Meeting notes August 27
Full replay: https://www.facebook.com/cbidems/live
Rich Bennett began the meeting by mentioning two organizations he wanted to highlight: Brooklyn Movement Center (brooklynmovementcenter.org), a community organizing group in Bed-Stuy, and Equality for Flatbush (equalityforflatbush.org), a mutual aid group fighting police brutality, the effects of gentrification, etc.). Both groups are doing excellent work and he hopes CBID can support them in any way we can.
Then he followed up with the exciting announcement that the new CBID website (cbidems.org) is now live. It took some herculean effort to make it happen, but it’s done and it looks great.
And one of the things members and others will be able to find on there, under the Events link at the top, is the kickoff for 60 Days of Action. There will be a calendar of events for every day between September 3rd, when it goes live, until November 3rd. He reported that people can sign up for any or all of the events to help win elections for Democrats in races around the country, as well as for the top of the ticket, Biden/Harris. It’s all hands on deck for these next two months.
Next, Joanne Boger gave an update from the Climate Change Committee. One item she noted was that she had learned it was important to find out where your retirement account money may be going, investments in environmental destruction may be hiding in your mutual funds and ETFs. Find out what’s in your portfolio and move it. Stopthemoneypipeline.org has steps you can take. She also discussed greenwashing, where a company can pretend to be doing things in an environmental way, but in reality investing in fossil fuels or other environmentally unsound fields.
We then heard from Rachel Eve Stein, thanking us for our support in her campaign for district leader. We showed the “independent” in Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats. She is now serving as the CBID liaison for Sarah Gideon’s campaign in Maine. And is continuing her environmental justice work.
Rich read a statement from Olanike Alabi. She thanked us for our help and the work that CBID does, that we show that democracy is not a spectator sport.
Ny Whitaker then spoke from Washington, DC, preparing for the March on Washington. She is working for New York for Biden/Harris and she said there were already 32,000 volunteers in New York alone. To get in touch, write to newyorkforbiden@gmail.com.
Yvette Clarke was the next speaker, focusing on the COVID-19 response (or lack thereof) and explained her nay vote on the Defense Department budget. She also discussed the steps being taken to ensure safe voting in the upcoming election, including voting via absentee ballots.
Andrew Gounardes discussed how, as close as the race was in 2018, it looks even closer this time and is hoping for the CBID endorsement to help him fight against the Republican challenger. He described doing safe canvassing and hearing from many voters about the inadequacies of the COVID-19 response. He discussed many measures pending in Albany, including some around unemployment, insurance, and taxing the wealthy so they pay their fair share. He’s hoping to get phone- and text-banking support between now and the election.
Next speaker was Eugene Noh, field director for Max Rose’s campaign. He described a similarly intense, uphill battle to keep the seat that Max has held for two years. The Republicans have bought over $2 million in ad buys and are painting a picture that the seat was “stolen” from them two years ago. Eugene finds the community even more polarized than it was then and he’s hoping to encourage early voting and absentee voting. He believes that another 20,000 votes cast this way will enable Max to win. He needs a concerted effort of phone-banking, text-banking and even socially-distanced, full PPE canvassing to help achieve this.
The next candidate we heard from was Brandon Patterson, running for the state assembly in the 64th AD. Brandon has a lot of union endorsements and is hoping to flip the last Republican assembly seat in Brooklyn to blue. He pointed out that his and Max’s and Andrew’s opponents have no platform, just a lot of fear-mongering. He’s looking for all the support we can offer.
Ken Baer made a motion to endorse Andrew Gounardes and Brandon Patterson and to contribute specific amounts to each of their campaigns. After a discussion about the amounts, it was decided to put this on the ballot that was to be sent out after the meeting for the endorsements. Specifically, the ballot would ask for approval of either $1,500 or $1,000 for Sen. Gounardes or $1,000 or $500 for Brandon Patterson.
Shaquana Boykin also spoke. She is the new district leader in AD57. She appreciated our help and hopes to continue the conversation with us. She mentioned collecting school supplies for her district, as well as food and diapers and other supplies.
Jesse Pierce, newly-elected district leader for AD52, gave Shaquana a shout-out for her organizing in NYCHA, and looks forward to working with all the new district leaders. She also spoke about working with the Gender Task Force and changes that County Committee is being lobbied to make by NKD and others.
Julio Peña spoke briefly, concurring with Jesse’s report about the Gender Taskforce and saying that the group was made of good people who are committed to making County Committee more inclusive.
We heard from Phara Suffrant Forrest, recent winner as district leader for AD57. She said she enjoyed our collaboration and looks forward to it continuing.
Jabari Brisport who is running for New York Senate District 25, succeeding Velmanette Montgomery.. He spoke about being a Democratic Socialist who is concerned about many of the bills being floated that put profit above people. He also spoke about the looming controversy between teachers and the mayor. He will be working on other Senate seats in upstate New York, trying to make the legislature veto-proof, along with other activities leading up to the November election, as well as for the census.
Then Marvin Ciporen spoke on behalf of Jackie Gordon, who is running for Congress from NY-02, a seat held by Peter King for many years. She is a Jamaican immigrant, a mother, a combat veteran, an educator who worked in NYC public schools, and as a counselor for high school students. She’s been endorsed by more than 10 unions, Emily’s List, and more. She’d like to fully fund special education and is focused on expanding technical and career education. Marvin thinks that this is a real chance for picking up a new seat for Democrats. Rich said we will be offering opportunities for people to engage with her campaign, although we will not be officially endorsing her.
The office of recording secretary has been unfilled for several months, but Sharon Harkey has been acting in that position and will now be placed on the ballot for election to the post.
Rich then invited Tony Melone to give a brief overview of some of the new rules for County Committee that New Kings Democrats has proposed. He said that NKD had already approved them, but they are looking for buy-in and feedback from other clubs and groups. He has provided the documents for CBID to look at. He said they were based on some common-sense changes, some of which were originally proposed by Doug Schneider and Bobby Carroll.
Rich reviewed some of the highlights, noting the new website, CBIDEMS.org, and the 60 Days of Action. Erica said that the ballots would be going out on Friday and would be due no later than 11:59 pm on Saturday. Sharon brought up the trivia night on October 1st. There will be a Citizen Express every week leading up to November 3rd.
Marty Bernstein spoke about Nancy Goroff’s race in the NY-01 congressional and hopes that people can contribute to her race, as well.
The meeting was adjourned.