A Chat with Carol-Ann Church: Director of Community Boards, Brooklyn Borough

By Linda Nwoke

Recently, People, Power & Politics Radio Show chatted with Carol-Ann Church, Brooklyn’s Director of Community Boards. The interview focused on the role, value, and process that Brooklynites can follow to become members of the borough’s community board.

“Community boards offer a direct link to the community, from everyday residents to government bureaucracy. The government is notorious for its complex navigation. So, people need a place where they can have their issues resolved. They offer a place or forum where people, all voices in a community, can be heard and can engage with city government,” says Ms. Carol-Ann Church.

Ms. Church’s journey toward the position began while growing up in the twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. She started practicing being involved in community service at various levels, which eventually became a significant part of her life.

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“From making sure the neighbor was good on a Sunday with a meal to becoming part of the community soccer groups. Civic engagement has always been a part of my life. And when I moved here, I eventually started working for a not-for-profit organization that engaged with community boards as part of their planning processes. I finally got a degree in planning and ended up working at a community board in Brooklyn. And today, I am the director of Community Boards.

Listen to an interview with Carol-Ann Church below:

Brooklyn Community Boards
In Brooklyn Borough, eighteen Community Boards were founded to represent the needs of the various neighborhoods. They are involved in multiple issues that affect business owners, residents, and other stakeholders. They also can manage budgets, provide city services, and oversee zoning and land use issues.

Presently, the borough’s community board application season is open. This grassroots level of local government ensures that the perspective of people who live and work in a neighborhood is represented in their community’s decisions, programs, and policies.

The Borough President, Honorable Antonia Reynoso, has displayed his commitment to the success of the community boards. According to the Director, “he is committed to ensuring that the boards have the tools they need to be what the city charter envisioned.”

She further explained his commitment by offering a series of workshops for current members and the quest for receiving as many applications as possible in the new open application season to get the most diverse body of seated members.

In her view, the boards are expected to act as advocates. “They need the knowledge, tools, and expertise to fulfill that vision,” says Ms. Church. “We need diversity of not just race and ethnicity, but the age of interest, home ownership, and people who use different transportation,” she concluded.

Who can serve on a Community Board?
To be eligible, all New Yorkers and Brooklynites who are over 16 years, live, work, and are interested, can serve on a community board. According to Ms. Church, “What you need is to love your community. You and your family live here, and you intend to spend more years here. You’re eligible,” she says.

In her view, a person becomes eligible because they have a passion, possess the knowledge to share, and help influence the decisions that will shape the community. “Business owners within the community, workers for non-profits, or teachers in the district qualify to become board members.”

Thus, they qualify even if they don’t live within the community but advocate and serve people. “Essentially, “you must live, work or have significant interests in the community,” she explained.

Additional Information:
Interested candidates must find their Community’s Board through the NYC Department of Planning’s Community District Profiles. Selected members must be committed to a minimum of 6 hours a month to attend meetings. They will be expected to participate in workshops and become trained. “I would say membership requires 6 hours a month. There’s a general meeting and a committee meeting. All members would need to join a committee. There are workshops and training that members should attend to be the best possible advocates for their community,” says Ms. Church.

Community board members play a significant role in preserving the rights of people within their community and are considered public officials of New York City. However, it is regarded as a voluntary position, and they are not paid for their services.

Next Steps
For more information, visit the community boards page at www.brooklyn-usa.org. Interested persons can scroll down the page and fill in their addresses, which will display their respective community boards based on location.

They can complete an application, which is now open and ongoing until February 14th, 2023. The director explained, “It does include a personal statement section, so one should think about what they’d like to see, why they’d like to be on the board,” she clarified.

At the end of the application period, council members will review the list of applicants, conduct interviews, and select a new cohort to join the group in the spring.

Plans for Executing the Borough President’s Vision
In line with meeting the vision of the Borough President, the director intends to focus on launching an extensive outreach toward Brooklynites during the open application season. A kind that no one has ever done. She wants to engage with members of diverse age groups and demographics within the city to increase participation.

“Right now, we’re engaging with youth groups because we’d like to have members within the age of 16 to 18 on the board,” she says. “It’s about engaging with mature residents, ensuring that these residents are also represented on all our community boards.”

They also intend to appeal to immigrant New York groups who may have yet to learn English as their first language. “These people are in the survival stage, but their voices and needs must also be heard. ”

Main Goal as Director of Brooklyn Community Board
Despite several goals Ms. Church intends to pursue during her tenure, increased enrollment and diversified membership remain critical. She expressed her aim at having the seats occupied by candidates within the 16 to 18 age group on all the boards, among others.

This objective addresses the existing challenge on the community’s board. According to records, about one-quarter of Brooklynites are 18 years old and below. However, in the last application cycle, most of the applicants and the appointees on the community boards were between 45-64 years.

Additionally, the community boards lack both racial and ethnic diversity, and they do not adequately represent the borough’s diversity in housing, immigration, education, disability, and gender.

These concerns have led Borough President Reynoso to flip the imbalance a priority by diversifying membership and empowering the boards to influence the decisions that affect their neighborhoods.

“The city charter allows for two youths in that age group. I’d like to have them. There are 18 boards in Brooklyn. We should have 36 members ages 16 to 18 on the boards. I’d also like to ensure that every board has residents sitting on that board and increase the number of applications we get. The number of applications varies across community districts, with too many under 50. So we’re working to ensure that each board has at least 50 applications that we can review.”

Ms. Church believes, “The best way to help make a change in your community and influence decisions is by joining your community board.”

  Carol-Ann Church, NYC