The Local Democrats of New York is a Multi-Candidate Committee registered with the State of New York. The goal is to build a grassroots political infrastructure in (our) communities. They believe by focusing on local party positions, such as County Committee, they can represent true political power. This organization held a forum in collaboration with other organizations listed on their material such as You Matter Nation, Bronx Progressives, Politics Reborn, County Committee Sunlight Project, and Rep Your Block.
After some research it appears that,
You Matter Nation started in 2016, and most of the postings are anti Donald Trump.
Bronx Progressives a former Bernie Sanders group appears to have become the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Congress group. Ms. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who was in attendance is running in the 14th Congressional district against long time incumbent and Queens Democratic County Leader Joseph Crowley.
Politics Reborn is based in Long Island City Queens. The one speaker told the audience to run for County Committee, but make sure you have an opponent so your name appears on the primary ballot. The problem she said is that almost all County Committee seats go uncontested, so to be on the primary ballot you must have an opponent.
County Committee Sunlight Project is based in Manhattan, and speaker Ben Yee gave some facts that are correct in Manhattan but not always the case in the Bronx as election law can differ from county to county.
Rep Your Block says it is a program of New Kings Democrats that has worked to reform County Committee by recruiting hundreds of Brooklyn Democrats to petition and run for seats on County Committee.
The only two people listed as members of LDNY, and co-founders were Samelys Lopez and Michael Beltzer. Both are current Bronx County Committee members and both ran for Bronx District Leader positions in 2016 unsuccessfully.
One interesting note was that I found on a table a release made up by the Local Democrats of New York ("LDNY") for people to sign for LDNY to be authorized to use their names to aid in my ________ campaign to take place on September 13th 2018 in the State of New York, within the political boundary of the address listed below, which includes raising and spending money on my behalf. A photo of the release is below with other photos of the event.
Above - Mr. Ben Yee of Manhattan speaks about the Process of County Committee.
Below - The material used for the Bronx presentation however is that of the Manhattan County Structure. Mr. Yee admitted that the process does differ from county to county and what is done in Manhattan is not always the same for the Bronx.
Above - Mr. Beltzer is with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez candidate for the 14th Congressional district.
Below - Mr. Beltzer is with Mr. Mohammed J. Mujumder who is supporting a candidate for the 87th Assembly District.
Above - Panel number one tell of their experience in politics.
Below - Panel number two tell of their experience in politics.
Above - There was over 50 people in attendance at this event.
Below - Mr. Beltzer is talking with a woman who has announced that she is running for the 87th Assembly seat.
