by Kathy Savolt -
The November 25, 2024 meeting of the Board of Trustees (BOT) marked the final regular meeting for Trustees Manny Rawlings, Leilani Yizar-Reid, and Lou Young. None of the three ran for reelection this year.
The meeting agenda was short and from the very beginning, Trustee Young indicated that the outgoing Trustees had statements to make.
After all business was conducted, including a handful of speakers who thanked Rawlings, Yizar-Reid and Young for their service, Trustee Young began his remarks.
Reading from a prepared statement, Young said that his three years on the BOT was “more work, more frustrating yet more rewarding” than he expected. He praised the efforts of the Committee for the Environment, the Fire and Police Departments and all the staff. He thanked his running mates, the voters, his wife and others and stressed there are still challenges left and funding to address them now. He spoke for about five minutes. See his entire video remarks HERE.
Trustee Rawlings began by saying that originally he was not going to speak but went on to say he found the experience “interesting.” He implored the community to “be better collaborators” and said he “wanted to be the change.” Rawlings spoke for about three minutes. See his entire video remarks HERE.
In a nearly 10 minute speech Trustee Yizar-Reid wrapped things up. She began by thanking God who she believed asked her to “do this.” She then thanked herself for listening to God, taking this journey and sticking with it. She admitted that she was not “fully equipped” when she began her term as Trustee. Like Young, she read from prepared remarks and went through a litany of her thoughts on her experience, calling them “things she learned” that ranged from such items as “taking notes” and “writing policy” to learning that she can’t be heard “because of my skin.” She concluded by saying, “I love my community, but I really don’t like some of y’all.” See her entire video remarks HERE.
The three new Trustees will be seated on Monday, December 2.
Editor’s note: Despite statements to the contrary, we at The Mamaroneck Observer do hear what all our elected officials say in public meetings. Our policy is to use their own words in our articles to avoid misinterpretation. We strongly urge our readers to view the video clips included with this article in order to grasp the full intent of their remarks.
