THE WINDS OF CHANGE

This has been a very busy and hectic year at NABIE.  A number of interesting developments have taken place and moved the organization down new paths.  In the long run, the changes will likely benefit us greatly.  Some items have languished as NABIE’s resources are limited and advancing on some fronts has often meant compromising responsiveness on others.  But as the late summer and early fall has advanced, progress is taking place in many areas.
As this newsletter moved to completion (and doing so was clearly a bit behind schedule!), two significant events took place.
One was the occurrence of Hurricane Sandy on October 29.  Although more tropical storm in intensity once it arrived in the NABIE headquarters region, Sandy nonetheless was a powerful storm that brought a huge storm surge into the waters surrounding the New York metropolitan area and Long Island.  While wind gusts did not top 90 mph and sustained winds were sub-hurricane force and little rain fell, barometric pressure dropped precipitously low.  The storm’s timing with spring tides from an approaching full moon and an arrival that nearly coincided with high tide, Sandy brought a wall of water into the region.  Reports indicate that flooding this bad has not taken place since Hurricane Carol in 1954.  First hand observation revealed cataclysmic devastation in low lying and coastal areas.  It has been called the 100 year storm event.
More discussion of the storm’s effects on the mid-Atlantic coast region will be forth coming in the next newsletter, to be released shortly.
Other winds of change blew through as well.  Your executive director, John C. Cronin, Jr., P.E. was appointed in October as the Town of Shelter Island, NY’s first Town Engineer in its history.  As a consequence, John has resigned the Director’s post.   John will write more about the change in the next newsletter, and by now you likely have received a blast email notice describing the staff changes at NABIE.
After a consideration of a succession strategy, a candidate was interviewed by the officers and subsequently offered the position of NABIE’s Executive Director.  Ms. Alexandra M. Binder, a SUNY Stony Brook Magna Cum Laude Business Management graduate and holder of a graduate certificate from Cornell University has stepped into the role effective November 1.  Alexandra will report more about herself and where she sees potential changes for NABIE in the next newsletter.
Weathering change is what represents a key survival tactic in many of life’s aspects.  NABIE has forged new territory in the last year or two.  And now NABIE has weathered a severe storm as well as a change of organizational administration.  With the significant events like those now behind us, NABIE is well positioned to embark on several new paths.  As the close of 2012 approaches, completing a number of lower priority initiatives can be our focus.