Longtime leader of CB18 to retire
Dottie Turano refl ects on nearly four decades serving southern Brooklyn
BY JESSICA PARKS
Longtime Community
Board 18 district manager
Dottie Turano will step down
from her post later this month,
marking an end to nearly four
decades of community service.
“During the last several
weeks I have been procrastinating
in writing this email,”
Turano wrote in an email to
board members. “After 38 years
of public service, the majority
of which has been with the
Community Board, originally
as the Youth Coordinator and
subsequently as the District
Manager, I and my family believe
that it is time to close this
chapter in my life and retire.”
Turano, who raised her children
in Canarsie and now resides
on Mill Island, began her
longstanding career in civil
service advocating for southern
Brooklyn’s school children
as an elected member of the
local school board, and as the
leader of parent associations at
both of her son’s schools.
“During the course of my
involvements in our community,
Brooklyn
Heights
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COURIER L 14 IFE, OCT. 16-22, 2020
I have worn many hats,”
she wrote, adding that she is
“proud that Canarsie was the
launching pad” for her career
in civil service — and in her
sons’ careers as physicians.
Turano eventually became
a member of Community Board
18, and fi rst took on a leadership
role as the board’s youth
coordination. She then went
on to succeed Frank Seddio as
district manager in 1985, citing
the former Kings County Democratic
Party Boss as a good
friend and an inspiration.
Turano has remained beloved
in her community — even
amid turmoil. At her fi rst public
appearance following her
implication in a bribery scandal
with her close friend and atthe
time roommate, disgraced
State Senator Carl Kruger, the
longtime community leader
received a bouquet of fl owers
with a note saying “We Love
You” from board members.
While Kruger and Turano’s
co-conspirator son, Dr.
Michael Turano, were hauled
off to jail, Dottie Turano said
she had no plans to leave her
$154,725 a year job as the borough’s
highest-paid district
manager, where she will remain
until she offi cially retires
on Oct. 18.
In her retirement, Turano
said she will continue to advocate
for her community as a
resident while making more
time for loved ones.
“My letter of retirement is
not the conclusion of my involvement
in our community,”
she wrote. “The years ahead
will give me an opportunity
to join with you as a strong advocate
advancing our shared
agenda, while allowing me to
spend more time with my family
and friends.”
Her regular attendance at
community board meetings will
be missed by her the board’s
chairman who described her
presence as irreplaceable.
“We had a mutual understanding
and we worked well
together. I have learned a lot
from her during this time she
was very knowledgeable with
dealing with community issues,”
Community Board 18
Chairman Gardy Brazela told
Brooklyn Paper. “I am not sure
we’ll fi nd someone like her.”
While having only served
alongside Turano since he was
elected in 2018, their friendship
goes back three decades when
they lived just a block away
from each other in Canarsie,
and will continue as Brazela
says he plans to still turn to
Turano for guidance on a plethora
of community issues.
“I have known Dottie for 30
years,” Brazela said. “I will be
calling her whenever I am not
sure with an issue. She will
be greatly missed. I wish her
good luck during her retirement
and her wonderful life
journey ahead.”
Dottie Turano will retire on Oct. 18. File photo by Steve Solomonson
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