Brooklyn CB6 has some of the most top-notch municipal services in the City. Each day thousands of municipal employees serve our district thanklessly with care and precision. When things go smoothly and unnoticed, it means people are doing their jobs well. The real test is what happens when things break down. That's where Community Boards have the greatest potential to add value to the complex web of municipal government. When it comes to municipal services, our agencies are the specialists; we are the generalists. What makes the Community Boards unique is our holistic view of our district and its neighborhoods, which is our specialty. We know our communities' values, expectations and how they function. Smart agency folk recognize that we are their compliment. They listen when we talk. They seek us out when there are problems. When they think of the community, they think of us. Mostly, they think of people like Leroy Branch.

This month we will bid a sad farewell to a long-time member of the district office staff. After 13 years (not counting the teenage years), our Assistant District Manager Leroy Branch has tendered his resignation effective July 3rd. He is leaving us for a position at the Brooklyn Office of the Department of Transportation. There's no way we could compete with a resource-rich mega-agency where for someone like Leroy Branch the sky's the limit. It's true what they say, that you can't hold a good man down. Nor should we. We have many distinguished alumni who have gone on to bigger and better things--heads of agencies, elected office, industry thought leaders, people who every day make a difference whatever they do. Leroy Branch will become just such an alumnus. We're proud of his legacy. And as an active district resident, Deacon in his church, youth sports league organizer, and all-around volunteer who you can always count on to do whatever needs to be done, we know that while Leroy Branch ends this chapter in his service to our community, that he'll simply be starting a new one. Because that's the kind of person he is. The finest, strongest, bravest, boldest and absolute best of all municipal employees rolled into one.

No words could convey how lucky we were to have been served by such a man for so long. Indeed, our loss is surely DOT's gain. On behalf of a grateful community, thank you for all you've done for us, Leroy Branch.

And, to our good friends at the Brooklyn Office of the Department of Transportation, if you ever take for granted this wonderful person who we know is as hard-working and dedicated as they come, in the finest of South Brooklyn traditions we are going to kick your arses. We're talking a full-blown rumble on Court Street. Capisce?

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