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I wanted to relay one experience with Dan Padernacht as a community board committee chair. In talking with neighbors our experience seems consistent with theirs on related matters. If our collective stories are representative of how he would handle leadership of the Board, our community would be well served by thinking hard before giving him that authority.

Our neighborhood's homeowners brought a simple traffic safety request before his committee. It took months of lobbying to get it before them. Once there, it was tabled for technical reasons for a few more months. After nearly a year's prodding and pleading, the committee voted, unanimously in favor of the change.

Success was followed by silence. When we asked, weeks later, we were told that Dan decided to re-vote the issue, noting that a nearby group of residents was not offered a special invitation to weigh in. Another hearing, with no attendees from the special group. Second vote, again, unanimously positive.

Finally, DoT acted, deciding that the matter was more serious than anticipated, and merited a minor change in the action sought. DoT told us that this did not require a review by the Community Board committee. But review it they did, once again subjecting it to a vote. Third vote, again unanimously in favor. Finally, after five hearings and fifteen months, the matter was resolved.

Dan's leadership sought out opportunities for delay, a process that seemed to us intended to wear out our concerted effort to improve safety in our neighborhood, through bureaucratic whim. No simple process, no consideration for efficiency or fairness, no interest in expediting a safety issue unanimously acknowledged by him and his own committee!

Our little slice of history demonstrates a tendency to use the bureaucratic mechanisms offered by the Community Board to avoid making decisions, to suppress change in favor of delay and misdirection.

This community needs someone who will cut through red tape, not pile it on. I have nothing against Dan; he was always pleasant and cordial to us. But our experience of trying to push through a simple safety improvement was so unfair and so frustrating, I felt the need to add my experience to the public record.