Watch The Great Presidential Debate Video Between Roosevelt Island Heavyweights Farance and Katz - RIRA Election Tuesday, November 2

Image Of Farance (right)/Katz (left) RIRA Presidential Debate

The Great Debate between current President Frank Farance and challenger Mathew Katz for the Presidency of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) which took place last Wednesday evening is now available online for viewing here. The debate takes about one hour and is a very informative discussion about current and future issues of concern to Roosevelt Island residents. In the context of Roosevelt Island, it is also very interesting and I highly recommend clicking here and watching the proceedings.

I think those who favor either of the two candidate will still support that candidate after watching the video though it may help those of you who are still undecided about whom to vote for as President of RIRA.

For me, the most interesting question of the debate occurred at the 23 minute mark of the debate when both candidates were asked what action each wished they would have done differently during the term of their Presidency. (Note that Mr. Katz was RIRA President during 3 different terms prior to Mr. Farance).

Mr. Farance responded that he wished he crafted his language differently when criticizing the Columbia University Transportation Study last year and in some of his RIRA President Columns.  I find that significant since much of the opposition to Mr. Farance has come from his occasional use of overly harsh language at those he disagrees with or thinks are wrong over a particular issue. Perhaps, Mr. Farance is learning to be a bit more diplomatic in his utterances.

Mr. Katz replied that he wished he had done more for Eastwood/Roosevelt Landings Residents during the privatization process of that building and for RIRA, in general, to be more involved in housing privatization issues on Roosevelt Island.

There's still time to decide whom you will vote for RIRA President. Although not eligible to vote in this election, Assembly Member Micah Kellner has decided who he favors for RIRA President and sends in the following statement in support of Matthew Katz as President of RIRA:

I am proud to offer my strong endorsement of Matthew Katz for President of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association. Matt has distinguished himself as a true leader on the Island. I have worked closely with him over the years and I can attest to his passion for and encyclopedic knowledge of Roosevelt Island as a community. Matt is a terrific person to work with and an endless source of good ideas. As a community leader and past RIRA President he has won important battles on behalf of Island residents, helping to begin the process of making RIOC more representative of the community, saving late-night tram service, pushing for a much-needed renovation of the Roosevelt Island Bridge, and showing creativity and flair in strengthening the RIRA Common Council, from fundraising to recruiting. I have found Matt to be an excellent partner in working to make Roosevelt Island a better place, and I look forward to joining forces with him again to solve the many challenges facing the community.

Mr. Farance sends in the following campaign wrap-up statement:

Re-Elect RIRA President FRANK FARANCE Focused on the Future of Roosevelt Island, Standing up for ALL the Residents

I'd like to share some discussion points while meeting many residents.

All: You've felt that RIRA has made a lot of progress. In contrast to my opponent's statements, the RIRA's working relationships are the strongest, and you feel RIRA is worthwhile. In contrast to my opponent's statements, there is increasing participation. The residents have voted with their feet: 53 candidates is a new RIRA record! In contrast to my opponent, I have been actively concerned about the Island's long-term finances, which affect everything from the kinds of parks we will build to the kinds of daily operations and services RIOC will provide. We need to look for other funding sources so your City/State taxes can come back to the Island.

Parents: I am a single parent with 8-year-old twins. I have met regularly with the PS/IS 217 Principal to listen to the school's needs. I've helped fight to keep the Gifted and Talented program. I have volunteered in many of the youth services: Main Street Theatre, Island Kids, RI Youth Program, Beacon Program, etc.. I spend two nights a week teaching Island children about the sciences and robots (we won First Place for Teamwork and won 7th of 24 teams city- wide).

Seniors/Disabled: I am in support of housing for seniors and disabled, and I am in favor of GDP amendments that will secure this.

Organizations: I have supported a competitive and conflict-free process for Public Purpose Grants.

Merchants: I have advocated for community input in the retail space so we can keep desirable merchants.

Southtown: I've advocated for parking on both sides of Main Street (RIOC is investigating). Buildings 7-9 will make/break Island finances in the near future.

Octagon/Manhattan Park: I've advocated for the Red Bus to be the synchronizing clock to build cohesion among all residents: everyone should be a reliable 5-minute, 25-cent ride from each other. These two buildings should each form tenants associations to advocate their own interests (e.g., rationalizing utility bills).

