We’re thrilled to be running three candidates in the 2026 Board of Directors elections, which are happening on June 9, 2026. Our candidates are Guido Hartray (#1), Maria Ibañez (#3), and Rachel Wilkerson (#11).
This page is our hub for all things related to Board elections! We’ll continue to update it over the next month with updates, more info, and dates for get-to-know-our slate events. Bookmark it to stay on top of the latest.
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Our next candidate event is happening on Saturday, May 16!
We’ll provide a variety of drinks (including wine, beer, juice, and other non-alcoholic options) and some light snacks! It’ll be an opportunity to socialize with neighbors and get to know us better at the same time.
Where: Rainbow Park (between Buildings 1 and 2)
When: Saturday, May 16 from 2-5 p.m.
The Cooperators Slate
Guido Hartray (Ballot Number: 1)
Moved to Seward Park Co-op in 2002
Occupation: Architect
Lives with Irina, his wife, greyhound/lab rescue Mela, and the two college-age daughters they raised in Seward Park (when they find time to visit)
Read Guido’s candidate statement
Maria Ibañez (Ballot Number: 3)
Moved to Seward Park Co-op in July 2002 with an 8 month old baby
Occupation: Architect
Lives with Todd, her husband, and daughters Luz and Inez
Read Maria’s candidate statement
Rachel Wilkerson Miller (Ballot Number: 11)
Moved to Seward Park Co-op in April 2024
Occupation: Journalist and author of three books
Lives with Kiyana, her fiancée, and Valentina, their rescue pup
Read Rachel’s candidate statement
If you’ve been following what we’ve been doing here for the past few months, you may recognize these names. Guido, Rachel, and Maria have played a major and direct role in organizing this project and getting to 619 units signed. All three would love to represent you, and everything this effort stands for.
Our vision for Seward Park Co-op
Seward Park Cooperative is a great place to live. We want to make it even better.
We—Guido Hartray, Maria Ibañez, and Rachel Wilkerson Miller—are running together as the Cooperators Slate in the 2026 Board elections. We were inspired to get involved after we started organizing around the lobby renovations with our fellow shareholders. This process, along with our broader experiences living in Seward Park Co-op, has shown us that thoughtful, generous leadership is critical to our collective quality of life…not just in the context of a major renovation, but as a matter of course.
We’ve already achieved so much with regard to the lobbies. Now it’s time for lasting change.
Here are the core values our slate is aligned on:
Keep costs low: Affordability is an asset
Accountability: The Board of Directors should be transparent and honest
Community: Cooperation makes a co-op better
History: Knowledge of the past can enhance our present and future
Sustainability: A livable home, a livable planet
Keep costs low: Affordability is an asset
The Board of Directors has the enormous responsibility of maintaining and, ideally, improving our collective quality of life while keeping our maintenance costs low. Given our history as a limited-equity co-op, Board members should be especially conscientious of the diversity of incomes among our residents, as affordability is central to individuals’ and families’ ability to stay here for decades.
Shareholders deserve to know how and why major decisions are made and how our money is being spent. We should have a say in major discretionary spending and anything that has the potential to significantly raise maintenance fees. In an emergency, the Board needs to act based on their best judgment. But when time allows and a significant amount of money is being spent, the Board should provide avenues for shareholder input before a final decision is made.
If elected, we plan to:
Work with the rest of the Board to reduce the cost and scale of the lobby and landscaping project, and ensure that the final designs truly reflect the community’s needs and desires
Prepare a realistic, forward-looking capital projects plan that budgets for the next 5-10 years and includes multiple plausible scenarios reflecting varying assumptions and outcomes rather than only the best-case scenario. This should include potential capital projects that may require funding, proposals for how each will be financed, and impact to shareholders depending on possible outcomes.
Support new by-laws that limit the scale of discretionary spending that can happen without shareholder input
Accountability: The Board of Directors should be transparent and honest
Being on the Board isn’t about wielding power; it’s an act of service that requires setting aside individual preferences and making decisions that will benefit the co-op’s population as a whole. We believe it’s both a major responsibility and an honor to represent your neighbors in this way.
