The following is an extended version of the story that appeared in our latest print edition.

 

Citing factors relating to the pandemic, on Nov. 18, the executive committee of the Ben Franklin Reform Democratic Club (BFRDC) voted on a resolution which facilitated a departure from the club’s bylaws relating to what were described in the minutes as two of the club’s “critical functions.” These were to postpone the annual vote to replace them, as members of the executive committee, a vote that would usually take place at the end of each club year, and to cede authority to the club’s president, Michael Heller, to devise an alternate voting procedure for the club’s endorsement of candidates for public office.

 

The vote was unanimously carried during an executive committee meeting on Nov. 18, and a mail-in ballot procedure was subsequently devised to handle the endorsement process. Once news of how the change in procedure became public, and following pushback by all but one of the seven District 11 City Council candidates who had sought the club’s endorsement, on Dec. 21, Carlton Berkley, Jessica Haller, Mino Lora, Abigail Martin, Dan Padernacht and Marcos Sierra all formally withdrew their endorsement requests in protest. They cited, as their reason, a violation of the club’s bylaws surrounding the change in voting process, a claim vigorously denied by Heller.

 

Such bylaws generally afford regular club members the opportunity to review details of agenda items prior to votes being held and there was an expectation that the vote taken by the executive committee would be reviewed and voted on by regular members also. Of the seven candidates, both Haller and Padernacht and regular members, while Eric Dinowitz, district leader for the 81^st assembly district and son of assemblyman for the 81^st assembly district, Jeffrey Dinowitz, is an executive member.

 

“The new BFRDC voting system has serious security issues that were not thoroughly vetted by membership,” the six candidates wrote in their Dec. 21st letter of withdrawal from the endorsement process. “Club members are required to email a request for a ballot. It is unknown who has access to those emails. The ballots are to be mailed with the sender’s information on the envelope. The procedure was approved without any knowledge of who would have access to the ballots, how the ballots would be counted, and when they would be tallied.”

 

The six candidates added in their joint letter, “In New York State, the three-envelope system incorporates tens of thousands of ballots mailed to random Board of Election employees who work under an oath. In the BFRDC system, there are a few hundred voters who are known by Club leadership, controlling the process. The insecure voting procedure gives the appearance of impropriety, further marring the democratic process.”

 

Asked about the bylaw violation assertions, and the back and forth between the six candidates and the club prior to their eventual withdrawal, Heller told the Norwood News on Dec. 24, “In an emergency measure adopted at the Dec. 3 meeting, temporary substitute procedures were adopted by 82 percent present, after three separate motions.” He added, “We are a private association where standard operating procedures had to be temporarily set aside.”

 

The seventh candidate in the race, Eric Dinowitz, did not object to the club’s revised voting approach. In fact, the minutes show that both the district leader and his father attended the same Nov. 18 meeting of the club’s executive committee where the initial decision was taken to cede authority on the voting process to the club president. The minutes specify that because he was running for office, the district leader left the meeting before discussion of the resolution began.

 

On Dec. 30, BFRDC, which is advertised as “one of the largest Democratic clubs in the city,” announced its “overwhelming endorsement” of the 81st district leader. The 81^st assembly district covers Bedford Park, Kingsbridge, Riverdale, Norwood, Van Cortlandt Village, Wakefield and Woodlawn. The club covers much if not all of the same area.

 

Heller wrote in the Dec. 30 press release announcing the endorsement that over 140 votes had been received, with the district leader winning 117, Padernacht winning 10, Lora winning 9, Haller winning 6 and Berkley, Martin and Sierra not winning any.

 

Contacted by Norwood News for comment about the other candidates’ withdrawal from the process, and ahead of the announcement of his endorsement by the club on Dec. 30, the district leader did not address the issue directly, saying instead, on Dec. 28, “I’ve been a member of the largest reform Democratic club in the Bronx since I was 18, almost as long as I’ve been a proud teacher and UFT member.”

 

He added, “The endorsements from the teachers and the club are so important to me because they both have fueled my values and community engagement. I’m proud that the club has an open process for participation, that is also COVID-safe, and is unique in using a democratic process for its endorsement.”

