Mount Vernon mayoral candidate Clinton Young pens open letter to city’s oldest Black church

MT VERNON, N.Y. - Aug. 23, 2015 - PRLog -- Mount Vernon  Democratic mayoral candidate Clinton Young has sent an open letter to the  members  of  Greater Centennial A.M.E. Zion Church, the city’s oldest African-American church, seeking the congregation’s support.  Young’s letter to the historic church cited the city’s rising tax and crime rates, and its crumbling bridges and roads. The A.M.E. Zion church has been a presence in  Mount Vernon since 1868.

Young wrote, “I have been blessed to be a resident of  Mount Vernon for fifty years and a member of this church for twenty of those years.  My father brought our family to the city  because  it was a symbol of hope and promise to him.  I have carried his dream in my heart all of my life , and despite  the current condition of the city,  I am as excited by the possibilities of  our city as my father was the day he arrived.”

Known for his close personal relationship with the church community, the former mayor was in the news in June during  national coverage of  the mass shooting at  Mother Emanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina. He was baptized at the famed church and was a friend of  slain senior pastor, state senator Clementa C Pinckney.  President Obama travelled to  South Carolina to deliver the eulogy at the much-beloved Pinckney's memorial.

A graduate of prestigious Morehouse College in Atlanta, Young served as the 20^th mayor of the city  from 2008 to 2011. His administration has been praised for crime reduction,  low taxes,  and clean, efficient government. He previously served on the Mount Vernon School Board from 1982-1992 and in the Westchester County Legislature from 1996-2007.

The eighth most populous city in the state of New York, Mount Vernon lies on the border of the New York City borough of  the Bronx.  As of the 2010 census, the four square mile city had a population of 67,292.

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