Maybe Brownsville can teach Park Slope a thing or three about democracy, spirited elections and political discourse.
That after Assemblymember Robert Carroll (D), City Council Member Brad Lander (D) and female Democratic District Leader Lori Citron-Knipel all glowingly threw their support behind attorney Doug Schneider for the open male Democratic District Leader seat in Carroll’s 44th Assembly district covering Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Kensington and Ditmas Park.
The glowing support comes about a week after longtime 44th Assembly District Leader Jacob Gold announced his retirement after questionable reports concerning spending of his campaign contributions.
“Doug is a committed community activist and attorney who has worked or volunteered in Democratic politics for 20 years. His knowledge, skills, and vision will be a tremendous asset for the Kings County Democratic Party and the 44th Assembly District. Doug and Lori together will make a great team and I look forward to working with them on issues big and small across the neighborhoods of the 44th,” said Carroll.
“Doug Schneider is an effective neighborhood leader, a smart lawyer, a committed reformer, a good friend, a true-blue Democrat — and he will be a great Democratic District Leader” said Lander. “I’ve had the chance to see his organizing work up close, as a leader on the District Committee for participatory budgeting, and as a Civic Council trustee working for a more ‘age-friendly’ Park Slope by making sure our sidewalks are accessible for all. I’m proud to endorse him, and look forward to working closely together to strengthen grassroots democracy in Brooklyn.”
The endorsements come after both Carroll and Schneider participated with the New Kings Democrats political club in a ‘Rep your block’ forum, held at the Pakistani American Youth Society Center, 1001 Newkirk Avenue, which aims to “educate” all Brooklynites on the need to become involved in local politics through becoming Democratic County Committee members.
Among the neighborhoods the NKD are targeting in this initiative include Brownsville, in what several black political leaders call political gentrification.
Ironically, Brownsville just came off a very spirited city council election with four qualified candidates, and has a good deal of political discourse. Additionally, both the male and female district leader races are expected to field several qualified candidates this year, and both of Brownsville’s elected local lawmakers Assemblywoman Latrice Walker and City Councilwoman Alicka Ampry-Samuel have said it is too early to endorse anybody yet for district leadership positions..
But in the Park Slope, the ground zero for Brooklyn’s progressive politics movement, all the political leadership is on lockdown support for Schneider before petitioning for the office has even begun.
If the district were more Democratic and fostered a more open election process, it could be argued that Schneider both deserves to be district leader because of his wealth of experience and political activism or that someone else is needed because Schneider is the consummate political insider whose preaching for reform stops at his own front door.
According to Schneider’s campaign website, his political activism includes doing work on criminal justice reform to end stop & frisk policing, and he participated in the successful effort to pass “Raise the Age” legislation to prevent teenagers from being sent to Rikers Island.
He also has a long record of fighting for LGBTQ rights and pedestrian safety.
On the consummate political insider side, Schneider’s wife, Joni Kletter, served as Mayor de Blasio’s campaign treasurer, and now is the director of appointments in the mayor’s office, which in itself is rife with patronage. On this front, it could also be argued that an outsider far from Park Slope’s corridor of power is needed to better represent the entire district.
The primary is slated for Sept. 13.
