Improving the Judiciary: Brooklyn’s judges and judicial candidates do not universally reflect the values of our party or of our borough. In order to guarantee both the appearance and the substance of a fair trial in our neighbors’ moments of greatest need,

1. Judicial candidates should be chosen based on their strong qualifications, humane values, and judicial temperament, rather than traded as political favors among the elected officials of Brooklyn. To ensure this, the judicial candidate selection process should be transparent and not held behind closed doors of executive session.

2. District Leaders should not be the immediate family members of individuals simultaneously serving as a judge.

3. Judicial candidates and district leaders should be barred from making donations to each other’s campaigns.

Improving the Meetings of the County Committee: While we celebrate the recent increase in the number of meetings, the value of these meetings is questionable without meaningful opportunities for the membership to participate.

1. The county should pay for resolutions to be mailed to the complete membership (as required), or allow for distribution via email and posted on the website. A requirement to collect signatures from a modest number of current county committee members could be required in order to assure a level of support before an issue is taken up by the full county committee.

2. No one person can hold more proxy votes than the number of county committee members currently serving in his or her district.

Supporting Ethical and Independent Leaders

1. The County Committee should withhold support from any politician who has been convicted of a felony due to corruption or malfeasance related to their public or party office.

2. District Leaders (including the county committee chair) should not simultaneously hold other elected offices while serving their term. To ensure independence, immediate family members of District Leader should also be barred from simultaneously serving as District Leader (or higher) in any overlapping district.

Increasing Political Participation Countywide

1. To lower the threshold for participation and organization, the county should provide basic information for new and existing Democratic clubs seeking advice on campaign finance compliance.