In light of recent events the New York State Young Democrats are taking the necessary actions to remove the person from all levels of the organization. NYSYD unequivocally condemns any such heinous crimes and/or actions. NYSYD believes that those charged with these crimes are entitled to their day in court, but that those convicted should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
In light of comments of which I was made aware following convention, I want to make something perfectly clear about the board of the New York State Young Democrats: we will not tolerate any racially charged nor racially insensitive comments made by anyone who wants to be a member of this organization.
We will do anything and everything that we can do to tackle the issue of race. I will work with any chapter who asks, as well as the New York State Democratic Party, to fight this. If you have any statements on actions of individuals that were made at convention please report them to myself and any member of the board you wish to handle this. I will respond to any questions or comments as quickly as I can.
It is my belief that the diversity of this organization is one of its strongest as well as most important qualities. However, moving forward, I do want us all to have open and frank discussions and dialogues about how to address issues of race in the future of this organization.
The New York State Young Democrats (NYSYD) convened in Poughkeepsie, NY from May 5th through 7th to elect new officers, adopt rule changes, and attend trainings to learn the role and relevancy of young democrats on the local, state, and national levels under the Presidency of Donald Trump.
The newly elected Executive Board officers and caucus chairs consists of:
President: Patrick Jordan (Queens)
Executive Vice President: Lauren Bailey (Albany)
Treasurer: Stephanie Campanha Wheaton (Brooklyn)
Secretary: Justin Westbrook-Lowery (Bronx)
National Committeeman: Mohammad Alam (Manhattan)
National Committeewoman: Stacey Eliuk (Queens)
Legal Director: Michael Twomey (Brooklyn)
Capital Region Vice President: Danielle McMullen (Rensselaer)
Central Region Vice President: Brian Garcia (Broome)
Hudson Valley Region Vice President: Jovan Richards (Westchester)
Western Region Vice President: Heather Neu (Monroe)
Chair of Council of Presidents: John Midwood (Dutchess)
Caucus of Color Co-Chair: Jugba Santi (Bronx)
Caucus of Color Co-Chair: Kyle Ishmael (Manhattan)
Disability Issues Caucus Chair: Jim Kane (Dutchess)
Jewish Caucus Chair: Brent Weitzberg (Queens)
Labor Caucus Chair: Rebecca Lamorte (Manhattan)
LGBT Caucus Chair: KC Hankins (Staten Island)
Rural Caucus Chair: Paolo Cemedis (Chemung)
Women’s Caucus Chair: Veronica Aveis (Brooklyn)
“When I decided to run for President, I wanted to have a strong team alongside me and I got exactly that,” said NYSYD President Patrick Jordan. “The team that was elected has a great diversity of skills and backgrounds. If we are going to kick out the Republicans and their allies, the work starts now with our local elections. We need to begin now to stop any brand of Trump’s politics that may arise and fight for Democratic values in our State in all 62 counties at all times.” Following the convention, in his first act as President, Jordan appointed Seamus Campbell of Brooklyn to serve as NYSYD Chief of Staff.
Young Democrats from all across New York State attended panel discussions about the role of labor unions during the Era of Trump, women in politics, and a training on how to write and develop a field plan for a successful political campaign – all vital skills as NYSYD prepares for the all-important mid-term elections next year. Speakers throughout the weekend included Assemblyman Michael Blake, former congressional candidate Zephyr Teachout, Assemblywoman Didi Barrett, Executive Director of the New York State Democratic Committee Basil Smikle, and Chairwoman of the Dutchess County Democratic Committee Elisa Sumner. Additionally, NYSYD adopted changes to its Constitution to ensure accountability of the caucuses, fiscal responsibility, and clarified membership requirements.
On the second night of the convention, NYSYD held its 3rd Annual Awards Gala honoring:
Young Elected of the Year: New York State Assemblyman Michael Blake
FDR Trailblazer Award: New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli
Rookie of the Year: Justin Westbrook-Lowery
Labor Leader of the Year: Michele Gilliam
Chapter of the Year: Manhattan Young Democrats
Alumni of the Year: Christopher Smith
Woman of the Year: Amanda Pizzuti
Man of the Year: Michael Corbett
This convention marks the last under the presidency of Mike Corbett. “Having seen all that Patrick has done in Queens and having worked with him for the past three years on the state level,” said Corbett, “I am honored to have been named Man of the Year but I am even more honored to have been succeeded by a man who has the most capable hands to lead this organization.”
Check out some videos from the 2017 New York State Young Democrats Convention in Poughkeepsie, NY.
Queens County Young Democrats President and NYSYD National Committeewoman Stacey Eliuk discuss plans for her and the QCYD Executive Board for new membership outreach with the Times Ledger.
In light of his recent indictment, New York State Young Democrats (NYSYD) calls on Robert Ortt (R-Niagara County) to immediately resign from his seat in the New York State Senate.
In an indictment in Albany County unsealed yesterday, Sen. Robert Ortt was indicted on three felony counts of filing a false instrument in a scheme to create a no-show job for his wife while he was Mayor of North Tonawanda and facing a $5,000 annual salary reduction and funnel $21,500 into his household between 2010 and 2014. The charges were brought by New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
Senator Ortt has pleaded not guilty and said he will not resign his seat in light of the charges. Ortt, however, had no issue in 2015 calling on former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos to resign from his leadership post when Skelos was indicted on similar charges when he arranged a no-show job for his son, Adam.
