Quantcast

CB 11 votes no to investigation of Weiner mailing

By Sophia Chang

Weiner sent 48 sealed envelopes May 27 to the board's Little Neck headquarters, along with a request that the envelopes be forwarded to every board member. District Manager Anne Marie Boranian said she then included the envelopes in the monthly mailing to board members.

Boranian also made public her resignation, which had been turned in two days before the Weiner incident, at the Monday night meeting and dismissed any suggestion that her decision was connected to the mailing.

Only Weiner's return address and the cryptic question “What do you think?” were printed on the envelopes, but inside was an invitation to a June 6 fund-raising luncheon.

Although Weiner said he only intended the invitations to be picked up by board members at the office and not to be mailed through the community organization, his use of public taxpayer funds for a political fund-raiser is a violation of city charter regulations.

Anson Kaye, a spokesman for Weiner, said the congressman could not send the invitations directly to board members' homes – a legal tactic – because the board would not provide his staff with home addresses.

“We never had any intent to have the community board mail anything out,” Kaye said.

Boranian said the mailing was a simple oversight on her part and emphasized that the incident did not contribute to her decision to leave the board.

“It absolutely makes me laugh that people think that would have had any effect. People don't want to accept the fact that I wasn't paying attention. The mistake did not warrant this level of reaction,” Boranian said. “I can assure you that something like that would not make me walk away from a job like this.”

The extra weight of Weiner's invitation added 23 cents in postage to each mailing for a total of $11.04 in misspent taxpayer money.

Weiner's district stretches up into southern Bayside from Fresh Meadows, Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill, Howard Beach and Forest Hills.

The members were divided over whether or not Weiner deserved understanding or condemnation.

“It was a mistake on Weiner's office's part, and it was a mistake on our part,” CB 11 Chairman Jerry Iannece said at the meeting. “But it was a mistake.”

Board member Frank Skala, who first alerted the media to Weiner's mailing, proposed a motion that CB 11 censure Weiner for “implicating the board.”

“It may have been a mistake on the part of the community board, but it was no mistake on the part of Weiner,” he said. “It's something that is so outrageous that I would like to see the board act.”

Skala added, “I don't care whether he is Reagan reincarnated or just a jerk.”

While some members of the 48-person board covering Bayside, Little Neck, Douglaston, Oakland Gardens and Auburndale were in favor of publicly rebuking Weiner, others said they were not. “I think we've wasted more than enough energy,” Iannece said.

First Vice Chairman Jim Rodgers proposed an alternate motion to file a complaint with the Department of Investigation with the hopes that board members would uncover any devious political motives.

This motion was ultimately defeated by the board, 31-5.

Boranian told the meeting her resignation would take effect in early July. She has been the district manager since 1991 and said in an interview later that she is concerned over what she called the increasing political influence over the board.

“I just feel that the community boards are not able to operate as neutrally as they used to,” Boranian said. She cited an incident in which Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside) asked the board to defer a vote on Bayside dealership Star Toyota's application for a zoning variance in hopes of working out a compromise.

“Though we didn't defer the vote, the pressure was there,” she said. “The board historically operates outside of the realm of any political influence.”

She also mentioned tight funding as a reason for her departure.

“There appears to be no motivation to increase the board budget,” Boranian said, adding that the implementation of the city informational line 311 has diminished the community board's once-popular telephone complaint line.

“There's no money, and there's no room for advancement,” she said.

Boranian, who has an active real estate license, said she may pursue a career in that field or spend more time with her family. She said that “if it weren't for the people I worked with, I wouldn't have been here for 13 years. It was a difficult decision.”

While Boranian said she does not see the Weiner mailing as a violation of campaign election laws, as a city employee she could be fined by the city's Conflict of Interest Board. The maximum fine for a single funding violation is $10,000, but less significant violations are typically met with fines of a few hundred dollars or less.

Since Weiner is a federal employee, he is not subject to city regulations or punishments. Weiner, who was not at the meeting, has apologized to Iannece for the confusion and offered to repay the $11.04 to the community board, an offer Iannece turned down.

“That's ridiculous,” Iannece said. “It's only $11. Is that really so egregious?”

Additional reporting by Zach Lowe

Reach reporter Sophia Chang by e-mail at news@timesledger.com, or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.