Two cooperators have forwarded answers they received from board president Gary Altman to questions they posed at last week’s annual meeting.

Tommy Loeb asked how much of this year’s $723,710 for “legal and audit” was billed to pursue dog owners and defend against the federal lawsuit against the coop. Here’s the answer from Altman:

I wanted to follow up on your question at the annual meeting regarding legal expenses spent on dog litigation during the past fiscal year. The amount is approximately $575,000. It is expected that our insurance company will reimburse the Corporation for a substantial portion of this amount.

In addition the New York State Division of Human Rights will be forwarding a $60,000 check by the end of the month in recognition of their settlement and agreement that they were wrong in re-instating and continuing certain actions against the Corporation in these matters after the Supreme Court had ruled in our favor.

Stephanie Aaron  asked about the line item for “Stationery, printing and office supplies” this year listed as an expense of $57,106. Here is the answer Altman sent her:

I wanted to follow up on your question at the annual meeting regarding the line in the financial report entitled ‘Stationery, printing and office supplies.’

This line which the independent auditor creates and names includes the following items & approximate expenses for the management, maintenance, security and boiler room staff:
– Office Supplies, $12,500
– Postage, $15,000
– Dinner Allowance for 32BJ Workers, $7,065 (required under our Maintenance Department Union contract)
– Xerox Machines, $8,950
– Stationery & Printing, $12,700
– Computer Expense, $750.

Dear Neighbors,

This year’s campaign at East River was unlike any other, with more engagement from all around the coop. More than 950 cooperators voted in person or by proxy, hundreds more than we’ve seen in years. No matter who wins an election like that, more participation is a big win for all of us.

Many of you knocked on doors and talked to neighbors about the challenges we face — that’s the best way to make sure that our board is accountable to our concerns.

Some of you explicitly collected proxies for the four of us, or handed out flyers from Cooperatively Yours, helping to consolidate our strength and establish a network that will continue to encourage communication.

Others voted for the first time, or the first time in years, and committed to our long-term goals of strengthening the coop’s financial security and sharing ideas and information with openness and respect.

You’ve shown what we can accomplish when we work together. Thank you all so much for your support, your suggestions, and your valuable time.

Cooperatively yours,

Lee Berman,
Peter Herb,
Heather Hubbs,
& Don Mathisen.

Will you brighten the holiday season for a child living in a New York City shelter? You can fulfill the gift requests from homeless children serviced by Henry Street Settlement.

Choose the “Dear Santa” letter you’d like to answer and follow the directions on this web page.

The deadline for delivering unwrapped gifts is Monday, December 15.

Neighbors,

First let me apologize for not attending Meet the Candidates last week. I had been looking forward to the chance to participate, and had even pushed a business trip back two days in order to be in NYC that evening. Unfortunately, my 2-year-old son fell ill after I came home from work and I didn’t want to leave him even for a couple hours. I hope you can understand.

I was glad to hear that there was consensus among all candidates about the need for a reserve fund, which would not only contribute to the coop’s financial security but also minimize the impact that large upcoming capital expenses will have on our own personal finances.

But there are other financial matters that we need to address in order to ensure the coop’s strong footing. Our coop ran a deficit in fiscal years 2011 and 2012, and we were bailed out in 2013 only by a sharp uptick in flip tax revenue. In fact, we rely more and more on the flip tax every year, even though it is the most volatile revenue source we have. We need to find more sustainable ways to balance our budget with new sources of revenue.

We also need a better handle on costs like our out-of-control legal fees. Legal fees are up 462% since 2011 — this year we spent more on legal fees than we did on 24-hour security. Had legal fees not skyrocketed, we would now have an additional $1.25 million — a good start to a meaningful reserve fund.

I’m confident that with new forward-looking directors focused on financial security we can ensure that no resident is priced out by unexpected assessments. If you agree, I would be proud to have your vote.

Best,

Heather Hubbs
heather.hubbs@gmail.com

PS. If you can’t make it to the annual meeting on Monday — or even if you’re just not sure — sign a proxy to make sure your vote is still counted. If you’re supporting Lee Berman, Peter Herb, Don Mathisen, and myself you can download a proxy online and deliver it to the apartment indicated on the form.

It’s too late now to mail in a directed proxy, so if you are supporting Lee Berman, Peter Herb, Heather Hubbs, and Don Mathisen and you have any doubt at all about being able to make it to the annual meeting this Monday, you should sign a general proxy to be sure your vote is counted.

You can still go on Monday, of course — in fact, you can skip the long line at the desk and just go right in to the auditorium. Your proxy will be counted just the same.

Click the image below for your building and return it to the apartment highlighted at the bottom of the form anytime this weekend.

Note: If you attend Monday’s meeting and you do sign in at the front desk your proxy will be invalidated and you must vote with the ballot you receive.

Dear Neighbors,

I know a lot of cooperators at East River are concerned about the lack of transparency here — how little explanation is given for maintenance increases, and how questions asked at our annual meeting are often deflected and ultimately ignored. But the hard truth I learned when I served on the board from 2009 to 2012 is even directors who ask questions are treated as trouble-makers.

Five years ago the co-op faced increased costs and a sharp decrease in flip tax revenue due to the real estate market’s downturn — in fact, for two years in a row the co-op ran a deficit because it spent more money than it earned. I thought we could do more to draw revenue from new sources and cut costs related to large contracts for regular maintenance. So I asked to review some basic records from management: invoices from outside contractors, an up-to-date list of commercial tenants, and parking and storage room lists and waitlists.

These requests were made to management over the course of my first two years on the board, and made more than once — but the records were never produced. I didn’t like being kept in the dark, but I gave our management staff the benefit of the doubt: they were very busy, and they were clearly not in the habit of fetching paperwork for board members.

Still, I persisted. When it came time to vote on a new budget in 2012, I made my request more forcefully. In response, I was told by the president of the board that I was not entitled to any of the records I had requested — no invoices, no contracts, no lists, no commercial leases: nothing.

Of course he was wrong. New York law gives a sitting director an absolute, unqualified right to inspect corporate books and records. Nevertheless, the board approved in April 2012, over my objection, a new policy whereby “all requests for documents and information” — such as mine — would be forwarded to management only at the discretion of the president.

Now I knew I was being kept in the dark deliberately, though to this day I still don’t know why.

I’m running for the board again not because I’m a glutton for punishment, but because I grew up here, I’m raising my own family here, and I don’t believe the status quo is right or prudent — nor do I believe that it is sustainable. By joining with other forward-thinking candidates and cooperators, we can preserve all the things we love about East River while strengthening our financial security and sharing information and ideas with openness and respect.

Let’s come out of the dark — vote for Peter Herb, Heather Hubbs, Don Mathisen, and me, and together we will reaffirm the guiding principles of cooperative living.

Cooperatively yours,

Lee Berman
LeeBermanER@gmail.com