The notices were late due to a clerical miscue, but both prompted a What’s Up? response, especially the daytime schedules. Did RIOC ever have a midday board meeting before?

by David Stone

The Roosevelt Island Daily News

So, What’s Up with the Midday Board Meetings?

With the first meeting – of the RIOC’s Governance Committee – on Wednesday, July 10, at 1:30 p.m. at the Good Shepherd Community Center, 543 Main Street, the work is clear. The timing is most likely an accommodation for the working schedules of the committee members.

Lydia Tang chairs this committee and is joined by Ben Fhala, Fay Christian and a surrogate for overall board chair RuthAnne Visnauskas. Tang has also requested that Roosevelt Islanders Margie Smith and Audrey Tannen participate as non-voting experts.

After violating state law by not having a functioning Governance Committee, the state agency that never gets it wrong yielded to insistent pressure from Fhala and formed one. That makes the opening agenda more relevant as Tang works at creating an effective force in fixing a badly malfunctioning operation.

GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE AGENDA:

1. Review of RIOC’s “Bylaws”.
2. Discussion of RIOC’s Staff/Personnel Oversight Practices.
3. Discussion of RIOC’s Governance Practices.
4. Any Other Committee Business that May be Brought Before the Committee.

Tang’s focus is on the meat of the committees raison d’etre.

Full Board Meeting at 3:00 P.M.

What’s up?

While the Governance Committee’s intent is upfront and clear, the purpose of the board meeting that follows exists in total darkness, like cave dwellers sheltering from a long winter. Someone will light a torch in there, but we surface dwellers will not see it.

That’s because the only scheduled item for the full board is a motion to go into executive session. That means kicking everyone else out. The rationale is is the usual word salad lifted from Open Meetings Law concerning exceptions for litigation and personnel discussions.

While some result or results may be announced, that’s unlikely, and members are not allowed to disclose information from the executive session.

Optimists hope for a resolution about the long suspensions of CEO Shelton Haynes and Chief Counsel Gretchen Robinson. If that’s What’s up? it may bring closure over disputes that have hampered RIOC for over a year now.

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The lack of a resolution after six months is unfair to Haynes and Robinson, to the community which needs better services and to RIOC’s own internal workforce. No one is officially in charge, just “interim leadership.”

But the optimists are not likely to be satisfied. Just last week, the failure of reaching a resolution led to the resignation of Gerrald Ellis, Deputy Chief Counsel, who along with CFO Dhruvika Amin raised hopes for change across Roosevelt Island.

The board meets at 3:00 p.m., refilling the chairs after the Governance Committee concludes in the Good Shepherd Community Center.

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The Line That Didn’t Land

We’ll listen to you right after we’re done not listening to you.

Eleanor Rivers May 1, 2026

I stood in the back of Good Shepherd Chapel on the evening of April 15, 2026, at the Steam Plant Demolition Town Hall, watching people adjust scarves and jackets before the meeting began. Benjamin Jones, President and CEO of RIOC, thanked us for attending and, without a pause, said he was “pleased to host tonight’s town hall on the city’s demolition of its steam plant.” The demolition, in other words, was not up for discussion.

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