A coalition of community organizers in Mount Vernon is hosting a Zoom forum with city officials at 5 p.m., Sunday, to discuss government transparency and access to public records.
The forum, which takes place at the tail end of Sunshine Week, will feature Brian Johnson, the Mount Vernon corporation counsel, Tanesia Walters, the city clerk, and Beryl Lipton, police discipline data coordinator for the USA TODAY Network New York.
Gannett Co., Inc., the parent company of The Journal News/lohud, has requested reams of disciplinary records from the Mount Vernon Police Department, which the city has yet to produce.
“We are seeking more timely and accessible public meeting and hearing notifications, as well as relevant information on the matters under consideration by our elected and appointed officials,” said resident Jane Curtis, who will moderate the forum. “Sunshine Week is the perfect moment for a community discussion toward achieving these goals.”
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Also attending the panel will be Paul Wolf, president of the New York Coalition for Open Government, a non-profit advocating for government transparency.
In late 2020, the group issued a brief report alleging that the city was in violation of the New York Open Meeting Law for failing to post agenda documents on its website ahead of city council meetings.
“The residents of Mount Vernon have been subjected to a dysfunctional government which has resulted in criminal charges against city officials, government officials unable to work together, lawsuits, critical financial audits, all while being kept in the dark in many ways by the City Council and City Clerk,” the report said.
In June 2020, state lawmakers repealed one of the most prominent barriers to public records access, a statute known as Civil Rights Law 50-a. The law had for the most part shielded the disciplinary records of police officers and other civil servants from public view.
The law’s repeal promised to provide unprecedented insight into the disciplinary allegations against police officers for the first time in decades.
The USA TODAY Network New York sent public records requests to police departments across the state seeking these documents.
At a press conference in December, Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard reiterated her administration’s commitment to public records access in response to a question about the request for disciplinary records.
However, Johnson, the corporation counsel, took the podium a few minutes later to state that “I do want to walk back that promise to you at this time.”
Almost two years after Gannett’s initial request, the city has yet to produce the records at issue.
Sunshine Week was founded in 2005 by the organization now known as the News Leaders Association to raise awareness about open government at the state and federal levels.
It overlaps with the March 16 birthday of James Madison, known as the “Father of the Constitution” who would push for the passage of a bill of rights post-ratification.
Sunday’s Zoom forum will take place at 5 p.m. via the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4963582412
Asher Stockler is a reporter for The Journal News. You can find him on Twitter at @quasiasher or send him an email at [email protected]. Reach him securely: [email protected].
