An alternative slate of candidates for Community Board 7’s executive positions has emerged in the first challenge in years to the veteran leadership.

There were counter-nominations for half of the Board’s leadership positions at its public meeting last month. The chair and first vice-chair, Nora Feury and Sallie Caldwell, will be challenged by Greg Faulkner and Hector Lopez, respectively. Andrew Laiosa is running unopposed for the secretary position, which is being vacated by Ricardo Parker.

The counter-nominations stem from a growing desire for change among some of the Board’s newer members. “There are a number of us who came onto the Board a few years ago and served our apprenticeship,” Faulkner said. “We now feel its time to assume leadership.”

Faulkner, a 20-year area resident, joined the Board along with 16 others in 2002, adding new bodies and energy after membership had dipped to a low of 23 in 2001. Many of that bunch stayed on, and with six new members coming on last month, the Board’s membership now fills 34 of the potential 50 slots.

The Board’s leadership positions, however, have been slower to change. Feury has served as chair for almost two decades. Stuart Davis and Barbara Stronczer, the second vice-chair and treasurer, are also longtime executives.

Feury put in her resignation in 2001 due to health problems, but resumed the chairmanship later that year. Feury says will she will step down only when the newer members have a greater commitment and understanding of the Board. “When we have those kind of people, which we don’t have yet, it will be easier to let it go,” she said.

Feury does seem to be evaluating her responsibilities, saying she might leave her job directing Head Start in the Bronx for Archdiocese of New York later this year. While a staff person at her office thought that Feury had already left, Feury said she is just taking time off. Feury no longer lives in the area, and if she left her job, she probably wouldn’t be able to continue serving on the Board. Members must work or live in the district.

Faulkner respects Feury’s commitment, but thinks it’s time for new leadership. “There is a time to tip your hat and move on to new folks with new energy,” he said.

Faulkner made an attempt two years ago to change the rules so that new members could assume Board leadership. That move failed, but it was symbolic of a rising outspokenness among some of the newer members. Earlier this year, Faulkner and others successfully reversed the Board leadership’s acceptance of closing meetings of the committee monitoring the filtration plant construction to the public. Feury and the Board’s district manager, Rita Kessler, had supported the policy.

Faulkner and Lopez have visited other Boards, and think CB7 could do better. A few weeks ago, they decided to run after speaking with Laiosa and other unnamed members. All three mentioned their desire for the Board to play a more active role in community affairs, and be more open to a variety of viewpoints.

“There’s new blood and new ideas on the Board,” said Lopez, a lawyer. “I think change is healthy.”

Laiosa has served on the Board for over 15 years but has often been critical of the Board’s direction and has never held an executive position. “The members of the Board have changed, in abilities and attitudes, from the past,” he said. “I perceive the whole process to be a natural evolution.”

In last month’s preliminary vote, the majority of members still chose to reelect the incumbents. Caldwell and Feury both are confident they will be reinstated during the final vote next month. “Everybody on that Board knows my work,” said Caldwell, a Tracey Towers resident.

Don Bluestone, a member since 1997, thinks the new appointees still aren’t familiar enough with the Board’s workings. “[They] need to learn the role and real power of the Board,” said Bluestone.

Nonetheless, Bluestone, along with Caldwell, Feury, and Kessler, said that the competition is healthy. “Why shouldn’t people want to run? It’s the way it’s supposed to be,” Kessler said.

Despite the obstacles, the insurgents are taking their run seriously, and plan to informally campaign before the vote. “We think we have a good chance,” Lopez said.

Even if they don’t win, Faulkner thinks the winds of change are blowing. “We have already had an impact,” he said. “It’s not necessarily about winning, but about saying things are going to be different.”

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The Board also moved forward in creating a neighborhood strategic plan during last month’s public meeting. The Board will form a committee to create what is known as a 197a, a blueprint for future development. Under the City Charter, Boards may develop the proposals to guide city agencies.

Faulkner spearheaded the idea after witnessing a recent spate of housing construction. “We want the housing, but at the same time, we want a process where we can comment on it,” he said.

Boards have authority over institutional developments, but unless there is a zoning change, they have little jurisdiction over private housing construction. The 197a plan can offer some guidelines, but it doesn’t have binding authority.

Regardless, Faulkner hopes to get the process moving as soon as possible, even if it means meeting during the summer.

The Board also announced six new appointees who will begin serving this fall. They are Ozzie Brown, John Franco, Dexter Cruzado, Diana Perez, Peggy Drum, and Herman Anthony Sabido.