Rivercross, Island House, Westview: I continue to support the privatization efforts of these three buildings as they exit from the Mitchell-Lama program. I've heard that some Rivercross tenants believe I am against their effort and this is not true: what I was against was the RIOC Board, which is comprised of a majority of Rivercross residents, expressing their concerns directly. Their concerns should be expressed via a third party (e.g., real estate advisor) so there are no appearances of impropriety — no different than a CEO having a separate compensation committee determine he/ her salary. Island House residents: please vote for me as RIRA President and also as Island House representative.

Roosevelt Landings (Eastwood): As RIRA President, I have supported your building's needs for rational submetering and energy improvements. As an individual and as your neighbor, I've provided photocopying/printing for your door-drops to support your tenants association.

AN UPDATE FROM THE RIRA DEBATE

Wednesday's debate is on the web. If you only have a moment, watch my opponent's opening remarks vs. mine: http://nyc10044.com/z/y At the debate, I promised to answer questions in detail about RIRA procedures. You can find these comments on the Roosevelt Islander blog. I stand by my statements: my opponent has not followed the procedures. As a former RIRA President I hold him to a higher standard: he should be an exemplar and an advocate for following the rules. He continues to show poor judgment in this area. For example, he was forced to resign from his board in Westview because he kept the ballot box in his apartment overnight while elections were running and he was a candidate. While I don't believe he would tamper with ballots, everyone would agree this a serious lapse in judgment. You would have thought my opponent had learned from these experiences.

I am reminded of the saying, "If we don't have the time to do it right, when will we have the time to do it over?" Good judgment, honesty, ethics, and fairness are principles for representing ALL the Island's residents. PLEASE VOTE FOR FRANK FARANCE ON NOVEMBER 2.

Also, Mr. Farance comments on what he believes to be specific procedure violations that he referenced in Wednesday's debate.

Violations on Meeting Participation and Voting:

Here is how my opponent violated our procedures. Our RIRA Constitution (Article 6, Section 7; Article 9), and Bylaws (Article 2, Section 1) require the use of Roberts Rules, which means: all members have the right to participate in discussions and votes. Over the summer, the Maple Tree Group excluded people from discussions, the discussion of voting, and the voting itself. These were done in secret and Ashton Barfield, chair of the parent committee confirmed these facts in public at the September RIRA meeting. Of course, the other members of the Maple Tree Group were in violation of the procedures, too, but I hold my opponent to a higher standard because he is a former RIRA President, he worked on the 2004 reformulation of the RIRA Constitution and Bylaws, and he should be an exemplar and advocate for following the rules. But the opposite is true: in his opening statement in the debate he says the Vice President should have posted meeting notices on kiosks (it was done sporadically) and, thus, because the Vice President had made mistakes, then why should I expect him to follow procedures? That's not good judgment nor is it good leadership

Violations on Elections Machines: My opponent has been involved in the purchase of election machine services. When Mr. Katz declared his candidacy on September 11, he should have handed over the paperwork to RIOC (who was spending the money and whose CFO is capable of negotiating prices). The RIRA Constitution (Article 5, Section 5) makes it clear: "No candidate for President or Vice President may serve on the Election Committee", which means we cannot do things that the elections committee is responsible for, like getting election machines. It was only after my opponent's actions became public did he then hand over the materials to the RIOC CFO. If my opponent truly believed he was still in the right on procedures, he would have continued his actions when they were made public, but he stopped.

Lack of Judgment: It is this ongoing pattern of lack of judgment that is troubling, whether it is the need to be inclusive of all members and residents, or procedures themselves. As I've mentioned, my opponent resigned from his board in Westview because he kept the ballot box in his apartment overnight while elections were running and he was a candidate. For whatever reason, my opponent still does not learn from these experiences.

Affects All Residents: These aren't minor points of procedure, these are items that directly affect ALL of the residents: (1) Southtown, Octagon, etc. were not able to put forward RIOC Board candidates from their own buildings; (2) the Island was prohibited from un- electing members of the RIOC Board (e.g., had there been an election, present board members would have been motivated to explain their actions on firing the RIOC President); (3) a small, secretive, self- selected group of people put forward legislation that irritated the Governor who vetoed it, and it will have a negative effect on future resident RIOC appointees; (4) the obvious lack of democracy by my opponent and the Maple Tree Group has tarnished the Island's drive for self-governance. [Note: I had no interest in running the proposed RIOC Board election.]

