Meet the Candidates for RIOC Board Nominees Video
A President's welcome from Kimberly Lengle on Press HD.
A Candidate's Night was held last Wednesday for Roosevelt Island residents to meet their fellow neighbors seeking election as nominees to the RIOC Board of Directors. For those of you who were unable to be there in person, bloggers Press HD and Roosevelt Island 360 have more video from the meeting including presentations from the candidates as well as a question and answer session.
My initial impression is that I was disappointed that most, but certainly not all, of the candidates lacked basic information on the important issues facing Roosevelt Island today and in the future. Other than passionately urging the retention of Roosevelt Island's affordable housing, the general desire for open space parkland and retailers for the vacant Main Street stores, for the most part there was no acknowledgement or apparent appreciation of the complex legal, regulatory, financial, engineering and managerial constraints imposed upon members of the RIOC Board as Directors of a New York State public corporation operating under the Public Authorities Act and a State mandate to be financially self supporting. I was also stunned by the fact that most of the candidates, some of whom have lived on Roosevelt Island for 10 or 20 years, have never even been to a RIOC Board meeting!
I regret that members of RIRA and the Maple Tree Group who have worked so hard to get these elections approved are not running for these positions because, in my opinion, they are the most knowledgeable and qualified members of the community to serve on the RIOC Board.
I truly do not intend to be overly critical of the announced candidates. They deserve to be congratulated for entering the fray and volunteering to serve their community. But remember, the six individuals who win the election to be nominated to the RIOC Board must still be approved by the Governor and the State Senate. At that point their knowledge and qualification for the position of RIOC director will be evaluated again and not by Roosevelt Island residents.
Watch the video's and decide for yourself!
Next candidate's meeting is Saturday February 2.
