Today, at 5:30 in the Good Shepherd Community Center, RIOC’s September 2024 Board Meeting opens. This one’s far from routine. The proposed future of the state agency clashes with hard right resistance to change.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
The RIOC September RIOC Board Agenda
See the full agenda attached below, but there are three items of special note.
First, RIOC now proposes increasing Public Purpose Funds for distribution to local nonprofits from $150,000 to $250,000 per year. While this is a significant and welcome change, it remains far below levels authorized by law.
Legislation long ago allowed for RIOC setting aside as much as 3% of its operating revenue for public purposes. With a kinder, gentler state government in place then, this expanded the initial intent of the program. Three decades ago, wiser leadership recognized a critical issue. They realized that Roosevelt Island’s population wasn’t great enough to financially support the variety of nonprofit efforts needed to build a community.
Notable operations, from Main Street Theatre & Dance Alliance through Island Kids and the Historical Society, were nurtured as they matured. But with more than $1 million annually allowed by law, funneling back only a fraction of that seems chintzy. That’s especially true in light of RIOC’s generosity to its own staff salaries that far exceed norms outside government.
Where conflict Rises
Over the last several months, RIOC’s Governance Committee, led by Lydia Tang devoted hours to researching and proposing updates to RIOC’s bylaws. In the September 2024 Board Meeting, its work comes to a head.
The proposed changes come before the board for discussion as well as a possible vote. But as activist for change board member Ben Fhala notes, it won’t go easy.
“We have been out of legal compliance for many years, and much of the dysfunction within RIOC is due to the overreach by HCR over an extended period. We understand that Meghan Anderson (And or her team) has been attempting to slow down and even halt these updates for several months,” Fhala wrote in a widely distributed email. “However, with the resolve of our chair and the exceptional support of our advisors, we have successfully created this document by consensus within the Governance Committee, which has recommended it for a full board vote at the last committee meeting.”
Meghan Anderson is a surrogate for Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas. Visnauskas’s board chairmanship is established by state law.
“The bylaws have been reviewed by the Committee on Open Government (COOG) and the Authority Budget Office (ABO),” Fhala added, “both of which provided invaluable feedback that has been incorporated.”
This is where the hard right board majority may roadblock an energized future.
Public Purpose Funds, Part II
Item 4 on the agenda authorizes a deal allowing New York Community Trust to continue administering Public Purpose Funds distribution. This is a singularly bad idea and not just because it removes community input from the process.
NYCT’s work has been poor from the beginning. In the first round, three years ago, it failed at meeting a key part of its agreement with RIOC. NYCT promised that its committee working on PPF would include only individuals who were either residents or involved in Island businesses. They broke that promise, and RIOC’s then limp, acquiescent board let it pass.
As part of the result, critical Roosevelt Island nonprofits – notably, the Historical Society and the Wildlife Freedom Foundation – got snubbed. And, unlike the past, there was no recourse, no appeal.
RIOC only took this route because it lacked the guts for managing a sensitive matter. It should take the responsibility back. After all, RIOC helped create the stresses by severely restricting the funds available.
The Show for September 2024 with RIOC’s board
Before I Find the Eggs
Trader Joe’s has its own choreography.
