WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JANUARY 9, 2020 11
Queens Democratic Party endorses
Richards for borough president
Congressman Gregory Meeks addresses the Queens Democratic district leaders. Photo: Max Parrott/QNS
BY MAX PARROTT
MPARROTT@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Queens County Party leaders appealed
for party unity, while reformminded
members protested for interparty
reforms at the Queens County
Democratic Party headquarters in
Forest Hills.
The party leadership made a latenotice
call for a meeting of its district
leaders on Dec. 30 where they pushed
the offi cials to endorse Councilman
Donovan Richards for borough president
in the special election expected to
take place in March.
The offi cials voted to approve the
endorsement for Richards over the din
of chanting from a group of reformminded
progressives, who organized a
press conference outside the building
to protest an endorsement process that
they say does not refl ect the wishes of
the party’s rank and fi le.
The groups outside — the New Reformers
and Queen County Committee
For All — both committed to reforming
the positions of district leader and
county commissioner, demanded that
the party stop the practice of endorsing
candidates period.
Before the vote took place, the
Party Chair and Congressman
Gregory Meeks fi rst presented Assemblywoman
Alicia Hyndman who
conceded her campaign for borough
president. Meeks then invited Richards
on to the stage, who delivered a
speech thanking the district leaders
for their support.
“I want to thank each and everyone
of you for your encouragement and I
want to continue to grow,” said Richards,
who would be the fi rst African-
American to take on the role of Queens
borough president if elected.
In his speech, Richards addressed
the criticism of the protesters outside
that district leaders are not doing
enough to listen to the political
leanings of their constituents when
they divulge from those of the party
leadership.
“In this room right here, people
have demonized and said you are the
establishment, and it’s not true,” said
Richards, addressing the district
leaders. “Yes, we want to ensure that
we are giving olive branches to other
folks but they have to want to work
with us.”
Meeks put forth Richards name for
nomination and asked if there were
any other individuals the district
leaders would like to nominate.
One of the district leaders, former
state Senator Hiram Monserrate, who
was expelled from the Senate aft er a
domestic violence conviction, raised
a point of order about the voting
process.
“Have any of the other candidates
who are seeking a run for borough
president been invited so that they can
make their appeal also to this body?”
Monserratte asked.
Meeks responded that other candidates
have indicated publicly they did
not want the nomination. No one else
was nominated, and the district leaders
overwhelmingly voted to approve
the endorsement.
Two other councilmen running for
borough president against Richards,
Jimmy Van Bramer and Costa Constantinides,
both previously signed
a pledge not to participate in the
Queens Democratic Party’s endorsement
process. Meeks said that former
Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley had
also indicated that she was not seeking
the endorsement.
Speaking before the vote took
place, Moumita Ahmed, one of the
co-founders the New Reformers, said
that any decision of the party under
the circumstances of the meeting “may
be legal but it cannot be legitimate.”
Ahmed organized the demonstration
aft er she got a tip that the party would
not only be endorsing a candidate for
borough president at the meeting, but
that it would be endorsing Vice President
Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential
election as well. Although Meeks did
solicit district leaders who would want
to be Biden delegates in the meeting, he
did ask for a vote on the presidential
election endorsement.
After the meeting, Nick Haby, a
member of the New Reformers and
candidate for district leader, who was
protesting outside when the vote was
taking place, criticized the outsized
infl uence of Meeks’ preference on the
vote for district leader. He also poked
holes in the process, saying that the
portion of the 72 district leaders who
showed up for a rushed vote didn’t
represent a rigorous enough eff ort to
engage Queens voters.
“That’s not democracy,” said Haby.
Asked how he came to favor
Richards, Meeks claimed that he
was informed by conversations he
had the district leaders on their
preferences.
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