Thanks to all who made it out on an unseasonably warm evening for our September General Meeting last night! We hadn't met since July, due to our True Blue celebration in August, and we had a LOT to catch up on! 

We kicked off the meeting by recognizing the incredible work NKD members did throughout the summer. In July, we achieved some key incremental reforms at the Kings County Democratic County Committee meeting, thanks to the efforts of our VP of Policy Brandon West. In August, we honored three incredible local organizations at our annual True Blue celebration, which was a huge success thanks to our operations and host committees, led by Treasurer Anna Scaife and Chief of Operations Sara Shoener. And all summer, we supported our endorsed candidates with petitioning, canvassing, and get out the vote (GOTV) efforts, led by VP of Organizing Yaneth Lombana and her all-star volunteer captains. Three of our endorsed candidates won their primaries—congratulations to Alicka Samuel, Carlos Mechaca, and Antonio Reynoso! We also took the time to review the great coverage NKD has received in the news, check it out if you haven't already.

Next, we debriefed the recent debacle that was the Democratic nominee selection process for the 26th state Senate district seat. On a positive note, NKD demonstrated true progressive leadership in calling for a fair and open process, in co-hosting a candidate forum to help inform potential voters, and in turning out early on a Monday morning to protest the undemocratic backroom deal that came to pass. Our members had voted to endorse Manhattan District Leader and stalwart reformer Paul Newell for the seat, and Paul stopped by to discuss his experience, and current efforts to reform the Manhattan Democratic party. It's clear there's still much work to be done toward making our local Democratic party more inclusive and transparent, but we have reform allies across the river. Join us in this fight by signing up to run for County Committee next summer!

After all the recapping, we had an extended presentation from several members of our ConCon subcommitee (which resides within Policy Committee) about the prospect of holding a New York State Constitutional Convention (ConCon). We learned more about the complex process: from the November ballot and the selection of delegates, to the convention itself and ratification by NYS voters. The presenters made their case that the risks are worth taking if we hope to achieve meaningful reforms in areas such as voter access and government ethics, potentially circumventing the corruption and paralysis that too often predominate in Albany. Interesting stuff! Check out our ConCon explainer to learn more, and share the link with friends! 

Next steps! 

Let's continue to show our support for the incredible local organizations we honored at True Blue last month. The Brooklyn Movement Center is celebrating 5 years of great work in Central Brooklyn at their party on October 4th! And one week later, Communities United for Police Reform is organizing a rally to demand passage of the Right to Know Act by the NYC Council, October 11th at noon at City Hall. Please join us for both!

Does the idea of digging into policy topics like ConCon interest you? Or the idea of planning our annual True Blue event, or organizing volunteers to knock on doors? Sign up to join a committee or volunteer in other ways!

Thanks again to all who came out! We’ll see you again at next month's meeting on October 18th.