New faces at Community Board 11

Four new faces will take center stage at the next Community Board 11 meeting - Steve Newman, Victor Mimoni, Julia Garippa, and Mamie Smith. Newman, a 17-year Board member, beat out James Rodgers for the top spot of Board Chair in a 29-13 vote on Monday, March 5. Mimoni, Garippa, and Smith were elected first, second and third vice chairs respectively.
“I greatly appreciate the confidence shown in me by the Community Board,” said an enthusiastic Newman, who explained he would officially take the helm of the Board on Sunday, April 1. The switch will fully go into effect in time for the next Board 11 meeting on Wednesday, April 11.
Newman, a Douglaston resident, will replace Baysider Jerry Iannece, who served as Board Chair for five years and could not run again due to term limits.
“I would hope that at the end of my term I am as highly regarded as Jerry Iannece,” Newman told the group of 42 voting board members.
Between himself, his wife, their five children, and five grandkids, Newman said that he has had experience with at least half of the schools in District 26. In addition, he said he is a long-time northeast Queens resident, having lived in Little Neck and Glen Oaks before moving to Douglaston.
Newman also spoke about his professional experience as a civil servant. An engineer by profession, he served as Assistant Commissioner of Transportation for the City and worked twice in the City Comptroller’s office for a total of 23 years. In between the positions, he worked as Chief Operating Officer for the New York City Association for New Americans, a refugee resettlement organization that at the time dealt with about 30,000 refugees each year.
Currently, he serves as Vice President of Finance and Chief Operating Officer for the Medical and Health Research Association of New York City, a public health nonprofit dedicated to creating and promoting health research projects.
Newman, who was nominated by former Board Chair Bernard Haber, also got the nod from Claire Shulman, former Queens Borough President who served also served as Chair of Community Board 11 before Haber.
When asked what he hopes to first accomplish with his victory, Newman pointed to getting newer members involved in leadership roles and bringing diversity to the Board.
“The community has become significantly more Asian-American and has very little representation. We should want to do something about that,” Newman said. Although the City Councilmembers and the Borough President appoint new members, Newman said that he hoped to work with politicians to ensure that new members reflect the population.
During his short speech to the Board, Newman rhetorically asked himself whether he would have enough time for the position, which Iannece has described as a “full-time” role.
“They said, ‘If you want something done, ask a busy person,’ ” Newman said, explaining that he would make time for new role if elected.
Several members pointed to the time factor as a possible reason that Rodgers, who chairs the Little Neck/Douglaston Memorial Day Parade, was beaten for the job.
Rodgers, who joined the Board in 1999, has missed meetings in the past while traveling for business, but he told the Board during his short presentation that he had reorganized his work schedule and would not need to travel as much.