Recently, Comptroller Darren Morton met with Facebook's Mount Vernon NewsCenter. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17ZFNvJnnf/

Here's our summary of the interview.

Quick summary

1) Credentials: padded, miscast, and not finance-core

• “CMFO” in New York ≠ CPA or CPFO, and it’s not a state license. In NY, NYCOM runs a voluntary Credentialed Municipal Finance Officer (CMFO) recognition track tied to conference coursework—not a professional license or exam-based designation on par with CPA or the Government Finance Officers Association’s CPFO. Morton repeatedly leans on “CMFO” as if it were a rigorous state licensure. It isn’t. (nycom.org)
• “CPRP” is a Parks & Recreation credential, not a finance qualification. CPRP is awarded by the National Recreation and Park Association to recreation professionals; it’s unrelated to treasury, accounting, or auditing. Using it to bolster suitability for a comptroller role is a category error. (NRPA)
• Admits no CPA in the office and reliance on consultants. Morton concedes there’s no CPA on staff and that he’s relied on outside accountants. For a city with Mount Vernon’s history of control problems, not staffing core expertise in-house is a governance red flag. (His own release and city site set out his role and duties.) (mountvernonny.gov)

2) Internal controls: two separate cyber losses under his watch

• December 2022: Police investigated fraudulent electronic withdrawals (~$20k) from the city’s payroll account. (LoHud)
• January 2025: Thieves successfully moved ~$400,000 out of city accounts before further ~$800,000 was stopped. Morton’s office acknowledged the incident. Multiple outlets and the city’s own notice confirm it. (LoHud)
• Controls still behind best practice. GFOA calls for documented treasury policies, strong internal control over federal awards and receipts, multi-factor controls that aren’t SMS-dependent, and robust receivables/cash handling procedures. Morton said they were using phone-based alerts and changed them after the breach—reactive, not proactive. (GFOA)

3) Chronic cash-flow fixes (TANs) because there’s no reserve policy

• He keeps coming back for TANs. The Council just approved up to $7.3M in new Tax Anticipation Notes at his request. His own memo frames it as a cash-flow bridge. Reliance on TANs is the predictable result of operating with no reserve. 
• (Westfair Online)
• No rainy-day fund violates modern norms. GFOA’s standard is blunt: general-purpose governments should maintain at least two months of unrestricted fund balance. Morton himself says Mount Vernon lacks a cash reserve, which is exactly why they’re scrambling for cash at year-end. (GFOA)
• Cash forecasting should be rolling and forward-looking. GFOA recommends continuous (at least 12-month) rolling cash forecasts to manage liquidity and reduce the need for stop-gap borrowing. Morton describes late-year, quarter-3 looks and “hope nothing comes out of left field.” That’s not the bar. (GFOA)

4) Budget construction on speculative revenues

• He cites red-light cameras and one-time asset sales that didn’t materialize. Building budgets on “wish-list” revenues (cameras not yet live; sale of the YMCA) is Budgeting 101 not to do. The remedy is conservative revenue estimation and removing speculative lines before adoption, not after the year blows up. (mountvernonny.gov)
• Charter requires regular, transparent reporting. Mount Vernon codified Quarterly Financial Reports as a legal duty (§91-b). Meeting the letter of the law is the floor; the spirit is to surface risks early so Council can prune unrealistic revenues and adjust spending on time. (eCode360)

5) “We’re not broke because we have assets” — a dodge

6) Independence claims: undermined by politics and structure

• He says deputy roles are “political.” That’s an argument against his stewardship model. Mount Vernon’s own charter ecosystem puts the comptroller at the center of financial controls, and independent audits are also required. If he can’t insulate finance from politics, that’s on his governance design. (eCode360)
• Reform track exists: Local charter work has explicitly recommended shifting from an elected political comptroller to an appointed financial professional to improve stability and accountability. If he truly wanted independence and professionalism, he’d be leading on these reforms. (Scribd)

7) What a qualified comptroller would have in place (use this as your contrast checklist)

1. Reserve policy targeting ≥ two months of operating expenditures (codified), with a multi-year plan to build it. (GFOA)
2. Rolling 12–18 month cash-flow forecast updated monthly/weekly; trigger points for hiring freezes and spending gates tied to forecast variances. (GFOA)
3. In-house CPA/CPFO leadership (not just consultants), clear segregation of duties, written treasury and investment policy consistent with GFOA. (GFOA)
4. Hard MFA and treasury controls (non-SMS), dual approvals, bank portal whitelisting, and daily positive pay/ACH filters—documented in policy. (GFOA)
5. Conservative revenue practices (exclude un-enacted programs and one-time sales until executed; mid-year re-forecasts). (GFOA)
6. Quarterly reports that actually drive action (Charter §91-b) and are published on schedule with variance analysis and corrective actions. (eCode360)

Quotes 

• “CPRP is a parks & recreation certificate, not a finance credential.” (NRPA)
• “NY’s ‘CMFO’ is a NYCOM recognition program, not a state finance license like CPA or GFOA’s CPFO.” (nycom.org)
• “Under Morton, Mount Vernon suffered two cyber incidents (2022, 2025), including a $400,000 theft.” (LoHud)
• “GFOA says keep ≥ two months in reserves; Morton admits the city has no cash reserve and plugs holes with TANs.” (GFOA)

Sources (for easy linking)

• NYCOM – Credentialed Municipal Finance Officer (CMFO) program overview (NY) (nycom.org)
• NRPA – Certified Park & Recreation Professional (CPRP) (NRPA)
• GFOA – Fund Balance Guidelines (≥ two months); Cash Forecasting; Treasury/Investment best practices(GFOA)
• Mount Vernon Charter / Code – Comptroller duties & Quarterly Financial Reports (§91-b) (eCode360)
• City press/notice and reporting on $400k cyber theft (Jan 2025) and 2022 ACH fraud (mountvernonny.gov)
• Coverage of the 2025 TAN approval (up to $7.3M) & Morton’s own TAN memo (Westfair Online)
• Charter reform analysis recommending an appointed professional finance head (Scribd)