The structure of the Queens Democratic Party suggests active and robust democratic participation. However, the actual practices of the party leadership are just the opposite. Democratic voters should expect more from their party. They should expect a choice of judicial candidates to vote for. They should expect access to information about the party structure, including who their County Committee representatives and District Leaders are, and how to run for the County Committee themselves. They should expect their party not to endorse candidates in primaries and instead listen to voters. They should expect that candidates for Special Elections not be hand-picked by a few party insiders - around 1/3 of state legislators got their seats by special election.

Incoming party Chairman US Rep. Gregory Meeks has an opportunity to strengthen the Queens Democratic Party by making it more, well, democratic. 43 County Committee members have drafted a letter detailing reforms that would make the Queens party transparent, accountable, and accessible. We the undersigned Queens residents support these reforms and request a public response from Chairman Meeks.

Letter from County Committee members:

https://medium.com/queens-county-committee-for-all/open-letter-to-chairperson-meeks-a23e9f792d2b?fbclid=IwAR0Ht33QjDb5AaOCm_hzYrLHclf_K69DYR3rWAlyxA4aeKg6vXuSu5ugKi0

More reading on County Committee:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/24/nyregion/queens-candidates-nominated-without-knowing.html?fbclid=IwAR0ThlYhbDy7bbjpknA4uPjti05iEcNIJVCVvOVpZdIFH_ZuIhQ62yauNWY