Photos: Andre Wallace
Former Mount Vernon Mayor Andre Wallace (shown above) says Mount Vernon is headed for “self-destruction” because of incompetent governance.
The more things change, the more they seem to stay the same. It’s no secret that Mount Vernon is heading for self-destruction as it continues to elect people who haven’t the first clue how to run a City.
Just because I’m familiar with my barber who’s been cutting my hair for over two decades doesn’t mean he’s qualified to handle my finances. As simple as that sounds, we seem to make that very mistake when it comes to electing folks in this City.
We continue to put our eggs in a basket without checking to see if it has holes in it, then become upset with the basket when it fails to hold up to our expectations. It’s not the basket’s fault, it was never fit to carry eggs in the first place, so why are we shocked when there’s broken eggs all over the ground.
Over the past 7 years, I’ve written dozens of articles posted on Andrewallace.com that address many of the same issues our city now faces. “Mount Vernon…We Have a Problem,” “Money Burnin’ Mount Vernon,” “Budgeting Our Way to the Poor House – A Mount Vernon Specialty,” “Nothing but Incompetence,” “Can Mount Vernon Change?” and many others.
Whenever I speak to people I hear the same question over again, “will Mount Vernon ever get better?” And my answer is always the same. “Yes, when we stop electing people using the ‘friends and family’ program.” While familiarity may give you a sense of loyalty, it also creates blind spots and worse, it makes you ignore fundamental requirements for leadership.
Just because someone went to school with you, is your sorority sister, masonic brother, family member, married to your cousin Bebe or was on your high school track team is not a valid reason to vote for someone. It’s not a “qualification or endorsement” of that person’s merit.
Yet, when it comes time to vote, citizens forget that incompetence and inexperience costs us all a lot of money.
This kind of behavioral thinking has contributed to the downfall of Mount Vernon. This year’s tax increase of 15.66% is a testament to what I’ve been writing about for the past 7 years. Seniors and those on fixed incomes are going to be hit the hardest and can expect more of the same next year.
Although the Mayor continues to state that this budget is 3.27%, you and I both know better. Because a tax is a tax, no matter what you call it. If you don’t pay your garbage or sewer “tax,” guess what? You’re going to start losing services. So, let’s not get stuck on semantic regarding what things are called. It’s all coming out of our pockets and that makes it what it is: “A TAX”.
There’s an old spell Merlin once used that went “Smoke and mirrors, mirrors and smoke, choose which mirrors to fool the folks.” Well, no matter the trickery you use to move around the budget’s numbers the truth will always be revealed because numbers don’t lie. You know who lies? People lie. Politicians in over their heads lie. The same ones you went to school with, ran track, joined a sorority with or even worship at the same church together.
Our nation’s economy is about to take a turn and it’s not for the better. We’re up against rapidly rising inflation with a recession coming at us like Lebron James on a fast break and Mount Vernon has no plan for it. It’s time for everyone to get involved and start asking this administration real questions and more importantly, demanding real answers.
I’ll start it off with a few softball questions:
- The budget has been raised over $25 million dollars since this administration took office 2 years ago. Where and how has that money been spent?
- How do you plan to generate new revenue outside of taxing homeowners?
- Can we see your 5-to-7-year financial projections on where you believe Mount Vernon will be in the future?
- Do you have an economic plan for the growth of our City?
These are very simply questions that should be easily answered by an administration when asked. I would argue they should be answered even without being asked.
However, every time this City faces a challenge, the only response appears to be the assigning of blame to everyone who came before you? When do you take any responsibility for your failure to control your spending, eliminate legal risks, accountability for your departments actions or leading this City in a fiscally responsible transparent way you stated while running for office?
We have no shortage of elected officials who “talk the talk” however, talk is cheap.
Our taxes continue to increase while our services decrease. We continue to throw money at our problems with no viable solutions. That should tell you that money is not the problem; it’s something else. If Mount Vernon wants to break this vicious cycle, then we better start making better choices and start asking the questions that really matter because time is not on our side. They say good things come to those who wait, but not those who wait too late.
It’s time to stand up and be heard.
Call your elected officials and ask what are we getting for this new 15.66% tax increase? If you’re just getting the same song and dance, know you’ve elected the wrong person. Let them know that next time, you’ll be voting for someone who does more than just a song and dance. You need someone who can produce! It’s our city, our money.
Why settle for less?
