BY JESSICA PARKS
Two members of a southern
Brooklyn community
group called the Shorefront
Coalition are breaking off to
form a splinter organization,
claiming the group’s president
is shamelessly using the nonprofi
t as a platform to launch
his political career.
“You don’t overlap political
work with community work,”
said Maurice Kolodin, a former
member of the Shorefront
Coalition and one-time Community
Board 15 chairman.
“You have to be clear with people
that you are doing something
politically.”
Kolodin said he and former
Community Board 13
chairman Butch Moran were
brought onto Shorefront Coalition
— a “non-partisan” volunteer
group with the stated goal
of “promoting civic engagement,
aiding youth and seniors,
and increasing broader participation
in community affairs”
— as advisors on the condition
there would be absolutely no
political shenanigans.
But shortly after Thanksgiving,
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the pair said they
found out that President Steve
Saperstein had fi led to run for
offi ce in 2021, leading the two
to suspect he created the organization
to garner name recognition
for the prospective
candidate.
“He opened a committee
without telling us when
that was contrary to any allegiance
we had,” Kolodin said.
“So we divorced ourselves at
that point.”
The civic guru said that
one of the conditions of the
deal was that if Saperstein did
run for offi ce, he would resign
from the committee — but
when it came time for Saperstein
to bow down, he refused,
according to Kolodin.
“He specifi cally refused
to,” Kolodin said. “In fact, he
and Lev without Butch and I
knowing set up the coalition
as an LLC on their own.”
And so, the two community
board chairman created
the Shorefront Partnership
Alliance, which will mirror
the goals and operations of the
Shorefront Coalition — without
promoting Saperstein.
“We just set up the new organization
Shorefront Partnership
Alliance and we are
doing precisely what the Shorefront
Coalition was supposed
to do without having any tinge
of political campaigns,” Kolodin
said. “We are looking to
do everything as we have for
the public and the well-being
of the entire shorefront area
but not when there is a lateral
agenda that is going on.”
Kolodin said that him and
Moran will do a better job
than Saperstein and his partner
Lev Ekster anyways, saying
thay’re far more experienced
when it comes to civic
involvement and advocacy.
Former Community Board 15 Chairman Maurice Kolodin and former Community
Board 13 Chairman Butch Moran. Photo by Steve Solomonson
“Between us, we don’t have
just decades of dedication but
we have decades of actual involvement
within the community,”
Kolodin said. “These are
people who have no known record
of their own experience
or accomplishments.”
Saperstein, meanwhile,
says there’s no hard feelings,
and wished the civic gurus
success on their new endeavor,
saying he’d be willing to work
with them again in the future.
“Our mission statement
has always been to create
civic engagement in the community.
If they have recently
gained the motivation to start
an organization of their own
then we are pleased to have
inspired them with the great
work of the Coalition,” Saperstein
said. “We wish them
much success in their endeavors
and hope we can work together
for the good of the community
in the future.”
Saperstein, who fi led with
the state Board of Elections
for a run in 2021, has previously
vied for a City Council
seat in 2017 and a State Assembly
seat in 2018 as a Republican
candidate.
He refused to say which offi
ce he’ll seek in the coming
election.
CIVIC WAR
Civic association members break to form splinter group
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