Rally to Oppose Community Board Budget Cuts
Yesterday morning several hundred community board members from around the city gathered on the steps of City Hall to protest proposed budget cuts that would shave an average of $20,000 from each of the city’s 59 community boards (18 in Brooklyn); the protesters were joined by four borough presidents as well as mayoral hopeful William…
Yesterday morning several hundred community board members from around the city gathered on the steps of City Hall to protest proposed budget cuts that would shave an average of $20,000 from each of the city’s 59 community boards (18 in Brooklyn); the protesters were joined by four borough presidents as well as mayoral hopeful William Thompson. Councilwoman Letitia James said that Council budget negotiators have “laid a line in the sand that you will not touch the budgets of the community [boards].” Lots of photos from the event in this Flickr set.
Borough Leaders Rip Citywide CB Budget Cuts [NY Daily News]
According to the City Charter, the community boards play an advisory role in zoning and other land-use issues, in community planning, in the city budget process, and in the coordination of municipal services. Most boards typically hire a full time district manager and other staff to run a district office that receives and works to resolve residents’ service delivery problems.
As others have said, some function better than others both in terms of dealing with municipal service delivery issues on behalf of the residents and businesses in the area and in terms of their ability to actually act as the voice of the community rather than politically appointed puppets. The effectiveness of the board to act as a voice for the community is very much dependent on the involvement of the community – each board has 50 appointed volunteer members and all meetings are open to the public.
While all boards prepare a statement of district needs (rehab this park, put a computer lab in this school, etc) during budget time each year, my experience has been that these are not as effective in getting things done in the district as are separate community groups advocating for a specific budget request (for example,a PTA organizing to advocate for a computer lab).
However, typically, for any discretionary land use item (all those that come up for a vote in the City Council and the City Planning Commission or even sometimes the Board of Standards and Appeals but the BSA is too much to get into here)for any discretionary land use item, both the local Council Member and the Council Zoning and Land Use Committee Members as well as the City Planning Commission almost always look to the community board position to determine what action to take.
That said, I think that community boards are extremely important as the structure intended to bring a voice to the community on issue that effect our everyday lives. I think rather than doing away with them and completely denying a voice for the people (which I personally think seems to be Bloomberg’s m.o. in general), we should be making them more effective and respected.
The staff that is hired to deal with constituent complaints about delivery of municipal services are probably not necessary at this point – those same types of staff people exist in the council member offices, the mayor’s office, and through 311.
I think we’d be better served if those staff were instead people with some expertise relevant to the other community-wide roles of the community boards – land use and budget – rather than individual constituent services.
For example, community board 4 in Manhattan was able to lead the successful fight against the West Side stadium. They have local community board members with the time, funds, and expertise to mount that sort of a fight. For example an urban planner that took this on *instead* of her regular full time job. However, community board 4 in the Bronx, did not have any community board member with zoning expertise able to quit their job and put their life on hold to do this. Nor should they have to! And, of course the result there was quite different.
Regardless of where you stand on either of those stadium issues or on Atlantic Yards, my point here is that community boards are an important part of democracy, a part we should be strengthening and making more effective.
Sorry for the long post, with Bloomberg trying to buy a third term and Golisano have just bought a coup in Albany, I am feeling a little bit voiceless today. It makes me very sad/angry that the voice of us regular people seems to matter less and less in New York’s supposed democracy.
“OK, they get about $200k each. How do they spend that money??”
1 Dist Mgr’s salary, 1 Assit. Dist. Mgr’s salary, support staff salary, office equipment ans supplies to support 50 volunteer Board members through a 10 month session.
How they do that with only $200K amazes me. How they will do it with $160K I have no idea.
I’ll agree with MM’s assessment of most Community Board. However, many of them are extremely progressive and proactive when it comes to the needs of the communities they serve.
And that’s not just through the CB office or monthly full Board meetings. The meat-and-potatoes of Board work is done through committees, which often meet every month.
Land Use is the priority these days, but my experience with Brooklyn CB7 has also seen much work done on transportation, parks, buildings and construction and public safety.
As far as rubber stamp comments go, attend a Board meeting before you throw stones. If you don’t like what the Board is doing, put your money where your mouth is and put in an application to join the Board then petition your local City Council member and the Borough President.
Being active in your community has its merits. Sitting on yer butt complaining on this blog does nothing to solve issues in your community or for the greater good of Brooklyn (or the City) for that matter.
It is essential the CB’s don’t have a cut to their budget and I know there is talk of a potential increase, God forbid.
Thanks for the input and god bless her. Perhpas its the dye-job that looks incongruous.
I totally agree with MM’s assessment, but in my experience Rob Perris, district manager for CB2 (Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and beyond), is a really smart hardworking guy who has a deep understanding of city politics.
The $200k generally covers the manager’s salary, a little bit of admin, and overhead–they’re already shoestring operations.
The volunteer community board members can be much more problematic than the paid staff, IMO.
Female district manager from Brooklyn CB15. What? Are we in junior high school? Comments about someone’s looks?
The Board that covers Flatbush, CB14 is not a rubber stamp. They are fiercely independent and go out of their way to represent all the residents of their most diverse population. The knowledge of the staff and board members annually save the City more than the $200,000 cost of the Board operation by preventing out of sync road projects, preventing flawed City projects that would have to be undone and protecting the interests of tax paying businesses during City conruction projects. Alerting all of the City agencies to the fact that a proposed “bumpout” to facilitate school crossing safety would have prevented turning on a MTA bus route prevented money being wasted on the construction and removal of the “bumpout” saving more than the Board’s annual budget.
I don’t like CB. Get rid of them.
CB’s are supposed to be the liason between the community and city gov’t. Lately, their most important function is in land use. Businesses like bars and restaurants have to go before the CB to get approved for liquor licenses and the like, and things like proposed historic districts, some landmarks related building use or alterations, social service entities like shelters, treatment centers, as well as questions of zoning come before CB’s before being passed on to other city agencies.
As such, they provide a vital function. Unfortunately, and frustratingly, they can also be a fiefdom of petty power politics, as members are appointed, and there are no term limits. You can get people on there who squat like frogs on a lilypad forever, rubber stamping the administration, or their own ideas of what’s right for themselves. I’ve found the 2 community boards I’ve been involved with to be a mixture of the best and worst of what can happen, but in the long run, I’d rather have them than not.
Mayors plan
first the community boards
then the Boro president’s….
doesn’t believe in Democracy….