Heated contest on for Red Hook West TA President, by Noah Phillips

On January 26, the Red Hook Houses West Tenant Association (TA) will hold elections for its executive board. Across the city, TA executive boards act as go-betweens for the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and its many residents. The president of the board also acts as spokesperson for their residents and is responsible for dispersing Tenant Participation Funds.

Lillie Marshall has been TA president of Red Hook West since 2001. Marshall is challenged by Andrea McKnight, who has run twice previously.

“There’s pros and cons on both sides,” says Bea Byrd, a Red Hook West resident and NYCHA board member who served as TA president between 1995 and 2000. “You could say they’re both community activists, and they’re vying for a position. I just hope whoever wins is going to do the best they can for the residents.”

The executive board consists of a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and sergeant-at-arms. While residents vote for these administrative positions independently of one another, they are usually arranged in slates of candidates centered around the position of president.

Low membership

Of the over 3,000 residents of Red Hook West, only 8% are members of the TA. Residents can join until the election begins at 4 pm in the Red Hook West TA office 428 Columbia Street 1C. Voting will continue until 8 pm.

“That’s the challenge of the Tenant Association, to bring out their membership, to bring out the residents,” says Byrd. “If they know that you really care about their concerns and you’re willing to listen to them and make something happen for them, they will begin to come out.”

In addition to holding the presidency of the Red Hook West TA, Marshall is the Chair of the Brooklyn South Council of Presidents, an association of TA heads. Marshall, who has repeatedly announced imminent retirement, says there is more for her to do.

“I started to retire but I have a few more things that I am working on which no one can get done but me,” Marshall wrote in an email to the Star-Revue. “Most of the players and workers already know who I am and what I will get done with or without them.”

Some of Marshall’s priorities have included refurbishment of the Red Hook Senior Center, installation of cameras, and NextGeneration NYCHA, a strategic plan developed by Mayor de Blasio meant to avoid a federal takeover of New York’s public housing. She also advocated strongly for the community garden across from the library on Wolcott Street.

“I have done a good job all these years,” wrote Marshall. “I am out in the field every day and the tenants see me out here making sure all of their needs are taken care of.  I do not knock on doors checking to see if a person has a problem, but if they come to me, rest assured I take care of it.”

McKnight and her supporters, however, believe that despite Marshall’s efforts, it is time for a new executive board.

“The reason I’m running is to make a change,” said McKnight in an interview after the nominations meeting in December. “The main thing is to give a voice to people who do not have a voice, and to do something for youth.”

McKnight is a founding member of the Red Hook Lions Club and helped to organize the Friends of the Red Hook Library group. She also served for a time on Community Board 6. She hopes to increase the linguistic, cultural, and ethnic diversity of the TA. She also wants to increase transparency and information flow, claiming that when information about programs comes down from NYCHA, the current executive board doesn’t disseminate it equitably among residents.

“There’s no watchdog on this office,” says McKnight.

Tenant Participation Funs

One of the powers of the TA president is the allocation of Tenant Participation Funds (TPF). TPF consist of $25 per tenant per development allocated by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to housing authorities across the country.

In New York, NYCHA keeps a portion of the TPF, but TA presidents have discretion about how to direct the rest. Common uses include annual family days, educational trips, computer classes, job placement services, and after school programs. If the funds aren’t drawn upon, NYCHA retains them.

The NYCHA press office had not responded to a query about whether or how the money had been used over the last several years as of press time.

Bazemore notes that NYCHA, already billions of dollars underfunded, will likely be vulnerable to even more extreme cuts over the next several years.

There are many other items of concern to residents of Red Hook West, including garbage disposal, roof repair and toxic mold, outstanding maintenance requests, job programs, and rent increases. In addition, NYCHA residents are impacted by all of the same issues that affect the rest of the neighborhood such as resilience, private development, and public transportation.

TA presidents have an important role in advocating on behalf of residents on these items as well as building coalitions with other neighborhood leaders. Wally Bazemore, who has lived in the Houses on and off for 60 years, ran unsuccessfully for TA Vice President three years ago. He says that there is a tendency for TA presidents to become complacent.

“You can’t be given a title and just sit there and think that things are going to fall in your lap. You have to motivate the community and you have to be motivated,” says Bazemore. “NYCHA attaches strings to you. If they don’t want to send money for your Family Day, they won’t unless you buck dance for them. But that’s good, because that means you have to be creative and take advantage of your surroundings.”

Bazemore also says that with Donald Trump as president, whoever wins will not have room to be shy about using their bully pulpit. Bazemore notes that NYCHA, already billions of dollars underfunded, will likely be vulnerable to even more extreme cuts over the next several years.

“I’m hoping that whoever gets in really sees the future and really has a strategic plan for this community,” says Bazemore. “We’ve gone as far as we can go just on good faith, just trusting in the system. That hasn’t worked so far.”

Regardless of who wins on January 26, it is clear that the TA president will have a lot of work to do in 2017 and going forward. As Byrd says, “The best of luck to the two slates and let the best woman win!”