Letter Failure to Reappoint Ann Arlen to Community Board 2 - April 29, 2003

Honorable C. Virginia Fields
Manhattan Borough President
Municipal Building – 19th Floor
One Center Street
New York, NY 10007
Dear Ms. Fields;

At the April meeting of the Greenwich Village Block Associations (GVBA) members were informed that long time Community Board 2 member and vice-chair Ann Arlen was not reappointed to the board by your office. Since the composition of the community board reflects your most direct interface with the community, many of the selections and choices regarding Community Board 2 mystify Village residents.

We assume that you would not wish to alienate a community that you are elected to represent, but this increasingly appears to be the case. We would appreciate knowing the reason that Ms. Arlen did not receive re-appointment. She was one of the remaining board members whose dedication to the community, knowledge of issues, and fairness in discussion inspired both confidence and admiration. We are dismayed to lose such a valuable board member.

We urge you to review the flawed and uninformed process by which appointments are made to the board. The deterioration of Community Board 2 as a responsible conduit to city government is a source of great distress to many of us. Unfortunately, we view the failure to reappoint Ms. Arlen as further indication of the board’s decline.

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