Governors Office Interviews All 6 RIOC Nominee Candidates - Next Stop?

Assemblymember Micah Kellner, together with other Roosevelt Island elected officials, recently met with members of Governor Patterson's staff and discussed issues of concern to Roosevelt Island residents. Among the issues discussed was appointment of the six Roosevelt Island residents who won the recent election to be nominees to the RIOC Board of Directors.

Following up on that meeting, Kellner wrote the following letter to Governor Patterson asking that all six winners of the election be appointed to the RIOC Board and that the Governor not re-appoint those members of the current RIOC Board whose term has expired because they chose not to participate in the election. After the letter there is a February video from Press HD interviewing several of the current RIOC Board members who explain their views on why they did not participate in the election as well as the functions of the RIOC Board.

Dear Governor Paterson:

Thank you for graciously arranging the recent meeting between your staff and the elected officials representing Roosevelt Island. It was a very productive meeting, and I am pleased that your office has gone forward with interviewing the six winners of the Island’s recommendation vote for appointees to the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) Board of Directors.

It is important to recognize that these candidates were chosen by the community as part of a deliberate and well-considered process. I strongly believe that if the Roosevelt Island community had been satisfied with the performance of the residents who currently sit on the Board, it would not have undertaken such an exhaustive effort to hold a referrendum to nominate new Board members. Those members currently serving expired terms must not be considered exempt from the democratically-expressed will of Island residents – indeed, some residents have speculated that none of the sitting Board members chose to participate in the balloting process in part because they did not want to expose themselves to a clear repudiation from the community they are supposed to represent.

The residents of Roosevelt Island have made clear their choice as to who should fill the six positions on the RIOC Board of Directors. More Roosevelt Islanders voted for the RIOC Board than in the 2008 Presidential Primary or for Governor in the 2006 election, a clear signal of Islanders’ desire for change. I must respectfully emphasize that you alone can uphold the unambiguous preference of Roosevelt Islanders for a completely new RIOC Board of Directors. The authority to appoint members of the RIOC Board to all six vacant or expired positions rests with you as Governor, notwithstanding the tradition of deferring to the Mayor of the City of New York as a courtesy in regards to the recommendations of two people for the Board.

I strongly urge you to respect the results of this historic vote. If the six winning candidates can pass a police background check, I request that you appoint them to the RIOC Board of Directors so that their confirmation by the State Senate can go forward before the end of the legislative session.

Thank you for your consideration of this matter, and for your continued support of the Roosevelt Island community.

Very truly yours,

Micah Z. Kellner
Assembly Member
MZK/phc

cc: Matthew Katz, President, Roosevelt Island Residents Association
David Bauer, Chair, Maple Tree Group
Deborah VanAmerongen, Chair, RIOC Board of Directors
Stephen H. Shane, President, Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation
Charles O’Byrne, Secretary to the Governor
Carl Andrews, Deputy Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs, Office of the Governor
James Clancy, Director of Legislative Affairs, Office of the Governor

Sitting RIOC Board Members Stayed off the Ballot from PressHD on Vimeo.