County Democrats brace for change
Bklyn Dem leaders promise more time for debate after protests erupt at meeting
COURIER L M BR B G IFE, FEB. 22–28, 2019 3
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
They’re open to discussion.
Kings County Democratic
Committee leaders reluctantly
committed to implementing
a dedicated time slot
for open discussion and new
business at future meetings,
after reform-oriented groups
demanded more opportunity
for input at the party’s twiceyearly
get-together.
“We will take questions and
we will take new business,”
Kings County Democratic
Committee Chairman Joseph
Bova told the hundreds of local
Dems who packed Greenpoint’s
Brooklyn Expo Center
for the Feb. 12 event.
Reformers within the borough’s
Democratic party
crave more transparency between
its leadership and approximately
4,000 rank-andfi
le members, because the lack
of open conversation stymies
reforms during a time of growing
grass-roots activism, according
to the leader of a selfdescribed
progressive club.
“For a party not to be engaging
its members in any
shape or form at this stage is
not conducive for what we’re
trying to do as Democrats.
There’s a ton of activism that’s
happening, and when it comes
to the party itself, it’s more
like them dealing out power,”
said New Kings Democrats
President Brandon West.
Bova’s promise to make time
for new business came at the
tail end of the meeting, which
started half an hour late due to
organizers scanning members’
proxies through only two computers,
up one from the last gettogether
in September.
The summit lasted more
than two hours, almost all
of which featured a forum of
hopefuls running for the city’s
open public advocate seat, and
a subsequent straw poll among
committee members to vote
for their favored candidate.
But just as Bova, the emcee,
attempted to wrap the
event up, audience members
protested with shouts of “new
business,” demanding time to
voice their issues.
Bova acquiesced, granting
fi ve minutes for questions,
during which West asked for
him and the party’s Brooklyn
boss Frank Seddio to commit
to setting aside a portion of
future meetings for new business,
as per the party’s own
rules , which the progressiveclub
leader said would encourage
a more engaged party.
“Will you make a commitment
to work with us in the
lead up to the county committee
meetings in terms of making
sure that we have a process
that actually leads to a more
engaged, collaborative session
— like a new business or open
portion that could be a little
more than fi ve minutes, and actually
be a full hour,” West said
as the audience applauded.
But instead of directly answering
the question, Bova
generalized that the party
would maintain unity by
working together.
“I would say that we work
in a collaborative effort, we’re
all Democrats, and you know,
we will go through the rules
and make it one united party,
absolutely,” he said.
His response drew more
audience protests, with one
committee member from the
42nd Assembly District, Melissa
Gradel, demanding Bova
answer West’s question.
Eventually, the chairman
relented, making his promise
that the next meeting would include
new business and questions.
His assurance, however,
didn’t quell some attendees’
frustrations, forcing Seddio to
take the mic and address the
crowd, telling the Dems that
the local party’s 42-member executive
committee of District
Leaders would maintain the
dialogue with the rank-and-fi le
members until the next meeting
in September via e-mail
and the party’s website.
“We have 42 members of
the executive committee, and
everything that comes out
of these meetings, we give to
them. Everything that you
present to us between and
the next 180 days, will be addressed
by the executive committee,
and we will put it online
so we can make sure you
saw it, and have that dialogue
back and forth. We will welcome
whatever you have to offer,”
Seddio said.
And in addition to responding
to questions, committee
members can now also put
their names forward to fi ll the
dozen-plus standing committees,
many of which remain
empty, Bova said.
“If anybody wants to volunteer
for a committee they can
send an e-mail to the county
headquarters at kcdcc.committees@
gmail.com,” he said.
West and other reform-oriented
party members and district
leaders want more time
to discuss new business in order
to debate such issues as
the controversial proxy vote
system , which allowed Seddio
to consolidate his power at the
last meeting in September.
Most committee members
expressed hopeful optimism
about Seddio’s and Bovas’s offers
at the end of the recent
meeting, but one Park Slope
district leader cautioned that
the party has a spotty track record
when it comes to responding
to e-mails.
SPEAKING UP: (Clockwise, from above) New Kings Democrats President
Brandon West asked Democratic County Committee leaders to guarantee
an open discussion and new-business portion at future sessions. Organizers
upped the amount of laptops to scan hundreds of proxy letters —
from one to two — at the recent meeting. Attendees packed the Brooklyn
Expo Center. Photos by Kevin Duggan
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/gmail.com