QUESTION
Council Member Williams Asks DYCD About NAB Functionality and Community Impact
1:24:03
·
3 min
Council Member Nantasha Williams inquires about the functionality of Neighborhood Advisory Boards (NABs) and their impact on communities in the absence of functioning boards. Deputy Commissioner Mike Bobbitt provides insights into DYCD's ability to continue its work regardless of NAB status, detailing the roles of staff liaisons and the structure of NAB meetings. The conversation also delves into the availability of NAB meeting notes to the public and the structure of the Community Action Board.
Speaker 8
1:24:03
I was trying to if you guys answered this already, but I know you mentioned, you know, what constitutes as, like, a functioning NAB.
1:24:11
But was interested in understanding, like, when you don't have a functioning nav, what happens to that community?
1:24:18
Are you able to still continue your work?
1:24:21
What happens.
Speaker 3
1:24:22
We are able to still continue the work.
1:24:24
I mentioned the staffing pattern right now, so the liaisons attend all of the NAB meetings.
1:24:31
And so just what we want is for every building.
Speaker 1
1:24:34
44 people have to attend all the meetings.
Speaker 3
1:24:36
Yes.
1:24:36
They do.
Speaker 1
1:24:37
All 41,000
Speaker 3
1:24:38
a week.
Speaker 1
1:24:38
The too.
1:24:39
Looking people.
Speaker 10
1:24:40
How do
Speaker 2
1:24:40
you do?
Speaker 1
1:24:40
The staff.
1:24:41
Oh my god.
Speaker 8
1:24:41
Okay.
1:24:42
We don't
Speaker 3
1:24:42
have to ensure I mean, I need to raise.
Speaker 8
1:24:44
If they're not if they're not functioning though, Are they even having meetings?
Speaker 3
1:24:49
No.
1:24:49
I didn't say that they weren't functioning.
1:24:51
They are functioning as well.
1:24:52
We consider viable is when a board is healthy.
1:24:54
So for instance, a board ought to have someone who's serving as, like, the chair of the board and someone serving as the secretary of the board.
1:25:00
You don't want the same person to have to do all the the things.
1:25:04
Right?
1:25:04
The liaisons will step in if there's a need for them to step in, but mainly what we want them to do is to empower the volunteers.
1:25:11
Not every volunteer knows Robert's rules of order.
1:25:13
The liaison knows exactly how you do this, how you do this, how you do it, that sort of thing.
Speaker 1
1:25:16
How often do they meet?
Speaker 3
1:25:18
At least quarterly, it depends on whether it's a community needs assessment year, so 2022.
1:25:24
And again, next year, they'll meet much more often, but at least quarterly.
1:25:33
Four times a year each one.
1:25:34
Yeah.
Speaker 8
1:25:37
Is it, like, are notes available from the meetings?
1:25:40
Like, community boards are meant is it the same level of Like, if I didn't I never attended a NAB meeting, could I know what was discussed in?
Speaker 3
1:25:49
Yes.
1:25:49
We can we can share that with you.
Speaker 1
1:25:51
Is that public knowledge?
1:25:52
Like, is it on the website or something like that?
Speaker 3
1:25:54
Yeah.
1:25:54
They're on the the website, both the the nab and announcements of meetings and the cabin announcements some meetings, and then the I have to check if all the the I don't wanna say anything out of my depth.
1:26:06
Yep.
1:26:07
All the meetings are published on the website for sure.
1:26:09
And we can also share via YouTube, the communication board meetings.
Speaker 1
1:26:16
Oh, so I need to are you done?
1:26:23
She said, what's Community Action Board?
Speaker 3
1:26:25
Each neighborhood advisory board focus on a particular community.
1:26:30
NYC also has a central board.
1:26:33
It's a tripartite board that has some representative of elected officials in the private sector, but half of the board On a communication board are people who are representing a range of NEBs.
1:26:47
And so those neighborhoods sort of vote them up to be on our committee action board.
Speaker 8
1:26:53
So are there two boards as a committee action board and then there's a board is the committee action board Decent.
Speaker 3
1:26:57
The committee action board is the central board.
1:26:59
Uh-huh.
1:26:59
So we have neighborhood advisory boards, but we also have a committee action board that's also required by the federal statute to have a child part type board.
Speaker 8
1:27:06
The action board.
Speaker 3
1:27:07
There's one community action board.
Speaker 8
1:27:08
And there's NAB members and others that funnel into the community action.
Speaker 3
1:27:12
That's correct.
Speaker 11
1:27:13
Across the
Speaker 3
1:27:14
Yes.
Speaker 1
1:27:15
This is good clarification.
1:27:22
No.
1:27:23
I mean, I don't these I just wanna say those are real questions because we I told you that they don't know.
1:27:28
I'm a recent officer.
Speaker 3
1:27:29
Frequently answered question sheet that we have.
1:27:32
That that also spells out how both the community action board and the neighborhood advisory board members.
Speaker 1
1:27:37
Yes.
1:27:37
Please email that to me again, and I will email it out to all of my colleagues today.
Speaker 3
1:27:40
Thank you.
Speaker 1
1:27:41
Thank you guys so much.
1:27:43
We do have some testimony.
1:27:44
Hopefully, you guys can stay around to hear some of it, and I will turn it over to Christina so she can take it from here.