By the time you read this I will have met with Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields.  Some of you know that her primary aide to constituent groups, Barbara Allen, worked for our City Councilmember, Gifford Miller, for several years.  Barbara is up to speed on Island issues, and I expect that President Fields is as well.  I intend to discuss with her some of our complaints regarding City services.  Perhaps the BP's office can help us with getting our street lights fixed and with getting more NYPD patrols on the Island.  And then, there's our perennial problem, no MetroCard on the tram.  As we often say, this is not rocket science, and there must be a solution if people of good will put their heads together.

Two weeks ago, a small group of Islanders, representing RIRA, the Maple Tree Group and RIRSD, the primary litigants in the Southtown suit, met at our State Senator's office with several representatives of Governor George Pataki.  Sen. Mendez had arranged the meeting to include the "2nd Floor," that is, the executive branch, in our efforts to achieve consensus on the legislation that will replace the appointed RIOC Board with an elected one and an appointed RIOC president with a professional, experienced community manager.  Each of the players, Assemblymember, Senator and Governor, has stated a belief that the time for elected, representative government for Roosevelt Island has come.  However, each has demands of the other two as prerequisites to action.  We are working to break the destructive gridlock that could sabotage our efforts for another legislative session and provide each of them with the assurances needed to start moving forward on our behalf.  We hope that politics, ego and personal animosities will take a back seat to serving this constituency and doing what is right.

When you read this, the February Common Council meeting will be history, and something extraordinary will have occurred.  I've proposed and convened a "constitutional convention," if you will, to examine the RIRA Constitution and propose changes.  Now, I think our Constitution is an excellent document, but it was last brought up to date in December 1991.  Even the U.S. Constitution needs sprucing up now and again.  The nation's Founders neglected to include guarantees of the rights of free speech and religion, freedom from self-incrimination and the enfranchisement of all Americans the first time around in 1789.  They experimented with prohibiting alcoholic beverages in 1919, and then thought better of it in 1933.  And with the twenty-second Amendment in 1951 they limited the presidency to two terms.  I think this is an exercise that we might consider conducting on a regular basis, perhaps every five years or seven years or ten years.  The provisions for amending our Constitution are complicated and time-consuming, as they should be, and therefore can't be undertaken lightly or frivolously.

And keep in mind, the Roosevelt Island community is an intrinsic part of the process.  After the Common Council has approved various amendments with a two-thirds majority vote, we must convene a Town Meeting within thirty days.  A quorum of residents, defined as 100 individuals living in residential housing, must give a simple majority to each of the changes proposed by the Common Council.  If we fail to convene a quorum, then the responsibility reverts to the Common Council.  But wouldn't it be a shame not to take advantage of this opportunity to continue the work of the Founding Fathers and Mothers of our community?  We have so few chances to make a difference here, and this Constitution provides the basic rules that your Residents Association must abide by.

We will be working to identify the items in need of change and to construct the language that will make the RIRA Constitution less ambiguous, more responsive to present needs and a more efficient tool with which to conduct our business.  I hope you will participate and will encourage your children to participate.  Come make a difference.