Two sacked members of a local panel say they lost their seats because they refused to mimic the pols who appointed them — and one of the lawmakers admits it.
Both Lollie Reich and and Sherry Falcone were ousted from Community Baord 13 after voicing opinons contrary to those of Borough President Markowitz and Councilman Mike Nelson, respectively.
And Nelson says the opinions expressed by his appointees are taken into consideration.
“The councilman felt she wasn’t representing the community well,” Nelson spokesman Steve Zeltzer said.
That rationale doesn’t sit well with Falcone.
“This aggragates me,” Falcone said. “I’m not a puppet. I have opnion. Evidently, there are people who don’t want your opinion — they just want you to go along with them.”
Falcone’s says her ouster came as a shock, but Reich, who was a board memeber for 15 years, said she began fearing for her seat six months ago after going public with her sympathy for residents who believe the beep’s glitzy new concert venue will destroy their community.
Reich was the first member of Community Board 13 to publicly question Markowitz’s $64-million dream of buidling a world-class amphitheater at Asser Levy Park in Coney Island, and she thinks voicing her opinion cost her the seat.
“Absolutely,” Reich said. “There was no other reason for it.”
Community Board members are appointed to the volunteer positions by the borough president for two-year terms, but half are nominated by the local City Council members. At CB13, the City Council picks are split between Mike Nelson and Domenic Recchia.
If Markowitz did have a score to settle with Reich, he won’t say.
When asked, he only said there are many qualified applicants waiting for a chance to join the board each year.
In the past, Markowitz has shown a penchant for removing community board members who don’t agree with him.
In 2007, nine members of Community Board Six — including former Chairperson Jerry Armer — lost their seats after opposing the Atlantic Yards development in downtown Brooklyn — another Markowitz dream project.
Now that she’s lost her seat, Reich says she will be more vocal in her opposition to plan.
And she’s starting by offering the beep some advice.
“It would be so easy if somebody [from the borough president’s office] would sit down and offer some compromises on the amphitheater and everything would go away,” she said. “But evidently, Mr. Markowitz doesn’t’ want comprise — he wants it his way or no way.”
Falcone is so upset about losing her community board seat that she says she doesn’t care about ever being reappointed in the future.
Three other members of Community Board 13 were not reappointed.
Arlene Olsen and Aleksandr Budnitsky could not be reached for comment. Beatrice Rothbaum says she is unsure why she was not renewed.