Mount Vernon Insider: News from Mount Vernon Mayor, Richard Thomas.

Why choose to lose when the people can win?

What happens when a player on a team plays out of bounds?

In sports, there are severe and immediate consequences during games for fouls or for sending a ball out of bounds. Those consequences include giving the opposing team a small advantage, penalty boxes or even expulsion from a game.

But in Mount Vernon, one of our team players-Comptroller Deborah Reynolds-has repeatedly played out of bounds with few consequences.

Her most recent flagrant foul occurred as I wrote this editorial: I witnessed repo men rolling several photocopiers out of City Hall. The repo men took the City's main photocopy machines because Comptroller Reynolds hasn't paid the lease bills in about a year.

We didn't need an instant replay to know that Comptroller Reynolds was out of bounds on the copiers. Reproduction is an essential service in any City Hall, and civil servants' inability to make copies can only compromise service to the public.

It's not hard to identify the Comptroller's other fouls.

In March we saw a disruption of our garbage and recycling collection, along with the horrifying crash of a garbage truck that slipped out of gear. The grounding of garbage trucks and the accident were related to Comptroller Reynolds' failure to pay at least $257,000 in outstanding bills to 13 parts vendors. Some of those unpaid bills dated to last April.

There are more examples of Comptroller Reynolds violating the rules.

One vendor wrote and asked "Why would you tell me a bald-face lie?" We received letters threatening to cut off our municipal gasoline supply because of nonpayment. Senior centers ran out of toilet paper and paper towels because of nonpayment. The school district has sued Comptroller Reynolds for not turning over $31 million in school taxes her office has collected.

Meanwhile, the Comptroller accuses everyone of lying. The truth is that a whole chorus can't lie. Even the City Council had to acknowledge on April 10 that the comptroller was holding hundreds of thousands of dollars hostage when they called on her to release funds in order to avoid harm to our most vulnerable residents.

Let's put aside the embarrassment of seeing essential equipment removed from City Hall, uncollected garbage on our streets or possibly running out of gas. Any reasonable member of the public might look at the nonpayment mess and wonder how our City's top finance official could allow so many bills to go unpaid for so long. They could also question why the City Council or Albany have not acted.

The clear answer to the public's concern is that Comptroller Reynolds is simply not doing her job and the City Council is letting her slide, no matter who gets hurt.

I have repeatedly called on the City Council to help me protect the people of Mount Vernon. Based on the City Charter, they must hold Comptroller Reynolds accountable for her losing attitude and defeatist actions. The City Charter states that the City Council must require the Comptroller to purchase the proper insurance in case she issued, which leaves the City on the hook for any judgments or lawsuits against her.

The City Council responded with half measures. On April 10 they directed Comptroller Reynolds to abide by the three-business-day rule for disbursement of funds for grant money used to serve our most vulnerable residents. What the City Council didn't do was require Comptroller Reynolds to be insured or else step down from office.

I love Mount Vernon and I love to win for the people. That's why I refuse to lose and I am requesting a federal monitor to "umpire" the City Council's and the Comptroller's bad-faith games.

All sports require a level playing field. Given the continued obstruction, I am seeking an emergency hearing in federal court with the judge overseeing our clean water compliance. I will ask that judge to appoint a federal monitor-an umpire of sorts-who will have the power to force the Comptroller and the City Council to play fair for the people.

Too many fouls and false starts will cost the taxpayers of Mount Vernon dearly. This is unnecessary roughness that we must avoid. So it's important that we urge the City Council and Comptroller to join us and play to win on Team Mount Vernon.

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