They’re searching for the missing link.
Community Board 13 hasn’t had a district manager since the start of the year, leaving local residents with no direct link to government agencies and elected officials. But that’s set to change, with the board posting a job ad on its website aiming to collect applications for the position until August 3.
The board’s chairman wouldn’t set a deadline to fill the position, but said the panel will evaluate all comers.
“The position is open to the public,” said Stephen “Butch” Moran. “Once we have received all the applications, we will review them.”
One candidate will certainly be familiar to CB13 members — because he’s on the board.
Michael Quinn serves as the panel’s secretary, and as the chairman of CB13’s transportation committee. Coney connoisseurs will also know Quinn as the operator of both Coney Island Tours and The Coney Island Blog.
Quinn says his knowledge of the area and experience with the board make him a strong candidate.
“I feel I have the skills necessary to perform the job well,” said Quinn. “I’m going to give it a shot. I’d be humbled if I was selected. I have faith in the board that they’ll choose the best candidate.”
Several other candidates rumored to be applying for the position declined to comment.
The position has been vacant since Chuck Reichenthal retired on January 1. Reichenthal, who served as the board’s district manager since June of 1992, reluctantly gave up the position due to a dispute over the handling of his many unused vacation days.
District managers can roll over annual leave days from year-to-year as long as a supervisor signs off on it, and the board owes them pay for that unused leave when they quit. But if supervisors sign off, the rolled-over annual leave converts to sick days, which are only worth a third as much.
Reichenthal accrued months worth of annual leave during his 22-year tenure because, he said, the demanding nature of the job did not allow for much time off.
But Moran refused to sign off on rollover of his vacation days at the end of 2014, claiming that if he allowed the practice to continue there wasn’t enough money in the board’s entire annual budget to pay Reichenthal for his accrued leave when he finally decided to retire. That meant Reichenthal had to choose between continuing as district manager, or losing two-thirds of the money the city owed him, so he retired at the end of last year.
Paying Reichenthal for the days he had already accrued — based on his final salary of $94,993 — was such a blow to CB13’s coffers that it delayed his replacement until now.
The person hired to fill Reichenthal’s well-heeled shoes will earn between $51,757 and $55,815, depending on years of service as a city employee, according to the application posted on the board’s website.
The position involves representing the board in “monitoring and evaluating the delivery of municipal services within the community district,” and actively participating in “the coordination of delivery of these services,” according to the application. It also says the skills that the board will be looking for include “knowledge of city government” and familiarity with “issues facing the Community Board 13 geographical communities of Brighton Beach, Coney Island, Gravesend and Sea Gate.”
Reichenthal, still involved in local issues and still attending Community Board 13 meetings, declined to comment on potential candidates for his former position.
“I’m not getting in the middle of that.”
The application is at http://www.nyc.gov/html/bkncb13/downloads/pdf/jobs/dm_vacancy_notice_cb_13.pdf.
