New Kings Democrats (NKD) is gearing up for the September County Committee meeting, and we want to help you get ready.

At the end of September, County Committee will hold one of its two annual meetings (date and location to be announced by County). Whether or not you’re a County Committee member, it’s incredibly important that we all show up for this meeting.

This September’s meeting is particularly crucial. County Committee -- including those of you who are brand-new members -- will elect the Committee’s leadership. The roughly 2,200 elected general Committee members elect from amongst themselves 13 Officers to serve as County Committee leadership: a chair, 6 vice chairs, 3 secretaries, 2 treasurers, and a Sergeant-at-Arms.

These Officers will comprise the County Executive Committee along with Brooklyn’s 42 District Leaders. The Executive Committee elects a Chair, a vice chair, and a secretary (all of whom must be District Leaders). This process is confusing -- there are two chairs concentrating power (one for the County Committee, currently Charlie Ragusa, and one for the Executive Committee, currently Frank Seddio). Much of the process has historically taken place behind closed doors.

This is where we come in.

If you are not on County Committee, please join NKD at the meeting, which is open to the public. Transparency matters -- the more eyes on this process, the better!

If you are a County Committee member, your vote is significant. If you can’t attend the meeting, fill out one of two cards you’ll receive via snail mail -- one from NKD, and one from County Committee. Please fill out either card, designating NKD President Brandon West (or a friend you trust) to vote for you, and send it back to us via email ([email protected]) or mail (Brandon West, 415 Bergen St., Apt. 3, Brooklyn, NY 11217).

In the meantime, NKD is recruiting a slate of people to run for the Officer positions, in partnership with other progressive groups in Brooklyn.

We are partnering with the Muslim Democratic Club of New York, Yalla, Sunset Park Latino Democrats, North Brooklyn Progressive Democrats, Southwest Brooklyn Democrats, Ernest Skinner Political Association, and Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats. In recruiting Officers, we are looking for people who represent the diversity of Brooklyn, are committed to a transparent and accountable County Committee, and have demonstrated a commitment to their communities. If you feel you might be one of those people, please reach out to Mariana Alexander (NKD’s VP of Policy) as soon as possible.

What should you do now?

• Join NKD at our General Meeting on September 6; RSVP here.
• Chat with us about your ideas on Slack in the #countycommittee channel (respond to this email if you need access)
• Learn more about the County Committee structure, including a visual guide, here.
• Keep an eye on your email for an announcement about the date and time of the County Committee meeting and a form to fill out to let us know that you’ll be joining us.

This is the time for us to show up for Brooklyn. We’re looking forward to seeing you all in September.