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09-17-09
Mt. Vernon, NY
Letter to the Editor
Helena R. Edwards
Open Letter To All Westchester Elected Official to Help
REDUCE the Senseless Violence in Mount Vernon
Another Mt. Vernon youth succumbs to gunshot wounds
In a
recent article, I mentioned that the District Attorney,
Janet DiFiore, stated that overall crime in Westchester had
been reduced under her watch by 13 percent, but the murders
in Mount Vernon seemed to have been increased by 100
percent. Statistics can be made to say whatever a skilled
analyst wants them to say. So to understand the underlying
meaning of these statistics, one must ask himself or herself
a few questions: What sample has been used? What was the
size of the sample? And you probably would want to know who
conducted the study since as I said earlier, the study can
say anything a person wants it to say.
I am not
going to do this analysis on the statistics that the
District Attorney gave us. I don’t need to. Why you
asked? Because common sense tells me that included in that
number had to be what they called, a large number of
non-life threatening crimes. Why do I say this? I say this
because no other City in Westchester that I have heard of
has been experiencing the outrageous number of crimes that
Mount Vernon has been. Since none of the candidates in the
Democratic Primary addressed Mount Vernon in particular in
terms of how they would REDUCE the violent crimes that Mount
Vernon is experiencing, I am asking the three candidates
currently running for District Attorney this question
directly at this time. How do you candidates for DA plan to
REDUCE the crimes in Mount Vernon?
It is
clear that the Young Administration is incapable of reducing
the crimes here because the crimes that previously occurred
in the dead of night are now occurring in the height of
day. Just yesterday, someone lost his life at about 2:00
P.M. in the daytime. I am fed up with the disgusting
comments that are continually posted online and elsewhere
about Mount Vernon whereby they refer to the people of Mount
Vernon as “vermin” living in a ghetto. This somehow does
not seem to bother the people in power, especially those who
do not live in Mount Vernon. About two weeks ago, I met
County Clerk Tim Idoni at the Mount Vernon Train Station
with the current Chairman of the Democratic City Committee,
Devereaux Cannick, County Legislator Lyndon Williams, and
two others. I had a conversation with Mr. Idoni where I
asked his opinion on some issues here in Mount Vernon. I
was absolutely angered when he told me that “I don’t get
involved with Mount Vernon Politics.” I seriously couldn’t
believe the words that were coming from his mouth so I asked
him why then was he in Mount Vernon asking the residents to
vote for him. His statement seems to grossly contradict
with his actions at that particular time.
In
fairness to Mr. Idoni, he is not the only elected official
who only comes to Mount Vernon to further his own agenda,
but refuses to get involved in resolving some of the
problems that we have here in this city. The other point I
must mention is that these people take us for granted and
treat us with such disrespect because we allow them to do
it. Therefore, I am calling on all of the elected officials
and leaders who have in one way or another, at one time or
another, benefited from the votes of the great people of
Mount Vernon to step up to the plate and provide whatever
help is necessary to return civility to Mount Vernon. I am
also calling on the residents of Mount Vernon to ensure that
elected officials provide us with help by only voting for
those who actually help us. The children of Mount Vernon
deserve to live and grow in a safe environment as much as
children in any place else. I am not in the criminal
justice business and I don’t profess to know what is needed
to correct this problem. However, I know that the streets
in Mount Vernon can be made safe because I have seen it
happen in New York City. Let’s work together for bring
about a safe and prosperous environment in Mount Vernon.
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