Here in New York we’ve had no shortage of political scandals on both sides of the aisle. Whether it be unseating corrupt Republicans or running good Democratic candidates to fill the empty seats of the Albany-to-prison pipeline, the need for a strong Democratic Party is clear. One way of building our party is by electing good District Leaders. This volunteer position should be one of our best tools for strengthening our party and building a better Brooklyn.
So what does a District Leader do? How can they help to build a better Brooklyn for all? One local politician recently described the volunteer party position in this way:
“As a party, we need to actively engage and empower grassroots leaders from all of the diverse communities of [Brooklyn], preparing them to be the next generation of Democratic leadership in southern Brooklyn…our party needs to partner with grassroots leaders on these unifying issues — to amplify their voices, and to enable communities to transform neighborhood strength into political power. Party-building must go hand-in-hand with community-building. The strength of our party depends on our ability to welcome new faces and new voices; increased diversity brings a vitality that is essential to our future success as a party”
I could not agree more.
The words above are those of Councilman Mark Treyger describing why he is now trying to silence the new voice of a grassroots leader from Southern Brooklyn, Chris McCreight, who is running to become the District Leader of the 46th Assembly District. So much for “welcoming new faces.”
As a City Councilman and a co-chair of the Council’s Brooklyn delegation, based on time alone, Councilman Treyger simply wouldn’t — or shouldn’t — have the time and therefore the ability to be an effective District Leader. What’s even more ponderous is the fact that Councilman Treyger does not even live in the 46th Assembly District he seeks to represent!
But more important than his time, ability or current geographic location, is Councilman Treyger’s willingness to do the job which has me most concerned. One simply needs to judge his own actions against his own words to call his candidacy into question.
For example, in 2014 I ran as a grassroots leader from Southern Brooklyn to unseat Senator Martin Golden. As a longtime activist on issues of corruption in Albany, I ran to send a reform voice to Albany. As a volunteer after Hurricane Sandy,
I helped prepare meals for families affected by the storm and the volunteers who worked to help them. For well over 9 months, I helped prepare more than 100,000 meals for families in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island affected by the storm. I was also a founding member of the Brooklyn Long Term Recovery Group, a coalition of non-profits working to help families recover from the storm and help our city prepare for the next one. In 2013 I also helped organize the only Mayoral forum dedicated entirely to Sandy recovery and city resiliency. As chair of the new City Council committee on Recover and Resiliency it seemed a no-brainer that I could count on Councilman Treyger’s support in my run for the New York State Senate, but it was not to be.
Please do not think this is personal. Councilman Treyger has failed to support many if not most Democratic candidates in recent memory, not just me. In 2012, Councilman Treyger refused to support Andrew Gounardes, another grassroots candidate running against Senator Golden. His lack of support does not end at grassroots candidates. Established candidates like Dominic Recchia and Councilman Vincent Gentile failed to receive Councilman Treyger’s support in their respective runs for Congress. You read the correctly. Mark Treyger would not even support Councilman Vincent Gentile in a special election.
By contrast, his opponent Chris McCreight, has tirelessly worked to build the Democratic Party not just in Southern Brooklyn but all across the borough and city. Chris has managed many campaigns to unseat Republicans and has been a neighborhood advocate on a variety of issues. Chris not only helped, but in many cases actually managed the campaigns of the next generation of promising grassroots candidates that Councilman Treyger failed to support.
As a grassroots activist and the go-to campaign manager in Southern Brooklyn, Chris possesses both the passion and experience necessary to be a brilliantly effective District Leader. Chris McCreight has worked tirelessly to elect grassroots candidates and build the next generation of leaders, often working against the very kind of self-interested, power hungry machinations intended to silence new voices that we see Councilman Treyger pursuing today.
By Councilman Treyger’s own words and actions, the choice in this race is clear: Chris McCreight is the new face and the new voice we should welcome to work with us hand in hand in building our party and our community.
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