Unexpected resignation of Manny Velazquez creates more interest in election
The abrupt departure of Community Board 12 chairman Manny Velazquez last month opened the way for first vice chair Pamela Palanque North to temporarily take over leadership of the civic board that represents the Washington Heights and Inwood neighborhoods. On Tuesday (Dec. 15), North is one of two candidates running for a full, one-year term as chairman.
The chairmanship is one of six positions to be filled in Tuesday’s CB12 elections. And although Velazquez was already due to step down this month (he had served nearly three years as chairman, the maximum allowed by community board term limits), his abrupt, early resignation has heightened interest in the race to replace him.
Neither North nor her opponent, Zead Ramadan, directly criticized Velazquez’s leadership. But in interviews with Northattan.com, both suggested that the departed chairman had not provided strong leadership for the board.
“We haven’t been unified in quite awhile. We haven’t been effective in quite awhile,” said Ramadan, a Kuwaiti-born Palestinian who emigrated to the U.S. in 1971 and has served 11 years on CB12, including two years as chair in 2002 and 2003.
Velzaquez “didn’t have rich communication with the board or the board to the community,” said North, who also has years of experience on CB12. Both North and Ramadan, who are longtime residents of Washington Heights (see correction below), felt that it was time to focus on improving relations within the board in order to improve its outreach.
Community Board 12 office
Ramadan, who is also a business owner, criticized poor board attendance saying that it was a problem he would focus on, if elected chair. “There’s a lack of trust across the board and the intentions of why people make decisions,” he said, promising to work on improving relations within the board.
North, an organization consultant and professor, said that communication between community board members and board staff needed to be strengthened as well, in order to “function at full capacity.”
Velazquez, who lost the Sept. 15 District 10 City Council race to Ydanis Rodriguez in the Democratic primary, resigned last month after receiving a critical letter, dated November 9, from Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s general counsel. The letter said that Velazquez had taken two actions unilaterally that “exceed your authority as a Community Board member and board chair and require immediate correction.”
One action, according to the letter, was Velazquez’s “offer of employment with the Community Board” to an unnamed individual; the other was his sign-off on a restaurant’s liquor license request, needed for the restaurant to apply for a license with the State Liquor Authority. The letter said both actions required approval of the community board, not just the chairman.
Velazquez resigned the day he received the letter, telling Borough President Stringer in a letter that because of “personal and professional commitments I can no longer serve as Chairman of Community Board 12.” Velazquez did not address the allegations in the letter from Stringer’s office, nor has he spoken publicly about them since (see correction below). Attempts to reach Velazquez for an interview request were unsuccessful.
Community board members and officers are all unpaid volunteers, but all officers must win election at an annual meeting open to all board members. Next Tuesday’s meeting will select a new chair, two vice chairs, a secretary, assistant secretary and treasurer.
Both vice chair positions are contested. Emilia Cardona, chair of the board’s Public Safety Committee, and George Espinal, who chairs the Youth and Education Committee, are the candidates for first vice chair. Second vice chair candidates are Cheryl Pahaham, who currently holds that position, and challenger Isaiah Bing, currently the assistant chair of the board’s Health and Environment Committee. Edith Prentiss, the current treasurer, is running unopposed.
There is no candidate for secretary, a highly unusual situation, according to Elizabeth Lorris Ritter, the current secretary, who chose not to run for re-election. She said that the position can still be filled at Tuesday’s meeting by accepting nominations from the floor.
Although Velazquez has stepped down from the board’s top post, he remains a board member. Asked last month by the Manhattan Times about his plans as a board member, Velazquez said he was “not going anywhere.”
CORRECTION ADDED DEC. 13, 2009: This story was not clear about Zead Ramadan’s current place of residence. Although a longtime Washington Heights resident, he moved to the Riverdale section of the Bronx in 1999, where he currently resides. He works in Washington Heights and is therefore eligible to serve on the community board. The story also incorrectly described Manny Valezquez’s communications with the public regarding his resignation. He made a statement in a Manhattan Times article.
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