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The “CEO” of Mount Vernon
Get to know Mayor Richard Thomas, who swept into office earlier this year
pAromising much-needed economic growth for his city. By William Garrity
t just 33, Richard Thomas is the youngest mayor in Mount Vernon’s history. The lifelong resident began his political career working for New York governor David Paterson, subsequently becoming the youngest person to sit on the Mount Vernon City Council, at age 29. Many have interpreted his landslide victory in last year’s general election (he received 78 percent of the vote against three challengers) to be a mandate for a new direction in the embattled municipality, yet he’s off to a contentious and controversial start
with this mission. Part of his platform was a comprehensive plan to revitalize Mount Vernon as a center for business and job growth. We sat down with Thomas to discuss some of these plans.
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You’ve earned an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business and held various jobs in finance. How will your background in economics influence your administration?
I have a vision to operate City Hall like a small business. The current practice is to have 32 commissioners and deputy com- missioners for Mount Vernon; my hope
is to pare this down to around 12. We can use these savings to invest in the business of the people of Mount Vernon. In putting approximately $1 million back into the city, there can be a 2 percent tax reduction on our residents. I plan to run the city using a cost-benefit analysis. We will try to present the values, the math, and the methodol- ogy to show people that we are making decisions based on data. The numbers will really drive my opinion.
“Ispeakfinance,andmanycompanies will appreciate the fact that I will move at the speed of capital.”
You are hoping to attract new busi- ness to Mount Vernon, especially startups or businesses that have been priced out of other areas. How do you plan to do this?
Resources in Mount Vernon are signifi- cantly less expensive. We have very cheap water rates. If you’re a tech company, you need water to cool your servers; if our wa- ter rates are 25 times less than in New York City, that’s a significant savings. Our elec- tricity costs are lower than New York City’s, too. Also, we can work with tax abatements pegged to job creation or revenue genera- tion for potential startups and developers.
I speak finance, and many companies will appreciate both my understanding and the fact that I will move at the speed of capital.
Another issue you’ve mentioned is your desire to bring higher education to Mount Vernon. How will this benefit the city?
I would love to establish higher-education facilities in the city. I’ve been reaching out to universities in New York City to consider creating dormitories here in Mount Vernon for graduate students. I believe that higher education is important for the city to attract. It brings both investments and the people that come with those investments—more people in our downtown area that will pa- tronize our businesses. You see this happen- ing in New Rochelle with Monroe College. New dorms, new buildings have been built, and that activity is really a major benefit.
Photograph by Kenneth Gabrielsen
POWER POINTS