Understanding RIOC Director Terms: Regarding before/after term expiration, all of our city-state- national elections choose candidates before terms expire, not afterward. [Note: For RIOC, the statutes mandate 4-year terms that go with the seat, not the person. As an analogy: when President Kennedy died, Johnson did not get 4 years, he filled out the remaining time and stood for reelection a year later.]

One Large Manipulation: My opponent says he helped get RIOC Board elections in 2008 (6 slots to fill), and 2009 (2 slots to fill), but he advocated against elections in 2010 (1-3 slots to fill). There was enough time, but my opponent and the Maple Tree Group seem more interested in keeping their favored residents on the RIOC Board and not allowing the rest of the Island to participate. Had you been at the September 2010 RIRA Common Council meeting where this was discussed, you could see that some MTG members were angling the procedure for individual directors they liked or disliked: "The solution is to ask that Faye Christian be reappointed and to have someone standing by to take David Kraut’s seat", which is quoted from the approved minutes. This RIRA discussion was not about choosing a clean election process independent of which candidates might run, this was a blatant manipulation so that individual RIOC directors who were favored by MTG members (such as Ms. Christian) would get reappointed without having to run for reelection while RIOC directors who were out of favor (such as Mr. Kraut) would have their position go through an election process. It's right there in the approved minutes, it was said in public: it's clearly about manipulating the RIOC elections process towards MTG's favorites and away from others. It's not about democracy, and my opponent was an advocate of this non-democratic process.

One Point of Agreement: In the debate, my opponent and I agreed on one important point (along with all other prior RIRA Presidents): The RIRA Column in the WIRE is our personal opinion, it is impossible to write a column via committee, and we choose it to shed light on things we think are important.

A statement from Mr. Katz was previously posted as was this earlier statement from Mr. Farance.

More on the 2010 RIRA Elections including Building Delegate Nominees here.

While it is true that RIRA has no real power or authority on any particular issue, RIRA is considered to be the voice of the residents by those who do have such power, the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Board Of Directors and staff as well as our elected officials, which is why RIRA is important.

Please vote on Tuesday in the RIRA elections as well as the City, State and National elections.

UPDATE 11/1- Mr. Katz responds:

Dear Frank:

          I’ve received your door-dropped flyer under my Westview apartment door.  Your casual relationship with the truth is troubling.  You have accused me of being forced to resign from the Westview Task Force after the 2006 Board elections.  This is untrue.  As you can see in the attached candidates’ list, I was not a candidate in this election, having resigned from the WTI prior to the election.

          In your campaign statement and RIRA Column in The Main Street WIRE, you accused me of violating the RIRA Constitution regarding election conflicts of interest.  You pursued this bogus statement even after I challenged you in the Great Debate to cite a single word in either the Constitution or Bylaws regarding conflicts.  I quoted chapter and verse on your violations of both documents at the debate.  You also made statements about my lack of executive experience that are false, and would be laughable were they not made in the context of an important election.

          I am sorry that you seem to feel it necessary to trash me, personally and professionally, in order to win this election.  I had hoped we could discuss the critical issues of Roosevelt Island instead.  As you have often done over the last two years, you disappoint me.

          Matthew Katz 

Update 6:45 PM - Mr. Farance responds to Matt Katz:
There's More!

Matt-

It is troubling that your leadership is about Trying Not Getting Caught, rather than a focus on What's The Right Thing To Do.

I've already supplied the citations, but I will do it again (see below). Here's a recap some of the main points:

- In the Maple Tree Group for the RIOC 2010-2012 elections, you advocated for a secret meeting that excluded members

- You took a vote (without knowledge of the whole committee) that excluded members

- And you presented this as a decision of the committee

- Ashton Barfield confirmed all the above facts at the September 2010 RIRA meeting

- Ashton Barfield, then under pressure from my questioning, said "Maple Tree Group is open to everyone". Ashton understood that MTG was a closed group (why would she now say it is "open"?).

- Further manipulations/violations are documented below.

MATT, YOU DON'T SEE ANY PROCEDURAL PROBLEMS WITH THAT SECRET, MEMBERS-EXCLUDED VOTING?

