Mary Anne Carey says she is not holding any grudges.
The longtime district manager of Community Board 9 has been placed on six months’ probation after a battle with the board’s executive committee, which came to the brink of ousting her.
There was speculation about the board voting to remove Carey at its June 11 meeting, during which members went into executive session. This forced the public, the media and Carey to wait outside as the board had a nearly hour-and-a-half discussion on removing the tenured manager.
In the end no vote was taken, a source close to the board said. Members instead decided to put Carey on probation until December.
A committee will be set up to monitor Carey’s management of the board office.
Carey said she is planning to stay put until she believes she can no longer serve the board.
“At this point, I’m certainly going to work with the committee and do whatever they want us to do,” she said. “When I’m ready to retire, they will be the first to know.”
She said some members of the board approached Carey earlier this year and suggested the 30-year manager retire amid allegations of mismanagement in the board’s office.
The complaints included a perceived lack of communication and dated technology in the office.
Carey, addressing this criticism, said her office got little funding and was not able to keep up with what seems like constant updates.
“Any kind of training, nobody’s told us we need any kind of training,” she said. “We can’t spend $10,000 or $15,000 to get somebody to program the computers. Nothing can be done overnight.”
Alex Blenkinsopp, one of the members who planned to vote Carey out, said his colleagues on the board changed his mind. He added he believes changes will be made for the better of the board.
“We’ve come 30 years with her,” he said. “We can afford to give her another six months. I’m confident that everyone will be on the same page about what needs to be done and that all CB9 members will be aware of whether those goals have been met.”
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