For those skeptics who believe that preciseness and faultless record-keeping are antithetical to the traditional concept of government, here is one determined woman’s story of cynical symmetry in strident support of their theory.
Last spring, Shireen Daytona, an ardent advocate for tenants’ rights, was elected by the City Council for a three-year term as Tenant Alternate for the Landlord Tenant Mediation Board, which periodically has been mistaken for a corpse.
Ms. Daytona was so enthusiastically invested in her new role that she waived the stipend Board members normally receive.
Two months before the latest appointees would under go a week of formal training, Ms. Daytona was checking with City Hall to learn the dates. Training dates were confirmed on Aug. 15 for the week of Sept, 30.
Yesterday, “I received a phone call out of the blue informing that I had been removed from the training schedule because of my alleged unavailability,” she said. “This was not true.”
Separately, she sought and won reinstatement through the auspices of a person outside of City Hall.
What is going on?
She wants to know.
Standing before the same City Council last evening, Ms. Daytona asked for “a formal and transparent inquiry as to how this came about and who is behind it. I see no issue with the reinstatement for the class on Sept. 30, as planned.”
She also believes that, owing to a late summer development, she had earned advancement to the Board as the full-fledged Tenant Representative. “This, too, needs to be addressed,” Ms. Daytona told the Council. “The (Mediation Board) Guidelines (that govern status changes) are quite clear and self-explanatory.”
