A Member Voice Makes A Difference

 

While studying for her BA in Society and Justice at the University of Washington in Seattle in the early ‘90s, Jessica Handy became involved in a program that would be part of her professional life just ten years later—a recycling system, targeting bottles and cans—which she launched for the university’s fraternities and sororities.

Jessica atop Table Mountain outside Capetown during this past June’s World Cup in South Africa

But Jessica’s true passion was and is emergency management, and her undergraduate degree, which focused heavily on criminology, was where she saw her future. It’s also what drew her to New York City’s prestigious John Jay School of Criminal Justice, and by the summer of 1999, Jessica had moved east to study at John Jay for a Master’s in Security and Protection Management. To help fund her studies, she worked as the General Manager of HQ Global Workplaces and then as Corporate Facilities Manager of KickStartUSA. By 2004, she had her degree and was working at Newmark Knight Frank, implementing Local Law 26 compliance and an emergency preparedness information/training program for the firm’s 165-building portfolio. Today, she's the property manager for eight buildings in Manhattan.

BOMA/NY Member: Since 2005, Principal

Committees: Former Vice Co-Chair, Codes & Regulations/Government Affairs Committee and its Green Buildings Sub-Committee; Preparedness Committee; BOMA/NY OEM liaison and newly-elected member of the Board of Directors.

Q. Most people dread the thought of public speaking, let alone publicly advocating a point of view in a complicated scenario, such as testifying before City Council on pending legislation. You've done this a number of times--what drew you to this?

A. I’m a "rules follower" and at my first job, which was in regulatory compliance in Washington state, I discovered I enjoyed the puzzle of regulation. I became fascinated by it and the entire political and regulatory process. I also enjoy public speaking! So like most people, if you enjoy something, you want to be part of it, and that’s how I became involved. 

Q. Do you think BOMA/NY testimony makes a difference?

A. Now that I’ve gotten a first-hand opportunity to testify and see the lawmaker’s responses to myself and my BOMA/NY colleagues, I would say yes.

Council members or their aides are listening and taking notes...taking into account what we, and what all those testifying, are saying. It’s important to keep in mind that a law may have the best of intentions, but lawmakers often do not have the knowledge of the details that will make it work. When we testify, we contribute more knowledge and a practical point-of-view to the process.

On the flip side, the public also notices. One of my tenants was watching C-Span and told me he had seen me testifying.  It was refreshing...an eye-opener for me.

Q. You've been very active in the Greener Greater Buildings legislation—both rules writing and initial advocacy. Can the real estate industry be effective there?

A. My experience is that the DOB professionals—on the Local Law 26 regulation and now with the green buildings law, are genuinely interested in their task and our opinion. We’ve worked closely with them in the small working groups where legislation is edited or the enactment rules written, and we’ve often been asked our perspective—which has ultimately resulted in changes benefitting any of us running a building.

A good example is the green buildings law's lighting requirement. The original wording was such that if we did any kind of work, we would have to upgrade the lighting. The DOB team had not realized that according to their draft, upgrading something as small as a fire alarm device or a minor HVAC ductwork project would require us to change the lighting. It worked out for us all—the DOB did not intend to be overly punitive; it was a case of the definitions not being clear enough.

Q. What about BOMA/NY works for you?

A.  It's a terrific shortcut through the learning curve... to information, resources and more. For the hour I spend with BOMA/NY every other week getting the latest information, it saves several hours that I'd have to spend finding it on my own. At the committee meetings we hash through important issues and information to get a fuller understanding, and I bring as much back to my staff and peers as I can.

BOMA/NY
http://www.bomany.org/