Following is the text of a flier that was circulated by former director Jodi Zagoory, who is also an occasional contributor to the Seward Spark.

When I served on the Board of Directors, we rebranded the co-op as “Seward Park Cooperative” instead of “Seward Park Housing Corporation.”  We believed fully in the cooperative character of our community, and wanted it to be the first impression we gave to the outside world.  But as directors, we also never lost sight of the fact that our cooperative is in fact a business corporation.

As shareholders, we elect directors to the Board to be the stewards of a corporation that today has a $25 million annual budget and over $1 billion in assets.  They are charged with making decisions for our benefit, and it is crucial that they have the qualifications, work ethic and temperament to tackle this difficult assignment in an informed, collaborative fashion.  

We absolutely need directors who will remember every day that they are overseeing a cooperative consisting of neighbors who call the cooperative home, not faceless shareholders who can simply dump their stock if they don’t like the corporation’s direction.  And I can happily say that I believe that all of the candidates running for the Board this year fit that bill.

But we also need directors who are willing and able to do the work of a director.  They need to engage with and develop a deep understanding of the important and complex issues we face, like restructuring our debts, handling offers to buy air rights, responding to lawsuits, and more. It is not enough to want peace.  Past Boards led by directors who chose to stick their heads in the sand led us to big budget holes (and big maintenance increases), bungled contracts and long-deferred necessary capital projects.

At Meet the Candidates Night, there were three candidates who had clearly done their homework.  They were familiar with the issues, had studied the co-op’s financial statements, and gave thoughtful and informed answers to questions.  These three candidates stood out for their mindfulness of the needs of all cooperators, and also for their positivity and their knowledge and eagerness to serve.

On June 15th, please join me in voting for #3 Wei-Li Tjong, #5 James Mastroianni and #6 Leah Strock, for a board that is truly cooperative, and also effective.

Jodi Zagoory
Former Member
Seward Park Cooperative Board of Directors