Strong Showing by the Bronx at NYS Democratic State Committee Meeting

Last night, The New York State Democratic Committee held its Fall meeting at the Grand Hyatt in Manhattan. The meeting was well attended by Members of The New York State Democratic State Committee from The Bronx, despite it being held in the borough of Manhattan. Democratic State Committee members from the Bronx who attended included, Diana Diaz, Bernice Williams, Joe McManus, Mark Haynes, Kenny Agosto, James Duarte, Linda Duke, and Gregory Delts.

The meeting was also attended by Anthony Perez, Vice Chair of BDCC, and member of the Executive Committee of the New York State Democratic Committee, Angel Santana and Jennifer Rivera.

The meeting was called to order by Democratic State Chairman and Former Governor David Paterson. In his opening remarks Paterson said, “Thank you, all, many of you coming from very long distances to be here at our fall conference of the Democratic Party. This is the first day of fall and it is a new season for Democrats, with Democratic candidates gaining traction, not only all around this state, but all around this country.”

Marie Parker and Casey Ryan, Staff, Democratic State Committee and Clyde Bartley, Long Time Volunteer

Judith Hope, a past Chair of the New York State Democratic Committee, heavily praised her party, “We may be dysfunctional at times. What family is not? We may even be fractious and have our disagreements, but at the end of the day it is we, the Democratic Party, which will still be standing; we will be there to pick up the pieces, and sometimes to clean up the mess. We will celebrate the wonderful accomplishments of the political people that we put in office all over the state and all over the country. We will be there to play our part to make our little part of the world a better place.”

In her remarks, Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul joked about the last Republican debate while also noting her previous representation of a Republican district in New York. In Lieutenant Governor Hochul’s speech she spoke about who she thought should be the next President and the election itself. “So bring on the crazies and bring them all on. We’re waiting for it and they’ve given us a lot to work with, campaign wise. We have a lot of material to work with but that’s next year’s election. We are going to be so excited to see, and in my judgment it should be, Hillary Clinton. I want to live and see a woman President in my own country. So how about that?”

State Committee Member Bernice Williams, Anthony Perez, Executive Director BDCC with 93 Year Old World War 11 Veteran Herb Geller, a Member of the State Committee from Westchester

Executive Director Basil Smilke discussed the 2016 convention, which will be in Philadelphia, the delegate selection process, and the goals of the party for 2016.

Kenny Agosto, State Committeeman of the 80th Assembly District, discussed proposed legislation to change the Civil Procedure Law to make it more equal for defendants and their attorneys to challenge the prosecution.

As a member of the Executive Committee, and as it is with most of our meetings, there were many times where we made fun of ourselves. When getting up to speak, I joked about how David, a member with a vision problem, and myself with a hearing problem were considered the “odd couple”. Joking aside, the Committee has been excellent in providing captions for all those who have a hearing disability. It is a lifesaving issue to make sure that the inclusion of the disabled in any political party is taken into consideration.