Change

We live on a changing Island, in a changing community, in a world of change.

Eastwood going private. Island House and Westview, too, though also with the compatible prospect of resident ownership. Condos going up in Southtown. The Octagon Apartments project possibly on a nearer horizon. Finally, serious proposals for a park at Southpoint.

And maybe, if the Governor will deliver on his moldering, unkept promise, more resident representation on the Board of Directors of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation.

As Aaron Silberman of Roosevelt Island Housing Management observed last week when asked to describe what the Island might be like in twenty or thirty years, it's going to be different. Beyond that, we don't really know. What we do know is that we'd like it to be better, and while residents can do very little to inspire or inhibit change that is ultimately under the control of others - after all, this is not a local democracy we occupy here - through public opinion we can encourage the change we would like and discourage change we believe would be bad. Through the power of public opinion, we may be able to shape the inevitable change.

But that takes participation.

For as long as most Islanders can remember, the form of that participation has been through RIRA, the Roosevelt Island Residents Association, and through its Common Council of mostly elected delegates who meet once a month and do the committee work that makes the organization's existence meaningful. There are other organizations specializing in narrow areas of interest (RISA, RISK, RITA, RIDA, RIVAA, RICLA, The WIRE, the PTA, the building committees, and more), but it is through RIRA that the broadest sweep of Islanders' community interests are addressed.

The political season is upon us and yes, this is a pitch for your involvement, your participation. Take all your wishes for a better community, all the times you've said, "They should..." and put them to work for yourself and for your fellow Islanders. Your serious involvement in an organization of your choice can go a long way toward making Roosevelt Island a better place to live. The Common Council of the Residents Association is one major opportunity occasioned by the coming election. Watch for the notices, and give some real consideration to running for a Common Council seat. Two years from now, you may be able to say, "I made this a better place to live. I got involved, and I have this specific list of new accomplishments to which I contributed..."

But a lot of that could go without saying. After all, people are always asking you to get involved, aren't they? This is another instance of that, but it's one that puts you into a ready-made environment where you can make some positive things happen.

But there is more to what must be said about RIRA.

At its best, RIRA has been a genuine force, undertaking projects that improve the quality of life here, and pressing the political structure for a better deal - maybe even a measure of democracy rather than the occasionally benevolent bureaucracy, RIOC, whose focus is so often on matters other than making this the best community it can be.

But at its worst, RIRA has been a bickering pit, where excessive stomach acid and unfortunate amounts of very bright collective mind have gone into meaningless spats. That's ideal for the higher political power structure: Let them fight among themselves. Then they won't bug us.

So The WIRE deplores the current wrangles over changes to the RIRA constitution. Negative motives and methods are charged. We even see accusations of lying and manipulation. All these serve no purpose other than to distract the RIRA Common Council, and residents, from what they could really accomplish by getting the needs for constitutional improvement behind them now, before the November election, so that a new RIRA administration can get on with sensible use of what little power RIRA has - the power to shape change, the power to undertake events that contribute to quality of life, and the power to gather and shape public opinion as a lever on the real power structure that controls most of what affects our lives here.

The WIRE endorses the proposed constitutional changes, and urges the issue be settled. We further urge that a new, all-elected RIRA adopt a refocused concentration on what it can do quite well when circumstances - like today's - demand it: Speak loudly for this community with a unified voice.