 

Asked what date all the ballots were counted, Heller said Dec. 29. Members had been informed on Dec. 5 that they had to mail back their ballots by Dec. 22, a fairly tight turnaround taking into account the postal delays already experienced throughout the year. It was also insufficient to have the ballot post-marked by Dec. 22. It had to have been received by the club by Dec. 22.

 

Meanwhile, asked for the reason for his guest attendance at the Nov. 18. executive committee meeting, the assemblyman told the Norwood News in an email dated Jan. 3, “As the club’s assembly member, I have a standing invitation to attend, but not vote, at executive committee meetings.” He added that he was also a longtime member of the club, and he neither voted nor spoke at the Nov. 18 meeting.

 

Announcing the endorsement, Heller wrote, “The endorsement was conducted by way of absentee ballots that duplicated the method used by the Board of Elections (BoE) to maintain the secret ballot.” Last year, on April 24, two months before the June primaries, at the height of the pandemic, and amid mass confusion surrounding absentee ballot application mailing delays, Gov. Andrew Cuomo mandated the automatic issuance of ballot applications to every eligible New York voter, saying, “The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our world. No New Yorker should have to choose between their health and their right to vote”.

 

It is therefore not completely accurate to say that BFRDC duplicated the BoE process because the club did not mandate the automatic mailing of ballot applications to each of its 400 odd BFRDC members, as the State did for its voters.

 

Dan Padernacht told the Norwood News on Dec. 24 that he, initially, did not receive his ballot. After contacting Heller about the matter, Padernacht confirmed he did ultimately receive one. Indeed, Heller told the Norwood News on Dec. 24 that he had arranged it and had personally gone to 260^th Street Riverdale post-office to place all requested ballots in the mail.

 

“Now at the same time, we all know the postal system has been totally overwhelmed. It’s all over the news,” Heller said. “They’re picking up a huge amount of delivery work, because UPS and FedEx have kind of capped what they’re doing, so the postal service is drowning in mail so, you know, I think there may be some ballots still coming in.”

 

Heller said that in 60 years of the club’s existence, there has never been any hint of deception in any vote, and added that the latest executive committee had been voted in with 60 percent of the total votes cast, and that he, personally, as president, had received 62 percent of the votes cast in January 2020.

 

Meanwhile, in reference to the six candidates who withdrew from the process, Dinowitz said, “Two of the ‘boycotters’ even submitted [endorsement] ballots [as club members], and only then attacked the validity of an honest election and cast doubt on the reliability of mail-in ballots once it dawned on them that they lacked sufficient support among club members to receive the club’s endorsement.”

Norwood News asked Heller about the club’s membership and size, and why it was that only certain executive members had access to the membership list. “We have always (60 years) kept the exact [membership] number confidential,” Heller said, though he confirmed that 400 members voted in the January 2020 club election.

 

Meanwhile, when asked the same question about the apparent secrecy surrounding the club’s membership, the assemblyman said, “What organization, anywhere, makes its membership list public? Across the political spectrum – from the DSA to the NRA and everyone in between – the vast majority of political organizations maintain private membership lists.”

 

Arguably, to take two local, comparable examples, there are other political organizations, however, such as the Northwest Bronx Democrats and the Northwest Bronx Democrats for Change, which do give, at least, an indication of member names and numbers, based on a cursory review of the groups’ Facebook pages. Rachel Bradshaw, president of The Northwest Bronx Democrats for Change, told the Norwood News that all members of the club are aware of who the other club members are. She added that the group had an official launch, election and they also have bylaws.

 

When asked if all members of the Northwest Bronx Democrats knew who the other members in the club were, Anthony Rivieccio, founder of group said, “The listing [on Facebook] is public. If you are a follower of our page, you’ll see all members talking (or yelling lol) to each other.” When asked if it was possible for members to know who were the members of the club and who were the followers, Rivieccio said, “I am not sure Facebook has the capability to distinguish followers from members. Our ‘membership’ is public and we keep a “public” page. Because we keep a public page, we, of course, have followers. Many clubs do not have public pages or activities or meetings.”

 

Rivieccio later clarified that aside from the public, the club members themselves do know who are the club members and who are just followers of the page.

Meanwhile, a review of the Facebook page of the New York chapter of the DSA shows that there are 20,781 people who like the organization, and it lets you know who among them are your friends. It also shows that 22,519 people follow the organization. Four private groups are linked to the New York Chapter. These are the eco-socialists, comprising 51 members, the socialist feminists, comprising 727 members, the media creative comrades, comprising 378 members, and the DSA medics, comprising 27 members.

