Since at least 1978, the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) represented locals. But attrition has been like an avalanche over the past ten years. Now, it again can’t muster even a vote because it can’t find enough candidates.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
RIRA Fails Maybe for the Last Time
Take RIRA President Frank Farance’s simple admission:
There was only one candidate each for President and Vice President. Thus, there is no contest for Island-wide elections. For the remaining candidates in district elections, there was no district which had more candidates than the maximum for that district. Thus, there is no contest for district elections. – Frank Farance, November 5th, 2024.
But it’s worse than that. The RIRA Online web page which once hosted bylaws, meeting schedules and the like is dead. It returns a 404 Site Not Found error page. The group’s Facebook Page has not been updated since 2017.
Farance, once RIRA’s President at a time when it still had influence with RIOC and respect from elected officials, makes a maximum effort at reviving it. That effort fails. On an opinionated Island, only 8 residents out of 12,000 could be found willing to act as Common Council representatives.
The common council
In theory, Roosevelt Islanders elect representatives for every housing complex. The number of reps for each complex is determined by population. Those elected form the Common Council, charged with advocating for their constituents’ interests. That’s the theory, anyway.
But look at Common Council as it sits today, based solely on volunteers with no votes since 2018:
- Frank Farance: President, Island House Rep
- Brendan Hynes: Island House Rep
- Andrea Jackson: Eastwood/RL Rep
- David Lawson: Westview Rep
- Sharon Pope: Rivercross Rep
- Felicia Ruff: Vice President, Eastwood/RL Rep
- William Sedgwick: Southtown Rep
- Seymour Williams: Rivercross Rep
Note: In the past, neither President nor Vice President also served as a building representative.
Applaud the volunteers for offering their time, experience and insight. They deserve it, but this group in no way can be said to represent Roosevelt Island’s complex community.
What’s Missing with the RIRA Common Council?
Only four building complexes have any representation on the body. All but one is a resident of the core WIRE buildings on which RIRA was built. It has never been successful at reaching out to what is now the majority of residents.
Empty Chairs
Keep in mind that no building complex has anywhere near half of its allocated membership on the Common Council. Then, consider these that have none at all:
- Manhattan Park
- The Octagon
- 546 Main Street (The Designated Seniors Building)
- The House at Cornell Tech
- Coler Hospital Residents
Southtown should be added to this list. It gets just one representative for 8 buildings. These buildings house about 1/4 of the Island’s population.
What Went Wrong with RIRA?
One of the first articles published in The Daily chastised the Common Council for its lack of inclusivity. Despite pledging otherwise, its leadership has long refused to recognize the long term residents at Coler. Similarly, they pretend that The House is not home to residents, including Cornell Tech’s Dean Greg Morrisett
We also took them to task over being riven with personal agendas that had little meaning for most residents.
That article generated an angry personal attack by email from then Common Council Vice President Sherie Helstien.
“You will soon become totally irrelevant as have the others who’ve taken this tack,” she wrote. “We’ve got a ton of new and knowledgeable younger people interested in working with RIRA through their organizations and some of them are on the Common Council, which, of course you know nothing about.”
Helstien added a few more personal barb’s including a gratuitous swipe or two at my wife, but nothing changed. The downhill slide continued into irrelevancy.
Finally
Finally, we wish Frank Farance and his small but determined group of volunteers success. Without radical change in outreach, though, that’s impossible. It’s also disappointing.
Roosevelt Island badly needs representatives who will stand up for them in conversation with RIOC as well as our public officials. Opportunities have been wasted when current events demanded speaking up. Perhaps more significantly, Roosevelt Islanders who tried working with the Common Council have been turned off. Without change, RIRA will never get them back either.
As the Dust Settles
The way the wind cuts across the river this time of year. The way older buildings hold heat but never quite hold air. I told myself that was why my chest felt tight again on certain mornings. Age, perhaps.
David, as a RIRA Common Council member for the past 28 years, I’ve focused on doing things. The past couple election cycles (2020, 2022, 2023) had difficulties. COVID was a problem in 2020, but there were other problems – including infighting back then, prompted by a Cherry Blossom Festival in 2019 that was a disaster (and improperly managed by RIRA) and then an embezzlement by our then Treasurer, along with the cover-up and half of the Common Council not having information about the crime, and the other have knowing the details – but who were friends directly/indirectly with the perpetrator. For both the 2022 and 2023 attempts at elections, we had promises to hold nominations and elections, but they the people withdrew last minute – a huge embarrassment! Now as RIRA President, I was determined not to have that happen again – we need to follow our rules (Constitution and By-Laws). The outgoing council had very few people willing to do work – yes they’ll complain, but not do work. I personally went out to recruit volunteers – basically, anyone who was interested in doing work. We had 8 candidates, almost all of them have good enthusiasm. We have a couple other volunteers who want to work for RIRA, but didn’t want to be on the Common Council.
So the current elections cycle SATISFIES OUR GOVERNING DOCUMENTS. This is important for the organization, even if we didn’t get representation in all districts.
RIRA has been and still is relevant. We have providing important suggestions and insights to RIOC, and RIOC has been taking all our guidance. For example, it was RIRA that brought key insights into the Tram problem – insights no one else was providing, and our insights were confirmed by the Tram operator at the recent RIOC Board meeting. Ditto for the bus service, including advocating for people with disabilities, and pointing out safety, stopping, and scheduling issues. All stuff that RIOC has immediately acted upon.
As an officer of RIRA this year with direct responsibility, I felt I had two choices: not following our procedures (as done in 2020, 2022, 2023) or following our procedures and hoping for the best. I chose the latter because others (RIOC, electeds, residents) all had asked about elections. However, the elections are just the start of this term. I will continue to recruit, and we can easily add additional Common Council members at a meeting … hopefully this will increase the organization … and we will have very important tasks to accomplish.
Regarding the website, this has been a problem for several terms, and I had no control over this as numerous people would not hand over the access codes. I expect to have a new website up in the next two weeks.
Regarding Coler residents, there are also Cornell Tech residents too – but there has been prior obstruction. I’ve advocated for both, and I expect to address this quickly (via Constitution amendment) and then Coler and Cornell Tech residents will be able to join the Common Council.
Happy to answer your questions, hear inputs from the residents. Thanks.
Frank Farance
RIRA President
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Frank. If you can pull this off, it will be good for all Roosevelt Islanders.