More Obstruction and Inaction on the People's Business

This morning the Mount Vernon Board of Estimate and Contract held its bi-weekly meeting, and as in the past, very little of the people's business got done because of political games.

Again, Comptroller Deborah Reynolds didn't show up, even though she is required to do so as one of the board's three voting members. This morning she cited "personal business," even though she knows this is a standing meeting every two weeks.

The board doesn't need the Comptroller's vote to get its work done, but City Council President Andre Wallace wasn't willing to do much work either. Thankfully he voted to approve a resolution for the clean-up of Memorial Field, but he acted on little else because most of the items were held.

Just like he did two weeks ago, he claimed that he couldn't take votes on important salary resolutions for members of my administration because he claimed a need to speak with the Comptroller.

What's taking him so long?

Ostensibly Council President Wallace needed to speak to the Comptroller about salary resolutions that the Comptroller insisted were needed to properly compensate some of my administration's commissioners and staff. Yet when the requested resolution was presented for a vote, the Comptroller was a no-show and the City Council President wouldn't vote on it without first speaking to the person who insisted on the resolution.

This back-and-forth on resolutions before the board is a dirty game designed to obstruct, delay and hinder any progress by my administration. Why? Because playing games with my commissioners' salaries is a dirty tactic designed to demoralize my staff and undermine my administration.

The Comptroller and City Council President want the public to believe that nothing is getting done at City Hall, when the fact is that they are the obstructionists preventing any work from getting done.

When my commissioner called out the City Council President this morning on his games, his response, as you'll see in the video, was to call for a meeting adjournment. The City Council President feigned an urgent meeting and he practically ran out of the room, leaving the people's business undone.

We've seen this behavior before. The Comptroller doesn't show up and the City Council President claims he can't vote on anything until he speaks with the always-absent Comptroller.

When will the games end?