PAGE 3The Westchester Guardian Thursday, April 15, 2010

C i t y H a u lHow Mt. Vernon Officials Plunder the Public Purse

By Sam ZherkaIn our April 1st issue, The Guard-

ian exposed Mt. Vernon Mayor, Clinton Young, who has surround-ed himself with criminals, includ-ing his close friend, Craig Jones, twice accused of raping two young girls, ages thirteen and fourteen, and Director of Civil Defense, An-toine Lowe, previously arrested on the corner of Vista Place and West 1st Street in Mt. Vernon for solic-iting an undercover vice cop pos-ing as a crack-addicted prostitute.

The Guardian just obtained a re-cording in which Lowe threatened our newspaper. In a conversation with Mt. Vernon community ac-tivist, Samuel Rivers, Lowe said: “They’re messing with people who are crazy and don’t give a f___. Other people got guns, too.”

The Guardian contacted Lowe for comment. He yelled “Get off my f__ing phone” and hung up.

Mt. Vernon Commissioner of Public Works, Terence Hor-ton, brother of City Councilman, Steve Horton, is licensed to carry a handgun despite having once been convicted of Criminal Pos-session of a Firearm for which he was sentenced to three years probation. Horton is a real estate developer and operates as QFI, Inc. He owns several Mr. Vernon properties, including 434 and 440

Franklin Avenue, 29 Union Lane and 12 East 3rd Street.

Tax records obtained by The Guardian reveal that Horton owes $76,889.35 in tax arrears dating back to 2007. The Guard-ian was informed by a represen-tative of City Comptroller, Mau-reen Walker, that, unless Terence Horton pays the arrears, he will be treated like any other citizen in default, sued for tax foreclosure and his properties sold at auction.

“This is the worst I have ever seen” said John, a local business man known to The Guardian who refused to identify himself by last name for fear of retaliation. “This administration is shady and out-right corrupt. This city is falling apart. If Clinton Young gets re-elected, I’m closing up my busi-ness and leaving.”

Horton and Department of Public Works Supervisor, Rudy Persaud, were caught red handed using DPW employees to do ma-sonry work at their homes. Per-saud resides at 312 East Lincoln Avenue. He erected a decorative wall on the taxpayers’ dime with-out a permit from the Mt. Vernon Department of Buildings.

Samuel Rivers was unequivo-cal in condemning the Young ad-ministration’s corruption: “This is a terrible abuse of tax payers’

dollars. It’s criminal, and these guys should be in jail. This is why Mt Vernon is the poorest city in Westchester County and the highest-taxed city in the state,” he said.

Meanwhile, The Guardian ob-tained documentation proving that Buildings Commissioner, Ralph Tedesco, former treasurer

of the Mt. Vernon Democratic Committee, and a personal friend of the Mayor, engaged in bid rig-ging for demolition projects ap-proved by the Mt. Vernon City Council.

In addition, Tedesco stands ac-cused by several local business-men of attempted extortion and soliciting bribes. John Star, op-erator of an African catering hall, claims Tedesco tried to shake him down for money, and when he re-fused to pay, Tedesco shut down his business then located at 46-48 Mt. Vernon Avenue.

Bobby Brown, owner of demo-lition contractor, Bazooka, Inc., did business with Mt. Vernon for many years. He told The Guard-ian his experience with Clinton Young’s administration has been “a complete nightmare.” Brown said of Young’s lieutenants: “They

were always losing files and cut-ting deals behind closed doors. Buildings Commissioner, Ralph Tedesco, is a criminal. The city has been looking the other way and covering for him for a long time. I want the entire world to know.”

The Guardian spoke to several sources inside the Department of Public Works who refused to be

named for fear of losing their jobs. One source said he visited Hor-ton’s home and saw a white crys-talline substance he believed was cocaine.

In addition, Horton stands ac-cused of stealing $60,000 of paint purchased by Mt. Vernon from Wakefield Paint Supplies in the Bronx. The Commissioner has 150 employees. Yet, for unex-plained reasons, Horton person-ally picked up some 5,000-6,000 gallon cans in a Mt. Vernon truck. The whereabouts of these cans of paint is presently unknown.

