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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020
Dem youngsters at it again!
Upstart democrats running for Brooklyn’s lowest elected offi ce challenge the status quo
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Occupying an unpaid, obscure,
and poorly understood position
within the Brooklyn Democratic
Party, the borough’s 42
Democratic district leaders represent
the lowest rung of the Kings
County political spectrum, exercising
limited powers, which are
often employed at the direction of
more prominent party offi cials.
While individually weak, infl
uential party bosses have proven
masters at using the borough’s
district leaders as a tool to exert
considerable control over Kings
County politics, and the practice
of promoting candidates as a form
of patronage, coupled with the
expense of campaigning for the
volunteer position, have allowed
holders of Brooklyn’s most humble
elected offi ce to go years, if not
decades unchallenged, according
to one political strategist.
“Most district leaders are involved
in some sort of patronage
position in one way or another,
either through an assembly member
or a judge,” said Jessica Thurston,
the vice president of political
affairs for New Kings Democrats,
a progressive political organization.
“It’s often too intimidating
and expensive to run against an
incumbent. It can cost anywhere
from $15,000-$100,000 to run and
lose a campaign in north Brooklyn.”
This year, however, there’s a
shakeup in the works. Five young,
upstart challengers are mounting
campaigns for district leader
seats across the borough, promising
to energize Kings County
Democrats, and use the obscure
partisan position as a tool to rally
locals and drive change.
Their candidacies follow a recent
vote by Brooklyn’s 42 district
leaders — who together comprise
the party’s executive committee
— to enact a slew of controversial
new rules at the behest of former
party boss Frank Seddio, including
eliminating one of the party’s
two annual meetings, and restricting
rank-and-fi le party members
from introducing resolutions that
address “any aspect of the internal
governance” of the party.
According to one maverick
district leader, Seddio was able to
control his former executive committee
thanks to a system that
promotes members who follow
orders, effectively centralizing
power in the hands of the party’s
leadership.
“They came up in a system
where someone was in charge
and they would obey orders,”
said Nick Rizzo, district leader in
the 50th Assembly District. “The
watch words are loyalty and discretion.”
Rizzo added that, while district
leaders occasionally show dissent
during an annual vote to nominate
supreme court judges, the
party’s executive committee can
be relied upon in all other circumstances
to obey the reigning party
boss.
“Other than the supreme
court vote, I’ve never seen more
than about eight or nine people go
against Seddio — and even that’s
very high,” said Rizzo. “Normally
it’s just me and maybe someone
else.”
But it doesn’t have to be that
way, according to Thurston, who
said that if enough young, earnest
Democrats challenge the establishment,
a progressive block
could emerge within the party to
check the powers of the committee’s
leadership.
“They should be public advocates
at the district level,” she said.
The following candidates
are asking for your votes during
a statewide primary on
June 23.
Photo by Sherri Daniels
Photo by Andrew Sloat
Kristina Naplatarski
A 24-year-old Greenpoint
native and a communications
staffer for Councilman Antonio
Reynoso (D–Bushwick),
Kristina Naplatarski is looking
to unseat 35-year incumbent
Linda Minucci to become
district leader in the 50th Assembly
District, which encompasses
Greenpoint, Williamsburg,
the Brooklyn Navy Yard,
and parts of Clinton Hill and
Fort Greene.
Naplatarski claims Minucci
has developed a do-nothing attitude
during her long tenure
as district leader, and promises
to use the position to liaison between
local advocates and the
Brooklyn Democratic Party.
“My larger issue is not the
amount of time, but what she’s
done or more so fails to do, and
that is simply to show up,” said
Naplatarski. “She’s really been
wholly absent from our community…
It’s very clear to see that
she’s not there.”
Jesse Pierce
Pierce — a former chief of
operations for New Kings Democrats
— wants to take the seat
once held by Anne Swern in the
52nd Assembly District, before
she ran for Civil Court judge in
2019 and the district’s assembly
member Jo Anne Simon (D–Carroll
Gardens) appointed former
assembly member Joan Millman,
who plans to vacate the
seat.
The 36-year-old Boerum Hill
resident said she was disturbed
by the recent vote to neuter the
powers of rank-and-fi le party
members, saying the county
committee should be doing everything
in it’s power to encourage
broader participation in local
politics.
“I think it’s a step backward,”
said Pierce. “If you ask the question
does this make the party
more accountable and encourage
broader participation, it’s
pretty clear on it’s face that the
answer is no.”
Julio Peña
Sunset Park activist, Julio
Peña, is planning an uphill battle
to unseat Assemblyman Felix Ortiz
(D-Sunset Park), one of several
Assembly members who serve as
both state legislator and local district
leaders.
Peña claims that the practice
of holding two elected offi
ces not only prevents other
young democrats from participating
in party politics, it also
divides the pol’s attention between
Albany and the district,
to the benefi t of no one.
“I think there’s a confl ict of interest
in Ortiz holding both roles,”
Peña said.
The 36-year-old politico said he
would use his position as district
leader to oppose the Industry City
rezoning by rallying local activist
groups and helping to combine the
resources of different organizations.
“Connecting those groups together
is defi nitely a role for the
district leader,” Peña said.
Samy Nemir-Olivares
Samy Nemir-Olivares, a
28-year-old spokesman for LGBTQ
civil rights legal advocacy
nonprofit Lambda Legal,
will challenge longtime district
leader Tommy Torres for
his position within the 53rd Assembly
District, which encompasses
parts of Williamsburg,
Bushwick, and Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Torres, a politically-connected
assistant principal at a
violence-plagued Williamsburg
high school, succeeded the late
Brooklyn Democratic Party
leader Vito Lopez as district
leader in 2013, after a state ethics
panel found the disgraced
politico guilty of sexually harassing
his young female interns.
Nemir-Olivares accused
party officials of failing to engage
young voters, and believes
that the party needs to better
represent Brooklyn’s diversity
of identity and experiences.
Shaquana Boykin
Courtesy of Shaquana Boykin
A 29-year-old resident of and
secretary working at the Whitman
Houses in Fort Greene,
Shaquana Boykin is looking to
unseat Olanike Alabi to become
District Leader in the 57th Assembly
District, which includes
Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights,
and Fort Greene, along with
parts of Bedford-Stuyvesant and
Crown Heights.
Boykin claims a lack of diversity
has also led the Brooklyn
Democratic Party to not engage
seriously with many of the borough’s
low-income housing tenants,
especially those living in
New York City Housing Authority
properties.
“A lot of electeds just come
to our grounds and have a press
conference and they think that’s
it,” said Boykin. “It’s about people
power, bringing back civic
engagement in our communities
and having some transparency
in the things that are happening
in our community.”
Photo by Ramon Pebenito
Photo by Rob Thomas