Mayor Thomas’ Address to the Westchester County Board of Legislators
Remarks as Prepared for Delivery
Mayor Richard Thomas before the Westchester County Board of Legislators
July 16, 2018
Members of the Board of Legislators. Ladies and gentlemen in the audience.
Good evening. My name is Richard Thomas, and I am the proud mayor of Mount Vernon, and I am here to talk about Memorial Field, an iconic park in our city, whose legacy includes:
· hosting the Jackson Five,
· filming the immortal Coca Cola commercial with Mean Joe Green, and
· being the place where countless sporting events created lasting memories for generations of county residents dating back to 1931.
Let me start by saying that I come here tonight surprised and saddened:
· Surprised that Westchester County is thinking about suing Mount Vernon over Memorial Field, and
· Saddened that the call for litigation is coming from County Executive George Latimer. Especially, when the terms of our agreement with the county give Mount Vernon “sole authority and control over the development” of the property and rights to due process.
County Executive Latimer came to office promising to replace conflict with conversation and cooperation.
So far from what I can see, he has stuck to his pledge.
He talks to unions, environmentalists, senior citizens, neighborhood groups, and advocates for cause after cause. So why isn’t he talking to Mount Vernon?
Why is this native son of Mount Vernon threatening lawsuits, which will be costly to taxpayers and add to the decades-of-delay for reopening Memorial Field.
A county lawsuit is the last thing Memorial Field needs.
Plans for renovating Memorial Field have already been bouncing back and forth between the county and city for almost 25 years.
The last breakthrough came a decade ago when the city and county signed an Intermunicipal Agreement on a renovation plan.
In 2011, there was even a ground breaking, attended by our Legislator Lyndon Williams. (Legislator Tubiolo was not yet in office.)
But things fell apart in 2012 when former Mayor Ernie Davis unilaterally and inexplicably decided to change the plans and build a tennis court right on the field, making it impossible to complete the agreed-to vision of a sports complex with a regulation track.
Adding insult to injury, 12,000 yards of contaminated dirt was then dumped on the site.
County Executive Latimer knows all this.
The sad history is captured in a letter he sent to me on May 31. I wrote back later that day, telling him “there is much to agree on” in his letter, “especially the need for the City and County to partner together on the successful restoration” of Memorial Field.
Since then, I have reached out to the County Executive on at least three occasions to sit down and talk out a solution. No answer.
Tonight, I hear he is asking for permission to negotiate or sue Mount Vernon.
If he won’t talk, there can’t be any real negotiations. My fear is that tonight’s action is nothing but a pretext for a lawsuit. And a lawsuit would do absolutely nothing, except add to the unconscionable delays we have already endured.
Right now the park is padlocked, in a legal battle between a rock and hard place.
A judge has ordered us to stop all renovation work, meanwhile the state Department of Environmental Protection is fining us for not moving fast enough to examine the contaminated dirt under the tennis courts.
Again, the last thing needed is a lawsuit by the county.
Mount Vernon stands ready to work with the county on a solution for Memorial Field. But our talks must start with respect, respect for the people of Mount Vernon. Mount Vernon will not be bullied into a deal by the county’s power and money. Memorial Field belongs to the people of Mount Vernon, not Westchester County. Care must be given to preserve the fabric and foundation of our city.
I continue to make myself available to the County Executive and all the members of the Legislature to work on a solution.
I was elected to reopen Memorial Field. We have put a strong team together to do just that. Here’s the plan:
First, we must inspect for contaminated dirt under the tennis courts.
Second, we must remove any dirty dirt.
Both actions are by order of the DEC.
Third, once the field clean is clean, we can start to execute the IMA with the county.
And fourth, we can go beyond the IMA and rebuild the tennis courts on adjacent city land. This will allow both tennis and a regulation 8-lane track.
Memorial Field has been a zombie property for too long.
Our goal is to work with the County to bring it back to a better life than before.
Let’s all get to the table and fix this thing.
How many more summers can we lose?
Thank you.