In Westview, the story was told to me by you, Deidre Breslin, and other Westview residents: you and Sherie were running for election, but both had to resign. Today, I've received E-mail from Eileen Gardiner (see below) who confirmed and clarified "It was Sherie who was running and who was forced to resign over Matt's handling of the ballot box".

MATT, YOU HAVE A BALLOT BOX IN YOUR APARTMENT OVERNIGHT WHILE ELECTIONS ARE GOING ON -- YOU DON'T HAVE BELLS GOING OFF THAT SOMETHING IS WRONG?

That's what I mean by a serious lapse of judgment. The problem with this dialogue is that you are unwilling to face up to the facts that you have made serious mistakes.

-FF

---------------------------------------------------

[Citations on Violations]

VIOLATIONS ON MEETING PARTICIPATION AND VOTING:

Here is how my opponent violated our procedures. Our RIRA Constitution (Article 6, Section 7; Article 9), and Bylaws (Article 2, Section 1) require the use of Roberts Rules, which means: all members have the right to participate in discussions and votes. Over the summer, the Maple Tree Group excluded people from discussions, the discussion of voting, and the voting itself. These were done in secret and Ashton Barfield, chair of the parent committee confirmed these facts in public at the September RIRA meeting. Of course, the other members of the Maple Tree Group were in violation of the procedures, too, but I hold my opponent to a higher standard because he is a former RIRA President, he worked on the 2004 reformulation of the RIRA Constitution and Bylaws, and he should be an exemplar and advocate for following the rules. But the opposite is true: in his opening statement in the debate he says the Vice President should have posted meeting notices on kiosks (it was done sporadically) and, thus, because the Vice President had made mistakes, then why should I expect him to follow procedures? That's not good judgment nor is it good leadership

VIOLATIONS ON ELECTIONS MACHINES:

My opponent has been involved in the purchase of election machine services. When Mr. Katz declared his candidacy on September 11, he should have handed over the paperwork to RIOC (who was spending the money and whose CFO is capable of negotiating prices). The RIRA Constitution (Article 5, Section 5) makes it clear: "No candidate for President or Vice President may serve on the Election Committee", which means we cannot do things that the elections committee is responsible for, like getting election machines. It was only after my opponent's actions became public did he then hand over the materials to the RIOC CFO. If my opponent truly believed he was still in the right on procedures, he would have continued his actions when they were made public, but he stopped.

AFFECTS ALL RESIDENTS:

These aren't minor points of procedure, these are items that directly affect ALL of the residents: (1) Southtown, Octagon, etc. were not able to put forward RIOC Board candidates from their own buildings; (2) the Island was prohibited from un-electing members of the RIOC Board (e.g., had there been an election, present board members would have been motivated to explain their actions on firing the RIOC President); (3) a small, secretive, self-selected group of people put forward legislation that irritated the Governor who vetoed it, and it will have a negative effect on future resident RIOC appointees; (4) the obvious lack of democracy by my opponent and the Maple Tree Group has tarnished the Island's drive for self-governance. [Note: I had no interest in running the proposed RIOC Board election.]

ONE LARGE MANIPULATION:

My opponent says he helped get RIOC Board elections in 2008 (6 slots to fill), and 2009 (2 slots to fill), but he advocated against elections in 2010 (1-3 slots to fill). There was enough time, but my opponent and the Maple Tree Group seem more interested in keeping their favored residents on the RIOC Board and not allowing the rest of the Island to participate. Had you been at the September 2010 RIRA Common Council meeting where this was discussed, you could see that some MTG members were angling the procedure for individual directors they liked or disliked: "The solution is to ask that Faye Christian be reappointed and to have someone standing by to take David Kraut's seat", which is quoted from the approved minutes. This RIRA discussion was not about choosing a clean election process independent of which candidates might run, this was a blatant manipulation so that individual RIOC directors who were favored by MTG members (such as Ms. Christian) would get re-appointed without having to run for reelection while RIOC directors who were out of favor (such as Mr. Kraut) would have their position go through an election process. It's right there in the approved minutes, it was said in public: it's clearly about manipulating the RIOC elections process towards MTG's favorites and away from others. It's not about democracy, and my opponent was an advocate of this non-democratic process.