UPDATE: Amid disparities, applications open for Queens’ 14 community boards
/
Queens residents attended an April forum on the city’s jail plan hosted by Community Board 9. Community board applications are open until Jan. 31. Eagle file photo by Jonathan Sperling
By David Brand
UPDATE [Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020]: The application deadline for Queens’ 14 community boards will remain open until March 13, giving residents and workers in Queens six more weeks to seek a position on the vital bodies.
“The extension is to ensure that the pool of applicants is as robust as possible,” said Queens Acting Borough President Sharon Lee.
_____
Applications are now open for Queens’ 14 community boards, amid deep racial, gender and age disparities that affect every board in the borough compared to the districts they serve.
A December 2019 analysis by the Eagle and the organization Measure of America identified the specific disparities based on a charter-mandated report on community board demographics published last year by former Queens Borough President Melinda Katz. Not every community board member completed the identifying information sections of their applications, which prohibited a complete analysis of the community board demographics. Nevertheless, the information included in the annual report highlights several gaps.
White people, for example, are overrepresented on every single community board in Queens compared to their population in the corresponding district, according to the borough president’s report. Women account for fewer than 40 percent of the members on six boards, and only six board members, out of 663 currently serving, indicated that they were LGBTQ on their applications.
The application process, which ends Jan. 31, provides an opportunity to address the disparities and ensure the boards reflect the communities they serve.
“It’s an opportunity to make sure more people are getting involved in their community boards and make sure community boards are more representative of the communities they serve,” said Civic Engagement Commission Chairperson Sarah Sayeed.
Click here to access the application and apply for a Queens community board.
Community boards are made up of up to 50 members who live, work or have other ties in the community district they serve. Each board plays a vital role as a conduit between local residents and city government, and they cast advisory votes on land use issues, weigh in on street design plans and host public forums on important community issues.
Sayeed said community boards in Queens and around the city can improve their outreach to underrepresented groups.
“Community boards can do a lot better in terms of getting more people to attend their meetings,” she said. “It’s not just community boards, but overall in terms of civic engagement, we just have to do a better job of connecting to diverse communities.”
Click here for instruction on how to apply for a Queens community board.
Half of community board members are nominated by local City Council members and the rest apply. Each community board member is approved and appointed by the borough president.
Acting Borough President Sharon Lee, who will serve in office until a new borough president is elected March 24, encouraged Queens residents to apply for boards in a statement.
“Government is more effective and accountable when it works in close partnership with active, dedicated residents and relies on them for their insights and broad expertise,” Lee said.
