low hanging fruit

not voting for myself

I ran into my sister on the street today and she wished me congratulations on my newly elected position as NYC County Committee Member.

I responded with my usual: I ran unopposed - it's not a big deal.

And she said that yes, it was a big deal. That I'd heard about it, figured out what needed to be done, and then made it happen.

She was right. Actually, we're both right.

Running for the entry level position in NYC's Democratic Party is no easy feat. Regardless of the fact that in Manhattan alone there are 2000 seats and about half of them aren't filled, it was remarkably challenging to figure out how this all worked and then to get the ball rolling. As soon as I heard about the gig, at a Downtown Independent Democrats meeting this past January, I contacted the Open Seat Project, something I'd heard about, that was put together by Manhattan Young Democrats.

No response.

Over and over. I was left wondering if, since I'm not young, they weren't going to help.

I went to local democratic club meetings and for months got nowhere. A friend, who was planning on running as well, managed to get all her paperwork in, as part of a subcommittee, which frustrated me even further, as I was still clueless and without help or direction.

Here I was, so enthusiastic about participating, and no one would even respond, let alone answer my questions.

Eventually I spoke to Ben Yee, a local elected official, and put together a County Committee one sheet, to both get the word out and explain how things worked, because I couldn't find the info anywhere. At all.

I finally submitted my paperwork, after hearing back from the Village Independent Democrats, my local club that I'm now a member of (they serve pizza at their monthly meetings) and found that I couldn't run in my tiny 2 block or so district. Those positions were already filled. So I "ran" a few blocks away, where I know no one. It would seem the point of having an elected representative of where you actually live wasn't taken all that seriously. It's more about filling empty seats.

I picked up my petitions. I was instructed not to get signatures where I live, as that would negate people running in that area, and so I stood on steamy corners, asking strangers to please help me run for office.

This was not an easy task either. The vast majority of people who passed me pretended I wasn't there—I had no idea I could be that invisible. The apathy of the general public was disheartening. But, I got my share of signatures, submitted my petitions, and was good to go.

Fast forward to primary day.

As I was unopposed, I wasn't on the ballot. No one knew that I was running. And therefore no one knew, except all my friends on Facebook, that I was elected. Not only that, there was no word from the Democratic Party itself with a congratulations or welcome.

And then I found out that County Committee members can be appointed, you don't even have to run. You just have to know someone.

All this to attend one meeting every two years.

Something, or actually many things, need to change.