Changing of the guard: New Queens community board members get sworn into office
/
Members raise their right hand and take the oath to become Queens community board members at Queens Borough Hall on Monday night. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
By Ryan Schwach
Queens’ newest government officials got welcomed into office Monday night at Queens Borough Hall.
Some of the 116 new Queens community board members, as well as some existing members, were sworn in by Borough President Donovan Richards at Borough Hall, a class heralded by the BP as the youngest and most diverse in the borough’s history.
“Queens is a special place, we talk about our diversity, and I ran on the theme of making sure that our community boards are reflective of the various communities that you live in,” Richards said. “I can tell you it's really been great work by the office in ensuring that we can actually achieve more diversity across our community.”
According to the borough president’s office, the 2023 class is significantly younger and more diverse as previous classes, with a quarter of the new members younger than 45, and over two thirds that don’t identify as white.
“In this room, by you being all together, getting to learn from each other, getting to learn your culture and even being able to work through those differences are critical to breaking down those silos that we often encounter,” Richards said.
New members as well as old took an oath read to them by Richards, who had a set of recommendations, if not strongly worded suggestions, to new board members.
“Showing up is 99 to 100 percent of the job,” he said. “If you have legitimate excuses why you cannot attend please make sure that the district managers are aware of why you cannot attend…if you don't show up, we will remove you.”
Richards also spoke of the importance of the job as a representative of one of Queens’ 14 Community Boards, which contribute community-based recommendations on land use issues, liquor licenses and a litany of other hyper local issues like transportation and safety.
“Being a successful public servant requires much more, you need to do your homework on the issues,” he said. “You need to show up to meetings, you need to engage in good faith with other members of the public, you need to vote publicly for what you believe is in the best interest of your neighborhood, not just for yourself.”
“A community board isn't always glamorous, it's a big time commitment, meetings can run late, let me say that again, meetings can run late,” Richards added.
New members of the board received a full orientation to their new roles as community representatives, which included presentations on the budgeting process, how land use works and how to avoid conflicts of interest.
It also included a rundown of parliamentary procedure and other board logistics from Betty Braton, the chair of Community Board 10, which covers Howard Beach, Lindenwood and Ozone Park.
“For all of you who are new, you are in for a lot of interesting work,” Braton said. “We are a collective body…a governmental organization, never lose sight of the fact we have to do things in accordance with the law, and in accordance with working with other people who work on the board with you.”
“This is Queens, you represent the best of what's in Queens,” she added. “You are going to be the people who know the background of the issues at your board…learn as much as you can.”
One goal Richards has had with the boards during his tenure has been to make them younger, since nearly three-quarters of all board members were over the age of 45 prior to his administration.
Tobias Paris is accomplishing just that.
At 16-year-old, Paris is the youngest board member ever appointed during Richards’ administration. He joined Community Board 8 on Monday night, and applied because of that very lack of youth representation.
“Twenty percent of Queens is under the age of 18, and when I was applying there were zero people under the age of 18,” he told the Eagle after the orientation. “So I figured, let me be that person to represent a fifth of the population.”
Paris was sworn in on Tuesday along with Katherine Zapata, a 24-year-old Forest Hills resident who previously worked at Borough Hall, and joined CB6.
“It's important just because of the fact that I think we are in a time in politics where it's very divided and bi-partisan and being a part of a board that's nonpartisan, and really looking at the unity and seeking for the betterment of the community is something that I'm interested in,” she said. “And being able to serve and be a small number of the younger folks who can voice their opinion and also support those that are in the community.”
Katherine Zapata, 24, and Tobias Paris,16, two of the youngest members of their respective community boards, were sworn in on Monday. Eagle photo By Ryan Schwach
Paris and Zapata both hope to be part of the voice that brings Queens into the future.
“We can make sure the city runs smoothly,” Paris said, joking that he may have more time to help with the boards since he isn’t busy with a fulltime job.
“I think young folks are becoming more interested in different social issues,” Zapata added. “I think Queens is growing.”
Zapata’s old job was as a community coordinator and policy analyst for Richards.
“After I left Borough Hall, I wanted to be civically engaged,” she said. “I was born and raised in CB5, in the Maspeth area and I moved to Forest Hills about two years ago, so when I did that move, I wasn't as community and civically oriented as I want it to be. Leaving Borough Hall really showed me the importance of community boards.”
“I think it's important for voices to be heard,” she added.
Zapata hopes to attack issues with transportation and parks when she joins CB6, and Paris knows there are plenty of different committees and issues, but he isn’t quite sure which one he wants to take on first.
