According to Gossips' sources, Black intends to step down from the HHA Board to take the position on the Planning Board, apparently to avoid the perception of a conflict of interest. Still it seems more than a little inappropriate for someone from the HHA Board to serve on the Planning Board at this point in time, given that HHA's ambitious proposal for redevelopment is currently the most significant project before the Planning Board. HHA and Mountco, their development partner, have been bemoaning what they perceive as a delay in the plan site review caused by the number of new members of the Planning Board. It would seem to be quite a coup for them to have one of their allies on the Planning Board to get the board up to speed and to fight their corner.
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| Sara Black at a recent HHA Board meeting |
Under NYS’s laughable ethics rules for elected officials, Ma. Black would not be required to recuse herself. But morally, ethically, given her involvement in HHA, it is appropriate for her to recuse herself from all aspects of the PB’s deliberations and decision making regarding any HHA projects that were before the HHA board while she served on it. I guess we’re about to find out what both Ms Black and the mayor are made of.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it’s just me but it’s wild that mayor Ferris would appoint someone that was openly (on social media) very much against his campaign and a major supporter of his opponent. The same person who declared the charter reform effort was a conspiracy against… I assume Kamal Johnson. The current mayor is either Machiavellian or watched too much West Wing. Either way, a huge disappointment if this rumor is true. Part of the reason I voted for Joe was the “pragmatic” approach he promised, and I assume it meant quality appointments, which was the case thus far. He’s barely a few months into his term and he seems to be overly concerned with his left flank. Well, let’s hope he continues to stay off of facebook
ReplyDeleteThis _is_ the pragmatic approach. The Planning Board of early 2026 had swung most of the way to the other side, at least that's been my impression. I don't yet know enough about Nathan to say that for sure.
DeleteWhat is clear to me is that Ferris is very clearly trying to balance concerns and the two main antoginistic sides. He might even be what I would call a pragmatic version of Kamal.
His strengthening of his "left flank" could mean different things. If it means he's doing this to appeal to higher office in Albany in future, I think that would be bad. But there's also a world where we may have misjudged where he actually stands. He is definitely far more independent in his decision making than some would have expected.
What is pretty obvious to me is that he is not going to be a mayor exclusively for the property owners of the first ward even if some had hoped that.
I suppose local politics is no different from federal. It doesn't matter who gets elected, you end up with the same thing.
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