Chapter Governing Board Meeting Minutes: The Minutes from the January 23, 2002 Chapter Governing Meeting were approved after emendation by Mr. Falterman.

National ASPA: Mr. Ciaccio announced that the Chapter had won the Second Place Award of $500 in the National ASPA Strategic Plan Implementation (SPI) Award. A certificate will be presented to the Chapter at the upcoming ASPA National Conference. Mr. Ciaccio said that Richard Scheirer will receive an award and special recognition by the National ASPA President at the National Conference. Mr. Ciaccio also said that the Chapter Newsletter will receive an award during the National Conference. Mr. Ciaccio said that the expected rebate from National ASPA is $1,652; Mr. Meyer will be submitting the Chapter's form for the Fiscal Year Ending 06/30/2001. Mr. Meyer said that the rebate last year was based upon 292 Primary Chapter Member plus 13 Secondary Chapter Members. The Chapter is in third place among all National ASPA Chapters in terms of membership; the Washington, DC and the Los Angeles Chapters both have larger membership rosters than the New York Chapter. Mr. Williams said that the ethics column that appeared in the 02/2002 issue of the Chapter Newsletter will be re-published in the Newsletter for the National ASPA Section on Ethics. Mr. Falterman said that an article by Mr. Ciaccio regarding Chapter program events will be published in PA Times; the article is entitled "New York Metro Chapter Still Stands Tall". [The article appears in the March 2002 issue of PA Times (Volume 25, Number 3), Page 22.]

Chapter Treasurer Report: Mr. Meyer said that the Chapter Fund Balance is $5,801.88, including the Scholarship Fund. Recent transactions include expenses for the December Program Event (Holiday Party) and the January Program Event at Baruch College, reimbursement to Mr. Jameson for Newsletter costs, and bank fees.

Civic Alliance for Downtown New York: Mr. Ciaccio made introductory comments and then Mr. Falterman discussed the February 25, 2002 Meeting of the Social, Economic, and Environmental Justice Committee of the Civic Alliance for Downtown New York. The meeting convened at 8:30AM. Two letters were presented for member organizations to sign-on. The first regards a Green Building Tax Credit. The letter is requesting NYC to get extra tax credits by keeping the city out from under a cap on total tax credits. The second letter regards a ferry landing on the West Side of Manhattan for high-speed commuter ferry service to Downtown Manhattan. Both letters are address to New York State Governor Pataki. Member organizations need to "opt-in" to become signatories of the letters; the deadline for response is March 1^st. Ms. Hubbard-Kamunanwire questioned the methodology being used in formulating policy positions for the Chapter; she said that it was being done piecemeal. Mr. Ciaccio saw a benefit to the Chapter membership in our supporting the objectives of the Civic Alliance. Mr. Falterman moved, upon Mr. Ciaccio's recommendation, for a vote on whether the Chapter should sign the letters. Mr. Williams asked (raising questions rather than objections) if there was any conflict with the Chapter taking a position on the issues in the letters in regards to both the tax-exempt status of ASPA and the Chapter Constitution. Mr. Falterman then withdrew his motion, stating that it should be tabled for further informal discussion. Mr. Williams suggested that we pursue Ms. Hubbard-Kamunanwire recommendation to involve the Chapter membership in policy decisions. We can use e-mail and the Chapter Newsletter to solicit participation; the letters can be e-mailed to the membership. It was then decided that each letter should be raised as a separate motion. A motion regarding the Green Building Tax Credit $25 Million Cap was brought to the floor for a vote; the vote on the motion failed to gain majority support. No Governing Board member wished to make a motion on the letter regarding ferry service. Comments will be solicited from the membership.

Chapter Program Events: Mr. Falterman spoke about the Chapter Program Event on Redistricting and Reapportionment in New York State -- 2002. He said that we had good attendance and a good mix of panelists. He thanked Ms. Gerard for preparing the flyer, Mr. Ciaccio and Mr. Meyer for administration and logistics, and Mr. Jameson for the turnaround time in getting out the newsletter with the event announcement flyer. Mr. Falterman is planning a program event on democratizing the New York City Council. The working title is "A New City Council in a New Era". Council Member Gale Brewer (who represents the Upper West Side) and Deputy Majority Leader Bill Perkins (who has the third leadership position on the City Council) are tentatively scheduled to participate in this forum. Mr. Meyer and Ms. Gerard will work with Mr. Falterman on developing this event; Mr. Meyer will try to get a Council Member from outside Manhattan to participate. Mr. Falterman will contact The New School and New York University about hosting this event. The event is tentatively planned for mid-April, 2002. Another proposed event is a Forum on the New York City Budget in May, 2002. Lynne Weikart (from the Baruch College School of Public Affairs) would be the moderator for this event discussing the city budget. Mr. Williams will work with Ms. Weikart on this event

