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Queens Community Board 7 to vote on motion to
remove member amid allegations of misconduct
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Community Board 7 will set a historic
precedent if the board votes in
favor to remove board member and
City Council candidate John Choe
due to allegations of misconduct.
The Executive Committee of Community
Board 7 — which covers the
neighborhoods of Bay Terrace College
Point, Beechhurst, Flushing,
Malba, Queensboro Hill, Whitestone
and Willets Point — notified Choe
of five allegations against him that
were filed by CB 7 First Vice Chair
and Chair of the Land Use Committee
Chuck Apelian.
According to CB 7 Chair Eugene
Kelty, if two-thirds of the full board
vote to proceed on June 14, he will
appoint a special committee of five
board members. The committee will
then hear the charges as well as testimony
from Choe and Apelian. After
the committee makes its recommendation,
a simple majority vote will
be held with the full board to decide
whether Choe will be removed from
the board.
“He doesn’t listen to the chair of
the board and I’m getting tired of
fighting with him,” Kelty said. “If
you’re not listening to the chair of
the board, then that’s really a problem
for me. He’s gotten up and left
meetings, and that’s a tough thing to
run an organization, when you show
up and take attendance that you’re
here, and then leave for the rest of
the meeting.”
Choe, who is running for office to
represent Council District 20, was reappointed
to CB 7 by Borough President
Donovan Richards, although he
did not receive a recommendation
from Councilman Koo, according to
Kelty. Although Kelty spoke with the
borough president’s representative
regarding concerns about Choe,Kelty
said the borough president still chose
to re-appoint Choe and two other people
on the board, while removing two
other board members.
In a statement to QNS, a spokesperson
for the Queens borough president’s
office said they “will let this
process unfold and not interfere.”
The Queens Daily Eagle first reported
and QNS confirmed that on
May 26, Choe received the formal
written notice from Kelty stating
that the board would consider a motion
to initiate removal proceedings
at its next meeting on June 14. The
notice came just eight days before the
primary election.
Choe’s campaign said the executive
committee is citing allegations
that are “funhouse mirror images”
of his criticism of the board’s prodevelopment
TIMESLEDGER | Q 20 NS.COM | JUNE 11-JUNE 17, 2021
leadership.
“The move appears to be intended
to quash dissent and consolidate
the power of the board leadership,
which rammed through the rezoning
of the Special Flushing Waterfront
District (SFWD) last year while its
vice chair, who is also chairman of
the Land Use Committee, was a paid
consultant to the developers,” Choe
said in a statement sent to QNS.
“This is the same community board
that was the subject of federal investigations
into potential conflicts of
interest.”
The executive committee members
include Warren Schreiber,
Frank Macchio, Lei Zhao, Kelty and
Apelian, who say Choe violated multiple
rules and regulations imposed
on members by the City Charter.
One of the five allegations against
Choe includes his solicitation for campaign
funds from board members,
which is a direct violation of conflict
of interest as well as the Campaign
Finance Board, Kelty said.
The City Charter states that “public
servants, including community
board members are prohibited from
coercing any other public servant to
engage in political activities or make
any political contribution.”
According to Kelty, the executive
board has filed several formal complaints
against Choe with the city’s
Conflicts of Interest Board. However,
Kelty says, the COIB has not issued a
ruling on any of the complaints.
“They’re like a secret organization
and I’m really annoyed about
it because I don’t think they should
have such power when they can’t answer
a basic question,” Kelty said.
Additionally, there have been concerns
about the creation of an authorized
CB 7 Facebook page, that Kelty
says displayed information tied to
events organized by the Flushing
Chamber of Commerce. It was then
removed after the board requested
the NYC Department of Investigation
to intervene with Facebook.
The board had suspected Choe
—who is the executive director of
the chamber — created the page, and
when asked, Choe was non-committal
regarding his involvement. In response
to the allegation, Choe previously
told QNS in an interview that
he had nothing to do with the CB7
Facebook page.
“He was the only one on that Facebook
page and uploading things
that the board is doing,” Kelty said.
“He was speaking for the board and I
didn’t give him approval to speak for
the board.”
Furthermore, Kelty alleged that
Choe has accused various members
of the executive committee of being
corrupt in approving the controversial
Special Flushing Waterfront District
development that was approved
by the board in a vote of 30-8 in February
2020.
“I’ve been on the board for 36
years and have never had an accusation
like that,” Kelty said. “Nobody
ever accused the board like that.”
Last year, Apelian raised concerns
about Choe’s motives after claiming
that Choe is using the Flushing
Chamber of Commerce as a platform
to represent his own views and opinions.
Furthermore, Apelian claimed
that he heard from other people that
the books at the chamber have been
“sketchy.”
Apelian stated that Choe was
against the Flushing Waterfront Development
and instead of supporting
the economic development that’s
going to create permanent jobs and
good growth of the city, he was using
the chamber for his own ulterior motives
and political aspirations.
Apelian, who served as a consultant
to the developers behind the controversial
rezoning project, recused
himself from the board’s vote on the
plan. The vice chair also accused
Choe of being corrupt after the board
member said that “for the right price,
I might be persuaded to change my
mind,” when he testified against the
waterfront plan at a February 2020
Borough Board meeting. The comment
was met with laughter.
Choe had responded to the allegation,
saying that he testified that
the only way he would support the
project was if the developers created
500 units of affordable housing and
met other community demands, with
nothing in return for himself.
Reach reporter Carlotta Mohamed
by e-mail at cmohamed@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718) 260–4526.
John Choe speaks at a candidates forum at Flushing Library in 2019.
QNS fi le photo
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