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Governor Chooses 4 for RIOC; RIRA Sending Letter Asking for All Six Election Winners
The Governor's office has told three of six successful candidates in February's election to nominate residents to the RIOC Board that their names will be sent to the State Senate for confirmation. In addition, longtime resident Board member David Kraut has been asked to continue on the Board.
But Kraut's reappointment means that at least one winner of the community's February election for nomination to the open Board seats will not be appointed. He and other sitting Board members had opted not to be candidates in the February balloting. (Video at http://www.vimeo.com/677275?pg=embed&sec=677275 ).
On Wednesday night, the Common Council of the Residents Association unanimously authorized a letter to the Governor calling for appointment of all six winners in the community election. Members decried the Governor's office "cherry-picking" the results of the community election. On Thursday night, Assemblymember Micah Kellner assured the Maple Tree Group, a
RIRA subcommittee that has worked toward democratization of the RIOC Board, that he will ask the Governor to reconsider his staff's decision to appoint a resident who chose not to run for a Board seat in the February election.
In addition to Kraut, the three announced appointees are Dr. Kathie Grimm, Jonathan Kalkin, and Fay Christian. Election winners passed over by the Governor's office include Frank Farance, Erin Feely-Nahem, and Howard Polivy.
Because there are only six openings on the Board, and the Governor and Mayor appoint four and two, respectively, at least one of the elected nominees will not be appointed. While the Mayor is not obligated to choose election winners as his nominees (and only one of his nominees must be an Islander), City Councilmember Jessica Lappin has urged him to honor the community's election.
Profiles of the community candidates appear on line at http://nyc10044.com. A report on the February election appeared in The Main Street WIRE and is on line at http://nyc10044.com/wire/2811/wire2811.html. Profiles of the election winners are in The WIRE at http://nyc10044.com/wire/2812/wire2812.html and subsequent issues of the newspaper. Website NYC10044 is taking comments from residents at http://blog.nyc10044.com. An interview with David Kraut is scheduled for inclusion in The WIRE's June 14 edition, along with further coverage of the Board appointment process.
