NEWS

Lees’ reign at Board 2 is over as Smith is elected chairperson

By Lincoln Anderson

In one of the most political and closely contested Community Board 2 elections in recent memory, Jim Smith beat Brad Hoylman convincingly in the race for chairperson of the Greenwich Village board last Thursday night.

Smith, previously the board’s chairperson from 1999-2001, received 28 votes to Hoylman’s 20 in a very high turnout election — 48 members of the 50 member board attended and cast votes.

Other winners were Carol Yankay over Doris Diether for first board vice chairperson; Lisa La Frieda, who ran unopposed, second vice chairperson; Rocio Sanz, also unopposed, treasurer; Bob Rinaolo over Shirley Secunda for secretary; and Mark Rosenwasser over Betty Williams for assistant secretary. All the candidates running on the “Smith slate” won, while those allied with Hoylman went down to defeat.

Tipping the balance of the board towards Smith were five new appointees to the board by Borough President C. Virginia Fields, every one of who voted for Smith. The borough president directly appoints half the board’s members and has final say over the rest, which are recommended by the local councilmembers.

Members reported that Cynthia Smith, a new appointee to the board by Hoylman ally Councilmember Christine Quinn, was questioned at the meeting by Brad Sussman, Field’s Board 2 liaison, as to whether she had a right to vote. Sussman later told The Villager that Smith had a letter inviting her to the training session for new board members but not her official appointment letter, but that after he asked her to show him the letter, he decided she could vote.

“He was questioning whether I was officially appointed,” said Smith, a past president of Gay and Lesbian Independent Democrats. Sussman made a cell phone call during the meeting to confirm that she had been appointed, she said.

Asked whether he personally or Fields’ office were lobbying members, Sussman said no. However, he said there was an important difference between the candidates that was a reason to vote for Smith.

“There was one person running who was very clearly a political club member and there was another member who was clearly not a political club member,” he noted.

Dan Wilson, Fields’ spokesperson, said she did not directly lobby any board members to vote for either candidate.

Hoylman is president of GLID. (Other political club presidents on the board include Arthur Schwartz, Lower Manhattan Alliance for Progressive Political Action; and Sean Sweeney, Downtown Independent Democrats. Another board member, Melissa Sklarz is GLID’s vice president.)

Chad Marlow, president of Village Independent Democrats, a new Quinn appointee to the board, attended but did not vote because he had not yet received his appointment letter. Tony Dapolito, who is in the hospital at St. Vincent’s, could not vote because he was not present.

Members who voted for Hoylman included Stephanie Thayer, Elizabeth Gilmore, Ann Robinson, Doris Nash, Carol Reichman, Ann Hearn, Ed Gold, Honi Klein, Marc Newell, Keith Crandell, Shirley Secunda, Betty Williams, Doris Diether, Jeanne Kazel (formerly Wilcke), Melissa Sklarz, Tobi Bergman, Jo Hamilton, Arthur Schwartz and Cynthia Smith.

Voting for Smith were Steve Ashkinazy, Ruth Sherlip, Will Weder, Judy Paul, Bob Rinaolo, Harriet Fields, Sean Sweeney, Don MacPherson, Helene Burgess, Carol Yankay, Don Lee, Lisa LaFrieda, Martin Tessler, David Reck, Aubrey Lees, Rocio Sanz, Ed Ma, Lawrence Goldberg, Rosemary McGrath, Shirley Smith and Mark Rosenwasser, as well as the five new Fields appointees — Arthur Harris, Dr. John Maggio, Rick Panson, Maria Passannante Derr and Barbara Jeter — and a new appointee by Councilmember Alan Gerson — Robert Riccobono.

Key swing votes Hoylman failed to win reportedly included Weder, Ma, Jeter and Paul.

“I lost fair and square,” Hoylman said afterwards. “I look forward to supporting Jim in his new/old role as chairperson of the community board.”

“I won because I got more votes than my opponent,” Smith said bluntly. He said his main goal is to increase the board’s efficiency at both the committee and full board meeting level, while still encouraging adequate debate so that people feel they’ve had their say.

The Smith-Hoylman race was extremely political, even by community board standards. There were accusations that Fields is trying to build a power base on the board for an expected citywide campaign, perhaps for mayor in 2005, though there are rumors she may try for Charles Rangel’s congressional seat should he step down.

Two weeks before the vote, Crandell, a veteran board member, said he was concerned about how things were shaping up.

“I’m afraid Virginia Fields is trying to take control of the board,” he said.

Gerson, a Fields ally, previously admitted to The Villager that a consideration of his in appointing and reappointing members to the board was whether they supported Smith, who Gerson was backing. Lora Tenenbaum, who Gerson ultimately decided not to reappoint, a few months ago told The Villager Gerson informed her he would not reappoint her unless she supported Smith for chairperson.

Meanwhile, according to a source, state Sen. Tom Duane and Quinn tried to persuade certain board members to vote for Hoylman.

A Duane spokesperson admitted that Duane and LaFrieda were among a group who went to a Starbucks, but discussed “Community Board 2 matters,” not just the election.

“They all paid for their own cup of coffee,” the spokesperson hastened to add. He didn’t confirm if Quinn was in the group and Quinn could not be reached by deadline.

