For years, the New York State Comptroller has documented a troubling pattern in Mount Vernon: missing audits, missing financial reports, a city that could not account for where its money went. The state told us the systems meant to protect taxpayers had failed. What the state couldn’t fully see, because the city kept the lights off, was what was growing in the dark.
This is a story about what grows when accountability disappears.
There are two 501(c)(3) nonprofits operating out of Room 11 at Mount Vernon City Hall. They share the same address, overlapping officers, and a board composed almost entirely of city employees. One uses the Recreation Department’s phone number. The other has the city’s Commissioner of Recreation and Commissioner of Public Works written into its bylaws as permanent board members. And in 2024, the City of Mount Vernon issued one of them $60,000 in federal pandemic relief funds, with checks approved by the same man who runs both organizations.
The first is called Friends of Mount Vernon Arts, Recreation and Youth Programs Inc. (Friends of MVARYP, EIN 90-0910967). The second is the Mount Vernon Memorial Field Foundation, Inc. (MVMFF, EIN 47-1292288). Both have websites that show very little meaningful information.
What follows is what the public records show.
THE CONTEXT: A CITY THAT STOPPED REPORTING
In September 2020, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released an audit of Mount Vernon’s financial reporting and oversight. City officials had not established basic financial policies or procedures. The City Comptroller failed to file the required annual financial report for fiscal years 2016 through 2019. No audited financial statements had been issued since 2015. The city had lost its credit rating.
In January 2022, a second state audit found millions in expenses not timely paid, inappropriate actions by the former city comptroller, and poor disclosure that caused ongoing legal issues. The state made 29 recommendations. DiNapoli urged Mayor Patterson-Howard and the incoming City Comptroller, Darren Morton, to implement them immediately.
As of the state’s most recent follow-up, the City’s 2021 through 2024 audits remain outstanding. The general fund deficit, last measured at $28.9 million as of December 2020, has likely grown. The city still cannot tell its own residents what its finances look like.
This is the environment in which Friends of MVARYP received $60,000 in federal money, and in which two city-run nonprofits operate out of the same room in City Hall.
THE FIRST NONPROFIT: FRIENDS OF MVARYP
Friends of MVARYP was incorporated in 2012 and received 501(c)(3) status in 2014. It operates out of City Hall, uses the Recreation Department’s phone line, and reports revenue of $300,856 for fiscal year 2024. Based on its IRS Form 990-EZ filings (available on ProPublica) and city employment records, here is its board:
| Name | Nonprofit Role | City Role |
|---|---|---|
| Darren Morton | President / Chairman | Elected City Comptroller; Board of Estimate and Contract |
| Debbie Burrell-Butler | Vice-President | Executive Director, Youth Bureau (city employee since 2001) |
| Kathleen Walker-Pinckney | Vice-President | Commissioner of Recreation (city appointee) |
| Claudette Coote | Secretary | MVCTC Project Coordinator, Youth Bureau |
| Naomi Halevi | Treasurer | Senior Account Clerk, City of Mount Vernon |
| Glen Rodriguez | Asst. Treasurer | Senior Account Clerk, Youth Bureau |
| Diane Atkins | Member | Former City & Westchester County Employee |
| Dena Williams | Member | Deputy Director, Youth Bureau |
| Ricardo Wright | Member | Director of Operations of Memorial Field Stadium |
Eight of nine board members are current city employees or elected officials. This is not a community organization with some government ties. It is city government running a private fundraising vehicle, one that answers to no city council, no budget hearing, no public vote, and no FOIL request.
THE SECOND NONPROFIT: MOUNT VERNON MEMORIAL FIELD FOUNDATION
Friends of MVARYP is not the only nonprofit operating out of Room 11.
The Mount Vernon Memorial Field Foundation, Inc. (MVMFF) was incorporated on April 3, 2014, under Section 402 of the New York Not-for-Profit Corporation Law. Its Certificate of Incorporation was filed by Darren M. Morton. Its stated purpose: to provide financial and programmatic support for the preservation, renovation, and operation of Memorial Field.
On June 5, 2024, Morton signed the organization’s Registration Statement for Charitable Organizations (CHAR410) with the New York State Attorney General’s Charities Bureau, listing himself as President and primary contact. The registration was received July 16, 2024. The foundation is registered under NY State Reg. No. 50-30-94, with its principal address at 1 Roosevelt Square, Suite 11, the same room in City Hall where Friends of MVARYP operates.
The registration lists three officers:
| Name | MVMFF Role | Also Serves As |
|---|---|---|
| Darren Morton | President | President of Friends of MVARYP; Elected City Comptroller |
| Naomi Halevi | Treasurer | Treasurer of Friends of MVARYP; Senior Account Clerk, City of Mount Vernon |
| Ricardo Wright | Vice President | Member of Friends of MVARYP; Director of Operations, Memorial Field Stadium |
Every officer of the Memorial Field Foundation also serves on the board of Friends of MVARYP. All three are city employees or elected officials.
The overlap does not end with shared personnel. The MVMFF bylaws structurally embed city government into the nonprofit’s leadership: Section 6.1 mandates that the board include “the City of Mt. Vernon Commissioner of Recreation and Commissioner of Department of Public Works.” Section 6.2 confirms these commissioners serve “by appointment to the respective City office,” not by election. This is not informal overlap. It is a permanent feature of the organization’s charter.
The foundation’s Certificate of Incorporation designates process service at One Roosevelt Square, Room 11, City Hall. Its contact email is Morton’s personal Gmail.
One additional detail: according to the CHAR410, MVMFF’s federal tax-exempt status was revoked on May 17, 2017. The registration was filed June 5, 2024, seven years after revocation. Whether this represents a re-application or a registration of an organization operating without tax-exempt status is not clear from the public record.
