Dustin Engelken, Community Board 7’s district manager, resigned as DM at the Board’s first general meeting after the summer hiatus. His resignation, unexpected, the third from a CB7 district manager in the last three years, leaves the Board looking for a replacement, and a widening delay in resolving community issues.

“I know that my announcement may come as a surprise to many people in this room so I felt it was important to make clear that the nature of my  announcement tonight was not meant to be malicious, but rather I felt it was important to avoid any miscommunication by making the announcement to everyone here all at once and in my own works,” said Engelken, reading remarks before a stone-faced crowd at the Sister Anunciata Senior Center in Bedford Park Sept. 15.

Engelken told Board members his decision was purely personal, with his wife accepting a lucrative job offer in Germany, forcing him to relinquish his position.

“During the next three weeks I’ll still be available in the office to serve as a resource…for committees and the community at large,” said Engelken, whose last day is Oct. 10. The Board, which covers Norwood, Bedford Park, University Heights, Fordham and Kingsbridge, has 42 members.

But the timing of Engelken’s resignation came amid his growing frustration toward the current chairwoman, Adaline Walker-Santiago, Walker-Santiago, pegged as a community booster who’s jumped on various neighborhood causes that include spotlighting sales of synthetic marijuana, kept her seat as CB7 chair in a contentious race against Board member William Francis, who challenged Walker-Santiago in three separate elections and coming short.

Francis recently resigned from the Board in late August, shortly after Walker-Santiago removed him from the Kingsbridge National Ice Center’s Community Advisory Council just a day before the group was to hold its initial meeting.

“It’s an open secret that the chairperson of Board 7 and the district manager of Board 7 did not get along, and only [Engelken] knows the true reason why he’s leaving,” said one Community Board 7 member, who asked not to be identified because of their affiliation with the Board.

But those divisive sentiments were not tangible at the meeting, with Walker-Santiago sitting alongside Engelken as she expressed sincere thanks for Engelken’s work. She led the crowd with a round of applause.

Engelken, a former member of the Board and its so-called Parliamentarian, had replaced Socrates Caba of the Bronx HIV Advocacy Network in May 2014, six months after Caba had handed in his resignation.

Caba’s tenure as DM lasted from July until December 2013. In his resignation letter, Caba hinted at several new procedures enacted by the Board’s executive committee he deemed “unsatisfactory.” Walker-Santiago was chair then. She maintained her relationship was productive.

The Board’s district manager duties will fall on Thomas Lucania, director of Community Boards Unit and Legislative Affairs for the Borough President’s Office.

Serving as a kind of stopgap, Lucania was interim district manager for CB7 from December 2013 until May 2014, following Engelken’s hiring. Lucania juggled his duties at the Borough President’s Office with those at the Board. Residents are still encouraged to call the Board relating to quality of life concerns.

District managers are city employees who serve at the pleasure of the Board, following the lead of its all-volunteer members and chair, while serving as a liaison between Board members and the City of New York. DMs, mostly operating in their office, ensure neighborhood gripes are properly logged and forwarded to the appropriate city agencies or Board committees for resolutions.

By all accounts, the Board manages the district manager, who later facilitates a city response.

But the dynamics and power struggles between district managers and Board chairs vary from Board to Board, creating a working relationship that runs from cordial to frosty. Before Caba’s tenure, for instance, Fernando Tirado reigned as district manager. But his debilitating relationship with the previous Board chair, Paul Foster, resulted in Tirado resigning from the Board.

“It has always been a strained relationship with several members of the Board and the chair,” Tirado told The Bronx Times Reporter in October 2012 following his resignation. “There were things that were done that I disagreed with and found very difficult to work under.”

But some DMs across the Bronx experience very little friction with its chair. In the Central Bronx, Ivine Galarza, Community Board 6’s longtime district manager, understands the deferential role DMs play.

“The district manager needs to work with the Board; there are so many  personality conflicts,” said Galarza, adding she has a close working relationship with her chair, Wendy Rodriguez. “Sometimes you may have to bend and try to get them on your side. But not all the time think you are Mr. or Mrs. Know-It-All. You need to build rapport with members.”

But notwithstanding the Board’s internal politics, Engelken notched several achievements under his belt, notably the Board’s collective attempts at resolving a broad heat problem involving the real estate firm, Simply Better Homes, an issue the Norwood News covered extensively in the early part of 2015.

“There were a lot of people whether they realized it or not, who really did see concrete and positive changes because of the actions that we took on that issue,” said Engelken. “It was a great example of what a Community Board can accomplish.” Engelken’s resignation will once again

jumpstart the search for the next district manager, which position could take months to fill.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.