LaFrieda had denied such a meeting took place when The Villager had asked her about rumors Duane and Quinn had taken her out “for drinks,” noting she doesn’t drink.

Ed Ma, who voted for Smith, said the lobbying by the Hoylman side was intense in the final days before the election, including by former board member Tenenbaum.

“So many people called me,” Ma said, rolling his eyes. “Brad [Hoylman] called me, Ed Gold called me, Lora Tenenbaum called me.”

On the other side, District Manager Arty Strickler, the board’s administrator and a board employee, was also reported to be lobbying — for Smith.

Strickler, a former Village Democratic district leader and former C.B. 2 chairperson, denied it. Asked if he had done any lobbying, he said: “No, I stayed out of it basically.”

“Yes, he did,” said one board member, speaking on condition of anonymity. “I received phone calls from [Strickler] personally. He felt if Brad Hoylman and the slate he was supporting won, he’d be out of a job.”

Before the vote, both chairperson candidates gave speeches. Hoylman, who facing an uphill battle reportedly lobbied members much more vigorously than Smith, said he was “exhausted” from the effort. He said his candidacy represented “something different, something new, something generational that can help the board” and that he felt he had “some very good ideas,” from setting up a C.B. 2 Web site to giving members the meeting agendas before the meetings.

Hoylman noted he had been endorsed by this newspaper and read the end of The Villager’s editorial that concluded by asking Hoylman to distance himself from the board’s politics if elected.

“I’m committed to distancing myself from the politics,” he assured the board members.

Hoylman said consistency on the board is important for its credibility and vowed he wouldn’t replace too many committee chairpersons. He also told Strickler that he would still have a job if he was elected.

Smith in his comments expressed concern about the large building projects of New York University and Cooper Union and that the community must have input before such projects are built. He promised to enhance the board’s public session, allowing three speakers on each side of the issue and allowing them to speak for up to three minutes.

“That said, shorter board meetings these last two years have been greatly appreciated by many board members — including me,” Smith said.

Rick Panson, owner of Duplex and Halo, two nightclubs in the Village and a new appointee by Fields to the board, said the main reasons he voted for Smith are that he knows him and that the Smith faction was more pro-business. Smith’s supporters include Rinaolo, who owns the Garage and Senor Swanky’s, Sanz, who owns Tio Pepe restaurant, and LaFrieda, who owns a meat business. All three are active members of the Greenwich Village Chelsea Chamber of Commerce. Yet Panson called Hoylman a “mover and shaker” who he hopes to work with in the future and get to know better.

“I’ve been in this community for 19 years trying to run a business. The Duplex has an outdoor sidewalk café,” Panson said. “Community Board 2 has a history of being antibusiness. I think that’s unfair. I believe there has to be a balance.”

Panson said in the last five years with Fields putting more pro-business members on the board the imbalance has lessened.

Meanwhile, Lees, her dachshund, Harry, sitting in a bag at her feet, heaved a sigh a relief at the end of last Thursday’s meeting.

“I love you!” she told the remaining board members as they applauded her. “This is the happiest day of my life!” Some of her leading critics on the board had already gone home by then.

In her lame-duck week, Lees was appointed chairperson of the board’s parks committee. She said she plans to focus on the renovation of Washington Sq. Park.

“I’m really happy,” she said, reflecting on her two-year term as chairperson. “I thought I really accomplished a lot of what I set out to do.”

She said she was proud of helping build momentum to renovate Washington Sq. Park, putting together the landmarks task force that met regularly with former Landmarks Preservation Commission Chairperson Sherida Paulsen and winning approval of a separate dog run for small dogs in Washington Sq. Park. She also said the board’s review of the Pier 40 redevelopment plan competition was a success, even though the Hudson River Park Trust did not pick a developer.

“I’m happy that we got behind one proposal,” she said of the Pier 40 process, adding there was no guarantee the Trust would pick a developer.

She was happy with the shorter meetings she ran, feeling all the board’s resolutions got passed as a result.

Lees said her putting new people in charge of some of the board’s committees was also an improvement, rejuvenating the committees, which she said had become too “reactionary.”

She said she’d like to stay active in the effort to create a Christopher St. business improvement district, something she says is sorely needed. And she said that she’d be happy to “take the lead” in trying to revive the landmarks task force meetings with the new L.P.C. chairperson, Robert Tierney. Asked if she would run for reelection as board chairperson in two years (the board has a two-year term limit for chairperson), she said, definitively, no, that she’s got lots to do with her law practice.

“It was enough,” she said.

In other news, David Reck has been appointed chairperson of the board’s zoning committee; Jeanne Kazel stepped down from the post. Also, Tobi Bergman has been put back on the waterfront committee. Lees had removed Bergman and seven other board members from the waterfront committee, including its chairperson, Arthur Schwartz, claiming the “appearance of conflict of interest” during the Pier 40 proposals review process.

In addition, Smith said Arthur Harris is the new transportation committee chairperson and that a new chairperson will be picked for the social services committee. Smith said two other former members of the waterfront committee also asked to be reinstated, but that the committee is already too cumbersome and needs trimming.

He noted he removed himself and Rosenwasser from the committee.