Fighting for Democracy in the Democratic Party: An ACTIVE (New York State) Case Study

[Tom Rinaldo]

Some of you may have seen me mention here in the past that I am active in the Democratic Party machinery (Town Democratic Committee) at the local level in Ulster County NY. The Democratic Party runs internal elections, starting at the grass roots level, to chose who represents Democratic Party members at every level of decision making - from Town and County committees, to State Democratic Committees on up to the Democratic National Committee.

Last year Democrats in our County elected delegates to the NY State Democratic Committee. One of those chosen was a woman who was not initially put forth as a candidate by our County Democratic Party, rather she won her seat through a designated party primary, having previously worked as a grass roots organizer during the Democratic Party Presidential Primary held earlier last year. Since being elected to that position Kelleigh McKenzie has worked closely across the board with our County Democratic Party, and she has the support of the Ulster Party Democratic Party in pressing for a series of important reforms within the NY State Democratic Party.

Clearly her efforts have relevance for DU members who are Democrats in NY State, but I think it is highly relevant to Democrats elsewhere also as it speaks to a problem not unique to New York. That is why I am posting this in the General Discussion forum (I will cross post this in the NY Forum as well). The NY State Democratic Committee is meeting on July 25, and Kelleigh has introduced five rule changes on the agenda for that meeting.She is now gathering petition signatures from registered Democrats in NY State in support of these changes. I will place a link to that petition below. What literally shocked me however is the blatantly undemocratic status quo that these amendments are proposed to alter. This is how Kelleigh puts it:

"What I've learned since getting elected to the State Committee (the official organization of the party statewide) is that its members actually have very little say in party affairs and decision-making. Meetings are announced last-minute and members are typically offered "up or down" votes on items pre-decided by the Officers and Executive Committee—the majority of whom were not elected to the State Committee. I believe that the State Committee can and should be a vital mechanism for listening to and integrating the voices of the Democratic Party base into leadership at the state level. Organizing from the bottom-up is what has traditionally given the party its strength."

Here are the rule changes that Kelleigh is proposing for New York State. The bolding is mine:

(AMENDMENT 1)
Make it easier for State Committee members to participate in meetings

Members typically don’t hear about meetings until 10 days before they happen, making it difficult to plan affordable travel and get time off work. Plus, members can only add items to the agenda if submitted 15 days before the meeting—tough to do if the meeting isn’t even announced until 10 days prior. With this rule change, members would learn the location and date of the meeting 25 days in advance and receive an itemized agenda for review 10 days prior, so they can engage in discussion and cast thoughtful votes.

(AMENDMENT 2)
Guarantee that more State Committee members have a role in decision-making

Even though State Committee members are democratically elected to represent the voices of registered Democrats in state party decision-making, the current rules do not require any Executive Committee members to be drawn from the State Committee. The Executive Committee handles State Committee business between meetings and develops recommendations to the full Committee, so the people who were actually elected to do this work should be guaranteed spots. With this rule change, 24 Executive Committee seats would be designated for State Committee members.

(AMENDMENT 3)
Provide balance between the number of State Committee members and non-members on the Executive Committee by limiting the number of Vice Chairs

The current rules allow for an unlimited number of Vice Chairs, none of whom must be State Committee members. Right now there are 29 Vice Chairs who make up 38% of the vote at Executive Committee meetings. This rule change would limit the number of Vice Chairs to five, ensuring a balance on the Executive Committee between elected State Committee members and non-members.

(AMENDMENT 4)
Give Executive Committee members a say in deciding who will serve as the party’s Executive Director

Right now, a single person (the State Chair) appoints the Executive Director of the party without any formal review or approval by State or Executive Committee members. With this rule change, the State Chair still gets to appoint the Executive Director, but a majority vote of the Executive Committee is required to approve the appointment.

(AMENDMENT 5)
Restore missing language about the State Committee that was left out of the rules in error

The rules adopted at the September 19, 2016 organizational meeting were inadvertently missing some pretty important language—sections about the purpose of the State Committee, how it is organized, and how its members are elected. Without these crucial parts, the rest of the rules make no sense. This rule change adds back in the missing parts: Article II, Section 1, subsections (a), (b), and (c)i, ii, and iii as shown in the 2009 state party rules, which describe State Committee powers, units of representation, and election of members.

Without constant attention from grass roots members the leadership of any organization, the Democratic Party included tends to become distant and unresponsive to the priorities of it's membership. But if there is one organization where it is crucial that such a tendency be strongly countered, it is our very own Democratic Party. I urge New York Democrats to sign the petition linked to below, and for Democrats everywhere to stay involved in all ongoing efforts to keep our Democratic Party truly democratic!

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/change-the-rules-and-make-the-nys-democratic-party-moredemocratic?link_id=1&can_id=c4295795ea8d2b0132e9b9b54e5be44a&source=email-what-about-the-state-party-2&email_referrer=what-about-the-state-party-2&email_subject=a-chance-for-democratic-party-reform-in-new-york

[H2O Man]

1. Recommended.

I'll be sharing this with Democrats in four of the counties to the north of you (Broome, Chenango, Delaware, & Otsego).

[Tom Rinaldo]

2. Thanks H2O Man

We all need to be vigilant on matters such as these.

[H2O Man]

3. Thank you, Tom!

Absolutely! The grass roots is where meaningful change begins.

[Tom Rinaldo]

5. But it gets cut off at the pass when the channels to decision making remain tightly guarded

and managed in a manner that stifles opportunities for input from those who are not already among the "insiders." I think that is one of the reasons that I see the Democratic Party slowly aging out at the conventions that I attend. Too often youth are used primarily as a source of free Party organizing labor, and seldom as the source for a vision of our future.

[H2O Man]

6. I agree.

There's almost always going to be some tensions within the party. That can be a good thing. I recently attended a training for town Democratic chairpersons from across the Southern Tier -- I was the only non-chair there. And as I listened, I heard some of the same frustrations discussed in your OP. People frequently do not like "change."

I recently read the book "Shattered," which I was disappointed in, as it struck me as a shabbily-written hit piece. But there were a couple important points in it. One was that within the campaign, there were disagreements on what tactics were to be used, based upon the analysis of different experts. Some favored old school campaigning, while others favored newer, high-tech analysis and tactics. I suspect that it takes both. A lot of both. As MLK noted, we have to change to master change. And that is an on-going process.

This is an important OP. I would think more people should be reading and discussing it. Again, thank you.

[Tom Rinaldo]

4. If there are any similar issues happening in your State Democratic Party, please K&R this...

And share any details you can.

[H2O Man]

7. kick

[Tom Rinaldo]

8. Yes I am kicking this for the evening because it contains an important and time sensitive petition..

But also because I care that the Democratic Party that we so often here express admiration for should itself be a Democratic institution, and the proposed rules changes that are mentioned in this OP clearly illustrate how short it too often falls from reaching those ideals. If people like us don't care about that, from what does our loyalty to this party derive?