Citing conflict of interest concerns, the leadership at Community Board 7 shuffled around its committee chairs. Board Chair Greg Faulkner, in continuing what he calls his reformist agenda, said the Board wanted to avoid any appearance of impropriety and, at the same time, inject fresh blood into the committees.

Because of their expertise and knowledge, it was a tough decision to remove or reassign certain committee chairs, Faulkner said, adding that the restructuring did not stem from any specific allegations.

“There were no members who had done anything questionable, no issue that flagged us,” Faulkner said.

The New York City Charter states that community board members cannot chair a committee in which they have a direct interest, either private or professional.

Though this had never been an issue before, Faulkner and others said the Board wanted to avoid any questions of integrity as it delved into some high profile issues in the upcoming year, including the redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory and the controversial Croton Water Filtration Plant being built in Van Cortlandt Park.

Faulkner said he began thinking about revamping the committees after a reporter questioned whether he had a conflict of interest in his role as Chairman of the Croton Filtration Monitoring Committee, which he heads because of his position at CB7.

The city’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which oversees the Croton project, awarded a CUNY (City University of New York) school, Bronx Community College (BCC), a million dollar job training contract. Faulkner works for LaGuardia Community College, a CUNY school in Queens.

While both BCC and LaGuardia are CUNY schools, Faulkner, the head of student life at LaGuardia, said he works for a separate entity at LaGuardia and is not paid by the city. Also, he said, the monitoring committee never voted on the job training program, and would recuse himself if there ever was a vote.

The CB7 committees will have a new look in 2008. There will be 12 committees instead of 10 this year and two of the Board’s more active chairs will step down from their current positions.

Sandra Erickson, the Land Use committee chair for the past four years, will not return in that capacity because of her real estate dealings in CB7. Erickson manages a couple of “soft investments” in the district, she said.  

“I understand the [conflict of interest] concept,” Erickson said. “But to do away with the people with the most expertise, it doesn’t make too much sense. But the rules are the rules. I don’t have a problem with it.”

Erickson will be replaced by Ozzie Brown, who does construction work, but doesn’t own or manage any property in the area.

“The members are just fabulous,” Erickson said. “My replacement, Ozzie Brown, I can’t say enough about him. He’s a great guy and he’s going to do a great job.”

In addition, Don Bluestone, executive director of Norwood’s Mosholu Montefiore Community Center (MMCC), will move from heading the Youth Committee (formerly Education, Youth and Libraries) to lead the Seniors Committee. Though MMCC services both youth and seniors, Faulkner said the center does more work with youth and has lost out on senior funding over the past couple of years. Bluestone was on vacation and could not be reached for comment.

Mike Murphy, press secretary for the borough president’s office, which oversees Bronx community boards, said the office supported CB7’s decision to shuffle the committee heads for the sake of maintaining the Board’s integrity.  

Board member John Harris, a public school teacher in Harlem who was originally slated to take over the Education Committee, is now taking over the Youth Committee to avoid any conflict of interest questions.

He praised Bluestone’s efforts over the past several years and said it would serve the next generation of leaders well. “They’ve laid the foundation,” Harris said about Bluestone and other longtime Board stalwarts. “They did great stuff and we’re going to build on it.”