Drama at CB4, 6/7/6; Part 1: Lukas Herbert

Drama at CB4, Lukas Herbert and Betty Robinson Edition

The Players:

Mr. Shipp--Acting Chairperson CB4

Lukas Herbert--CB4 Housing and Land Use Comittee, professional Urban Planner

Mary Blassingame--CB4 Chairperson Housing and Land Use Committee

David Mojica--District Manager CB4

Ms. Mangual--Representative for the Bronx Borough President

Mr. George T. Robinson--CB4 Chairperson Health and Human Services Committee

Ms. D. Lee Ezell--CB4 Chairperson Municipal Services CommitteeMr. Shipp

Ms. Anita Antonetty--CB4 Recording Secretary

Bettty Robinson--Community resident

Background:
After the Nominating Committee makes their recommendations to the full board on candidates for elective office for its consideration at the June 6, 2006, General Board Meeting, Mr Shipp calls for a motion.

LET THE DRAMEDY BEGIN:

Mr. Shipp: Motion, please.

Mr. Lukas Herbert: I'd like to make a motion to reject this slate.

Mr. Shipp: Can I get a second.

Ms. Mary Blassingame: I second.

Mr. Ship: Moved and properly seconded. The motion was made that the names that were read that we accept that as the Nominating Committee has presented to you. Are there any questions?

Mr. Herbert: No, I made a motion to REJECT this slate.

Mr. Ship: Oh, you made a motion to reject it?

Mr. Herbert: Yes, that is correct.

Mr. Ship: I though you said ACCEPT it.

Mr. Herbert: No.

Mr. Mojica: He's (Herbert) making a recommendation.

Mr. Ship: You're making a recommendation. Are there any other questions? All in favor of a rejection of the nominating committee (recommendations) raise your hand. Only the members of the board may vote.

Ms. Mangual: Call their names out.

Mr. Shipp: Only members of the board.

Mr. Mojica: Can you hear that?

Mr. Mangual: Can I have the names, please?

Mr. Mojica: Will you repeat that?

Mr. Ship: Call your name out again. That's the best way we can get it.

Mr. Herbert: You want us to say our names? Lukas Herbert. I vote to reject the slate.

Mr. George T. Robinson: Oh, I thought you were rejecting the Nominating Committee.

Mr. Herbert: No, the slate.

Ms. D. Lee Ezell: I thought that happened in the June meeting.

Ms. Blassingame: Didn't he ask for a motion?

Mr. Shipp: We made a motion. Who second that motion?

Mr. Herbert: You asked for a motion. So I made a motion to reject the slate.

Mr. Shipp: You can make a recommendation, but you can't make a motion saying you rejected it reject it, all right?

Ms. Anita Antonetty: OK, so what's going on?

Mr. Shipp: He (Herbert) just made a recommendation.

Ms. Antonetty: OK, so what is the motion?

Mr Shipp: He made the motion to reject the nominating committee.

Ms. Antonetty: I understand what Lukas did, but you are saying that's a recommendation, that's a motion, that's not, it's not. I just need to get it clear because I have to put it in the minutes.

Mr. Shipp: It's a recommendation.

Mr. Herbert: Well you asked generically for a motion. I made a motion to reject the slate.

Ms. Antonetty: OK, I have that.

Mr. Shipp: He can make the motion, but it also can be voted down.

Mr. Herbert: I want to make a motion to reject the slate so that nominations can be taken from the floor.

Mr. Shipp: You can always get nominations from the floor. We are not excluding anyone from being nominated from the floor.

Mr. Herbert: OK.

Mr. Shipp: All right? That's clear. You can always make nominations from the floor.

Mr. Herbert: My understanding was that we had to vote the slate up or down.

Mr. Shipp: No, no.

Mr. Herbert: Oh, OK.

Ms. Antonetty: So, are you (Herbert) withdrawing (the motion)?

Mr. Shipp: Do you want to recall your motion?

Mr. Herbert: No.

Ms. Ezell: You (Shipp) don't have to accept it. You're chairing the meeting.

Mr. Mojica: You (Shipp) don't have to accept it. You don't have to recognize it.

Mr. Shipp: We can vote on this at the 27th, all right? This is the slate that was presented to you.

Mr. Herbert: Then what were you asking for a motion for, just curious.

Mr. Shipp: I was asking you to approve what we had done. OK now understand, let the record show that the motion, we will make the motion on the 27th, and they can nominate people from the floor. All right, so that's clear.

Ms. Mangual: Very clear.

Mr. Shipp: Very clear. All right, the next item on the agenda.

Ms. Antonetty: Wait a minute. We didn't finish.

Ms. Blassingame: Was there any criteria for the Nominating Committee in their selection. What was your criteria?

Mr. Shipp: Criteria was that we had many more names. The criteria was for us the best person to fill the position. That's the criteria.

Ms. Blassingame: Just for instance, I am the Housing and Land Use Committee chair; and we have had a successful committee. I just wanted to get some feeling of why my name wasn't nominated, and what was the criteria for removing my name from the nomination of Housing and Land Use one of the most active committees on the board.

Mr. Robinson: You know what it is, this slate that we voted on was really a slate that the Bronx Borough President sent us. Let's get this straight right now. OK. We have always have nominations of individuals who may not want to be there. We don't know that. That's just something that we had to work with, and that's what we did. And all we're doing is bringing that to you. And that does not mean that you cannot vote from the floor for someone to be the chair of a committee or whatever else it is OK. This whole situation is something that we had to work with. That's all that is, and we have to bring it to you. We're not the final say of this situation; the board members are. So that's all we did was bring the slate to you; and from there you want to vote for somebody, there's no problem. That's what it is.

Mr. Shipp: Yes.

Ms. Betty Robinson: Can I ask a question? Where did they get the names from?

Ms. Mangual: Is she a member? Is she a member? ¿Ella es miembro? Dile que no.

Mr. Mojica: He (Shipp) can entertain her (question).

Mr. Shipp: As I said before, you heard what I read. We had several names that we discussed.

Ms. Mangual: Excuse, excuse me Mr. Shipp. Can they identify themselves and tell me whether they are members or non members when they ask questions?

Mr. Shipp: Are they members of the board, you mean?

Ms. Mangual: The ones asking questions.

Mr. Shipp: The names that I called?

Ms. Mangual: No, no, no.

Ms. Robinson: I am asking a question.

Ms. Mangual: Excuse me.

Mr. Shipp: Oh, the questioners.

Ms. Mangual: Excuse me. May I speak?

Mr. Shipp: Are you (Ms. Robinson) a member of the board?

Ms. Robinson: Of the community, I am a member of the community. I live in the community.

Mr. Shipp: You are not of member of the board. You are a member of the community.

Ms. Robinson: I'm a member of the community. I live in the community. This is a community board, right?

Mr. Ship: That's right.

Ms. Robinson: OK so I am a member of the community. What I want to know is where did the names come from? Who recommended the names?

Mr. Shipp: As I said before, we discussed the names. The names came from all of us in the Nominating Committee and other people, all right. So someone has sent the name in; and so they recommended that person, what have you. And we put the name in.

Ms. Robinson: And what's the criteria? Is the criteria I like you so I put the name in?

Mr. Shipp: No, we looked at the seriousness of their being a member and what they've done and what they should do; and we decided that (way).