Progressive Democrat Issue 51: NYC FOCUS

The NYC Democratic Party is in disarray in practically all boroughs and all neighborhoods. The party tends to be ineffective, out of touch with voters and often actively non-progressive. In fact, I notice a fairly strong trend towards the right among mainstream Democratic politicians and clubs in NYC.

The mainstay of the party locally is the neighborhood club. This is something I did not see on the West Coast, but here most of the nuts and bolts of politics are done at the level of the neighborhood Democratic Club. In order to win elections, and in order to increase the voice of progressives in the party, it is extremely important for us to be participants in our local clubs. This can at times be a frustrating thing, because the clubs are not known for being welcoming of new ideas and often are ossified into a party machine that is more interested in perpetuating its own power within the party than it is furthering a Democratic agenda and winning in general elections. Clubs can be dominated by individual politicians and individual personalities. This can really make a club frustrating to deal with, but it is STILL the dominant tool for getting things done in NYC politics. And membership in a club gives YOU voting rights in that club, which in turn means that, if you and a few friends are active in that club, you can have a real effect on the policies and endorsements of that club. No individual can dominate a club if the club membership doesn’t allow it because the club membership can vote against that individual.

Some clubs are frustrating, but some are genuine reform clubs. Personalities can dominate these as well, but in general the reform clubs are better to work with and to work within. But the main key is to work with your LOCAL club and if you don’t like what they do, remember that if you can get enough friends active in that club you can change what they do. Club rules vary from club to club, so I can’t tell you which clubs are best. But in general, if you have a choice of clubs to join, pick ones that call themselves “reform” clubs and/or that have “independent” in their names because IN GENERAL these are the clubs least connected with a party machine. Of course you can also join more than one club, though to be active in more than one club can tax your schedule a bit much.

Here is a message from a local politician regarding the importance of clubs and calling for progressives to work within their local clubs: (he focuses on Brooklyn, but the ideas apply to all boroughs)

I would like to stress one small but important part of change-making that…everyone can do very easily: join local Democratic clubs and do it NOW.

Why?

1. Overall, the clubs are weak but they are some of the only truly community-based institutions around that directly influence politicians. When participation is low, the members who bring resources to the table tend to have more influence with the clubs and, therefore, with the local politicos. Club members who serve on the County Committee (collecting petitions for club-endorsed candidates, and boosting turnout, etc.) have great influence because they really have their ears to the ground.

2. In general, the northwest Brooklyn clubs are liberal to moderate and your participation can keep them on the more liberal and activist side. Since we understand the need to keep a focus on public policies that improve the lives of people in a meaningful way, while simultaneously protecting the quality of lives, it is important for the stalwarts of IND (52nd AD), CBID (44th AD) and LID (Countywide), for example, to see the new energy that new allies can bring -- and it helps in opening their ears to new concerns. And, in the 57th AD, there are two existing clubs, neither of which is particularly strong, but each of which could use new members and, frankly, there is room for a totally new organization to emerge -- particularly in Prospect Heights -- which straddles the 57th and the 52nd ADs. (Years ago, I co-founded the Paul Robeson Independent Democrats - PRIDE - which focused on Prospect Heights. It disbanded in the mid-1990s when I went to graduate school because the membership that was most active was also the oldest and least able to keep up with technological demands of running the organization. And, unfortunately, many of the younger people were alienated by the stridency of some of the older folks. It was hard to discuss issues.)

3. Candidates gain legitimacy through club endorsements. Your participation in the club means that you will directly influence an endorsement that can change a legislative or judicial race. I've been through enough tough campaigns to know the importance of this role.

4. Club elections are upcoming. If you want to help select the officers and Executive Committee members at CBID in January, for example, you have to join the club no later than THIS Thursday, 11/7. I strongly urge everyone to do this so you can have the option of participating in that election (and, of course, you will be set for the endorsement meetings later in the spring as well). CBID's membership form can be found at

http://www.cbidems.org/pages/cbid.join.html

If you don't want to mail in your check, then attend the meeting on 11/17 and turn in the form and the check at that time.


For IND, use this information:

IND 52nd Assembly District
489 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231
Phone: 718 875-2312, Email: information@indbrooklyn.org


For LID (assuming you are interested in advancing and protecting the rights of LGBT individuals), go to this URL:

http://www.lidbrooklyn.org/member.htm


Even if you join all three clubs (which I urge you to consider), the total monetary investment is small, but the potential impact of your membership can be huge. And we must actively encourage other progressives to do the same thing.

Have a great weekend!

Chris Owens

I strongly urge all readers to join a club and to participate in that club. To find your local club, I recommend going through the Democracy for NYC listing of local Dem clubs.