Report: CB3 Member Who Accused Gigi Li of ‘Racial Insensitivity’ is Booted

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Photo: GVSHP

It appears Community Board 3 doesn’t want members to vocalize concerns about its controversial policies and actions. Ayo Harrington, whose whistleblowing crusade against Chair Gigi Li last year netted headlines, is no longer part of the advisory board. Appointments to Community Board 3 were announced earlier this week by Borough President Gale Brewer and her name is noticeably absent from the 2015 roster.

You’ll recall that Harrington accused Li of racial insensitivity for failing to appoint black and Latino members to leadership positions. A subsequent Equal Employment Opportunity investigation found the charges “unsubstantiated” because Li’s one-year term as Chair wasn’t long enough, nor had she enough appointments, to have established any “consistent pattern.” Nevertheless, the report concluded that CB3 leadership ultimately “failed to sufficiently emphasize the value of diversity and inclusion.”

It’s fairly suspicious, but not too surprising, that Harrington wasn’t reappointed for her second two-year term. Gotta limit the controversy in CB3!

She provided The Villager, which broke the news this week, the following statement:

I am satisfied with my work on C.B. 3, which, among other contributions, resulted in African Americans being appointed to leadership positions. However, not one Latino has been appointed, which remains a problem.

Several people have said my not being reappointed sends a wrong and disturbing message.

I have never needed a status quo platform or sought permission to work on issues of concern in my community or anywhere else. So, for me, nothing changes.

Read the full story here.