Disorder, delays and dysfunction appeared to have won the day at the Brooklyn Democratic Party\u2019s biannual organizational meeting on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
After the meeting concluded, nearly eight hours after its scheduled start time, there was no answer as to whether Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn would keep her position as chair. Party leadership announced that a vote on that question would be held on Sept. 29. Nor was there an answer as to whether the lawsuit introduced by the reformist district leaders seeking to oust Bichotte Hermelyn would succeed in overturning the controversial rules passed<\/a> by the party\u2019s executive committee last month. Nor an answer on whether an appellate court now considering that lawsuit would simply nullify everything that was decided at Wednesday\u2019s chaotic meeting at City Tech in Downtown Brooklyn.\u00a0<\/p>\n The only thing completed without incident, in fact, was lunch. And even the pizza was likely wheeled out<\/a> to quell frustrations after hundreds of committee members were told to go to the lobby to resolve discrepancies in proxy registrations and issues getting the clickers that would allow them to cast their votes.<\/p>\n Despite the meeting\u2019s 10 a.m. scheduled start time, proceedings didn\u2019t kick off until 1:30 p.m. A mere ten minutes later, attendees pushed party brass into pressing pause so the widespread issues could be addressed \u2013 hence the emergence of the pizza.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou know when they started this meeting I had black hair,\u201d joked Howard Graubard, one of the lawyers representing reformers, as he emerged from the auditorium, silver hair gleaming under the fluorescents. \u201cAnd I had hair,\u201d quipped the bald Paul Newell, one of the group\u2019s other lawyers.<\/p>\n The initial agreed upon 20 minute recess stretched into an hour, which stretched into another. By the time the meeting was reconvened, it was 3:30 p.m \u2013 just two hours away from when the party leaders said they needed to give up use of the auditorium.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing everyone needs to recognize is that we have to be out of here in two hours,\u201d Rob Robinson, the party\u2019s parliamentarian, informed attendees as they took their seats once again. A cacophony of incredulous laughter and groans rose from the crowd at this proclamation.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s when things really went off the rails. Chaos, confusion and frustrations reigned as Robinson, district leader Anthony Beckford and other party leaders pressed through votes to fill vacancies on the county committee and to elect the county committee officers. They did so as a chorus of attendees voiced complaints \u2013 about their votes not being registered, names being misspelled on the ballots, proxy voters not being properly logged, not receiving an email notifying them about the organizational meeting and the voting clickers not working. The list went on.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNo, no, no, no, who\u2019s Akil Williams?\u201d Akel Williams, a reformist district leader called at one point, gesturing at the screen where the ballot misspelled his name as \u201cAkil.\u201d (Posters displayed throughout the auditorium and lobby were also rife with misspellings. Rodneyse \u201cBichoote\u201d Hermelyn was not spared<\/a>.)\u00a0<\/p>\n The audience steadily grew louder as the number of total votes tallied, which were projected on stage following each vote, changed wildly.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe math is not math-ing,\u201d one woman shouted.\u00a0<\/p>\n Blocks away in downtown Brooklyn, an appellate court had just finished hearing arguments over the legality of the controversial party rules Bichotte Hermelyn moved to get passed last month. But without any ruling issued, those changes technically remained in effect Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Motions to reconvene the meeting at a later date, presumably after a resolution to the court case, were repeatedly ignored. “Can I make a motion to adjourn?”\u00a0one attendee asked. “This seems like a fake meeting.”<\/p>\n As party leadership pushed forward another vote on those infamous rule changes, tensions escalated further as reformers and their allies argued they weren\u2019t given the proper advance notice about them.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou can thank me, but you can also suspend the vote because they are improperly before this committee,\u201d Assembly Member and reform supporter Jo Anne Simon said, fruitlessly making the case for why the rules couldn\u2019t be voted on. The vote on the rules passed.<\/p>\n Eventually, the crowd teetered into outright revolt, chanting \u201cshame, shame, shame, shame.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n All hell is breaking out at the Brooklyn Democratic Party\u2019s organizational meeting as party brass charge forward filling county committee vacancies despite dozens of audience members voicing concerns about their votes not being counted, numerous misspellings and proxy issues. pic.twitter.com\/5qhhauLCuY<\/a><\/p>\n