1. A Local Hero. As a parent, you've probably had that moment with your children as they watched some adult who had a real knack for wonderfully positive interactions with children. Maybe it was Bill Cosby. Or Fred Rogers and his cast. Or Anthony (Blue) of the Wiggles. Or Jennifer Oxley (Wonder Pets). They all have great moments and methods to emulate. For Roosevelt Island, one of my local heroes is Coach Tommy Howlin of the Youth Program / Beacon Program. On Saturdays you'll see Tommy teaching soccer, basketball, and baseball. He's got the kids and the parents all fired up, excited, and motivated to play sports for their own enjoyment. At the end of each day he'll call out his players who made a special play, whether it's an exciting goal, a good team-supporting role, or just a player that got knocked down, picked himself up, and continued to play. Tommy has a knack for acknowledging every player over the two-month season. You have to see the children beam so brightly when their story is retold by Tommy, a moment they remember for a long, long while. Many kids think, I want to be like Coach Tommy. Hey, kids, many parents want to be like Coach Tommy, too. Thanks for a Great Job!

2. RIOC's Finances. Last Wednesday at the RIRA Town Hall meeting, under questioning from Steve Marcus and Margie Smith, RIOC CFO Steve Chironis agreed to provide the data: line-item spending since 1991, so that RIRA can continue its work on providing the long-term budget projection. At the RIOC board meeting, there was no discussion and no worry about approving $41 million in spending this year.

3. RIOC Board Members Christian and Stewart sandbag Public Purpose Grants. At the RIOC board meeting, members Fay Christian and Patrick Stewart successfully tabled the vote for approving the public-purpose grants for this year. DHCR Commissioner Deborah VanAmerongen chided board members and their concerns about "not having all the facts." She reminded them that they had three weeks to express their concerns and inform themselves, and that the RIRA Town Hall meeting was available the night before for expressing their concerns. In fact, both Patrick Stewart and Fay Christian attended the RIRA Town Hall meeting the prior night, where I asked them, "Do you have any topics or issues to raise to the residents?" (a courtesy to RIOC board members and RIOC staff). Both said they were there to "listen and learn," and expressed no concern. The sandbag part of this is when you surprise everyone by waiting until the last moment to raise your concerns. While Christian and Stewart might think themselves clever, it's a very old trick and it irritates everyone because it is a very unproductive use of everyone's time (including the DHCR Commissioner's).

Christian's concern was that three organizations, the Day Nursery (RIDN), Orphans International (OI), and The Child School (TCS) got little or no funding, and she suggested that we didn't care about education. I responded that RIRA does care about education. More importantly, the lack of a funding award doesn't imply that there is something wrong with the organization; certainly, all three are wonderful organizations.

Frank Farance, President, Roosevelt Island Residents Association

All three were ranked low in terms of competitiveness, as compared with the other proposals. OI, a worthwhile organization, is looking to pay for this year's electric bills. Its "footprint" (number of Island residents served) is approximately zero. The Child School's footprint is approximately three residents. RIDN's is approximately 50 residents. Other PPG proposal footprints were in the range of hundreds of residents. RIDN wanted $35,000, which would sponsor approximately 4-6 children, i.e., approximately $6,000-9,000 per child - which ranks poorly on the PPG cost/benefit criteria. RIDN does address low- to middle-income families: with an annual tuition of approximately $18,000 and a full scholarship of approximately $9,000 (half-tuition), RIRA felt that no one making $20,000 to $60,000 could afford the additional $9,000 cost with the maximum scholarship. Again, not a criticism of the RIDN - it's just that the RIDN proposal doesn't do so well on the RIOC-established criteria for evaluating PPG proposals. I'm happy the RIDN is doing so well, and that they have a business model to support themselves on Roosevelt Island.

As for Stewart's criticism, he is concerned about the process itself and the appearance of conflicts of interest. (The PPG meetings were open to the public, and the public could participate in them.) I've reminded Stewart that the PPG recommendations were discussed and approved by the RIRA Common Council by an almost unanimous vote. Considering that some of the PPG applications need to get started right away for their summer programs, much is in question. The current status is that hundreds of families might not have a summer camp, nor would we have the Lifeframes education project (which can only be started in spring/summer) that affects hundreds of students and patients at Coler-Goldwater. Meanwhile, Christian and Stewart seem content to gum up the process when they could have asked questions in advance. I asked Stewart, what the process is towards completion. He doesn't have a plan, he doesn't have a timeline, and he's just discovered that the DHCR Commissioner's schedule is pretty full. (She or a DHCR substitute needs to be present to convene a RIOC board meeting.) Gee, it would have been nice to think about these kinds of things before tabling the motion.

Regardless of these stumbles, I am determined to make this a successful collaboration between RIOC and RIRA. I have worked on the public-purpose stuff since 1996 (through the Roosevelt Island Council of Organizations). I really believe the current relationship between RIOC and RIRA is the right one for Public Purpose Funding, especially because it is in the best interests of the beneficiaries - the organizations that serve Roosevelt Island residents, and the residents themselves. (FYI, RIOC CEO Steve Shane was particularly helpful at many points in the process. Thanks, Steve!)