Friday, July 23, 2010

Special Roosevelt Island Operating Corp Board Of Directors Meeting For August 4 To Appoint New RIOC President - Will Only 1 Candidate Be Considered?

Just received this message that a special meeting of the Roosevelt Island Board of Directors will take place on August 4, 2010 5:30 PM at the Good Shepherd Community Center. On the Agenda for new business will be the appointment of a new RIOC President/CEO. The only candidate listed on the Agenda for consideration to be appointed RIOC President/CEO is Leslie Torres.
Rioc Board Meeting to Approve New President

According to the NY State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) web site, Leslie Torres is the Deputy Commissioner for Office of Rent Administration. During testimony before the NY State Senate in 2007, former DHCR Commissioner Van Amerongen described Leslie Torres as follows:

... I would like to introduce you to our newly-appointed Deputy Commissioner for Rent Administration, Leslie Torres, who is here with me today. Prior to joining DHCR, Ms. Torres was the Assistant Commissioner for Enforcement at the New York City Department of Buildings. There she managed enforcement units responsible for bringing NYC properties into compliance with the Building Code. Prior to that Leslie was the head of the NYC Loft Board, so she is very familiar with having to balance the interests of landlords and tenants...
What happened to the idea of considering multiple candidates for the position of RIOC President/CEO? Is Assembly Member Micah Kellner's legislation, though not yet signed by the Governor, regarding RIOC governance that:
gives the public a role in the process of hiring the RIOC President—requiring the Board of Directors to consider at least three candidates for the job and to hold hearings allowing members of the public as well as Board members to interview the candidates.
to be ignored in the selection of the new RIOC President/CEO.

If it is the case that only one candidate is being considered, not a good way to start off the post Steve Shane RIOC administration.

9 comments :

Anonymous said...

This should be considered an interim appointment since the new Governor will presumably have his own candidate or candidates.

Anonymous said...

I get that we, the community, like to dictate how RIOC should be run, but seriously....

I think the Commissioner and the Board know who is best for the job. No need to consider more than one candidate if they have the right person to move our island forward.

Relax! We meddle way too much. Imagine if someone, or a group of people, were meddling in your job all the time.

And, by the way, who cares what Kellner thinks...he's a politician whose only mission is to secure votes.

Anonymous said...

Has the candidate said anything about her views on matters like:

Schooling for all the kids growing up on the island nowadays

The traffic,parking and Main Street sign situations

Elevator capacity at the Manhattan tram station (it can barely accommodate a large wheelchair)

Anonymous said...

I think the City should re take control of Roosevelt island so everyone will shut the hell up already. We are a dying island. No other way to put it. No hope for an island of hospital patients and crazy residents.

If this was a normal "town" there would be a mayor, a sheriffs department and they would make the rules.

Instead you have appointed people not involved in current issues and wannabee police who are nothing but security guards drunk with fake power.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous above: if you hate Roosevelt Island so much why don't you pack up your stuff and leave? Nobody will disagree with you that this place has flaws. Some bigger than others. But your argumentation does not really contribute anything at all to a discussion to make it a better place.

Anonymous said...

"Relax! We meddle way too much. Imagine if someone, or a group of people, were meddling in your job all the time."


that poster is absolutely right. we worry way too much. we are all equal, and the RIOC board is more equal than the rest of us.

Anonymous said...

Who would want to take the job of running this place anyway?

You could try your best to make things better, but unfortunately many people here don't appreciate it. All they do is bicker.

I've only lived here 7 years, & I thought things were changing for the better. What never changes here though, is the number of people who complain - just to complain.

Anonymous said...

Amen to the above poster.

-11 yr. resident

Anonymous said...

We- the Residents- most of us are not "just complaining"!!!

We- who live here, after all are trying to get involved and invoke change.

Believe it or not, that used to be possible on this Island.

I have been here for 28 years, we used to ALL come together and voice our opinions and we did have some say.

If the poster calls it a "dying" island, why are you still here.

It used to be a vibrant, nice island and for the most part, still is.

This island was settled with the idea of a nice place to live for Everyone, when it was abandoned, except for the two city Hospitals, Goldwater and Coler.

Who better to voice our opinions and ideas than the residents who live here.

FYI- RIOC is a Public Benefit Corporation created by NYS years ago to help adminsister the island, it sure is not a private Corporation like General Motors.

We should and do have the right to voice our opinions that affect our day to day life here!!!

Get involved in RIRA, your own Buildings, contribute- like alot of us have....

JMS
WV
28 years