Last night, the Four Freedoms Democratic Club held its endorsement meeting. Thanks to everybody who came to the meeting, especially State Senator Liz Krueger and City Council Member Ben Kallos! It was really great to hear updates from them about what's going on in local government.
In addition, we are proud to announce the following endorsements: David Menegon for State Assembly, 76th District; Liz Krueger for State Senate, 28th District; Jose M. Serrano for State Senate, 29th District; Jonathan Piel for State Committee, Male; and Ruth Halberg for State Committee, Female. Additional endorsements (for Civil Court and Judicial Delegate/Alternate) are listed below.
The meeting--our largest yet, with over 50 members in attendance!--kicked off at 7pm sharp with announcements and Q&A from State Senator Liz Krueger. The Senator gave updates about her opposition to the MTS and support for the decriminalization of marijuana, among other topics. She also briefly discussed the recent humorous video of her and Senator Gustavo Rivera debating making yogurt the official state snack; the debate was intended to highlight the Senate majority caucus's opposition to discussing bills that would actual have an impact on the lives of New Yorkers, though Senator Krueger did note that she found Jon Stewart's take on the matter quite funny nonetheless. The Senator's monthly community bulletin can be accessed by clicking here. For more info, visit her website at lizkrueger.com.
Next, Michael Dillon (treasurer) made a motion to get the club to grant $1,000 for the following uses: petitions, supplies for summer social events, space at summer fairs, the purchase of a vinyl banner with the club's logo, and the purchase of a Costco membership for the club. After a brief discussion, all of the requests were unanimously agreed to.
The next order of business was to vote on uncontested public and party offices, as well as the club's slate of judicial delegates and alternate delegates. Before ballots were distributed, a motion was made to automatically endorse the Civil Court candidate endorsed by the County Party, provided that no other candidate wishes to challenge him or her in the September primary; this was unanimously agreed to as well. (Democracy!)
While ballots for those positions were tabulated, we heard from three of the four candidates for State Assembly: Ed Hartzog, Rebecca Seawright, and David Menegon, in that order. All three candidates were given ten minutes to discuss matters of local importance, as well as five minutes to answer questions from our membership.
After all three candidates spoke, Council Member Ben Kallos showed up to give a brief update about municipal issues. Topics of note include CM Kallos's efforts to expand and improve the East River Esplanade (an impressive $35M of funding has been secured out of $115M needed), negotiations with Rockefeller University over their campus expansions, and other local forums and events that he is attending and hosting. He also passed out bottles of water to help combat the boiling heat in the room--thanks, Ben! For more info, visit his website at benkallos.com.
It was at this point that results were announce for the night's elections--congratulations to all candidates who won, and thanks to all for participating. Although the meeting lasted over two hours, we still had over forty members present by the end of the night. It was a great meeting--stay tuned for the petitioning schedule!
State Assembly Member, 76th District
David Menegon - 23 votes
Rebecca Seawright - 14
Ed Hartzog - 6
No endorsement - 1
Gus Christensen - 0
State Senator, 28th District
Liz Krueger
State Senator, 29th District
Jose M. Serrano
State Committee Member, Female
Ruth Halberg
State Committee Member, Male
Jonathan Piel
Civil Court Judge
Arlene Bluth + County endorsement, if no other candidates
Delegates to the Judicial Convention (11)
Gabriel Panek, Kim Moscaritolo, Susan Hochberg, Jonathan Piel, Madelaine Piel, Posie Di Sesa, Jean Fischman, Lance Polivy, Monica Atiya, Gerald Ferguson, Romano Reid
Alternate Delegates to the Judicial Convention (11)
Alfred Fuente, Miriam Stern, Abraham Salcedo, Joy Zagoren, Chloe Pashman, Lynne Feibelmann, Lee Wiggins, Lorance Hockert, Teresa Malyshev, Joan Roberts, Elana Schwartz
