Joint Testimony submitted by:
Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards
Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella
Thank you, Chair Restler, and members of the City Council Committee on Governmental Operations, State & Federal Legislation for holding this hearing and for the opportunity to testify on bills related to supporting community boards.
Community boards are a vital forum for residents to engage with local issues and contribute to decisions that impact their neighborhoods. As Borough Presidents, we take great pride in our Charter-mandated responsibility to appoint community board members and support boards with training and technical assistance, and we take that responsibility very seriously. As largely volunteer bodies, community boards and their members exemplify public service. Each board has its own individual style and strengths, reflecting the unique culture of their boroughs and neighborhoods. And each board is its own independent government entity, creating its own committees, agendas, norms, and bylaws.
Each of our offices have invested significant effort into making sure community boards are equipped with the tools and support they need to succeed. Our dedicated staff in each borough have neighborhood-specific expertise and partner and collaborate with community boards on the issues relevant to their members and constituents. Our offices have continuously strengthened, expanded, and diversified the trainings available to community board members, spanning
parliamentary procedure, equal employment and opportunity, and more. We also work rigorously to ensure that new members have trainings and information they need when onboarded. We take these steps not because we are required to, but because we know that our boroughs and neighborhoods thrive when our community boards are able to fully engage with their neighbors and with the issues most important to them.
The bills on today’s agenda offer some potential ways to expand the support available to community boards, an idea we fully support. At the same time, we believe that it is crucial to avoid creating unfunded mandates and to ensure that any new responsibilities are assigned to the entities or agencies best positioned to take them on effectively. We welcome the opportunity to engage with this committee to ensure that community board members have the support and resources they need.
Int 0472 would require Borough Presidents to provide equal employment opportunity (EEO) trainings, including anti-sexual harassment training and anti-discrimination training, to community board members. We agree that as public servants, community board members should receive these important trainings that help them understand essential legal issues and better engage with the full diversity of their communities. Employees of City agencies receive EEO and other essential trainings through the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS). While our offices have each taken steps to ensure that community board members receive necessary trainings, we believe it would be more appropriate for DCAS to be tasked with training the over 3,000 community board members and staff across the city, just as they do with City employees. As the author of the City’s EEO Citywide policy, DCAS is the subject-matter expert for this training and has both the knowledge and bandwidth to conduct them. Training through DCAS would offer a more streamlined, uniform, and cost-effective way to ensure that community boards can comply with all legally mandated training.
Int 1075 would require borough presidents to provide trainings on legislative processes and parliamentary procedure to local entities, including Community Boards, Community Education Councils (CECs), Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), and Precinct Community Councils (PCCs). While we understand the intent of this legislation, we have concerns about its scope. Our mandate as Borough Presidents is to appoint and support community boards. We currently offer various support and training, however, this expansion of community board training requirements would extend beyond our offices’ current capacity and expertise. Given their current relationship to community boards, we suggest this responsibility be tasked to the Civic Engagement Commission, in consultation with Borough Presidents.
When it comes to CECs, BIDs, and PCCs, while each of these entities is vital to community engagement, their responsibilities fall squarely within the mandate and expertise of existing City agencies. We strongly believe that each of these entities deserve to get the support they need from the agencies best equipped to provide it to them; CECs should be supported by the NYC Department of Education; BIDs should be supported by the Department of Small Business Services; and PCCs should be supported by NYPD so that they get the most relevant and appropriate training and resources. For the above reasons, we oppose Int 1075.
Int.1250 would require Borough Boards, Community Boards, and Advisory Boards to publish their by-laws as well as updates to bylaws online within two weeks of any changes. We strongly value transparency in local government and appreciate this legislation’s effort to create additional clarity for board members and the public. We encourage the Council to do further engagement with district managers and board members to ensure that they have the resources they need to meet any new requirements in a timely manner.
Int. 1315 would require community boards to email a monthly newsletter and videoconference their meetings and hearings. While many of our community boards have taken steps in recent years to do both of these things, staff capacity and resources remain an ongoing challenge. New requirements like these require additional staff time and resources for already stretched community boards and district managers. Any new requirements must be tied to the funding
necessary to meet them.
Finally, Int. 1316 would require the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) to establish an “Office of Community Board Support” tasked with helping community boards find accessible space for their meetings and for their offices. Ensuring that community boards have consistent access to space that is fully accessible is essential for ensuring that the public can equitably participate in board meetings. Our teams consistently hear from our community board members and district managers about the challenges of finding suitable public space to hold community meetings. We believe DCAS is the appropriate entity to directly support community boards with their space needs.
We are grateful to this committee for hosting this important hearing. We look forward to continued partnership to ensure that community boards have the support and resources they need to do their vital work.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify