52nd Assembly District Meeting January 7, 2019

On Monday, January 7 our 52nd Assembly District held its first meeting – not just of this County Committee cycle (which it was), but the first official one in six years!

The meeting was called by Assemblywoman Joanne Simon, and District Leaders and State Committee members Josh Skaller and Joan Millman. It so that our Assembly District could become a fully-fledged local County Committee.

I learned on that day that the Kings County Democratic County Committee, of which I am a member – your elected Count Committee member for Election District 62 – but there is also a County Committee, an Assembly District Committee (ADC), needs to be created. In order to be seen as a full ADC, a meeting must be called by our District Leaders during which we elect a Chairperson and Recording Secretary.

Once County Committee members in our AD received word of the meeting via email and postcard many of us began feverishly emailing, organized a pre-meeting get together to discuss the agenda, and come to agreements and understandings of how we would show up at the meeting and what we would ask. After the meeting, my fellow County Committee members put together a document that homed in on the questions that we most wanted answered. These questions can be found here.

As the meeting got closer, Josh Skaller sent out the agenda:

1. Call to Order – Establishment of a Quorum

2. Election of Presiding Officer – Chairperson

3. Election of Secretary

4. Discussion: a. Recap of September 27, 2018 Kings County Democratic County Committee meeting (Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon, District Leaders Josh Skaller and Joan Millman) b. Election Law Reforms (Senator Zellnor Myrie, Chair of Senate Election Committee) c. KCDC Rules Reform proposals (Hon. Lew Fidler, Rules committee chair and Hon. Josh Skaller)

5. New Business

6. Filling of Vacancies

7. Adjournment

Arriving at the church for the meeting, I was met with a line out the door and down the block! I am so inspired by the number of people that show up for our community!

There was quite a backlog to getting people signed into the meeting itself; everyone needed to sign in and provide any proxies they were holding – a very long, inefficient, and out of date process. (I am committed to connecting with our District Leaders to learn how my event technology background could support updating this.)

Once inside, the meeting started, and so did the contentious discussion fueled with our knowledge of what we wanted to accomplish – and our understanding of Roberts Rules of Order.

Here in this article, I want to share some views of what happened and what we’re working towards. For a more detailed description of each topic and what was said, my notes from the meeting can be found here.

Attendees at the meeting were split between members of two strong Brooklyn Democratic clubs, with one club holding more proxies than another (more than the club and members that I am more connected with at New Kings Democrats). Most of the proxies were held by what I would describe as the old guard. This kept reforms and changes that I and others in the meeting were interested in promoting from being raised and passing.

The proxy cards were important in the election held for the 52nd ADC Chairperson. The election was controversial to say the least. Many of the County Committee members who I had been in touch with prior to the meeting and I were against the election. No one had anything against the person who was presented and ended up being elected, the push back that we were giving was in regard to the process through which it took place. We wanted to have had time to come up with a suitable candidate to present as an alternate option. Not being offered the time to present and an alternate slate, we moved forward with being vocal in the meeting – having our opinion be heard and voted that we would have preferred another process. Due to the number of proxies held by a few in the room, the election moved along, and a Chairperson was elected.

We also heard from Lew Fidler who is the Chair of the KCDC Rules Committee to tell us about reforms that are currently being reviewed and the process for getting them passed. In this portion of the meeting many of us spoke up and asked the questions we had prepared in the meeting before this night. Mr. Fidler is well-versed in KCDC, Democratic Party rules, and process – however, his answers never quite got at the point of the questions being raised. Towards the end of his presentation, many of us would ask our questions and qualify that we wanted to hear the answer directly from our District Leaders – our elected officials.

In a completely different tone and tempo in the meeting, State Senator Zellnor Myrie presented on the election reform legislation he was bringing forward in Albany just a few days later. The legislation passed, and it is a huge boon for the work we are doing in order to have a more democratic New York! (More information about the landmark legislation can be found here.) Myrie is new in the Senate and someone who is inspiring and I’m so excited to follow him in his current position and future levels of greatness!

While the meeting didn’t necessarily get the movement towards reform and transparency that many of us are working for, it was a wonderful moment for me to learn more about the Democratic Party and our community. It was also a reminder for me of the smart, engaged, and incredible individuals who are working and standing with me to create the change we wish to see – and to work for and with you to get it!