Two years ago at the time of the November election, The WIRE's Anusha Shrivastava wrote a moving article about first-time voters – Island residents from foreign lands who had never before stepped inside a voting booth to participate in the democratic choice of representatives in a government.  The piece struck a stirring C-major chord because it was a poignant reminder of something so many Americans take for granted – the right to vote in a democratic expression of collective choice.

It's still the case: Every Island resident 18 or over has the right to vote in the Residents Association election November 7.

In fact, in legislation aimed at giving Islanders the right to elect a majority of members of the RIOC Board of Directors, that right is specifically preserved.  When it becomes law, all residents, regardless of citizenship, will participate in an expanded democracy for Roosevelt Island.

But until such legislation becomes law, there will be an oddly dissonant note in the harmony of democracy.

For while all residents of age can express themselves in the RIRA election, they have no real say in the running of Roosevelt Island.  While they can elect representatives to the RIRA Common Council, the RIRA Common Council has no practical influence on how Roosevelt Island is operated.

That's because RIOC runs the Island, and under current law the RIOC Board and President are appointed, from Albany, by the Governor.  The legislation would change that.  But without it...

As Common Councilor Joyce Mincheff has eloquently put it, they've taken a whole level of government away from us, because our City Councilmember, our State Senator and Assemblymember, even our New York City Mayor – none of them has any real power over the way things are done here.

That's why, on the November 7 RIRA ballot, you'll find a question (article, page 1) asking you to express your preference on this simple point of political philosophy:

A Yes vote on that question will help connect the dots of democracy here.  It will signal our legislators, in an echo of 1998's 92% approval of the idea of a locally-elected RIOC Board, that we expect them to get on with lawmaking that will empower Roosevelt Islanders not just to vote for RIRA Common Councilors, but to vote for those who sit in the real seats of power around the RIOC Board table.

It will signal, too, that it's time for professional management of this community to replace the lineage of political appointees who – as bad or as good as they may be at their jobs – do those jobs without the democratic sanction of those who are governed.

The November 7 election has a special significance, then.  For citizens of other lands, it is a sampling of American democracy.  For them, and for the rest of us, it is an opportunity to call for the extension of the democratic idea into this local community – making it, and us, whole once again.

DL