BY LESLEY SUSSMAN | In what is expected to be a highly volatile election with racial undertones, Community Board 3 Chairperson Gigi Li will square off next month in her second-term re-election bid against board member Chad Marlow.
Marlow is aligned with a faction of board members who have openly accused Li of excluding African-Americans and Latinos from leadership of various C.B. 3 committees.
It would mark the first time since 2009 — when former chairperson Dominic Berg was challenged for the board’s leadership by then board member Barden Prisant — that there has been a contested election for this position.
At last month’s full board meeting, Li, who is of Chinese-American descent, found herself under sharp attack by a fellow board member who accused her of “consistently and regularly” failing to appoint any African-American or Latino members to high-ranking positions on the board’s committees, subcommittees and task forces during Li’s one-year tenure.
The accusation — which has been strongly denied by Li and other board members — was lodged by Ayo Harrington, a board member who is African-American. The matter is scheduled to be investigated by the city’s district office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
At Tuesday night’s four-hour full board meeting, at P.S. 20, at 166 Essex St., attended by more than 100 local residents, Li, Marlow and other board members downplayed the racial issue and said this election was about different points of view regarding C.B. 3’s future role in the community.
Former C.B. 3 Chairperson Berg told this paper, “This election isn’t about racism. It’s always a good experience to give people choices. There’s a platform that’s being pushed by both candidates, and it’s up to board members to decide whether or not it’s a valid platform.”
Marlow is a former president of the Village Independent Democrats political club who has more than a decade of community board experience gained from four different boards in Manhattan and the Bronx. He is currently senior policy adviser with the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
He said his main reason for running was simply to “improve the functioning of our board and restore its reputation with our community.”
“The past 18 months have been challenging ones for C.B. 3,” he said, “and this June’s election is an opportunity to give the board a fresh start — to turn a new page with new leadership.”
He added that, during a seven-month period, from October 2013 to April 2014, “the Manhattan borough president has had to intervene three separate times in the functioning of our board because we have gone so off the rails.”
Marlow, however, did allude to the racial bias controversy, stating, “I will ensure that our board operates in a manner that is democratic, transparent and inclusive.”
He went on to say that, in addition to his extensive participation on various community boards, as former V.I.D. president, “I have a lot of experience in running efficient and effective large, group meetings by Robert’s Rules of Order, so that people feel they get a lot of value out of going to these meetings.”
Marlow also touted his community service, saying that as founder of The Tompkins Square Park & Playground Parents’ Association, he was instrumental in getting former Mayor Bloomberg to resolve the park’s rat problem. He said he was also a driving force behind efforts to bring more “slow zones” to the East Village as part of the Department of Transportation’s Slow Zone Program. The Tompkins Square / Alphabet City Slow Zone will be implemented this August, according to Marlow.
Asked if his decision to oppose Li was personal and some type of vendetta against a board leader with different views than his own about C.B. 3’s role in the community, and who he has clashed with at board meetings on several occasions, Marlow strongly denied that was the case.
“It’s actually quite the opposite,” he said. “I actually like Gigi. I think she’s a very nice person and a very intelligent woman. I think she has pretty great things ahead of her in the future.
“But,” he added, “just as the community board would benefit from a fresh start, I think Gigi would benefit from a fresh start and needs to step away for a while. She didn’t have a lot of experience when she became chairperson and I think she’s struggling with that. I think maybe she should come back after a while and try this again.
Marlow further said that if elected, he had no plans to seek a replacement for C.B. 3 District Manager Susan Stetzer — the board’s top staffer — as part of the sweeping changes he has in mind.
“I think that when Susan is at her best, she is the best district manager in New York,” he said, “and I’ve seen a lot of them.
“Sure, there are some areas that need to be fine-tuned and tweaked,” he added, “because, as much as the board needs some changes, the operating officers also need some changes.”
Asked after the meeting if she was disappointed in having to face an opponent in next month’s election, Li said she was not.
“There’s a reason why we have one-year terms, and that’s so that anyone who feels that they want to run for office can run,’’ Li said. “I think there are some differences of opinion on how this board should be conducted, and any board member has a right to express their opinion and run for any position they want to.”
Li said she was preparing a position paper that would be released shortly, and preferred to wait until that paper was released before commenting publicly on what issues were most important to her.
The C.B. 3 chairperson did reject Marlow’s assertion that she lacked experience for her job.
“I’ve been on the board since 2009 as vice chair,” Li said, “as well as chair for the past two years.
“I also have personal experience from my day job,” she added. “I run a nonprofit coalition for increased public funding for afterschool programs and childcare programs, which are very important to this community. It’s given me experience on how to advocate for this board.”
At Tuesday night’s C.B. 3 meeting, the subject of racial bias flared momentary in a heated exchange between City Councilmember Rosie Mendez and Harrington who, at last month’s meeting, accused Li of excluding minorities from leadership positions on the board.
“Gigi did not intentionally discriminate against any minority group,” Mendez told the group. “She may have made some mistakes, but they were not intentional.”
Harrington shot back that such remarks were inappropriate.
“It’s not helpful for an elected official to get up and make that kind of comment while an investigation is not complete,” she said.
Mendez told Harrington that she had been informed of the situation.
“It’s a matter of public record,” Mendez said, “and it’s important to me to state my opinion.”
Meanwhile, at Community Board 2, board members voted to have a “stub election” next month to cover the period from June through November. Current Chairperson David Gruber would have had to step down this June after serving two years. But he successfully advocated for resetting the board’s elections to November, which is a trend among other Manhattan boards, he said.
Gruber and all other board officers are running unopposed in the June “stub election,” except for Jo Hamilton, the second vice chairperson, who is not seeking re-election. Terri Cude is running to fill Hamilton’s seat.
With reporting
by Lincoln Anderson
