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October 7, 2006 |
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In the last column, our call for building representatives in the upcoming elections for the Resident’s Association (RIRA) Common Council generated interest. I’d like to discuss a bit more what RIRA can and should do. First and foremost, Roosevelt Island is a special community – a small town in a metropolis. There is pretty much every group, club or society that suits your fancy, from big ones like the religious groups, PTA, Seniors Association and Youth Association, Island Kids and Dance/Theater Association, to more esoteric interests like Gallery RIVAA, the Garden Club and Toastmasters. When we get involved in any of these groups, it sets off a six-degrees sort of chain reaction that links us, not only those group members, but friends of those members as well.
Italo Calvino has a lovely short story about a town in which whenever a new connection is made between town members, they connect a thread between their house windows. After a few years, when the town is filled with thread connections, they rip them down and start again. Except on Roosevelt Island, the connections remain, and our connections are important to us. At its best, the Residents Association works to help our neighbors in the things that are important to them on the gamut of issues large and small. We work with the politicians and DHCR to try to keep our Mitchell-Lama buildings affordable to their tenants, pressure RIOC and Dunkin Donuts to find an alternative location rather than evicting Gallery RIVAA from its home, and lobby RIOC to restore bus service (still disgraceful, but at least restored to its former routes).
If you are willing to contribute a few hours per month of your time, I hope you’ll consider joining the Residents Association Common Council. I think Roosevelt Island is at a real crossroads. Eliot Spitzer, the overwhelming favorite in the polls to be our next Governor, has promised big changes in the leadership of the Island. I would expect that a new President and RIOC Board would seriously consider the wishes of the residents that it serves. In a well-managed administration, the Resident’s Association should play an important role in fleshing out policy alternatives, and reflecting resident needs and wishes.
Also, you should know that any resident over the age of 18 can vote for or be a member of the Common Council regardless of citizenship. If the number of candidates running in your district exceeds the number allocated for your district (roughly one per 120 units) , those not elected may attend and speak in the Common Council as alternates, and vote in place of absent council members.
Also in the upcoming elections, the Council has decided to place referenda questions on the ballot.
These questions are meant to show the will of the community, since we have little opportunity to do so in other forums. Virtually all Council members strongly support a Yes vote on every one of the questions.
If the next Governor will allow residents to democratically elect our own members to the Operating Corporation’s Board (Referendum question 1), then the resolution of remaining issues would be under the control of the community. A Yes vote on this question tells the governor that you feel that Island residents, elected by their neighbors, will work harder and make decisions superior to Board members appointed by the Governor. Every one of the remaining referenda questions reflect important issues that the current board of appointees has never bothered to address. The disastrous plans to privatize all storefront property and the garage would never be approved by a board that has any concern for the welfare of it local constituency. The haphazard development of the Island without even a cursory consideration for how residents and workers can get to and from there homes and places of employment is another great reason to support a board of your neighbors who understands and cares about the issues we face.
At any rate, I am optimistic that RIRA will have greater influence when the next Governor takes office in January, and I hope that you will consider joining the Common Council and making your voice heard. Look for registration boxes at Trellis, doorstations of Island House, Westview, Rivercross, and the Manhattan Park Management office at 30 River Road. We will be asking the library, Octagon and Starbucks to permit our boxes on their premises as well. If electronically inclined, just print out the form from RIRA-Council.org, fill it out, and e-mail the scanned copy to SteveAtRIRA@verizon.net. We all need to work to keep our community great!