While he has yet to officially announce he’s running, Central Brooklyn’s most powerful Democratic Club Saturday gave its blessing to acting Kings County District Attorney Eric Gonzalez in the upcoming DA primary.
The Vanguard Independent Democratic Association (VIDA) endorsed Gonzalez after vetting him and the already announced candidates through their legal committee before presenting three candidates to the executive committee who voted to endorse Gonzalez. VIDA refused to say who the other two candidates were that made it to the final round.
“I am really honored to have the endorsement of VIDA, it really means a tremendous amount to me personally, as I go ahead and become a candidate for the district attorney’s race,” said Gonzalez. “VIDA was the first endorsement that I sought out.”
Saturday’s meeting was the first time Gonzalez has openly acknowledged a run for district attorney. He called a press conference for 11 a.m., Wednesday at Restoration Plaza in Bedford Stuyvesant where he is widely expected to make the official announcement that he’s running.
Raised in the East New York section of Brooklyn, Gonzalez spoke about his family roots in Bedford Stuyvesant, particularly Tompkins Houses and Lewis Avenue, with family members still living on Willoughby. “This community is actually part of my community,” said Gonzalez.
Bedford Stuyvesant’s political club, VIDA, has long played an essential part in defining the civic realm of Central Brooklyn. In its’ efforts to organize the community, the Democratic club has produced influential political leaders such as founder, former City Councilmembers and Assemblymembers Albert Vann and Annette Robinson, who swapped seats after Robinson was term-limited out of the City Council.
Robinson remains the area’s female Democratic District leader, and is vice chair of the Kings County Democratic Party behind Chair Frank Seddio.
VIDA has also produced Bed-Stuy’s new generation of leaders including City Councilmember Robert Cornegy and Assemblymember Tremaine Wright, and current President Henry Butler is one of the front runners in the race for term-limited Darlene Mealy’s 41st District City Council Seat.
The members of VIDA’s legal committee that screened the DA candidates were attorneys Lauren Brown, Babatunde Hathaway, Babatunde Akowe, Michelle Robinson, Shekera Shahid, and Chinyelu Udoh.
Each candidate’s policy on open file discovery was one of the criteria the legal committee employed in the screening process.
“Proper exchange of documentation between the prosecutor’s office and the defense attorney’s office that would allow both sides to continue the case in court and take it all the way to trial or to work out any plea deal negotiations,” explained Udoh. The increasingly utilized method of criminal discovery has long been debated within the New York City’s judicial system.
Butler said the executive board considered each candidate’s position on excessive force against citizens of Brooklyn, hate crimes against African Americans and alternative sentencing before determining to endorse Gonzalez.
“The solution is not always incarceration,” said Butler. “We want to make sure they continue programs that will help our youth.”
