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EditorialsWhere%u2019s Their Sense of Responsibility?Over recent w eeks, we have reported on our news pages andcom m ented in this colum n on the apparent breakdown of thecom m unity input process in Park Slope/South Brooklyn with theinability of C om m unity Board Six to m uster a quorum of its m em bersto be able to conduct business.An analysis this w eek of the attendance of m em bers of that board atregularly scheduled m eetings shows this problem is nothing new andthat in fact over 40 per cent of Board Six m em bers have m issed morethan half the m eetings of the year, including three who have neverattended a m eeting in 1978 and three others who have only attended asingle m eeting of the ten held so far this year.M ost disturbing of all is the realization that the chairm an of theboard him self, Gerard Carey, has only actually attended half them eetings of the group.The C om m unity Board, successor to the com m unity planningboards, is com posed of appointed m em bers who eith er live or work inthe geographic area covered by the board. The Boards have a m issionto bring governm ent closer to the people and provide review of thedelivery of city services in their areas. All over New York CityC om m unity Boards are at work to provide this local input. Here inSouth Brooklyn and Park Slope the staff operation of the board is atwork, but the board itself seem s to be dozing.M em bers who have been appointed by the Borough President to theC om m unity Board are there because they applied for m em bership.The appointm ent process requires detailing of a background incom m unity affairs and the review of a record of perform ance. Half them em bers are by law appointed upon the recom m endation of the localcity councilm an. In the case of most m em bers of this board that isThom as C uite. In practice, m ost of the m em bers of this board havebeen appointed with the recom m endation or %u201c review %u201d of Councilm anCuite. Last w eek, C uite, through a spokesm an, said he was%u201cconcerned%u201d about the inability of the com m unity board to m usterenough m em bers to function for tw o m eetings in a row. Now , withpublication this week of the attendance record of the en tire board, wehope to see this concern translated into action by both theC ouncilm an and the Borough President.One thing is for certain: any body that is headed by a person whocan%u2019t m ake m ore than half the m eetings in a year, isn%u2019t going to bedoing much of substance. This contem pt for the serious process thatthe com m unity board system is attem pting to build should berewarded w ith retirem ent.In a city as fragm ented and as diverse as N ew York, the m onolithicapproach to governm ent and the delivery of city services has neverworked. The com m unity board process has and still does prom ise togive our to w n %u2019s unique neighbo rhood stru ctu re su pport andstrengthening. W hen people choose to o ffer them selves for publicservice, w h ether it is an im portant elective office or a little local postlike com m unity board m em ber, a responsibility to participate in thatprocess goes w ith the offering. Som e of our neighbors who haveasked to be m em bers of C om m unity Board Six have certainly failed intheir responsibility to the rest of us.Sound Off Feedback from ReadersOn LovecraftRegarding L.J. Davis%u2019 article about H.P. Lovecraft (October 26), there is an interesting piece of information that he left out. Besides occupying 259 Parkside Ave, Lovecraft also lived in 169 Clinton Street right here in Brooklyn Heights, according to his biographer, L. Sprague De Camp. Lovecraft may have been a loon, but at least he has good taste.%u2014Kevin Walsh,Remsen St.Before Deciding...Many parents of sixth grade elementary school children will soon be called upon to make the decision regarding a public junior high school or a private school for September 1979. We would encourage parents to visit Intermediate School 293, Court and Butler Streets, before they commit themselves to spending thousands of dollars in private school tuition and costs.As taxpayers, you owe yourselves the opportunity of visiting the school, touring the building, sitting in on classes, examining the entire academic program, speaking with staff and parents of children who attend our school, and then making a choice based on first-hand experience. We welcome your inquiries into our many innovative academic programs and opportunities for enrichment in music, art, and dance.Please call us at 330-9390, or visit and ask to see any supervisor.