Annual Awards Dinner: Mr. Ciaccio contacted Sal Anthony's S.P.Q.R. Restaurant and made a reservation for June 12, 2002 for the Chapter Annual Awards Dinner. The Chapter had offered a "New Horizons" Award to Mayor Bloomberg but he declined the Chapter's invitation to be the Guest Speaker. As an alternative Guest Speaker, Ms. Hubbard-Kamunanwire has contacted Senator Schumer's Office (she has a personal contact in that office). She will follow-up with her contact person about the invitation. Ms. Gerard suggested NYS Attorney-general Eliot Spitzer as a Guest Speaker, but this will not be pursued since he is running for re-election this year [and the Chapter avoids the appearance of any partisan political activity]. From the list compiled at the prior Chapter Governing Board Meeting, Senator Clinton is next on list after Senator Schumer. Mr. Falterman repeated the remaining Guest Speaker candidates from the prior meeting: Bill Thompson, Dennis Walcott, Gifford Miller, and Charles Rangel. Ms. Alexander suggested former Senator Moynihan and Mr. Meyer suggested NYC Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum. Ms. Hubbard-Kamunanwire suggested Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markovitz, who may draw dinner attendees from Brooklyn. Based on legislative schedule, attendance at a Dinner scheduled for a Wednesday night may be a problem for National figure. If a positive response is not received from Senator Schumer by March 11, 2002, the Dinner Committee will proceed to the next candidates on the list. It was decided that Ms. Gotbaum would be next, followed by Mr. Thompson and Mr. Miller. Scheduling the Dinner in June may present availability conflicts with the NYC Budget Process and Graduations. Since the June 12^th Date is in conflict with other Affairs, Mr. Ciaccio will re-schedule the reservation for Thursday, June 13, 2002. Mr. Williams suggested a "standalone" e-mailing of the Chapter Awards Nomination criteria. Ms. Hubbard-Kamunanwire mentioned the printing of the award certificates; it was suggested that costs could be reduced by looking for internet vendors for the printing of the plaques.

Chapter Elections: Mr. Ciaccio said that there will be three vacancies [corrected to "four vacancies at 03/11/2002 Governing Board Meeting] among the Council seats on the Chapter Governing Board. He said that Dawn Roberts has stated that she does not wish to seek re-election. The Council Seats now held by Ms. Alexander and Ms. Osborne are also up for re-election (since their terms end with the 2002 Program Year). Mr. Falterman said that, as an outreach to the membership community, he will be nominating Lynne Weikart (from the Baruch College School of Public Affairs). Mr. Ciaccio said that the Chapter Election Committee is comprised of Gregg Van Ryzin, Steve Rolandi, and Ray Joseph. He said that the Elections should be completed before the Chapter Annual Awards Dinner, which will also be the Chapter Annual Membership Meeting.

Miscellaneous: Mr. Falterman distributed information on Hearings scheduled by the New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment and pointed out the related web site. Mr. Williams said that undergraduates at Baruch College, CUNY were forming a Student Public Interest Group with a web site that they are interested in having affiliated with the NY Metro Chapter ASPA web site. Mr. Jameson said that he could post a link to the student's web site once the web site address is available. Mr. Williams also offered the listserv available at Baruch College for use for Chapter e-mail correspondence to the membership. Mr. Falterman encouraged prompt renewal of memberships since membership renewal is the "lifeblood" of the organization. Ms. Gerard requested that events sponsored by GAP (Government Affairs Professionals) be posted to the Chapter web site. Mr. Falterman requested that photos from Chapter Program Events be posted to the Chapter web site.

Chapter Governing Board Meeting: The next Chapter Governing Board Meeting was scheduled for 6:00PM on Thursday, April 11th, 2002 at MTA, 2 Broadway, New York City

[The Meeting was convened at 6:04PM and adjourned at 7:29PM. The Meeting was held at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 2 Broadway, Fourth Floor, Conference Room 4.01. Governing Board Attendees: Ms. Alexander, Mr. Ciaccio, Mr. Falterman, Ms. Gerard, Ms. Hubbard-Kamunanwire, Mr. Jameson, Mr. Meyer, Ms. Osborne, Mr. Tinker, and Mr. Williams. Other Attendees: Jehmal Hudson and Caroline Westbrook. [Minutes recorded by Mr. Jameson.]