The ticket-fixing scandal that forced the retirement of Peekskill City Court Judge Reginald Johnson has opened up a public fight among the seven members of the all-Democratic Peekskill Common Council. See related story here.
Ramon Fernandez, considered to be a potential contender in the race for Mayor next year, was named by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct as one of the people that Judge Johnson favored by voiding a moving traffic violation for a friend of Fernandez.
In a press release issued late Tuesday, Sept. 24, City Mayor Vivian McKenzie announced that a majority of the Common Council believes that Councilman Fernandez should resign and that the matter is being referred to the City Board of Ethics.
“…the Common Council reviewed [Fernandez] sworn testimony … and believes it is in the best interest of the City of Peekskill that he resigns from his position,” McKenzie wrote.
McKenzie claims that Fernandez might have violated Code Section 48-3[L] that prohibits a city official to secure privileges for themselves or others.
“The Common Council and I take this matter very seriously and will continue to work for our constituents with integrity,” Mayor McKenzie wrote.
“I will not resign,” said Councilman Ramon Fernandez when reached Tuesday night. “I will continue to fight and bring forward the issues and concerns that people need to be represented on. I will not accept a double standard. The people of Peekskill have a clear view of what is going on in this situation. There are people on the Common Council who want to run an election without an opponent,” he continued.
“My family and I, and the people that believe in me, are so clear that I will not do anything that doesn’t benefit me. I am a broker for my constituents all the time. I have faith in God, he’s my lawyer and my judge.”
In 2018, Peekskill City Council Member Fernandez told Judge Johnson that his friend who received tickets for operating an auto without a driver’s license and failing to stop at a stop sign “was a good person” and the tickets were unjust. Johnson dismissed the tickets in his chambers with no official court record of his action.
According to the Commission’s report Judge Johnson considered Councilman Fernandez to be a family friend.
When Fernandez spoke directly to Johnson in the summer of 2018 he understood from Johnson’s response that the tickets would be dismissed.
On or July 27, 2018, Johnson dismissed the tickets in chambers, off the record, outside the presence of the parties, without notice to or the consent of either the Peekskill City Prosecutor, Ingrid O’Sullivan, or the Peekskill City Police Department, which had issued the tickets.
While calling for Fernandez to resign without being officially charged with any crime, or convicted of any offense, Mayor McKenzie continues to defend Council member Rob Scott. Scott was charged with violating campaign laws by the Westchester County District Attorney in April, accused of forging signatures on his petitions to get on the ballot.
McKenzie has stated that Scott should continue to serve because he has not been convicted of any crimes and deserves the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise.
In the 2021 general election, Fernandez led in the council race with 2,223 votes, followed by Dwight Douglas with 2,206 and Rob Scott with 2,135. Mayor McKenzie received 2,511 votes in the mayoral race.
