Portrait of Maureen Walker, Comptroller of the City of Mount Vernon. She became the first woman, the first African American and the first person of Caribbean descent to hold such a position.

In 1993, Maureen Walker was elected Comptroller of the City of Mount Vernon, New York. She became the first woman, the first African American and the first person of Caribbean descent to hold such a position. During her tenure, Comptroller Walker has achieved her objective of maintaining the City of Mount Vernon as a financially stable and viable municipality. This financial stability has resulted in on-going budget surpluses which have enabled the city to keep city property tax increases to a minimum level. As a result of this, Mount Vernon remains an affordable city for residents and businesses. Under her leadership, the Department of Finance on behalf of the City of Mount Vernon has been awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for many years. Maureen Walker was re-elected to the position of Comptroller of Mount Vernon in 1997, 2001 and 2005 and 2009. She is currently serving her fifth-year term.*

I painted Maureen Walker’s portrait in 1997-1998. This was right after I came from the Czech Republic to New York, and I was searching for strong personalities making positive changes in this world. Maureen Walker was posing for me at her house in Mount Vernon. Since 1998 the portrait is her property. In the 1997-1998 period, I also painted a portrait of the Mayor of New York City Rudolph “Rudy” Giuliani and US Senator Charles “Chuck” Schumer.

* From Maureen Walker’s Bio

Medium: Oil on canvas, Size: 24″x19″