Gloves On Gloves Off hosted by Father Gassy — October 12, 2018
Mayor Thomas appeared on Gloves On Gloves Off — Hosted By Father Gassy on Future FM Radio 98.9 FM at 8:30 AM on Friday, October 12, 2018.
Topics discussed included:
1. #MemorialField
2. #Razorbacks
3. Mount Vernon City School District
4. Grace Baptist Church’s “Station of Hope” Reentry Programs
5. “Run for A Cause,” a community color run on Saturday, October 27 at 2PM at City Hall, and
6. the City Hall Cook Off and more.
The Mayor spoke on the sewer crisis on 7th Avenue and 3rd Street, where the stench is deplorable. The Mayor highlighted how the DPW Sewer Crew has been working on fixing the odorous problem for three weeks with the City Engineer (who finally got paid after 120 days). The first issue was locating the maps of the sewer system in the basement of City Hall. As the mayor noted, “It takes time and money to organize records that were not organized inside City Hall.” This particular section of the sewer was constructed in 1933 and includes a chamber approximately 40 feet under ground that must be accessed by workers to scope out the rest of the problem. This type of infrastructure work requires a specially-trained and equipped crews to conduct the work. An independent, specialized contractor will be needed to assist the DPW as the city currently lacks the equipment or training to conduct such work.
The mayor summed up the issue by saying “we are doing our best with very little, and as soon as we get access to more resources, we will do more.”
Councilwoman Delia Farquharson called into the show and she and Mayor Thomas discussed ways to move vital initiatives ahead more quickly. The Mayor explained the process of implementing change and highlighted the bottlenecks that block change from happening. He said, “While the Council may approve some spending to fix a problem… we have seen the comptroller’s office decide to not process the authorization to fix the problem.” He went on to ask, “So what do we do?”
“We go to Court to enforce the authorization and this wastes more time and costs even more money,” the Mayor said.
The Mayor emphasized that it takes about four weeks for the administration to act on resolving certain complaints related to housing and launching initiatives with the City Council, due to the current structure in City Hall. The time frame could be shortened should staff levels be restored to the Mayor’s office as well as other key departments that handle community issues. Click here to see the 2019 budget requests and here for a comparison to other communities.
Though the shell game funding situation is aggravating; Mayor Thomas is urging all to not be discouraged. The fight for a better Mount Vernon is being won, one step at a time.
