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Last week, Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Thomas announced that eight of the DPW’s 17 sanitation trucks are currently out of commission, and the city owes $257,066 to 13 parts vendors. Some of the unpaid bills allegedly date back to last April. Two of Mount Vernon’s five street sweepers are also out of commission.
On Wednesday - a day after a malfunctioning DPW truck went rogue, slamming into a car and damaging a house - Thomas announced that citywide recycling is cancelled and garbage collection on Thursday could be canceled. Homeowners have been advised to put uncollected recycling away, the mayor said.
“Eight of the city’s functional garbage trucks were placed out of service today after they all failed road-safety inspections,” he said. Officials will discuss an action plan to get the garbage trucks back on the road by Friday or Saturday.”
The mayor placed the blame on Comptroller Deborah Reynolds’ “refusal to pay city bills.”
“Due to Comptroller Deborah Reynolds’ refusal to pay the city’s bills, vendors who supply the Department of Public Works with crucial parts that are necessary to keep Mount Vernon’s aging fleet operational have cut the city off,” he said. “Without these parts and supplies, DPW mechanics cannot perform critical repairs, which means when trucks go down, they stay down.”
Thomas said that in November, Vincent Emilio of DB Hydraulics, a company that has been doing business with Mount Vernon for more than 50 years, stated he was planning to take the City to court because he can’t get the Comptroller to pay bills dating back to July.
“The vendor that services the sweepers told the Garage Superintendent Edgar Torres that they want to work with the DPW, but the cannot perform any more services or supply any more parts until a substantial payment is made on the DPW’s account,” Thomas said. “These vendors have a right feel fed up.”
More information is expected to be released by Thomas on Wednesday afternoon at a press conference. Check Daily Voice for updates.
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