Days after being trashed by a hard right majority on RIOC’s board, Ben Fhala has resigned, “effective immediately.” Entrenched members successfully dodged change by turning issues into personal attacks against Fhala.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
Ben Fhala’s Statement
“However, it has become increasingly clear that I have become a focal point of discussions and controversies that detract from the essential work that needs to be done. The focus and efforts should always be on the real and critical issues the Island faces.” Ben Fhala resignation letter to Governor Kathy Hochul.
(Full letter attached below.)
Last Thursday, Fhala tried introducing a resolution. This resolution would better define Howard Polivy’s role as liaison with RIOC Staff. He was angrily stiff-armed by Meghan Anderson. Anderson serves as surrogate for board chair RuthAnne Visnauskas. Her disagreement: she said it wasn’t “Old Business,” although it had been discussed in June’s meeting.
This was typical. Polivy’s term expired long ago. He is a charter member of the hard right board majority. This majority has resisted change like it was a boulder rolling down hill. He joins Fay Christian, Screaming David Kraut and ex-officio members Anderson and Morris Peters, surrogate for the Budget Director. Essentially, this is Team Kathy Hochul. Despite initial high hopes, as governor she’s done little to nothing to help Roosevelt Islanders.
Time Exposes
From the beginnings of Fhala’s term, it was clear that Team Hochul, invisibly led by Visnauskas, would resist changes. But he kept pushing. His first target: “Corruption and Misconduct in Contract Selection.”
Despite a budget in deep trouble and public list riddled with no-bid contracts, the hard right majority held firm. They didn’t want to hear about it. Any of it. Why?
RIOC was in violation of state law by not having a Governance Committee. After learning this, despite resistance, he teamed with Lydia Tang in forming one. Then, the pair spent the past summer catching up, leading a team updating the agency’s bylaws.
While they made significant progress, both Tang and Fhala took abuse from board members. These board members had fostered the negligence and didn’t want it fixed.
Ben Fhala Resigns
“It is my sincere hope that this decision might also help to motivate board members whose terms have long expired to consider stepping down to pave the way for others to step up and lead with the commitment, energy and vision required to address the many challenges ahead,” Fhala wrote.
As an observer of RIOC’s board for years, I can assure you that will not happen. Neither Kraut, Christian nor Polivy will leave voluntarily, despite decades of failure and negligence. Does Hochul have what it takes to yank them out of their chairs? We’ll see, but indications so far suggest she doesn’t.
Objective Observations
One knowledgeable resource with intimate knowledge of how RIOC works commented after last week’s board meeting:
“I noticed that during the governance committee meeting, they were going over the comments to the bylaws that” were made years ago.. “The reason those comments never saw the light of day was because the administration didn’t want to acknowledge that the board has ultimate decision-making power over the corporation.
“They were afraid that the board would be too empowered and end up hiring their own management to run the place. Of course, there is some logic to that since THAT board is hardly qualified to run a corporation like RIOC.
“Even from what I can tell about the new board members, while they are very well intentioned, they don’t understand all the nuances and legal requirements that must be addressed in the bylaws. Basically, without a knowledgeable and trusted advisor by their side, the administration in Albany will run circles around them. They need a president and general counsel who are answerable to them, but they don’t know how to get those in place.”
Rivercross and the Quiet Green Light
Rivercross privatization was enabled in 2010. This matters now because the same governance structures that allowed Rivercross to privatize without formal conflict controls are still in place. The same public authority oversees land leases, settlements, and redevelopment decisions that affect every resident on Roosevelt Island today.
There goes our last best hope.
Albany will use this as an example to silence everyone else. “Nice guys finish last,” as Leo Durocher said.