Mayor Young and his adminis-tration act like members of disor-ganized crime. One wonders why D.A. Janet Difiore and U.S. Attor-ney Preet Bharara have not taken action against this Mt. Vernon ca-bal of criminals.

Terrence Horton - DPW Commissioner

DPW Worker at Rudy Persaud’s house

Antoine Lowe - Civil Defense Director

Mount Vernon DPWsupervisor accused ofmisusing city services

MOUNT VERNON — A Democratic district leader hasreleased photographs that he says show aDepartment of Public Works supervisor and cityemployees doing work at the supervisor's home.

The photographs show DPW supervisor Ganga"Rudy" Persaud, city workers and a city sewerdepartment van at a home that appears to be 312 E.Lincoln Ave. The photographs were disseminated bySamuel Rivers, a former City Council candidate, whoclaims that Persaud misappropriated city services.

The photographs show unidentified workers movingan earth-leveling machine called a tamper, standingamid jackhammered rubble and laying pipes in theground. Persaud is with them. Rivers said hereceived the photographs in the mail last week froma DPW source.

Persaud did not return calls to his cell phoneregarding Rivers' allegations. Someone whoanswered the phone at the home said Persaud wasnot available to talk.

Public Works Commissioner Terrence Horton alsowas not available to discuss the matter on Tuesdayand Wednesday morning. On Tuesday, he told areporter he would call later in the day, which he didnot.

The Teamsters union's shop steward in the DPW,Harold Winbush, said city workers appeared in thepictures because they were picking up the city-owned tamper with the city vehicle and only privateemployees worked at Persaud's residence. He said

Persaud had "borrowed" the piece of equipment.

The pictures are undated; Rivers said they weretaken last year. He said at a news conferenceTuesday that he had not turned them over to cityofficials but planned to present them to the CityCouncil at its meeting Wednesday night.

City tax records indicate the tax bills for 312 E.Lincoln Ave. are sent to Ganga and Mintra Persaud.The home's tax payments are current, and the city'sBuildings Department has no recent work permits onfile for that property.

On Wednesday, Mayor Clinton Young's chief of staff,Yolanda Robinson, who had seen the images, saidthat no one had formally presented the photographsto the mayor's office or made an official complaint.

"These allegations will be turned over to the inspector general, and let the chips fall where theymay," said Robinson, suggesting the incidentunderscores the need for an inspector generalposition.

Earlier this year, the City Council voted to eliminatethe office of Inspector General Harry Stokes. Themayor vetoed the resolution. The City Council wasexpected to vote to override Young's veto at itsWednesday night meeting.

Stokes did not return a call about the DPW matter.

Rivers' complaint about Persaud echoes complaintsmade last year about city DPW crews repairingsidewalks near Horton's properties. Robinson saidthat the city found no wrongdoing by Horton in thatmatter because the city had letters from residents inthe area requesting new sidewalks.

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Meanwhile, Horton's property at 343 Franklin Ave.,near the disputed new sidewalk, is almost threeyears behind on school, city and county taxes —with $31,851.07 owed to the city. Horton is alsoalmost three years behind on taxes for his propertyat 12 E. 3rd St., for which he owes $35,044.18.

Robinson declined to comment on Horton's taxarrears, calling them a personal matter.

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A Mount Vernon Sewer Department vehicle is parked next tocity-owned earth tampers at 312 E. Lincoln Ave in Mount Vernon,the home of Rudy Persaud, Department of Public Workssupervisor, in this photo submitted by Mount Vernon Democraticdistrict leader Samuel Rivers.

A Mount Vernon Sewer Department vehicle is parked next tocity-owned earth tampers at 312 E. Lincoln Ave in Mount Vernon,the home of Rudy Persaud, Department of Public Workssupervisor, in this photo submitted by Mount Vernon Democraticdistrict leader Samuel Rivers. (Samuel Rivers)

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