Elected Nominees To The Roosevelt Island Board Of Directors Approved By NY State Senate - They Are Now Members Of RIOC Board

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BREAKING NEWS - THIS JUST IN!!!!!! ( I really like saying that).

The New York State Senate this afternoon confirmed the nominations of Margie Smith, Michael Shinozaki and Doctor Katherine Grimm to the Roosevelt Island Board of Directors. I Received this message from NY State Senator Jose Serrano's office:

... the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation's (RIOC) board of director nominations have been considered and approved by the New York State Senate.

As you know, the nominations first passed through the Corporations Committee Chaired by Senator Bill Perkins on January 20th, 2010. Today, the nominations were considered and approved by the Senate's Finance Committee Chaired by Senator Carl Kruger.

Being only a few weeks into the 2010 Legislative Season, it is difficult to have items pass through the various committee's let a lone make it to the floor of the Senate.

Thanks to the efforts of Senator Serrano to break the senate nomination log jam regarding these appointments, these RIOC Board Nominations were some of a very small number of nominations that were considered and approved by the Senate's Finance Committee, and then sent to the Senate floor the same day for a vote.

This means that the RIOC Board of Directors can now operate with the members who were appointed this past summer.

These members include:‪

-Katherine Grimm

-Michael Shinozaki

-Margaret Smith‬

Congratulations to the new board members.

Senator Serrano and I look forward to working with you in the coming months...

Upon learning of her appointment, Ms. Smith writes:

I’m extremely happy that the Senate has approved our nominations. I believe that the RIOC Board, as it is now constituted, will be much more responsive to the needs of the community. What we need now is to be sure that everyone’s voice is heard. I’m anxious to get started working on an outreach program that will provide a quick, simple way for the Board members to get feedback from the community.

Congratulations to the new elected and confirmed Roosevelt Island Board of Directors. More on this later.

UPDATE 1/27 - Assembly Member Micah Kellner adds:

I am proud to congratulate Margie Smith and Michael Shinozaki on their long-awaited confirmation by the State Senate to the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation Board of Directors, as well as Dr. Kathie Grimm on the confirmation of her re-nomination.
Margie, Michael, and Kathie are three of Roosevelt Island’s most talented and dedicated community leaders, and they will be key contributors to a Board that has steadily grown more representative of the island it serves.
I have been a consistent advocate for democratizing the RIOC Board, and these confirmations mark another important step forward in that process. I sponsor a bill (A.3953/S.1394) with Senator Jose Serrano, which would reconstitute the RIOC Board so that it is elected rather than appointed. And in 2008, I secured funds for ballot machines so that the Roosevelt Island Residents Association could run their balloting. In that historic election islanders chose Dr. Grimm, along with five other nominees, to represent them on the Board. Margie and Michael were elected last May, in another successful ballot with excellent turnout.
The island’s voters have chosen supremely qualified individuals with a proven commitment to serving their community. It goes to show that democracy really does work: when people are given the opportunity to participate in the governing of their own communities, they take their civic responsibility seriously. RIOC is better off for it, and so are the residents of Roosevelt Island.
Unfortunately, the Governor has not always respected the will of Roosevelt Island’s voters, as when he failed to officially nominate two of the winners of the 2008 election. I wrote to the Governor at that time urging the confirmation of all six nominees and I continue to press him to do the right thing. (You can find my May, 2008 letter in the Publications section of this blog.) Islanders deserve nothing less than full democratization of the RIOC Board.