Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced the appointment of Jonathan L. Kimmel and Leslie Wright as members representing the public to the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB), which is chaired by Marvin Markus.  The RGB consists of nine members, all of whom are appointed by the Mayor.  Two members are appointed as representatives of tenants, two members are appointed as representatives of owner, and five members (including the chairperson) are appointed as representatives of the general public.

"We have selected individuals of high caliber who have demonstrated a fundamental ability to use their professional training and developed expertise to fairly represent on this important board the interests of everyday, working New Yorkers," said Mayor Bloomberg.

Mayor Bloomberg is also reappointing Adriene L. Holder - an attorney and tenants' representative, Harold Lubell - an attorney and owners' representative, David Pagan - a social services agency executive and tenants' representative, and Steven J. Schleider - a real estate veteran executive and owners' representative.  Public Members Betty Phillips Adams and Gale Kaufman are still serving terms on the Board.

Jonathan L. Kimmel is currently of Counsel at Sanders & Deconinck, LLP.  Prior to that, Mr. Kimmel worked for 14 years as Director of Legal for the Teachers' Retirement System of the City of New York, where he was responsible for all legal issues relating to the Teachers' Retirement System.   

Leslie Wright is a Senior Associate at Marcus Attorneys where she specializes in complex real estate transactions involving the creation of multi-tiered financing structures for non-profit organizations.  Prior to that Ms. Wright worked for nine years at the New York City Law Department, where she served as a Senior Counsel defending the City in complex real estate tax and eminent domain litigation, including providing specialized counsel in zoning and development matters. 

The Rent Guidelines Board is mandated to establish rent adjustments for the roughly one million dwelling units subject to the Rent Stabilization Law in New York City. The Board holds a series of annual public meetings and hearings to consider research regarding operating and maintenance costs, the cost of financing, housing supply and cost of living indices which is produced by staff and from testimony by owners, tenants, advocacy groups and industry experts. The RGB publishes reports based on this research for use by the public, other governmental agencies and private organizations, and provides information to the public on housing questions.