Statement From Mathew Katz In Support of His Candidacy For Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) President

Image of Mathew Katz (in Yellow Hat) Campaigning at Farmers Market On Saturday

Mathew Katz sends in the following statement in support of his candidacy for Roosevelt Island Residents Association President.

My name is Matthew Katz and I am running for a fourth term as RIRA President. Why? I think that RIRA is critical in maintaining and enhancing the quality of life for all Roosevelt Islanders. RIOC, its Board of Directors, the local politicians and the media acknowledge RIRA as the voice of this community by virtue of the fact that its members include the entire population of the Island and, most importantly, its delegates on the Common Council are elected to those positions every two years.

I’ve been a member of the RIRA Common Council since 1997. I’ve served on every committee and volunteered my services whenever asked. During my three two-year terms as President, we made RIRA an impossible-to-ignore presence here. During my first term, we saved the third shift of the Tram by mounting a petition drive resulting in 3,000 signatures that ended RIOC’s plans to eliminate service after 10 P.M. We confronted Gov. George Pataki with our demands for more control over RIOC and, with the help of then State Senator Olga Mendez, convinced him pass new legislation that would require a majority of the nine-member RIOC Board of Directors be Island residents. Prior to that, only one Director lived here.

During my second term, I challenged then NYC Transit Authority President, Lawrence Reuter, to include our Tram in the MetroCard System. He supported me enthusiastically, but then RIOC President, Robert Ryan, said it would never happen. Nevertheless, the RIOC Board commissioned me to pursue the plan. I knew the probability of achieving my goal was minimal, but over the next two years, I arranged meetings between the two presidents and between RIOC CFO, Pat Siconolfi and the MTA MetroCard chief, Tom Savage, that resulted in the first swipe of a Tram MetroCard in March 2006.
That was a proud moment!

I have been involved with the planned renovation of the Roosevelt Island Bridge since 2000. In 2004, the NYC Department of Transportation completed the final plan and then...shelved it until 2012! I worked with the Bridge Department and the Manhattan DOT Commissioner to consider moving up the restoration of this critical Island artery and presented a resolution to that effect to Community Board 8 that they passed unanimously. My resolution made the case that a fifty-year-old bridge, with a lift mechanism that failed regularly, could cost lives if fire trucks, ambulances and police cars had no way to get here. Remember, we don’t have a single working dock that could ferry emergency vehicles to and from the Island. I have a letter from Manhattan Commissioner Forgione informing me of the new start date— December 2006. And now, the work is scheduled for completion in March 2011.

In my third term, the Chairperson of the RIOC Board and its then President offered us the unprecedented opportunity to mount an election in which the community would choose candidates from among our neighbors for appointment to the RIOC Board. We asked for, but did not receive, guarantees that our efforts would bear fruit. However, a small sub- committee of RIRA, the Maple Tree Group, spent nine months devising, publicizing and mounting the first election in history of candidates for this Public Authority’s Board. Today, seven of the nine Board members are Islanders and we, you and I, chose six of them in two elections. That opportunity to have a seat at the decision-making table will continue with subsequent, MTG/RIRA- mounted, elections.

I’M PROUD THAT ASSEMBLY MEMBER, MICAH KELLNER, AND CITY COUNCIL MEMBER, JESSICA LAPPIN, HAVE BOTH ENDORSED ME. I’m proud of my accomplishments during these years and of the programs created during my administrations: fundraisers, dinners, a sock hop, dances on the promenade, auctions, insurance fairs, concerts and our annual blood drive and free breakfast that have become Roosevelt Island Day traditions. I am running because I haven’t seen this kind of innovation during the past Council term. RIRA must not be allowed to disappear into the wallpaper. The RIRA President must inspire the Common Council delegates to fulfill the offices for which they ran and were elected. Regretably, over 40% of the Counselors elected in 2008 have dropped off the Council, having found no reason to remain.

I have considerable experience in convening and controlling meetings, having done so at The New York Academy of Sciences for over twenty years. I’ve been unhappy with how Common Council meetings have been conducted over the past two years, especially after having worked so hard to create an atmosphere that accommodates the busy lives of its delegates. I posted our agendas on Main Street kiosks before every meeting. You haven’t seen them since 2008. I knocked myself out getting agenda packages— agendas, minutes, financial reports, committee reports—to Council Members by the Sunday before our meetings. Currently, agenda packages arrive Tuesday night or even the morning of our Wednesday meeting day, meaning that delegates often have not had time to read the essential material necessary to conduct RIRA business. The RIRA Common Council partners with the President in doing RIRA business, and should not be sidelined merely as a platform for one person’s agenda.

In addition, RIRA has always encouraged the public to attend and participate in the Council meetings during the fifteen minutes designated for Public Access. However, when an hour or an hour and a half is allocated to the public, then RIRA business at our once-a-month meetings extends into the wee hours and our members, working people, often leave before critical issues are debated and voted on. I have decades of experience in conducting lean, efficient meetings.

I pledge to continue working to enhance community governance of the Island, to preserve affordable housing within current and future stocks, to maintain and extend the open space and parkland that is so dear to our hearts and to ensure that we achieve a retail sector that meets our needs while protecting those merchants who have stuck by us all these years. As a retired person, I have the time, the energy and the passion to devote myself full-time to these duties and to encourage the RIRA Common Council to give this community their best.

Please watch for my campaign appearances in all the Island building complexes and at the Presidential Debate on October 27. I’ll be available to talk to you at the Farmers Market this Saturday and next, or just telephone me at 212-935-7534 to ask specific questions. And on Election Day, I’ll be the fellow yawning in front of PS/IS 217 as you wend your way to work.

Decisions are made by the people who show up. If you care to make a difference, sign up for a two-year stint on RIRA before nominations close at 8 P.M. Sunday evening, October 24. Just fill in a nomination form and submit it at the Public Safety office at 550 Main Street. RIRA must react to the issues that face us, sure, but also must be proactive, innovative, and must draw our neighbors in the new developments into the life of this extraordinary community. Please strengthen our community by getting involved. And I hope you will support me at the polls on November 2.

The statement of current RIRA President Frank Farance is here and more information about the 2010 RIRA here.