A lack of transparency and clear communication from the Board leads to mistrust among shareholders, and creates conditions for mismanagement. The Board should be honest about how and why major decisions are made and who supported them. Board members also need to be more accessible to shareholders in both systemic and casual ways. There’s a lot more that the Board could share with us without jeopardizing sensitive information.
If elected, we plan to:
Implement an independent, third-party compliance hotline that shareholders can use to anonymously flag concerns about code of conduct violations or conflicts of interest within the Board of Directors
Set up monthly “office hours” where any shareholder can drop in to ask Board members questions, offer feedback, or get help solving a problem
Support new by-laws that mandate term limits for Directors or required breaks from the Board
Improve communications and demystify co-op processes so shareholders can easily get the information they need.
Community: Cooperation makes a co-op better
A Board comprised of 11 shareholders cannot be expected to have expertise in every single topic that will come up during their tenure. But relevant expertise exists within the co-op—people who have both the professional knowledge and lived experience to improve our official processes, as well as our collective quality of life. This doesn’t replace expert professional advice, but it gives the Board the benefit of a perspective that is informed about the topic at hand and about life in the co-op.
But reaching out to our residents goes further than this: We also want to improve and expand the ways shareholders are able to connect with each other. Having more community-driven events, hobbyist groups, casual social gatherings, and easy ways of meeting like-minded neighbors will make life here better for everyone. Our community is one of our greatest assets, and it’s worth investing in.
Finally, we believe that SPHC should be a safe, welcoming space for all ages. It is home to many older folks and to lots of children—two groups that are uniquely vulnerable. Consideration should always be given to the ways we can ensure that these two groups of people are being included and cared for.
If elected, we plan to:
Enshrine committees in SPCH’s processes. We would like to see a seniors committee who would represent and advocate for the needs of our older population; a building and grounds committee and an energy and sustainability committee to advise on a long-term vision for the co-op; a tech committee to advise on the procurement and implementation of new software; and a social committee to facilitate more casual gatherings, events, and shareholder-run clubs.
Propose a new by-law that makes house committees and building representatives an official part of how we operate
History: Knowledge of the past can enhance our present and future
One of the best things about Seward Park Co-op is its unique history: the Herman Jessor architecture and Hugo Gellert murals; the role of labor unions in its conception; its roots as a limited-equity co-op; and the insights of some of our original tenants.
We are all stewards of these buildings, and we should treat both their physical characteristics and social fabric with respect. Renovations that seek to emulate the latest luxury condo trends are not just expensive up front; they carry long-term costs to maintain or to update when they go out of style. Meanwhile, thoughtful preservation adds value over time. This doesn’t mean we can’t modernize or make changes, but it does mean that both major renovations and everyday maintenance should be approached with care and respect for the original design materials and intention.
If elected, we plan to:
Establish a committee of expert shareholders to oversee the creation of a maintenance guide (a record of all paint colors, finishes, and other project specs) for our buildings, and to advise on long-term maintenance and preservation of the original building materials, including the murals, tiles, terrazzo, and brick
Create an archive for the photos, audio recordings, communications, and other ephemera that tell the story of Seward Park
Find new ways to work with local organizations and institutions to learn more about and celebrate our buildings’ history. The Lower East Side draws thousands of visitors every year who want to know more about their family’s roots and immigration story. Our co-op is not a break from that history; it is part of it.
Sustainability: A livable home, a livable planet
We can treat Local Law 97 requirements as a city mandate that we fear and avoid, or we can look at it as an opportunity to make our buildings more efficient and economical to operate, and more comfortable and enjoyable to live in. Opening your apartment’s windows in the winter to control the temperature is wasteful and inconvenient, and it makes our buildings more expensive to operate—but right now we don’t have a lot of other options. There are effective and relatively inexpensive measures we can implement now to make our buildings more efficient and more comfortable, and that will put us on the path to Local Law 97 compliance. There are also more costly measures that we will need to enact in the near future, and we need both a physical and financial plan to take those on. Sustainability can also inform our landscaping, making our green spaces more vibrant and less expensive to maintain.
If elected, we plan to:
Start an efficiency and sustainability committee to take advantage of existing cooperator knowledge to guide short- and long-term planning to meet this challenge
Create more opportunities for cooperators to work together on our grounds, including larger composting efforts and a new community garden between Buildings 3 and 4.