Lisa Deller, the current chair of Community Board 2, announced Thursday that she is stepping down from the position (screenshot Channel 13)
Oct, 12, 2021 By Christian Murray
The chairperson of Community Board 2 announced Thursday that she is stepping down from the position—although will remain on the board.
Lisa Deller, who has been chairperson since June 2020, said that she has decided that it is time for a new, younger leader to take the helm. Sheila Lewandowski, a long-time board member, also said she was stepping down as first vice president—the second most senior position on the board.
Deller, a Sunnyside Gardens resident who has been on the board since 1998, said that the board is entering a new era and it was a time for her to pass on the torch. She said that since 2019, nearly half of the 50-person board has changed, with more than one-third in the past year alone.
“I kept telling myself that while I was chair that my job was to bridge the transition to a new era…with new leaders and a younger more tech savvy and diverse membership,” Deller told the board.
Deller unexpectedly became chair when Denise Keehan-Smith, the former chair, was not reappointed to the board early last year. Deller was later elected chair in November 2020.
Next month, the board will elect her replacement.
“I need to step back and serve in more of an advisory role,” Deller said, who has extensive experience on the board. She has served as secretary, chair of the Land Use committee, second vice chair, first vice chair as well as chairperson.
She is currently the chair of the Land Use committee.
Lewandowski, of Long Island City, said that she is not running for 1st vice president for similar reasons as Deller—although she is likely to remain on the board.
“I have decided not to run for the seat as first vice chair or any position on the executive committee,” she said. “I want to make space for others—there are so many qualified people for these roles.”
The board has accepted nominations for the executive positions at next month’s election. The positions are only available for current board members.
Morry Galonoy, a Woodside resident, was the sole nominee to take Deller’s role, while Frank Wu, of Long Island City, was the only nominee for the first vice chair role.
There is also an election for the positions of second vice chair, secretary and treasurer.
Deller was nominated for second vice chair, Rosamond Gianutsos for secretary and Kat Bloomfield as treasurer. Gianutsos and Bloomfield are both from Woodside.
For a full list of current board members, click here.
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11 Comments
Love to see the resident boomers raging in the comments section over this. The world is moving on, get with it! It’s time for a new generation to take over with new progressive ideas!
Many people quit their jobs because they plan to move out of NYC.
Heartbreaking.
Thank you Lisa for your years of dedication and genuine interest and support of
Sunnyside and its residents while being a member. I hope whoever fills your position has the same long time interest that you had. You will be missed.
Guess one to many back room deals got to her to quietly stepping down, no more back room deals not enough money coming in, Jimmy’s shop rat jumping ship. She takes some responsibility for housing the homeless, saw the city has disbursed over $4 billion this year alone to rent crappy hotels rooms to house families, children instead of building permanent housing for families.
“bridge the transition to a new era…with new leaders and a younger more tech savvy and diverse membership.” We all agree!!! Adios.
Oh, TA’s Koolaide drinkers are running things now. Expect a lot more pain.
Good! It’s time for some progressive change. I’m happy to see our area get dragged in to the 21st century.
Van Bramer killed off the experienced people in favor of progressives who think no one but their cohorts live here. He is the worst thing that ever happened to this neighborhood. He has destroyed so many people’s peace of mind. It was a grave, grave mistake to believe him.
Why didn’t you step up and challenge him over all these years? Oh, wait, you don’t even have the guts to sign your nasty comment with your own name!
A person paid by the public to represent the public and ask that public for money three times to win elections, ought to expect serious blow-back when they thoroughly betray that public. I wrote and called his office many, many times over the years. When I called him a traitor for apologizing to TA when he dumped the neighborhood for their support, he cut me off Facebook. He stopped responding to my calls and letters. He launched an underground campaign of filthy lies about people who opposed his decision. There are plenty of very nasty rumors going around about him that I wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole. I remember two previous councilpersons. One served for years and years. Neither of them caused the psychic warfare going on in this neighborhood. There was never any community wide war going on. People largely lived in peace. JVB ushered in a bunch of changes over his 12 years and never let on how extensive and threatening to people’s livelihoods the ultimate plan would be. He gained our trust in order to preclude opposition. Slick. Disgusting abuse of trust. Many people I know are kicking themselves for ever believing a word he said and even more for contributing their hard-earned money so he could grow rich on the public dime. And that is the truth whether you and people you know want to believe it or not. So look in the mirror when you want to call people nasty.