{"id":355960,"date":"2026-09-24T19:08:57","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T19:08:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/355960\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T19:08:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T19:08:57","slug":"brooklyn-dems-chaotic-organizational-meeting-leaves-leadership-question-unanswered-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/355960\/","title":{"rendered":"Brooklyn Dems\u2019 chaotic organizational meeting leaves leadership question unanswered \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brooklyn Democratic Party\u2019s chaotic, hours-delayed organizational meeting descended into chaos on Wednesday, beset with tech issues, incongruous vote counts and all-out shouting matches.<\/p>\n

It was the latest battle in a war over party leadership fought by sitting chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn and a group of reformers aligned with New Kings Democrats.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reformers won a majority of district leader seats in the June primary election to oust Bichotte Hermelyn in favor of longtime district leader Julio Pe\u00f1a III. That vote was expected to take place at the organizational meeting.<\/p>\n

Last month, Bichotte Hermelyn changed party rules to expand the party\u2019s executive committee, nullifying the reformers\u2019 majority. The new rules were approved in a last-minute meeting of the outgoing executive committee, including several lame-duck members who had not been re-elected to their positions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"brooklynDozens of party members rallied against Bichotte Hermelyn\u2019s rule changes ahead of the meeting. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

A state Supreme Court judge last week tossed<\/a> the new rules, ruling the August executive committee vote was \u201cimproper\u201d under state election law and the party\u2019s own bylaws. But Bichotte Hermelyn appealed the decision, and the appellate court issued a temporary stay that halted the lower court\u2019s ruling \u2014 meaning the new rules were in effect for Wednesday\u2019s meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reformers and their supporters decried Bichotte Hermelyn\u2019s actions at a pre-meeting rally on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cVoters made a very clear choice in the June primary election, and instead of honoring that election, they\u2019re choosing to keep themselves in power and change the rules in the last minute so that they can handpick their successor,\u201d Pe\u00f1a said. \u201cThat is not democracy. That is authoritarianism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"District Leader Julio Pe\u00f1a III, the reformers\u2019 pick for executive committee chair. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

Public advocate Jumaane Williams called the move a \u201cpower grab,\u201d while Council Member Sandy Nurse \u2014 who is also a newly-elected district leader \u2014 said it was \u201cexhausting, embarrassing, and just such a waste of time that we have to be out here doing this kind of effort to just do what the Brooklyn voters voted for.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Kings Democrats president Tony Melone warned that Bichotte Hermelyn might \u201ctry to reelect herself today using additional votes added to the executive committee, which is exactly what the Supreme Court said was illegal.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the party ran out of time before it could elect a new party chair.<\/p>\n

\u2018The level of disorganization is remarkable\u2019<\/p>\n

The organizational meeting had been slated to begin at City Tech in Downtown Brooklyn at 10 a.m. But, half an hour after start time, there was a long line of people outside, waiting to get through security. Inside, party members had not finished setting up registration or assembling name badges for the roughly 200 county committee members in attendance.<\/p>\n

There are roughly 4,000 positions on the county committee in Brooklyn, though there are often many vacancies. Members who can\u2019t attend organizational meetings give their proxy votes over to other members, who vote on their behalf.<\/p>\n

\"largeHundreds of county committee members were still waiting to register for the meeting an hour after it had been set to begin.Photo by Kirstyn Brendlen<\/p>\n

Proxy votes go to Bichotte Hermelyn by default, and she is believed to hold hundreds of proxy votes, committee members told Brooklyn Paper, though she has not revealed just how many.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At least some county committee members were nominated to the position without their knowledge or consent. In 2022, the Brooklyn Democratic Party submitted at least 20 people to the ballot without telling them, according to The City Reporter<\/a>. Those members may not have been aware of Wednesday\u2019s meeting at all, Pe\u00f1a told Brooklyn Paper.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The meeting \u2014 led by outgoing district leader Anthony Beckford and parliamentarian Rob Robinson \u2014 finally began at around 1:30 p.m., three and a half hours late. Though Bichotte Hermelyn had a labeled seat at the table, she did not appear.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t last long. Not all proxy votes had been submitted, said district leader Diana Rodriguez, and Beckford called for a short recess to rectify the issue. Attendees swarmed the lobby, and the brief recess turned into a two-hour break.<\/p>\n

