Melinda Perkins
5:13:02
Good afternoon, and, greetings, chairperson Ressler, esteemed committee members, members of the council, and city agency reps in attendance.
5:13:10
My name is Melinda Perkins, and I'm honored to serve as a district manager for Brooklyn Community Board five.
5:13:15
And to your earlier question, I've been here for eight years, and a board member prior.
5:13:20
Our board represents over 190,000 residents across the neighborhoods of East New York, New Lots, Spring Creek, Cypress Hills, City Line, and portions of Broadway Junction, and Highland Park.
5:13:31
I stand here today to testify in solidarity with community board district offices across the city to underscore three critical needs.
5:13:39
One, an increase in baseline excuse me, baseline budgets for New York City community boards for reasons that my colleagues condensed today successfully.
5:13:50
The implementation of comprehensive training and education programs for onboarding new community members community board members and consistency in how the office of management and budget manages community board budgets.
5:14:03
While all community boards operate with the same baseline budgets, excluding rent, we continue to observe discrepancies and budget management that remain unexplained by OMB.
5:14:15
Operating budget funds have been transferred without prior knowledge or input from district offices.
5:14:20
Merit based salary increases are not reviewed or approved consistently even when boards adhere to guidance provided by their bylaws.
5:14:28
Fiscal mandates are implemented without adequate reasoning or legal explanation, and our district offices are tasked with managing increasingly complex responsibilities often with minimal staff and constrained resources.
5:14:41
So the emphasis emphasis is on OMB being much more transparent and inclusive of district managers to make sure that our budgets are operating properly.
5:14:51
At a minimum, we request that great greater transparency, uniformity, and support in how our budgets are handled and sustained.
5:15:00
This appeal is not merely about financial allocation.
5:15:03
It is about ensuring that community boards can effectively serve as the vital link between residents and city government.
5:15:10
Empowering boards with the resources, training, and equitable budget oversight they need is an investment in the communities we represent.
5:15:19
Thank you for your attention to this manner matter, and I urge the council to take these concerns into account and advocate for the changes needed to support community boards citywide.
