New political club bucks traditional structure
BY MAX PARROTT
Reform is sweeping the
small ‘d’ democratic institutions
of Forest Hills — its
new democratic club is the
latest wave of the movement.
Last week a slate of six
new officer positions who
want renewed community
involvement were elected to
Community Board 6. In July,
the Queens County Committee
for All (QCC4All) — a
group containing a sizable
contingent of Forest Hills
county committee members
— pushed Congressman
Greg Meeks to reform their
role in the county party.
Now, Assemblyman Andrew
Hevesi, sensing the
winds of change blowing
through his district, has
spearheaded the Queens
Central Democratic Club
(QCDC), a new organization
that will ditch the established
top-down structure
of most the borough’s democratic
clubs.
The new club held its
first public meeting on Monday,
Sept. 23, over pizza and
drinks at the posh West Side
Tennis Club, where Hevesi
spoke to about 50 interested
constituents about his ambition
to create a club where
he’s not in charge.
“I don’t like the political
operation with the elected
officials who’s doing what
I’m doing now and standing
up here and talking at you.
That’s not what I want to create.
As a matter of fact, what
I’m trying to do is create a
structure where I am out of
the way,” Hevesi said.
The norm in Queens’
political clubs is to build a
structure revolving around
Assembly District Leaders,
a role often taken on by
elected officials who have
the power within the County
Party to vote for judicial
nominations and elect the
county leader.
Hevesi, who currently
serves as District Leader for
the 28th Assembly District,
explained that he plans not
to run in 2020, leaving the position
open to someone else.
For the QCDC, he intends
Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi addresses the newly formed Queens
County Democratic Club. Max Parrott/QNS
to set up a board structure
of seven members, including
positions of the president,
vice president and the political
director, that are elected
by the club. It will be open
registered Democrats from
anywhere in the city. Though
Hevesi pledged not to run as
a board member, he said he
would retain control over
selecting two of the board
positions: the treasurer and
head of social media.
Hevesi picked these two
roles intentionally. After
having lived through the ethics
scandals that his father
Alan Hevesi ran into as former
City Comptroller, Hevesi
said that he doesn’t play
around with financial ethics
issues. Nor does he want the
club to have a wild card social
media mouthpiece. Treasurer
will be taken by Kevin
Wisniewski and head of social
media by Alexa Arecchi,
both Hevesi staffers.
“After Trump got elected
a lot of people in the neighborhood
who were not politically
yet became politically
active, but we need to capture
that into a forum that
let’s their voices resonate
and really lets them design
how this club operates,”
Hevesi said, describing the
guiding force behind this
structure.
Hevesi added that although
the QCDC represents
a split from Forrest Hills
current dominant Democratic
organization, the Geraldine
Ferraro club, the separation
signals no bad blood
between him and that club’s
leader Councilwoman Karen
Koslowitz. Meeks also has
sanctioned the new club.
They count on you,
So count on us to
keep you going.
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