Slate 2 The Expect Better/Unite NYSNA Slate Has Responded To Our Questions

Valerie B valerienysna@gmail.com
To: Muckraker RN Contact@nysnaiseeyou.org
We hope this provides some clarification.
Tue, May 25, 2021 at 10:53 PM

1. Have any of the Board Members who are not running for reelection been promised jobs? If so who, what positions, and at what compensation?
   No.
   The Expect Better: Unite NYSNA slate has heard whispers that if the incumbent slate remains on the BOD, Judy will become NYSNA staff in the education department and allegedly be making over $100k.
2. Has anyone on your Slate ever gotten an all-expense paid trip from NYSNA? If so who, where, and for what purpose?
   Yes. A few slate members who are LBU leaders were asked to attend the Global Nurses Solidarity Assembly in San Francisco, September 2019.
   NYSNA sent over 100 representatives, including the current Board of Directors and many candidates in this election.
3. Does your Slate intend to reduce the 50k stipend for President?
   Yes, the Expect Better slate has decided to do away with the 50K stipend for the President role and any other positions that may be receiving a stipend. Out-of-pocket costs will continue to be reimbursed.
4. Have any of NYSNA’s vendors donated either money or services to your campaign?
   No, NYSNA vendors have not donated money, services, or goods to the Expect Better: Unite NYSNA campaign.
5. How many members of your Slate are currently on the Board of Directors? What positions do they hold? How did they vote regarding renewing Pat Kane’s contract for Executive Director?
   We have one current Board of Director member on our slate. That person is Robin Krinsky, and she holds a Director at Large position. Robin was the only ‘NO’ vote when voting to renew Pat Kane’s contract as Executive Director this spring. I don’t believe even a review of Pat’s performance this past year was discussed or evaluated by the BOD before voting.
6. Does your candidate for President work bedside? If not, when did they stop working bedside? Yes, the Expect Better: Unite NYSNA’s candidate for President, Valerie Burgos, works full-time as a bedside nurse in critical care at Mount Sinai. She has been working in an endemic COVID-19 unit since March 2020.

7. Did your candidate for President work bedside last March, April, and May during the height of the pandemic?
   Yes, Valerie Burgos, Expect Better’s candidate for President, served as a bedside nurse in Mount Sinai’s initial COVID-19 unit when it opened. As hospital units were modified to care for patients with COVID-19, she returned to her home unit, the Medical ICU and cared for infected patients there. Her unit remains an endemic COVID ICU and Valerie continues to provide direct nursing care to the sickest patients and families fighting the SARS-CoV-2 virus at MSH.
8. Does your Slate intend to continue the practice of paying for hotel rooms for Board members who live less than an hour away when they attend meetings?
   Wasting member’s hard-earned dues and eroding trust is not our goal. Review of NYSNA’s financial state will need to be done, spending practices will need to be evaluated and a process put in place to decrease waste, prevent the possibility of mismanagement, and establish an overall goal to justify spending that serves the membership, not individuals.
9. What positions do the members of your Slate currently hold in their local LBU?

Please see the attached bios and candidate statements that were digitally published and should be printed in the May issues of NY Nurse.

2021ExpectBetterCandidateStatemenst.pdf

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