\"twoThird Vice Chairperson Anthony Beckford, left, and parliamantarian Rob Robinson led the meeting. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

The issues continued. County committee members are given remote-like \u201cclickers\u201d to cast their votes, but due to an issue with the system computers, some clickers did not have the voters\u2019 proxies attached.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By 3 p.m., Rodriguez explained to Brooklyn Paper, party assistant secretary Alan Rocoff had said \u201ceverything had been entered and counted.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reformers had another concern, though. A number of county committee vacancies were set to be filled at Wednesday\u2019s meeting, and several people who were set to be appointed had already received clickers to cast votes, Rodriguez said, even though they were not yet official members.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c[That] is something that we absolutely take issue with,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause there was no point at which potential county committee member appointments were informed that they could attend the meeting and vote at the meeting, and so this is being done selectively.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"clickerMembers had to use a \u201cclicker to cast their votes; some reported that their votes was not counted. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

As attendees grew more frustrated \u2014 one woman walking out of the auditorium said she felt she was being \u201cheld hostage\u201d \u2014 longtime county committee members Sharon Harkey and Cheryl Krauss said the meeting was \u201cone of the worst\u201d hosted by the party, rivaling the 2022 meeting<\/a> in Coney Island.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some attendees felt the chaos was intentional, a tactic to support Bichotte Hermelyn and her agenda.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s entirely intentional, but it\u2019s not like they haven\u2019t done organizational meetings before,\u201d Harkey said. \u201cThe level of disorganization is remarkable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Appellate court weighs rule changes\u00a0<\/p>\n

As they waited, the appellate court in Brooklyn Heights was hearing arguments on whether the rule changes should remain. The central issue is a monthslong gap between the June primary, when district leaders are elected, and the fall organizational meeting, when those new members technically take their positions. In the interim, the existing committee have some legal authority, per state law.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Justices grilled both sides on just how much authority those outgoing executive committee members are given by state law and party bylaws.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Democratic Party lawyer Anthony Genovesi argued that the Supreme Court had misinterpreted a party bylaw that outlines which members of the executive committee have the authority to vote, and that the outgoing members who took part in the August meeting were still allowed to take part even though they had not been re-elected in June.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you proposing that any elected individual on the executive committee can vote in perpetuity, forever?\u201d asked Associate Justice Francesca Connolly. \u201cWhere do you put the limitation on that?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mark Hanna, lawyer for the reformers and a longtime district leader himself, argued the outgoing members of the executive committee did not have authority under state law to vote on substantial issues like rule changes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Associate Justice Helen Voutsinas said one state statute \u201cclearly\u201d gave legal authority to the existing committee until the new members took over in the fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s four months between the primary and the date that they can organize,\u201d she said. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to render any party unable to function.\u201d<\/p>\n

As was expected, the court did not issue a decision from the bench \u2014 one is expected in the next several days \u2014 so the meeting proceeded with the new rules still in place.<\/p>\n

Contested committee votes<\/p>\n

Back at City Tech, the meeting finally resumed at 3:30 p.m. \u2014 two hours before the group had to clear out of the auditorium.<\/p>\n

Beckford swiftly began a series of votes to fill vacancies on the county committee, despite protests from the audience. Some said they were still having issues with their clickers, others said some people set to be nominated to the county committee had not received proper notice of the meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The party and reformers each nominated a slate of candidates to fill county committee vacancies in several assembly districts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When the results of the first vote appeared on screen, showing that the party\u2019s slate had won, it also showed that 1,240 votes had been cast \u2014 more than then 1,142 people Beckford had said were present at the meeting in-person or by proxy.<\/p>\n

