With all the major projects and changes facing the northwest Bronx’s Community Board 7 – the Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment, a massive water filtration plant construction project and the rezoning of Webster Avenue, just to name a few – the 141,411-resident district is going to need strong leadership. Next week, with all these challenges in mind, the 25-member board will choose the handful of individuals to steer the board’s ship for the coming two years.

For the previous two years, CB 7’s captain, or chair, has been Greg Faulkner, whose day job is director of Student Life at LaGuardia Community College.

As chairman, Faulkner not only leads the board, but he also serves on the Kingsbridge Armory Task Force (an advisory group of community leaders and elected officials working with the city on the Armory project) and chairs the Croton Facility Monitoring Committee (which oversees what is shaping up to be a disastrous attempt to build a water filtration plant in Van Cortlandt Park).

Vying for Faulkner’s position, and all the extracurriculars it entails, is Don Bluestone, the executive director of the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center, a Norwood institution with a $17 million operating budget that caters to the community’s youth and senior populations and provides a slew of services for all age groups.

Both are heading slates that include candidates for the three vice chairmanships.

Bluestone’s slate took a hit, however, when his running mate and the incumbent first vice chair, Sallie Caldwell, was not reappointed to the board. A spokesperson for Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion said members who work for Bronx elected officials are no longer eligible for board service. (Caldwell works part-time for Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera.)

That means Paul Foster, who joined the board in 2002, along with Faulkner, will be running unopposed for the first vice chairmanship.

Incumbents Stuart Davis (second vice chair) and Dave Laguer (third vice chair) will be running on Bluestone’s slate against challengers Andrew Laiosa and Hector Lopez, respectively. Laiosa, a longtime member and Norwood resident, is leaving his position as secretary to make a play for a higher-ranking position. Lopez ran alongside Faulkner in an unsuccessful bid for first vice chairman in 2005.

Taking Laiosa’s place as secretary will be Nora Feury, who resigned as board chair (after 17 years) in 2005 after she was fired from her longtime job as director of the Archdiocese’s Bronx Little Angels Head Start program for allegedly stealing money from the organization. (Feury has not been charged with any crime.) Her resignation a week before the election in 2005 paved the way for Faulkner to take over the chairmanship.

Regardless of where their allegiances lie, board members say the competition can only benefit the community.

“I think [competition] is healthy,” said longtime board member Barbara Stronczer, who is running unopposed for treasurer, a position she has held for the last few terms. “We’re a democracy and competition is good. I think that it keeps people on their toes.”

Echoing Stronczer’s statements about competition was Betty Errico, another longtime member. Errico said Faulkner has tried hard to include everyone in meeting discussions, but possibly to the detriment of board efficiency.

“I think you can get more accomplished when you stay tighter to an agenda. And then it’s a balancing act between listening to everyone and staying focused,” Errico said.

Faulkner, on the other hand, wears the inclusive label like a badge of honor. “We’ve encouraged people to participate and to have pride in their membership,” Faulkner said.

Errico also criticized Faulkner for signing a controversial confidentiality agreement that elected officials involved in the Armory Task Force refused to sign. Faulkner and District Manager Rita Kessler both signed the agreement, which was later rescinded by the city’s Economic Development Corporation. Faulkner said he opposed the confidentiality agreement, but thought signing the agreement was mandatory and the only way to stay involved in the process.

Long-time board member Lowell Greene counts herself as a “Greg supporter” and likes the direction the board is heading under his guidance.

“As a whole, the community board has been more involved in community issues than it has over the years,” Greene said. “Let me be clear, the community is facing a lot of new issues and the community board, as a whole, has stepped up to the plate.”

The prevalence of new and complex issues requires “involved leadership,” Greene said. “Previously, we didn’t have people who wanted to give that kind of commitment.”

Faulkner says he’s worked hard to raise the profile of the board “to really create a sense that the board has an important leadership role in the community. It’s important to see the board as a resource.”

Bluestone wouldn’t comment on the election when asked about it last week.

“I wish him luck,” Faulkner said. “I don’t want this to be a personal campaign.”

Bluestone expressed similar sentiments in a previous interview. If Faulkner wins, he said, “I’ll continue to try to help him to the best of my ability.”

Regardless of who wins, Stronczer said the vote “is going to be very close.” She added that in the aftermath of closely contested elections like this, groups tend to get divided. “For the betterment of the neighborhood, I think whoever wins the election (Greg or Don), needs to get us to work together.