By Justin McCallum

Community Board 7 has picked its new district manager, and he came from within.

CB7 members unanimously voted fellow member, Dustin Engelken, to be its new DM just five months after his predecessor unexpectedly resigned.

“I am thrilled to have been confirmed as the new district manager of Community Board 7 and I look forward to serving my community in this role,” Engelken told the Norwood News.

District managers serve as a go-between, working with city agencies to help resolve community issues. The DM post is a paid position, where guidance is offered by the board members and chairperson. Those jobs are unpaid, offering a dynamic system of checks and balances.

“Most importantly, district managers must be strong, vocal and effective advocates on behalf of the entire community and I am honored that my colleagues have given me the opportunity to prove myself in this capacity,” said Engelken.

Community Board 7 serves the neighborhoods of Bedford Park, Fordham, Kingsbridge Heights, Norwood, and University Heights. Turnout at each meeting is very strong, given each neighborhood’s strong history with civic engagement.

Tom Lucania of the Bronx Borough President’s Community Boards Unit and Legislative Affairs Office had filled the role as interim district manager during a search by the Board’s personnel committee.

“Congratulations,” exclaimed CB7 chairwoman Adaline Walker-Santiago with a squeal. “I’m so excited – we have our new district manager!” She later told Engelken how glad she was to work with him starting May 12.

The decision came after over a half hour of closed room deliberation by the executive committee. Walker-Santiago said the time was spent explaining the election process and distributing Engelken’s resume. Following the decision, the board lauded their new DM for his commitment to the community.

“We spent most of our executive meeting discussing how phenomenal he was,” said Walker-Santiago.

A Sound History of Service
Engelken, a 10-year Bronxite who recently moved to Bedford Park with his wife and baby girl, first came to the borough from a small town in central Kansas. Transferring to Manhattan College in Riverdale his sophomore year, he said that he “really fell in love with the community and has never left since.”

After moving to the borough, Engelken said what fueled his civil service drive was working at Councilwoman Annabel Palma’s district office in Soundview.

“I was originally hired as a constituent liaison, which overlaps with work at the community board, dealing firsthand with members of the community, interacting with New York City government,” Engelken said. “I really got to know a lot of different perspectives, got much deeper knowledge of the issues community members were facing and government officials were presenting. Through that experience, I got to learn all aspects of government and how it interacts with its citizens.”

Engelken, who resigned as the Director of Government Relations and Lobbying Compliance for Manhattan-based consulting firm Mercury LLC to take on the role of DM, added that his natural inclination to negotiate will be a strong asset at CB7.

“First and foremost I consider myself a consensus builder. That’s who I am as a person and a professional,” said Engelken. “So I have always found ways to work with people who have diverse interests.”

Looking Ahead
Although he hasn’t even moved into his office yet, Engelken is thrilled to begin working for the community on a variety of issues.

“As a resident of CB7, I’m interested in a lot of the things that go on. But it’s a very unique time in Board 7 in that we have the Kingsbridge Armory moving forward, we have the massive rezoning of Webster Avenue, so there’s a lot of changes on the cusp for the community,” he said. Engelken also noted that, living just a block away from Webster Avenue, he has a “vested interest in knowing what’s going on and positively effecting that.”

Walker-Santiago said she already has big plans for her new DM, including sit-downs with city officials as well as local cultural institutions including Montefiore Medical Center and the New York Botanical Garden. “We’re even talking about getting into his car and driving all around the neighborhood, finding all the problems we want to fix,” she added.

Engelken told the Norwood News that he will work with local stakeholders and businesses to get “the development that our community deserves.”