Some will undoubtedly say that the fact that two of the elected six nominees for the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation Board of Directors are not seated is a loss. While it is a loss it is certainly not a defeat. The Main Street WIRE is reporting this afternoon that the Office of the Mayor of New York will be announcing that it will appoint Howard Polivy, of the elected RIOC Six, as one of Mayor Bloomberg’s two appointees to the RIOC Board.
The fact that now collectively four individuals directly elected by their fellow island residents will be seated on the Board is a great step forward and certainly progress that should be built upon. The Maple Tree Group has worked for this event for years and they should be heartily congratulated for getting us there.
It may be years, if ever, that direct elections will ever result in seating a full slate of residents but the fact that the door has been opened alone signifies a change worth celebrating. No other State Authority has such a Board as no other Authority directly affects the lives of residents as part of their domain so it was only right and time for this time to come but it should be expected that an Authority such as RIOC will always be subject to the decisions of the Governors and Mayors that can make these appointments so it should never be a surprise when they exert their power limiting such gains. But it can not be argued this is not a gain and as such this appointment and confirmations should be celebrated.
Our thanks go out to Frank Farance and Erin Feely-Nahem even though they will not serve in the positions we elected them for. We appreciate their participation and I am sure like them we all will be paying attention to the actions of their appointed colleagues as down the road there will be future elections that this accomplishment has opened the door to.
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