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FEB. 24, 2019, BROOKLYN WEEKLY
County Democrats brace for change
Bklyn Dem leaders promise more time for debate after protests erupt at meeting
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
twice-yearly 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-and-fi le members, because
the lack of open conversation
stymies reforms
during a time of growing
grass-roots activism, according
to the leader of a
self-described 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 progressive-club
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 dozenplus
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 reformoriented
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 emails.
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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