\"joAssembly Member Jo Anne Simon questioned whether all proxy votes were being counted. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

Ignoring calls to address the discrepancy, Beckford kept moving through votes, displaying slides that misspelled candidates\u2019 names or listed the same person more than once. The party\u2019s slates won each contest, and the vote totals continued to exceed the number of people casting votes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon questioned whether reformers\u2019 proxy votes were being counted at all, given the results of the votes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The meeting grew increasingly heated, and many attendees at one point began chanting \u201cshame, shame, shame.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beckford and party vice chair Renee Collymore, who was helping to run the meeting, repeatedly asked security to remove speakers, though officers declined to do so.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When it came time to elect new county committee officers, the party\u2019s slate did not have a nominee for chair. Though the party\u2019s slate won, reformers claimed that their nominee for county committee chair \u2014 U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez \u2014 had won by default. (The county committee chair position is separate from the executive committee chair position, which is currently held by Bichotte Hermelyn and is the focus if the bylaw amendments and the lawsuits.)\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"securityParty leaders repeatedly asked security to remove certain attendees, though officers declined to do so. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann \"womanMany attendees were frustrated by the end of the meeting, which ended nearly six hours after it had been scheduled to start. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

Collymore later said the omission was a mistake, and that she was not sure who the actual chair of the county committee was after the vote. Neither the Brooklyn Democratic Party or Bichotte Hermelyn responded to requests for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The final vote of the night was on the same rule changes approved by the executive committee last month and contested in court. The full county committee was not initially expected to vote on the changes. A Sept. 17 email sent to some county committee members said it \u201cserves as Notice that the bylaw amendment proposals shall be considered and voted upon,\u201d but did not elaborate on what the proposals were. Most attendees said they had never received the rules they were supposed to be voting on at all.<\/p>\n

But the amendments passed, 865-272.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Citing time constraints Beckford moved to adjourn the meeting before the all-important executive committee vote, where a new party chair will be elected, to Sept. 29. Rodriguez argued that membership of the executive committee has not been settled, as the appellate court has not yet issued a ruling.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As she exited the auditorium, Harkey told Brooklyn Paper the meeting had taken the crown as \u201cfar and away the worst.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

What comes next?<\/p>\n

The appellate court is expected to issue a decision in the next several days.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re waiting on the appellate decision, and there may be additional litigation,\u201d said Paul Newell, an attorney for the reformers. \u201cThey\u2019ve scheduled the executive committee meeting for Tuesday, but obviously the key question is who is on the executive committee. That\u2019s going to be decided by the appellate division.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the court decides the new rules \u2014 which were approved by the full county committee \u2014 are unlawful, they will likely have to head back to court, Hanna said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014 Additional reporting by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brooklyn Democratic Party\u2019s chaotic, hours-delayed organizational meeting descended into chaos on Wednesday, beset with tech issues, incongruous…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":355961,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[126354,2975,22343,98,18390,100,99,54528,17200,35047,651,3076,124481,128461,54530,3100,132637,126360,130034,9,24,12,63,132638,87,6986,132639,17961,123648,11340,38008,132640,130036,2220],"class_list":["post-355960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-anthony-beckford","tag-appeals-court","tag-appellate-court","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-democratic-party","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-brooklyn-dems","tag-chair","tag-chaos","tag-democratic-party","tag-downtown-brooklyn","tag-executive-committee","tag-howard-graubard","tag-julio-peu00f1a-iii","tag-lawsuit","tag-maritza-davila","tag-mark-hanna","tag-new-kings-democrats","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-nyc","tag-organizational-meeting","tag-politics","tag-protest","tag-renee-collymore","tag-rodneyse-bichotte-hermelyn","tag-rule-changes","tag-rules","tag-sandy-nurse","tag-sept-23","tag-tony-melone","tag-vote"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/355961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}