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Susan Ceely's avatar

Thank you for thinking about these topics.

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Frank Farance's avatar

I'd like to respond to just a couple points. First, let me unwind the statement "Ellen Polivy and Lynne Shinozaki, faced relentless attacks from Frank Farance, according to our sources, creating an environment so hostile that elections effectively stalled."

I was not involved in RIRA elections since 2006, I believe. Only recently in the 2024 elections, I worked on the nominations process: we got candidates, new members, there were no uncontested positions so there was no elections for 2024, but still we have a new Common Council. Still I seek new members, I recruit all the time, I provide information to people and support their concerns (some Island-wide, some building-specific), and I provide knowledge and previous experiences to help advocate their issues and concerns. Some of them become Common Council members during this term. If you're interested, please contact me at rira.president.farance@gmail.com and I am happy to follow up.

As for "attacks", I didn't attack anyone, I disagreed with Ellen and Lynne on things, but do did others. Part of this, I believe, might involve gender bias: when a man disagrees with a woman it is an "attack", whereas when the genders are reversed it is not called an "attack". For Ellen and Lynne, I had different disagreements.

For Ellen, I and other Common Council members had disagreements about the way she ran Common Council meetings. First, I should say: I like Ellen, she is a good Mom, and she has advocated (in varying roles) for many good things for the Island and for individuals and families, too. Our disagreement with Ellen was: when she would chair the monthly meetings, she didn't pick on people fairly - she chose people who supported her thinking and skipped over others who disagreed with her. We suggested: either go around the room clockwise (or counterclockwise) and call people who have their hands raised; OR, call people in order when the raise their hands - either approach is fair. Unfortunately, Ellen had friends who supported her and, I'd say, they (including Lynne) were more anti-Frank than pro-Ellen.

In 2013, when these disagreements with Ellen occurred, there was much going on. We had the problems with PSD almost killing a resident for loitering (I broke the news to the community), we had many protests, and myself and others (Erin, Ike, Adib, Chris, etc.) in RIRA's Public Safety Committee led community protests, there were firings and departures (Chief, Deputy Chief, Lieutenant, Sergeant, and Officer), and Public Safety was reinvented in the Community Policing Model - led by Chief Jack McManus - and all initiated and advocated by RIRA. That was particularly difficult because Ellen was President, Lynne was chair of a committee, and both of their husbands were on the RIOC Board Ops Committee with had oversight of PSD. I won't say Conflict-of-Interest, but I will say there are difficulties for both women in those roles, the independence demanded in those roles, and their husbands overseeing PSD of which RIRA had strong strong strong opposition (including the community).

Also in April 2013, there was a Cherry Blossom Festival (CBF) which was the Island's largest event (at the time) with about 10,000 attendees. It taxed RIOC and PSD. Lynne had suggested to Common Council members that RIRA complain to (then) Councilmember Jessica Lappin that RIOC should refund our downpayment on the CBF permit because RIRA didn't make enough money. There were lots of questions about the finances for the 2013 CBF, Lynne was in charge, and many Common Council members were asking Lynne about the finances - the information seemed questionable. It wasn't until November 2013 that we received Lynne's financials: apparently RIRA had revenues of $35K (10 times more than any prior year), expenses of $35K (20 times more than any prior year), and $4000 of those expenses went to a guest speaker who didn't show up. Clearly, the financial statement was fraudulent as it did not reflect any money-related reality - several Common Council members had the same concern, including our Treasurer who would need to sign off on corporate accounting. Rather than fixing the CBF finances, Lynne retaliated against one of the complainers (me) by saying my complaints about finances (as board members in a NYS not-for-profit corporation, we have very clear fiduciary responsibilities) somehow were considered "misconduct" and Lynne sought Expulsion proceedings against me. Well, the Common Council did not agree and Ellen, Lynne, and a couple other people resigned. At the time, I felt bad that Ellen had resigned - this could have been fixed by simply running the meetings better and Ellen separating herself from Lynne on the concerns about the 2013 CBF finances. By the way, the 2013 CBF only made about $700 cash in donations in a coffee can, Lynne had met someone from Coney Island non-profit who suffered badly in Hurricane Sandy (2012), so Lynne gave the money to that organization (RIRA only found out about this after the fact), and in the end RIRA lost money on an event that Lynne had touted would be a fundraiser. There were more things wrong, but that's a summary.

[continued in next post]

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