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According to Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Thomas, the city was down to approximately 800 gallons of fuel for the city’s fleet on Tuesday, June 4, before receiving a new supply. Thomas said that garbage pickup will resume on Wednesday, June 5.
DPW crews will begin garbage pickup citywide beginning at 6 a.m. and Thomas vowed that they will run until "all the trash from all sides of Mount Vernon in one shot.”
DPW Commissioner Joseph Nigro said that on Wednesday, there will be garbage pickup only citywide, no yard waste. Recycling will also be suspended. On Thursday, crews will be picking up garbage on the Southside and recycling on the Northside. On Friday, they will do the opposite and yard waste will be picked up over the weekend.
“It took a lot of time and effort to convince our fuel vendor to accept the checks that were given to them yesterday. They were not authorized electronically yet by the Comptroller’s Office, but there were payments they received by mail for bills that were past due from last year,” Thomas said. “Took some of the money that was already months late and accept our signs of good faith to pay them and send at least one fuel shipment until they are fully paid.”
Thomas said that Reynolds and City Council President Andre Wallace were no shows at a Special Board of Estimate and Contract early meeting on Tuesday, June 4 where they were to discuss the fuel crisis and resuming trash pickup as soon as possible.
This week, Thomas and Comptroller Deborah Reynolds’ public spat hit a fever pitch when vendors cut off fuel from the city due to non-payment.
Each side has pointed the finger at the other, with Thomas claiming that Reynolds refuses to accept signed checks or accept invoices, leaving the city with millions of dollars in unpaid bills. Reynolds has claimed that she signs the checks and sends them over to Thomas’ office for his countersignature, putting the onus on him.
“Mayor Thomas is the one not paying the bills, not the Comptroller,” Reynolds stated. “He’s not signing the checks. He’s holding the checks up almost a month at a time; holding vouchers and invoices for almost two years in his office.”
"The City Comptroller yelled at me through the doors when I went down there to deliver the checks," Thomas said during a speech at the Waste Transfer Yard. "The City Council President came down and said the bill is paid. We went back to verify whether the bill was paid with the vendor, and the vendor confirmed the bill is not paid. The bottom line is, no fuel, no go."
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