borrow money to pay for things like fixing roads or street lights, that money will cost a lot more,” added News 12.
Moody’s claims that the Mt. Vernon Urban Renewal Agency and Industrial Development Agency, both of which Thomas controls, have not had a certified audit in three years. Another nonsensical argument between the mayor, council and Comptroller is the reason for no audits for the URA and IDA. The mayor wants the city to pay the $50,000 cost for the audits, while the council and comptroller want the agencies to pay for their own audits.
If other ratings agencies follow Moody’s, the taxpayers of Mt. Vernon will have to pay higher borrowing costs, and any developer in their right minds would not be interested in investing in a city with no bond rating.
Returning to the FatBoy debacle, Thomas waited three days before apologizing to the school district for his actions. But before his apology, he held another press conference with FatBoy and Mt. Vernon resident Monique Brown, who said her daughter was assaulted by another student when the mayor and FatBoy went to the high school.
Surprisingly, Brown said that neither the mayor nor FatBoy should be blamed for her daughter being assaulted and claims that there are fights at the high school every day. Brown and most of the residents of Mt. Vernon, have not questioned the mayor’s decision to embrace Fatboy, who has been banned from several stores for lewd behavior. His outrageous internet videos have a following of 5 million Instragramers.
Former Mayor Ernie Davis has also taken to the airwaves, on his 1460 WVOX radio show, to clash with Thomas. Thomas had accused the former mayor for the ongoing problems at Memorial Field, stating, “Now, as mayor, I have aggressively moved to comply with the DEC order to clean up Ernie’s mess.”
Finally, a cupcake store in Mt. Vernon that Thomas tried to close last year is back in the news. The Cupcake Cutie Boutique, operated by Miesha Stokely, who is the daughter of Damon Jones, a frequent critic of the mayor, was closed by the city’s Building Department for the second time in less than one year. The city claims the store has unresolved violations; the store’s owner claims it’s political retribution from the mayor.
In our reporting of Mt. Vernon, we have stated that there is good news in the city, but the problem is that the good news is drowned out by the other oddities and distractions going on at City Hall, which are similar to what we see going on in Washington, D.C.
The Yonkers City Council and the city comptroller need to be more vocal and take a more active role in the city’s affairs. The bills need to be paid and the bond rating restored, with or without the help of Mayor Thomas.
