DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — The courtroom battle over Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn’s proposed bylaw changes remains unresolved as of Sept. 4, after Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Jill Epstein adjourned the hearing until Sept. 8.
Julio Peña III, Democratic district leader for the 51st Assembly District. Photo: Wayne Daren Schneiderman/Brooklyn Eagle
On Sept. 3, lawyer Anthony Genovesi, who is representing Bichotte Hermelyn and the party, asked Epstein that three individuals named in the suit, Anthony Beckford, Arleny Alvarado-McCall and Heriberto Mateo, be granted additional time to obtain counsel. Epstein replied, “I wish I could give you as much time as you need, but I do not have that luxury.”
The parties were given one additional day. Beckford was the only unrepresented district leader who appeared on Sept. 3.
Four reform-minded district leaders, including Peña, filed the lawsuit on Aug. 28. They are challenging the controversial bylaw amendments approved by the Brooklyn Democratic Party’s Executive Committee in a closed-door meeting on Aug. 25. The plaintiffs are seeking to have the amended rules thrown out.
“One of the reasons why we are suing is that it’s just a dereliction of duty for the Democratic Party,” Peña said.
From left: Attorneys for the plaintiffs Howard Graubard and lead counsel Mark Hanna. Photo: Wayne Daren Schneiderman/Brooklyn Eagle
Mark Hanna, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, told the Brooklyn Eagle that the party bylaws say that “those who are not elected state committee members shouldn’t be making rule changes and voting on things that are substantive that will change how the party governs after they’ve been rejected by the people.”
Hanna said the bylaws provide a safeguard, “specifically to prevent this kind of behavior, where losers of an election can reverse the effects of it and steal it back, because that’s essentially what’s going on here. This is designed to break the Democratic Party’s ability to have their electorate govern themselves.”
Julio Peña III, left, alongside Tony Melone, president of the New Kings Democrats. Photo: Wayne Daren Schneiderman/Brooklyn Eagle
In the June Democratic primary, the Brooklyn Can’t Wait coalition, a reform movement aligned with Peña, won 22 of the 42 district leader seats on the Kings County Democratic Party Executive Committee. This gave reformers a majority under the existing rules and put them in the position to elect Peña as the next county party chair in September. Bichotte Hermelyn responded with a package of 10 bylaw changes that would substantially alter who gets to vote.
Bichotte Hermelyn said she “opened the process and the executive committee to include more people, including county committee members, bringing more diversity in thinking and ideology in different corners of Brooklyn.”
Peña told the Brooklyn Eagle he’d be open to a conversation about expanding the party. “My concern and the issue here is that these seats were essentially handpicked by one person choosing who these 48 people would be,” Peña said. “That’s not representation. I see it as a power grab.”