 

Meanwhile, a review of the NRA’s Facebook page shows that there are 4.8 million people who like the organization, 4.8 million people who follow the organization, 14,863 who check in with the organization, and it shows that one affiliated group, the NRA Community Engagement group, has approximately 11,500 members.

 

One could also argue that there is actually substantial transparency when it comes to accessing the political affiliation of New York City voters. For a fee of between $10 and $50 (as of Oct 2018) depending on whether the records sought are in paper or in e-format, it’s possible to request a list of registered voters in specific city districts detailing political party affiliation for “elections’ purposes.”

 

New York State Election Law Sec 3-103(5) prohibits the use of information derived from voter registration records for non-election purposes. However, requests for voter registration data can be obtained, as long as they include a statement that the information requested will be used for an “elections’ purpose” in compliance with the law. The law states that an “elections purpose” has traditionally been interpreted broadly, and includes campaigning, mailings, voter outreach, fundraising and academic research.

 

BFRDC also has a Facebook page, and a representative from the assemblyman’s office added on Jan. 12, that the point was more that the NRA and DSA do not publish their official membership lists, nor do they provide contact information for their members to outside parties.

 

In terms of who has access to the membership list, the assemblyman said BFRDC elects a corresponding secretary to maintain the list. “The president and first vice president also have access to the list,” he said. “The treasurer keeps the register of who paid dues. Nobody else has access to the membership list, including myself and other endorsed candidates, in order to maintain privacy for the club and club members.”

 

Separately, Heller said that any club member was also free to disclose their membership of the club to the public. Meanwhile, the assemblyman went on to say that the BFRDC endorsement was the most open, transparent, inclusive and democratic of any political group, especially during a pandemic, and that all candidates had participated in the process.

 

Indeed, the candidates’ bios were each posted on the club’s website, a novel move for the club this year according to Heller, and they were also each afforded some time to present their candidacy to club members, via zoom. Heller told the Norwood News, he had even facilitated a request from Padernacht to update his bio, when asked.

 

It’s not the first time that controversy has surrounded an endorsement by the BFRDC. As reported by Norwood News, back in 2014, then Sen. Jeff Klein, who has since been replaced in the State Senate by Sen. Alessandria Biaggi, emerged victorious in securing an endorsement from the club, after what was reported as a lengthy evening of accusations of betrayal, debates, rebuttals and questions over whether the decision would cause a divide.

 

Klein, head of the then power-sharing Independent Democratic Conference, won support over challenger and deep-rooted Ben Franklin Club member, Oliver Koppell. The final tally was 96 votes for Klein, 38 for Koppell with 11 abstentions.

 

This year, given that both the club endorsement process and the annual election of the club’s officers were described as “critical functions” in the minutes of the Nov. 18 executive committee meeting, we asked Heller why it was that only one of those critical functions was carried out (the endorsement) and apparently quite quickly before year-end, while the other (the election of the officers) was postponed indefinitely.

 

Speaking to Norwood News on Dec. 24, Heller said it was because the timing of the two processes was different. “The special petitioning process for the special election, if it goes forth, will begin Jan. 4, so for us to do an endorsement by the club, we had to have our endorsement process lined up in advance of Jan. 4,” he said. “That couldn’t wait, because on Jan. 4, if we have an endorsed candidate, the club will start circulating petitions for that candidate. That’s what de-coupled the two processes. That was urgent. Selecting new club officers is not urgent.”

 

We asked Heller, given the subsequent fallout the the decision caused, would it not have been more democratic to listen to the concerns of the six other candidates. “Only two of them are members of the club,” he said on Dec. 24, ahead of the vote tally. “Jessica Haller joined the club very recently. Dan Padernacht joined the club a number of years ago. It’s sour grapes on their part. On the record, it’s sour grapes. The votes have not been counted yet, and I think that they suspect they’re going to lose, so they decided to poison the process.”

 

As reported by Norwood News, a special election date of March 23 was announced on Jan. 4 by Mayor Bill de Blasio in respect of the 11^th City Council District race. Marcos Sierra and Abigail Martin announced on Jan. 5 that they have both dropped out of that special election race, but still plan to participate in the June primary.