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CB8 merges committees, looks at changing rules

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Community Board 8 has shrunk a little, at least as far as committees are concerned.

During its recent full board meeting, CB8 officially decided to merge its libraries and education committees, creating a single committee under the chairmanship of Sylvia Alexander, who previously led the independent education committee.

CB8 has publicly talked about merging the two committees for at least the past several weeks, citing the similarities of their work — and even the board makeup.

Marvin Goodman, who was chair of the libraries committee, publicly supported the merger.

At the same meeting, the board also agreed to recommend parks and athletic fields be named after prominent residents the same way streets can be renamed.

The question came up after the board pushed renaming a soccer field  at Seton Park after Bruce Silverman, who was instrumental in organizing a very popular youth soccer program there.

CB8 can recommend a ceremonial renaming of a street after the person set to be honored has been dead for two years, according to its current rules. Park renamings would fall under similar guidelines, according to what the board approved at the Nov. 13 meeting. Silverman died of cancer in 2015. He was 52.

The board also approved renaming  the fields after Silverman. However, such final decision is left with the city’s parks department.

Dan Padernacht said he supported the park renaming in memory of Silverman, but felt changing the rules was something that should go through CB8’s rules committee first, to allow the public a chance to speak on it.

The board rejected the request, however, with Charles Moerdler explaining that without the board approving the rule change now, efforts to recommend renaming the soccer field would be delayed.

“Bob (Bender) can’t properly introduce this resolution without this change,” Moerdler said of the parks committee chair.

What remains up in the air, however, is whether or not to ceremonially rename a street after Loeser’s Deli. That request is now in the rules committee.

Sylvia Alexander, Community Board 8, Marvin Goodman, Bruce Silverman, Dan Padernacht, Charles Moerdler, Bob Bender, Michael Hinman, Loeser's Deli,

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