2022 RIGC Candidates
for the seven Elected Positions on the Executive Board
Roosevelt Island Garden Club 2021 Election Ballot Information
Community Garden Members will be sent a link to the anonymous, online voting system before the start of the Virtual Fall General Membership Meeting on Sunday, October 24, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. If you have changed emails or if you do not check your garden email often, please take a look this coming Sunday.
THE CANDIDATES for Elected Positions
(Members will have the option to write in candidates and also to abstain)
President
Neal Weissman* retired from Colgate Palmolive in 2015 and has been President of the Roosevelt Island Garden Club since 2017; was VP in 2016, and head of Standards for several prior years. He has been a member since 1988 and looks forward to helping guide the club through another year in 2022.
Vice President
Jack Burkhalter* is a retired faculty member of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He has been a member of RIGC since 2002, served as Secretary 2018-2019, then became a Director in 2020, serving two years as Coordinator of the Associates Program. He is a student in the NY Botanical Garden Urban Naturalist Program and is enthusiastic about native plants, insects, and birds.
Secretary
Julia Ferguson* has been a member since 1998, joining the Board in 2014. She has since served in varied roles as Director, Secretary, Landscape chair, and Outreach chair. For our community garden, Julia especially enjoys working with Compost, Landscape, & Outreach. She learned a lot serving on the Pathway Project for three years and with Standards for one year.
Treasurer
Takelu Gross* works for the UN and has been an RIGC member since 2016. Takelu has served as a Director on the Executive Board since 2020 and taken a leadership role with the Ad Hoc Mosquito Committee and other projects. This year she began assisting the Treasurer and the President with work on RIGC's finances and planning. She is stepping up now to run for and serve as Treasurer in 2022.
Directors (RIGC Members will be asked to vote for 3 persons to fill the 3 Director positions)
David Nisthaus* is a newly retired member of the NYPD and served as Vice President on the RIGC Board in 2017. David is currently a Director (appointed mid-year in 2021 after Janet Linville took on the position of Standards Chair) and would like to continue in this position in 2022. Dave enjoys his garden and brings a sensible approach to problem solving for our community.
Carolina Trujillo is a microbiologist working at Weill Cornell Medicine. First as a garden Associate (2020) and
then as a new garden Member (since 2021), Carolina worked closely with the Board to aid the RIGC
COVID19 response team and currently also the pest control (Rat Patrol) team. Carolina adores the outdoors and believes that along with good intentions, basic guidelines and communication will result in a more satisfactory community garden experience.
Kristin Carotenuto is a clinical pharmacy manager at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and
Roosevelt Island resident since 2009. She joined the Garden Club in 2020 and has since participated on the
Rose Garden Committee and with the pest control (Rat Patrol) team. Kristin looks forward to learning from the very knowledgeable members of the club and to cultivating the gardens as a place for community and hope.
Ron Schuppert I have been a member of the RIGC for forty years and a president for five years. As a retired NYC police officer, I am able to spend time at the garden every day.
* Current board members who are running for office again for 2022 are pictured on this page.
Carolina's and Kristin's pictures are here below:
Community Garden Members will be sent a link to the anonymous, online voting system before the start of the Virtual Fall General Membership Meeting on Sunday, October 24, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. If you have changed emails or if you do not check your garden email often, please take a look this coming Sunday.
THE CANDIDATES for Elected Positions
(Members will have the option to write in candidates and also to abstain)
President
Neal Weissman* retired from Colgate Palmolive in 2015 and has been President of the Roosevelt Island Garden Club since 2017; was VP in 2016, and head of Standards for several prior years. He has been a member since 1988 and looks forward to helping guide the club through another year in 2022.
Vice President
Jack Burkhalter* is a retired faculty member of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He has been a member of RIGC since 2002, served as Secretary 2018-2019, then became a Director in 2020, serving two years as Coordinator of the Associates Program. He is a student in the NY Botanical Garden Urban Naturalist Program and is enthusiastic about native plants, insects, and birds.
Secretary
Julia Ferguson* has been a member since 1998, joining the Board in 2014. She has since served in varied roles as Director, Secretary, Landscape chair, and Outreach chair. For our community garden, Julia especially enjoys working with Compost, Landscape, & Outreach. She learned a lot serving on the Pathway Project for three years and with Standards for one year.
Treasurer
Takelu Gross* works for the UN and has been an RIGC member since 2016. Takelu has served as a Director on the Executive Board since 2020 and taken a leadership role with the Ad Hoc Mosquito Committee and other projects. This year she began assisting the Treasurer and the President with work on RIGC's finances and planning. She is stepping up now to run for and serve as Treasurer in 2022.
Directors (RIGC Members will be asked to vote for 3 persons to fill the 3 Director positions)
David Nisthaus* is a newly retired member of the NYPD and served as Vice President on the RIGC Board in 2017. David is currently a Director (appointed mid-year in 2021 after Janet Linville took on the position of Standards Chair) and would like to continue in this position in 2022. Dave enjoys his garden and brings a sensible approach to problem solving for our community.
Carolina Trujillo is a microbiologist working at Weill Cornell Medicine. First as a garden Associate (2020) and
then as a new garden Member (since 2021), Carolina worked closely with the Board to aid the RIGC
COVID19 response team and currently also the pest control (Rat Patrol) team. Carolina adores the outdoors and believes that along with good intentions, basic guidelines and communication will result in a more satisfactory community garden experience.
Kristin Carotenuto is a clinical pharmacy manager at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and
Roosevelt Island resident since 2009. She joined the Garden Club in 2020 and has since participated on the
Rose Garden Committee and with the pest control (Rat Patrol) team. Kristin looks forward to learning from the very knowledgeable members of the club and to cultivating the gardens as a place for community and hope.
Ron Schuppert I have been a member of the RIGC for forty years and a president for five years. As a retired NYC police officer, I am able to spend time at the garden every day.
* Current board members who are running for office again for 2022 are pictured on this page.
Carolina's and Kristin's pictures are here below:
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Note: Standing Chair Positions Are Appointed in January
Appointments to Standing Chair Positions are filled or renewed each January.
RIGC has 6 standing chair positions as described in our ByLaws. Along with the 7 elected Members, this provides for an Executive Board numbering 11-13 votes, which represents approximately 10% of the 131 Member plot holders. RIGC Standing Chair Positions are the following: Compost, Landscape & Common Areas, Maintenance, Outreach & Publicity, Rose Garden, and Standards. Anyone who is interested in serving on the Executive Board in one of the appointed Standing Chair positions should email [email protected] by December 31st, 2021.
Note: Standing Chair Positions Are Appointed in January
Appointments to Standing Chair Positions are filled or renewed each January.
RIGC has 6 standing chair positions as described in our ByLaws. Along with the 7 elected Members, this provides for an Executive Board numbering 11-13 votes, which represents approximately 10% of the 131 Member plot holders. RIGC Standing Chair Positions are the following: Compost, Landscape & Common Areas, Maintenance, Outreach & Publicity, Rose Garden, and Standards. Anyone who is interested in serving on the Executive Board in one of the appointed Standing Chair positions should email [email protected] by December 31st, 2021.