QBP RICHARDS LAUNCHES 2024 QUEENS COMMUNITY BOARD APPLICATION PROCESS
Application deadline: Friday, February 16
(January 3, 2024 at 10am)
QUEENS, NY – Following last year’s wildly successful application period, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. is again accepting applications from qualified and civic-minded individuals interested in serving on their local community board.
As with the Borough President’s prior three iterations, the 2024 community board application can be filled out online, ensuring prospective applicants can complete the process quickly and easily, as well as allowing for a more diverse applicant pool. The application requires neither notarization nor in-person delivery to the Queens Borough President’s Office.
“As we begin this year’s community board application process, my office is proud to continue the work of ensuing these boards look and feel like the diverse communities they serve. This means reaching residents from every corner of every neighborhood and expanding opportunities for those who want to make a difference in their home community,” said Borough President RICHARDS. “I look forward to building on the progress we’ve made to diversify our boards over the last three years, and I strongly encourage anyone with an interest in public service to apply.”
The application is available online here and at www.queensbp.org/communityboards. The deadline to submit the form is Friday, February 16, 2024. This deadline applies to both new applicants and existing community board members seeking an additional term. For the upcoming round of appointments, the two-year term of service will begin on Monday, April 1, 2024.
Over the course of his administration, Borough President Richards has worked diligently to grow interest in community board membership and correct numerous demographic inequities around age, gender, background and more that have existed for years across Queens’ 14 community boards.
Since 2021, the Queens Borough President’s Office received more than 2,700 applications to serve on a community board — the vast majority of which came from individuals who had not previously served on a board.
As detailed in the 2023 Community Board Demographic Report, there were significant achievements across the community board appointment process in 2023. In total, the Queens Borough President’s Office received 938 applications, which was only three applications short of 2021’s record-breaking total of 941.
The larger and more diverse applicant pools led to community board classes that were younger, more female and had greater percentages of members who identified as Latinx/Hispanic, African American, South Asian, East Asian/Pacific Islander, LGBTQIA+, and immigrant, among other characters.
There are 59 community boards citywide, including 14 in Queens, and each hold monthly full membership meetings. The boards play an important advisory role in considering land use and zoning matters in their respective districts under the City’s Uniformed Land Use Review Procedure, in addition to holding hearings and issuing recommendations about the City budget, municipal service delivery and numerous other matters that impact their communities.
All Queens community board members are appointed by the Queens Borough President, pursuant to the City Charter, with half of the appointments nominated by the City Councilmembers representing their respective Community Districts. Each board has up to 50 unsalaried members, with each member serving a two-year term.
All community board members who wish to continue serving on a board are required to reapply at the conclusion of their two-year term and are subject to review and reconsideration.
Follow the Office of the Queens Borough President via @QnsBPRichards on Twitter and @QueensBPRichards on Facebook and Instagram
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