%u2014Dr. H.Rahinsky, Principal Nathan Hale I.S. 293.Biggest SinI want to thank you for your very nice,perceptive and well written and thought out review (%u201cJack and the Beanstalk Goes Modern for Kids%u201d October 19). Being a reviewer myself (along with being a playwright/writer) I appreciate, besides the review, good thinking. I remember my first review which took me three days and about 17 hours of work.. .and the result was a very scholarly report on Lillian Heilman ...1 then had to rethink the whos, whats and whys of reviewing (each publication wants a different slant, style, etc., geared to their audience interest) and pare the review down to eight or nine direct, clear paragraphs...The editor further clipped it until it fit her/their style....Of course, it left out some specials (my personality, style, phrases and idiosyncrasies.)If I may be as bold as to offer you a tip about writing...Probably the biggest sin, and selfishly I say so, is omitting the director%u2019s name from the review. One hopes that this is either an error or a personal choice on your part and not the start of a new trend. Again, thanks for coming. I wish you luck.%u2014Ed Rubin,Director of The Heights Players.Editor%u2019s Note: Mr. Rubin directed theaforementioned play.Many ThanksI%u2019d like to thank you for printing our release on the Brooklyn In Touch workshops.The coverage we received enabled us to provide a large number of representatives from New York Community groups with expertise in this very important area. Thanks again.%u2014Jacqueline Halpern,Fourth Avenue.Kane Street ListensOn November 1 at Visitation Church, Mayor Koch was asked to help accomplish three changes in the way New York City has been governed.1. Help prevent city departments from hiding behind %u201c aggregate coterminality%u201d (City Charter Paragraph 2704 a 2) which permits most city departments to hold hearings in say, Bay Ridge on matters pertaining to Kane Street.2. Help us put a stop to the appointment of one half of all community board members by their natural competitors%u2014 city councilmen.3. Help improve the competence of community boards by eliminating the appointment of the other half of the board members by Boro Presidents who no longer have the competence themselves that once came from having the responsibility for building the roads, sewers, etc. The Mayor%u2019s answer to all three requests was %u201c No%u201d .If you agree that these are important questions, Kane Street would like to hear from you.%u2014-Thornton Willett, Kane Street.Chronic ProblemI would like to thank you and your reporter Martha Doggett for the research and reporting you did about Community Board Six%u2019s absenteeism problem.I live in Community Board Six%u2019s district and was a visitor at the monthly meeting that had to be adjourned because of lack of a quorum. As far as I know, this is the first time that so few members attended that there was no quorum, but there seems to be a chronic attendance problem, as well asa problem with some committees that are inactive.%u2014Lee Stemlight, Garfield PlaceCredit Where DueIn today%u2019s issue of THE PHOENIX (October 26), you have an article about a $25,000 grant received by the Nevins Neighborhood Center under the Neighborhood Preservation Companies Program. Your article attributes the source of the grant to %u201c New York City Department of Housing and Urban Renewal.%u201d That is not accurate.The grant to Nevins is from the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal. The Nevins proposal was supported by locally elected State public officials. It was approved and announced by Governor Carey.Perhaps I raise a seemingly minor point. But I believe the Carey administration has done an exceptionally fine job of assisting New York City programs and should get credit for doing so.%u2014Martin Connor, StateSenatorMost AppreciatedYour excellent article on John LaCorte was most appreciated by this reader. To some, John LaCoorte is Quixotic, yet when the dust of time has settled, his record of accomplishments will be very impressive. He may not be as smooth talking as our contemporary %u201cleaders,%u201d but by sheer courage and perserverance, he gets things done. And his name has never been linked to any type of political shenanigan or scandal.Sooner or later, people will realize that John LaCorte is a great man.%u2014NinoPantano, President Street.Inklings S t S %u00a9 a %u00a9 S n i b s s aI f '5 ANOTHER TYPiCAUMONDAY NUxHT fOOTUALLEXTRAVAGANZA, DANDY.TUSY'&t R%u00a3aulV tOGOS s? K e T H fw c 3 r(v r'm %u20ac g .e T D N IT ETH E Y 'fce R%u20acAU-Y E X P L O IT IN GTHOSE CrAPS IM T H %u20ac D%u20acG PCOVERAGE...WHO SAYS C H E E R U A D E R iU A V e /oo P la c e cm Pr o -T o o t& a u J?..Page 8, THE PHOENIX, November 9,1978