Tuesday, December 5, 2017

CB7 takes lengthy holiday vacation

It’s December, and all Queens community boards will hold regular meetings/hearings – all of them, that is, except for Community Board 7. CB7 is skipping the required December meeting & hearing, for at least the third consecutive year.

CB7’s November 2017 meeting agenda states: “The next Community Board Regular Meeting & Public Hearing is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 8, 2018.”

New York City Charter § 2800(h) specifies the regular meetings that all community boards are required to hold:
“Except during the months of July and August, each community board shall meet at least once each month within the community district and conduct at least one public hearing each month. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a community board shall be required to meet for purposes of reviewing the scope or design of a capital project located within such community board's district when such scope or design is presented to the community board. Such review shall be completed within thirty days after receipt of such scope or design. Each board shall give adequate public notice of its meetings and hearings and shall make such meetings and hearings available for broadcasting and cablecasting. At each public meeting, the board shall set aside time to hear from the public. The borough president shall provide each board with a meeting place if requested by the board.”
A monthly meeting/hearing is required each month “except during the months of July and August” – and this requirement holds, even if a particular community board has no rezoning or other application to evaluate during December, because among the purposes of meeting are to “set aside time to hear from the public.”

Online information posted by Queens community boards, and telephone calls to boards that haven’t posted online information, confirm that every Queens community board – other than CB7 – will hold meetings/hearings during December 2017, fulfilling their legal obligations under the City Charter:

CB1: December 20
CB2: December 7
CB3: December 21
CB4: December 19
CB5: December 13
CB6: December 13
CB7: NO DECEMBER MEETING
CB8: December 13
CB9: December 12
CB10: December 7
CB11: December 4
CB12: December 13
CB13: December 11
CB14: December 12

And this has apparently gone on for multiple years, not just this year. Online collections of CB7 meeting agendas and minutes contain none for December 2015 or December 2016, indicating that CB7 held no December meetings/hearings during those years, in addition to 2017. Each community board receives a budget of City taxpayer funds, and in exchange for those funds, each must perform certain services – including meeting during December with time set aside to hear from the public. The City Charter specifies a minimum of 10 regular meetings/hearings annually. By failing to meet each December, CB7 is holding only 9 out of the 10 required meetings/hearings – 90 percent of what the City Charter requires. The City Comptroller should be concerned about a lone community board that accepts its entire share of City taxpayer funds (and even requests more), but purposefully skips December meetings and thus routinely delivers only 90 percent of what the City Charter requires.

How has this been allowed and who authorized it?

Melinda?

25 comments:

ron s said...


How has this been allowed and who authorized it?

Maybe it was the two douchebags in the photo.......

Anonymous said...

So what? CB's have no real power, only can recommend.

Anonymous said...

Lazy crooked board!
These two shady characters have been warming seats at CB7 for too damn long!
This ....rubber stamp developers' projects" board needs to be flushed.
After all, THIS IS. Flushing!
Do we change our underwear each day? Yes!
Then why does this bobble head board stay welded to their seats?
Dump Chuck! Dump Gene!
Where is the FBI?
Maybe a subpoena of "follow the Buck Chuck" Apelian's bank accounts is LONG overdue!

Behind The Curtain said...

CB7 has been responsible for the rapacious over development of the Flushing downtown hub.
They just sat there and let it happen.....maybe put some money in their pockets too!
We have heard it too many times (in closed door meetings), "Thank the Asians that Flushing did not become another south Jamaica"!
We call that RACISM! In other words....better Asian than DARKER people of color!
Ask the notorious , like Tommy Huang, how many politicians he bought?
Way back when.....certain members of CB7 were taken on a "junket" to Taiwan?
Why? Wasn't their job here at home?
It's been said that fundraisers were held for some pol's in Taipei.
Where the fuck are the federal investigators? give that board a good colonoscopy!

georgetheatheist said...

And where is the local community press reporting this? Too busy paste and scissoring the pols' smile, smile, smile Holiday Greetings ads? Queens Crap scoops them all.

georgetheatheist said...

BTW. Anyone see Katz lately? Seems like she's MIA for a bit now.

Anonymous said...

Do they have a meeting in July or August?

Anonymous said...

Hopefully the local press will get to the bottom of this. And who else should be held to account is the Director of Community Boards at the Office of the Queens Borough President, Vicky Morales Casella, who knows or should know that CB7 doesn’t meet in December, violating the City Charter. With 3+ weeks left in this year, CB7 has enough time to schedule, publicly notice and hold a December meeting, so it can at least satisfy its obligations for 2017. But that does not un-do the failures to hold December meetings in 2016, 2015 and possibly other years.

Anonymous said...

I see many projects voted down by Community Board 7 that get passed by the City Council or the Planning Commission. They are only the first step in the process so don't blame them for the over crowding.
Community Board 7 has had many Committee meetings already this month, there was even one last night.

Anonymous said...

That last one is obviously CB 7 member butt kisser. THEY SUCK!

Anonymous said...

CB7 can hold a thousand committee meetings, but that does not matter - and does not satisfy the City Charter requirement, which is for meetings and hearings held by the full board, where there is time set aside to hear from the public. Committee meetings have nothing to do with any of that. There is NO excuse.

Anonymous said...

I'll bet that Marilyn Bitterman retired with a fat $$$$$$$$$ cushion!
What about Regina Colletta before her?

Anonymous said...

The local press will get to the bottom of NOTHING! They are the arms of all these crooks. If it weren't for Queens Crap the sun would never shine...exposing these cockroaches hiding in their dark corners. Get out the "Raid"!

Anonymous said...

Katz MIA? Yes. She didn't even acknowledge winning her reelection. No news about it. Hmmmm

Anonymous said...

Where is the FBI?

They are busy saving Hillary and fabricating evidence against Trump.

Anonymous said...

"I see many projects voted down by Community Board 7 that get passed by the City Council or the Planning Commission. They are only the first step in the process so don't blame them for the over crowding."

Thats true of ALL the community boards.

Anonymous said...

Not true, CB-7 Public Hearing Mon Dec 18, 7PM Union Plaza Nursing Home. I hope all these big mouths attend, but of course most complainers are are all talk and no action !

Queens Crapper said...

Are you saying this is a lie? Because it's what they put out.

Anonymous said...

CB7 trolls doing a lot of damage control here, we see. Apelian runs the show like the fascist racist that he is.

Anonymous said...

CB7 scheduled this December 18 meeting on an emergency basis, after being called out on Queens Crap for failing to hold December meetings not only this year, but also in 2015, 2016 and possibly other years. And as of yet, CB7 hasn’t explained why it skipped prior December meetings, and intended to skip this year’s also, until called out on Queens Crap. This is why CB7 and its members have zero credibility. They only cover for themselves.

Anonymous said...

How does a neighborhood that is almost entirely Asian have a community board that is almost entirely white?

Anonymous said...

They have a few token Asians Blacks and Latinos all dancing to their tune thinking they're doing good by remaining on the board.

Anonymous said...

Of course CB7 decided to meet in December. This way they don't have to wait for their red envelopes come lunar new year. Tis the season to get paid off!

Anonymous said...

Doesn't matter. These "Whites" kiss every Asian over developers butts whenever possible.

Anonymous said...

They're an impotent board shooting blanks. They couldn't get a flea pregnant with their purely advisory status!
It is only a place where Apelian networks with politicians and developers to score printing contracts for Presstone.
Chuck, Chuck!