Koppell dumps community board housing chairBy Adam Wisnieski Posted 5/30/12
Tom Durham, chair of Community Board 8’s Housing committee, has not been reappointed to the board that he has served on for six years. Councilman Oliver Koppell would not say why he urged the borough president’s office not to reappoint Mr. Durham. But Mr. Durham said he thinks it stems back to a single vote he made last year. Community board appointments, all for two-year terms, are made by the borough president’s office, though local elected officials often give their input. Last year, Mr. Durham was a member of the committee that nominates members to various posts. He said he voted for Maria Khury as vice chair and that Mr. Koppell called him to say that the councilman favored Steve Froot for the position. Mr. Durham said he felt the call amounted to inappropriate pressure. “I basically hung up on him. He was just really over the top, very nasty, very crude and I just said, ‘Wow.’ I was more shocked than anything,” Mr. Durham said. Mr. Durham said Mr. Koppell claimed it would be in his best interest to change his vote. Mr. Koppell, however, denied that he made any allusion to his power over board reappointments and also said he did not think it was improper to have called members of the nominating committee. Mr. Durham said he thought Ms. Khury — the ultimate winner — was the best candidate for the community and that he voted accordingly and was punished. “I don’t yield to pressure which other people yield to. I try to do what I think is best for the community,” he said, adding that, “You have to be a butt kisser to be on this board, I guess.” Mr. Koppell said he would not comment on why he didn’t recommend Mr. Durham’s reappointment but he said he was happy with his new nominations. “I nominate the ones I think will best represent the community and I’m comfortable with. I try to have a variety. I try to have people of different backgrounds … people of different interests,” he said.
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Oliver Koppell has a woeful record on minority appointments to the Board. He has swept out half a dozen African Americans since he took office while continuing to appoint mostly white, mostly Jewish men. The only other qualification is that they are Ben Franklin loyalists. Not very representative of the community. Thursday, May 31, 2012|Report this
Xena...I agree...but the ultimate decision lies with Bronx Borough President Reuben Diaz Jr. The large population of the neighborhoods covered by CB8 would allow for 50 Community Board 8 members. I believe there are currently 46 members and the vast majority of those members reside in Riverdale.
I fully supported Maria Khury as well. While she was in the "running" for position of Vice Chair of CB8, I stumbled upon an article in which Councilman Koppell blamed the failing of JFK schools on the Dominican population of the students. Councilman Koppell stated “Most of the students at Kennedy High School are from the Dominican Republic and are English Language Learners with a limited language capacity,” I beg to differ. Though there is a large Domincan population on the JFK campus, the students need competent teachers and a fully functioning administration in order to succeed. Second language learners want to learn. What Councilman Koppell did not point out in the same article is that the JFK campus resembles a prison. Students are dragged through metal detectors and treated like inmates when they forget their ID cards, forced to wait in the lobby until 10am when it is more convenient for security personnel to print temporary ID cards - thus students are missing valuable classroom time! Councilman Koppell placed the burden of the school closings on the students, rather than the adults who work at the school and run the school as a business. Blaming the Dominican population of the school for the failure of the administration, and the DOE, is unethical and offensive. Yet, I heard not a peep from local Dominican elected officials over Councilman Koppells comments. What does that say about our Dominican politicians?
Tom Durham preferred to vote for a Dominican businesswoman over Councilman Koppells choice for Vice Chair of CB8. What good is a democracy if you only have a bunch of "yes" men and women? Unfortunately, the retaliatory measures taken against Tom are pitiful in that the removal of Tom Durham from CB8 clearly defines the character of our elected officials. It would have been easy for BBP Diaz Jr. to reappoint Tom, on the strength of Tom's work for the community alone. Apparently Tom worked too hard for the residents of CB8. Perhaps he was too "community-minded"?
For shame!
Friday, June 1, 2012|Report this
I agree that Mr. Koppell has a very bad record when it comes to people (who do not think about things his way) on Committee and Boards. In my opinion Mr. Koppell only wants those who will vote exactly like he tells them. I also beleive that it is time for Mr. Koppell to step down from his post as City Council member; I say this because if you happen to live in the Kingsbridge section (meaning if you live in the area of between Broadway and Bailey Avenue) he does not want to that you exist. He has been asked to help getting rid of a Hispanic bar (which is basically a strip or exotic dancing) where the customers come out during the night and the music is so loud and then when they are leaving (getting into cars or cabs since they don’t live in the neighborhood) make so much noise they wake people up. What did Mr. Koppell say when asked to help. I don’t have that area in my district. He is nothing more than a Hispanic lover. Who needs him and his friends, let’s get rid of them all. Monday, June 4, 2012|Report this