Two nonprofits. Same City Hall address. Same president. Same treasurer. Overlapping boards. City commissioners written into the bylaws.
No resident voted for this. No city council authorized it. No public hearing examined it.
THE FEDERAL MONEY
In May 2024, Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard signed a formal ARPA subrecipient contract awarding Friends of MVARYP $60,000 in federal pandemic relief funds. The nonprofit was represented at signing by Kathleen Walker-Pinckney, the city’s own Recreation Commissioner, acting as the nonprofit’s Vice-President. The city’s Department of Planning and Community Development administered the contract.
The city issued two checks from the Office of the Comptroller: $30,000 on July 15, 2024 (Check No. 160381), and $30,000 on October 8, 2024 (Check No. 161390). Both payable to Friends of MVARYP at 1 Roosevelt Square, Room 11, City Hall. Payment vouchers require Comptroller approval.
The Comptroller is Darren Morton. The President of Friends of MVARYP is Darren Morton. The President of the Memorial Field Foundation is also Darren Morton. His office approved disbursements to an organization he leads, while simultaneously leading a second nonprofit out of the same office.
The contract’s Section 16, Conflict of Interest, states:
“The Subrecipient warrants that no part of the total Contract Amount shall be paid, directly or indirectly to an employee or official of the City/County as wages, compensation or gifts.”
The nonprofit’s board is composed almost entirely of city employees and officials. The contract contains a clause it cannot truthfully sign, and the city signed it anyway.
THE FIRE RELIEF SOLICITATION
On November 24, 2025, a fire tore through a residential building at 30 Cottage Avenue in Mount Vernon. Mayor Patterson-Howard responded on her official city Facebook page, directing all monetary donations to Friends of MVARYP, with Zelle payments to Accounting@friendsofmountvernon.org. Gift cards were to be dropped at the Office of the Mayor.
Click here for full-size image
No independent charity. No escrow account. No public accounting. The mayor used the authority of her office to channel disaster relief donations into a nonprofit controlled by city hall employees. As of publication, no accounting of those funds has been made public.
THE CITY COUNCIL WAS ASKED TO BLESS IT
On the evening of March 9, 2026, the Mount Vernon City Council held a work session. Item 12 on the referral packet read:
“An Ordinance Authorizing Continued Co-Sponsorship between the Mount Vernon Recreation Department, Youth Bureau, and Friends of Mount Vernon Arts, Recreation & Youth Programs, Inc. for Community Programming and Special Events.”
The attached letter, submitted by Commissioner Walker-Pinckney and Executive Director Burrell-Butler, requests Council approval of a formal, ongoing agreement allowing the nonprofit to “accept monetary donations to continue funding special events hosted by the Recreation and Youth Bureau Departments.” The stated reason: “current budget constraints.”
That is a direct, written admission that Friends of MVARYP exists to move public-purpose money outside the budget process, bypassing city council appropriations, public hearings, and Freedom of Information Law.
The co-sponsorship request was submitted on Friends of MVARYP letterhead, but that letterhead lists the city’s own website (cmvny.com), the Recreation Department’s Facebook page, and the Recreation Department’s phone and fax numbers. The nonprofit has no independent institutional identity. The signatories used their government titles: Walker-Pinckney signed as “Commissioner,” Burrell-Butler as “Executive Director.” City officials using government authority to advocate for a contract between the city and a nonprofit they lead is a textbook Public Officers Law §74 conflict, documented, signed, and submitted to a legislative body.
Click here to see the full referral and letter.
And the word “continued” is telling. They are not asking to create this relationship. They are asking the Council to formalize one that has already been running without legislative authorization.
Approval does not shield anyone from legal exposure. But it creates institutional cover and makes future accountability harder.
THE INSTITUTIONAL FAILURE
Think about how many hands this agenda item passed through before it reached the public. Someone drafted the letter. Someone formatted it on nonprofit letterhead listing city phone numbers. Someone packaged it into the referral packet. Someone assigned it an item number. Someone distributed it to Council members. Someone posted the agenda.
At every step, a city employee had the opportunity to say: wait a minute. A nonprofit run entirely by city employees, operating out of City Hall, using city phone lines, chaired by the city’s own Comptroller, is asking the Council to authorize it to raise money for city programs outside the budget. The letter is signed by two department heads using their government titles. The word “continued” tells you this has been running without authorization.
Nobody stopped it. Nobody flagged it. Nobody said this needs legal review before it goes to a vote.
That silence is not a procedural lapse. It is an institutional failure. The systems meant to catch conflicts of interest, to ensure public money moves through public processes, to protect taxpayers from self-dealing, have either broken down or were never functioning.
The individual conflicts in this article are serious. But an entire administrative apparatus processing this referral without a single objection may be the most damning detail of all. It suggests the arrangement is not being hidden. It is simply normal. The people inside City Hall do not see the problem, because the problem is the culture they work in every day.
WHAT THIS MEANS
New York Public Officers Law §74 prohibits public employees from engaging in activities that create a substantial conflict with their official duties. Federal ARPA regulations under 2 CFR §200.318 require conflict of interest disclosures and prohibit officials from participating in grants in which they have a personal interest. The city administered $60,000 in federal money through an arrangement that violates the plain terms of both standards.
Mount Vernon spent years unable to account for public money. The state documented the failures. Officials promised reform. And while reform was being promised, while the audits remained unfinished and the credit rating stayed suspended, city officials were building a parallel financial structure: two nonprofits, same City Hall office, same leadership, funded first by private donations, then by federal ARPA funds, and potentially to be formally ratified by the City Council as standard operating procedure.
Mount Vernon residents deserve a government that spends public money in public. What is described here is the opposite of that.