Queens Community Board 11 Elects New Chair By Single-Vote Margin

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — Bayside's community board elected a new chairperson Monday by a one-vote margin, setting the stage for a new era of local governance in northeast Queens.

Members of Queens Community Board 11 voted 18-17 to elect Bayside resident Mike Budabin as the board's next chair and oust current chair Eileen Miller from the position she's held for the last year.

"I think we need a bit of a cultural shift on the board," Budabin, 39, said in a speech before the vote. "We need to change direction a little bit."

Budabin is a corporate lawyer and Marine Corps veteran who has spent the last 12 years living in Bayside. His wife is a member of the PTA at P.S. 41 Queens, where their son attends school, and the couple also has a daughter at Marie Curie Middle School.

Budabin, who is in his fourth year as a board member, said his priority as chair will be to delegate projects based on each community board member's unique strengths and experiences.

"If everyone is doing the thing they do best, they're going to be most efficient," Budabin told Patch in an interview after the vote. "We have a great board here. We just want to get as much positive momentum as we can."

The rest of the executive team will stay the same for Queens Community Board 11, which represents parts of Auburndale, Bayside, Douglaston, Douglas Manor, Little Neck, Hollis Hills and Oakland Gardens.

Christine Haider, who spent five years as the board's chair, won reelection as first vice chair, and Victor Dadras and Henry Euler held onto their positions as second and third vice chairs.

Miller declined a nomination to run for the position of first vice chairperson following her narrow loss for reelection as chair. Before she was elected as chair in 2019, she spent five years as the board's third vice chair, according to the Queens Courier.

Budabin starts his term in April.