“As the late, great Yogi Berra liked to say, ‘This is déjà vu all over again,'” said NYSYD President Mike Corbett. “We saw this with Dean Skelos – a public official setup a no-show job for a family member. The people of the 62nd Senate District deserve better than another corrupt official who will end up spending more time in a courtroom than doing work for constituents. It’s only right that Senator Ortt practices what he preached two years ago and step down.”
Stemming from the investigation by Attorney General Schneiderman’s Office, Ortt’s predecessor, former Sen. George Maziarz, was indicted on five felony counts of filing a false instrument in relation to the scheme and has pleaded not guilty. Maziarz is accused of misusing funds donated to both his campaign committee and the Niagara County Republican Committee in order to funnel money to a former State Senate staff member, who left following allegations of sexually harassing a female colleague, using a “pass-through” entity to hide the payments from public scrutiny. Additionally, Former Niagara County Republican Chairman Henry Wojtaszek has plead guilty to a misdemeanor related to failing to proper file campaign finance disclosures between 2012 and 2013 and will be sentenced later this year.
The New York State Young Democrats (NYSYD) is proud to join an ever-growing broad and bipartisan chorus of elected officials, labor unions, and community leaders in supporting the Home Stability Support (HSS) – a proposal which aims to bring an end to the homeless crisis in New York State put forward by New York State Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Queens).
HSS aims to be be a new statewide rent supplement for individuals and families eligible for public assistance benefits as well as for those who are facing eviction, homelessness, or loss of housing due to domestic violence or hazardous living conditions. HSS will replace all current city, state, and federal rent supplements and will be fully paid for by state and federal government. Further, this more-expansive program will save taxpayer dollars. According to current estimates, it costs $38,460 per year to house family of three in a homelessness shelter in New York City; however, HSS is estimated only cost $11,224.
In 1975, shelter allowances were created as a means to pay the rents of most of households using public assistance, factoring-in locale, family size, and if heating is included in rent. However, those allowances failed to keep up with the rising cost of housing. New York State has over 150,000 homeless children and over 80,000 families on the brink of homelessness, which amounts to billions of dollars being spent by local, state, and federal governments on essential services. Finding concrete solutions to homelessness has become a moral and fiscal obligation for every New Yorker.
Especially troubling is the impact homelessness has on young people. According to the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, runaway and homeless youth (RHY) often do not complete their education, which in turn, hurts their ability to seek employment. Further, a new report by the Institute for Children, Poverty and Homelessness shows that RHY are more likely to have health problems, be bullied, attempt suicide, be sexually exploited and abused, and abuse drugs and alcohol while also being less likely to graduate high school.
“Homelessness is an issue that affects everyone, especially young people,” said Mike Corbett, President of the New York State Young Democrats. “Given the number of youth that are either homeless or are on the brink, it is imperative that we act now. That is why I believe Home Stability Support is a good plan, not only because will end up saving taxpayer dollars, but more importantly because it will save lives as well.”
“I am proud to have the New York State Young Democrats endorse the Home Stability Support plan. I look forward to working with this new generation of leaders to help some of our most vulnerable New Yorkers,” said Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (A.D. 28).
The New York State Young Democrats calls on its representatives in Albany to pass Home Stability Support as a concrete way to end the state’s homelessness crisis and, in turn, help flourish the Empire State’s economic outlook.
The New York State Young Democrats is the official youth arm of the New York State Democratic Committee. It represents Democrats between the ages of 16-36 living in all of New York’s 62 counties.
The Queen Ledger reports on Stacey Eliuk, President of the Queens County Young Democrats and NYSYD National Committeewoman, her work in government and how she has transformed her chapter as its first female President.
The Times Ledger reports on the Queens County Young Democrats’ recent event on the future of organized labor in the Trump Administration with a panel discussion Mike McGuire, Alex Gleason, Brian Wangerman, and Councilman I. Daneek Miller.
With chants like “This is what democracy looks like” and “Build a fence around Mike Pence,” today, January 21, 2017, the New York State Young Democrats participated in the Women’s March on New York City. Members from across the city and the Hudson Valley peacefully took to the streets of New York and we made our voices heard. Going from Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza to Trump Tower, throughout the day, we were joined by various elected officials including Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, Assemblywoman Rebecca Seawright, City Councilwoman Margaret Chin, and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.
Marching alongside 500,000 other New Yorkers and hundreds of thousands more in sister marches across the globe, we stood united in saying that we will not be silenced. We said that we will not stand idly by while a man who jokes about sexually assaulting women occupies the Oval Office. We showed we will fight back when our Commander in Chief insults the disabled, veterans, immigrants, minorities, Muslims, and women.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer today claimed that more people attended President Trump’s inauguration than both protests in D.C. or either of President Obama’s inaugurations and any photographs to the contrary are proof of media manipulation. From the outpouring I saw today, I would say that Mr. Spicer is perpetuating “fake news.”
Though we have had some setbacks, for the next 1,460 days, we must stand united and be vigilant. We must fight to ensure that our health care is not taken away. We must fight to protect the freedom of our press. We must fight to be protect the right to marry the person we love.
To quote a famous Democrat, “The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die.”
