More proof that the walls of the Peekskill Democratic Party machine are caving in has been exposed. It has always been known by those involved in local politics that when it comes to Peekskill’s Democratic Party political elite of the past 20 years, their preference and penchant for politics over substance and progress always comes first. Party success is all that matters. Doing the right thing does not. Too bad this mantra continues with one of the newest political figures, Vivian McKenzie.
It has come to light this week that it was Councilwoman Vivian McKenzie who violated Employee Confidentiality by forwarding confidential personnel emails that announced the suspension of two city employees. Within minutes of the emails being sent by the City Manager to certain council members, the announcement appeared as a post on a local online news site. The twist to the story is even more disturbing and is proof regarding the statement above. Yes, McKenzie forwarded the email within moments of receiving it – but it wasn’t directly to the press. No, it was to her political handler Mike Morey! Who is Mike Morey? More on him later.
The Peekskill Corporation Council recently stated publicly that the emails in question were forwarded to “a third party.” Mayor Catalina pressed her further as to who sent them and to whom. She admitted it was from McKenzie to Morey, and within minutes Morey forwarded the email to his press contact who then immediately posted the news online. Included in the posts were the the employee’s name, and in one occasion, even included a photo of the employee.
Needless to say – McKenzie is in big trouble. The City Manager has a lot to answer for too.
Why was confidential information about city employees put in writing in an email in the first place? This is not, nor should it be, standard procedure for the exact reason being discussed. It is too dangerous to put such information in an email, especially in such a volatile situation and environment. An emergency meeting of the common council as a whole should have been convened to explain the events and details of the incidents regarding the employees. InsidePEEK has learned that only the Democratic Majority of the Council knows such details. Mayor Catalina and his two GOP colleagues have still been kept in the dark of the details of the suspensions. All they have been told is that the two suspensions have NO connection to the “break-in” incident.
InsidePEEK has learned that both Claxton and McKenzie were in continuous direct contact with the City Manager while the possibility of the suspensions were being deliberated. It was Claxton and McKenzie who ordered the City Manager to send out the emails announcing the suspensions. However, the Mayor was excluded from receiving the emails. Now we know why. They wanted their political handler, Mike Morey, to begin the political spin and deflection away from Claxton’s misdeeds. We have learned that it is something he has been doing for many years.
When confronted by members of the public in the most recent Common Council meeting, McKenzie could not refute her unethical actions – further solidifying her involvement and validating what happened.
So who is Mike Morey? Why would McKenzie involve him?
Mike Morey is a well-known political operative and manipulator who presently works for the ultra liberal SDK Knickerbocker public affairs firm that represents many Democratic Party Candidates and Elected Officials. He started as the Chairman of the Peekskill Democratic Party and graduated to various positions for NY Senator Chuck Schumer before joining SDK. He continues to be the architect for the local campaigns and remains as main local Democratic Party advisor.
Why would Morey inject himself so deeply in this latest debacle created by the very people he helped get elected? Is it more than just protecting his protégés? Or is he more involved than we think? Maybe he is protecting himself for some reason? InsidePEEK has been informed he has a connection to the Fremont Street house that was purchased by Claxton. We are looking into this claim. Perhaps as the various investigations continue we will find out more of Morey’s involvement in the issues surrounding the recent scandals.
Morey has had his successes, including in Peekskill, getting candidates elected but has had a bad track record as of late. A number of his candidates of all levels have been unsuccessful. Christine Quinn for NYC Mayor and Sean Eldridge for Congress are two recent clients who have lost miserably. His personal project, Mary Foster, crashed and burned under his tutelage along with Mary Beth McGowan and Andrew Torres.
SDK Knickerbocker website
InsidePEEK has learned that almost immediately after the Claxton Scandal broke Morey got to work attempting to put pressure on the media to prevent further reporting and to prevent, or at the very least delay, any criminal investigations. It is his specialty as described in his SDK Bio – “He specializes in war room management, rapid response and crisis communications…” so he is in his element under these conditions. Luckily, for the sake of the public trust and for justice, he has been unsuccessful so far. Time will tell if his ineffectiveness continues.
In the meantime, the City of Peekskill has another crisis to deal with. All the diversion tactics, misinformation and outright lies disseminated by the Morey, Claxton and McKenzie political operatives through social media and public meetings are not working. A chord has been struck and the public will not stand for these deeds to be swept under the rug. The acts were too numerous, too bold and too outrageous to be ignored.
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