Official Business: Nominations for Civic Council Trustees

The Civic Council has nominated six new trustees for the upcoming year. The current Board of Trustees is scheduled to vote on these nominees at the Trustees Meeting on Thursday, May 3. The general membership may vote on this slate of nominees at the Civic Council’s General Meeting, Thursday, June 7.

Peter Bray founded and directs the New York City Financial Network Action Consortium, a nonprofit that strengthens the delivery of affordable financial services for low-income households throughout the city. His community development career has also involved developing affordable housing and needed facilities in the South Bronx in the 1980s and 1990s. Since 2007, he has chaired the Civic Council’s Historic District Committee, working with a highly dedicated group of volunteers to obtain the Park Slope Historic District’s first expansion since it was established in 1973. With family roots in Park Slope extending back 80 years, he is passionate about preserving its history, streetscapes, and quality of life.

Joni Kletter is a union side labor and employment lawyer who has lived in Park Slope for six years. She loves to Rollerblade, bike, and play with her French bulldog Chachi in Prospect Park. She volunteers for the Civic Council’s Historic District and Outreach Committees, and serves as a public member for Community Board 6’s Parks and Recreation Committee. She is also involved with local politics, and recently volunteered as a delegate to City Councilmember Brad Lander’s Participatory Budgeting Team.

A Massachusetts native, Kim Maier has been happy to call Park Slope home since 1984. As the director of the Old Stone House and Washington Park, she has worked with the OSH board, the community, the Department of Parks and Recreation (Brooklyn), and our elected officials to see through nearly $9 million in park improvements during the past six years, as well as to create year-round educational and cultural events at the Old Stone House and the park. Maier, who also chairs the Civic Council’s Halloween Parade, lives on Third Street with her husband, Presley. Their daughters Kate and Emily are graduates of P.S. 321 and M.S. 51.

Born and raised in Park Slope, Thomas Miskel became involved with local issues in the 1970s, working with his block association and on efforts to set up the Park Slope Historic District. Joining the Civic Council in the 1990s, he is a past president of the organization, and currently chairs the annual Toys for Tots collection drive and works on the Scholarship Committee. He also serves as first vice president at Community Board 6, where he chairs the Transportation Committee and serves on two others (Landmarks/Land Use; and Public Safety/Environmental Protection/Permits and Licenses); sits on the Prospect Park YMCA’s Board of Managers; and is Veterans Committee co-chair at the 14th Street Armory. A graduate of St. Saviour’s Grammar School, he wrote a history of the parish upon its centennial in 2005.

Jeff Roth is the director of grant monitoring for the New York City Fire Department, and serves as the battalion operations officer for the 1-258 FA, New York Army Reserve National Guard in Queens, N.Y., with a rank of major. He is a graduate of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University with a master’s degree in public policy and urban planning. He has served in various organizations as a volunteer, currently with the advisory group for the Financial Clinic’s Fellowship Program. He has lived in Park Slope since he arrived in New York City five years ago, and recently helped support the neighborhood’s application to the Department of Transportation’s Slow Zones initiative.

Joe Rydell has lived in Park Slope for nearly three decades. During that time, he spent 15 years working in the entertainment industry as an actor, producer, and casting director. Currently, he is a clinical social worker, and a psychotherapist in private practice. He has been an active volunteer for the Civic Council, has worked on the House Tour for many years, and is a member of the Livable Streets Committee. For the past 10 years, his volunteer involvement has been significant at both schools his son has attended, the Berkeley Carroll School and the Brooklyn Prospect Charter School.

from the Spring 2012 Civic News