A Christmas Eve Look Back at "Atlas Shrugs in Brooklyn" is a Dickens-like visit from a ghost with carols of the past

Please, help me break the chains... break the chains... 

The following is taken directly from ASIB of bygone days, so it's a little out of date, but quite nostalgic  ---  This is really about the only way to unchain the Brooklyn Republican Establishment from its petty greed and short-sighted entanglements, and to improve the Christmases and other wonderful holidays yet to be for the Brooklyn GOP 

                                           --- Marley's Ghost

About Brooklyn Republicans

What is the Brooklyn Republican Party?

The Brooklyn Republican Party, or as it is officially known, the Kings County Republican County Committee, is the duly authorized county party of the New York State Republican Party.  Authorized by NYS Election Law 2-104, each party county committee consists of a minimum of two party members per Election District, which is a district that consists of about 1,000 voters and usually is the size of one city block to several blocks in size.  Groups of Election Districts, as determined by law, make up Assembly Districts, Senate Districts, Council Districts, Congressional Districts, and others.  District Leaders/State Committee Members also serve on its Executive Committee.  It is charged with the general governance, decision-making and organization of the party within Brooklyn.

What does the County Committee look like?

In terms of size, there are 20 Assembly Districts in Brooklyn, each with approximately 100 Election Districts, which results in approximately 2,000 Election Districts.  That means the minimum size of the County Committee, if fully constituted, would be approximately 4,000 grassroots Republican activists and leaders within every community in Brooklyn.

Right now, as of 2007, only 1,567 of those County Committee positions are filled, or approximately 38% of the total permitted by law.  Two entire Assembly Districts, the 58th Assembly District (East New York/Brownsville) and the 50th Assembly District (Clinton Hill/Williamsburg/Greenpoint), have NO representation in the Brooklyn Republican Party whatsoever.  The rest average at about 41% representation.  Only three Assembly Districts have an almost full delegations to the County Committee: the 60th AD (Bay Ridge), the 49th AD (Bensonhurst/Bath Beach) and the 51st AD (Sunset Park).

But honestly, can you imagine if the State Assembly only had 41% of its members elected, and the rest vacant?  How about if two states had no representatives in Congress at all?  Wouldn’t we think that meant the end of  our Republic as we knew it?  Yet we permit it for our party, the only party that is capable of defending sound policies to keep our government operating at its best.

What does it take to become a Member of the County Committee to represent your community in the Republican Party and to help spread the message of Republican principles to your neighbors?

Any registered Republican who resides in Brooklyn may represent an Election District in the County Committee.

• First, you need to follow the provision of Election Law relating to obtaining thenomination for public office or party positions.
• Usually, this means circulating a designating petition among fellow registered Republicans in the Election District you want to represent.  You will need 5% of the registered Republicans in that Election District to sign your petition in order to be eligible to run on the Primary Election ballot as a candidate for County Committee Member.  Usually, that means you need to get anywhere from 1 to 20 signatures.
• Then, you must submit those petitions by the date and time designated by the Board of Elections.  You will have a little over 30 days to collect the requisite number of signatures.
• Once you file your petitions, since there are so few people who desire the position, you probably won’t have your position contested at the Primary Election.  If you do, then start campaigning to your neighbors so you can win that seat!

What would you do as a County Committee Member?

You are an elected party official from your district.  Your job is to represent your constituents’ needs and concerns to the best of your ability in the County Committee, which includes primarily Republicans but also all the other voters in your district because everyone counts in Republican politics.

The role can be many different things.  For instance, you and your co-committee member from your Election District could:

• Put together a monthly/weekly political e-newsletter to keep your neighbors informed of what’s going on in local, state and national politics.  Some people have created blogs for this purpose.
• Listening to your neighbors concerns about government as well as public and party policies, conducting surveys or holding informal discussion-oriented meetups
• Identify the community leaders within your Election District and work together with them to reach out to your immediate neighborhood
• Organize petitioning within your Election District to help get local Republican candidates nominated

What do District Leaders/State Committee Member do and how can I become one?

For each Assembly District, there are two District Leaders/State Committee Members who represent each district.  Because Brooklyn has 20 Assembly Districts, there are 40 District Leaders in Brooklyn.  There must be one male leader and one female leader.

The District Leaders’ role is to organize all activities of the party within their district.  That means coordinating with County Committee Members in the district to recruit volunteers, solicit for donations, spreading the word about campaigns, interviewing candidates for public office, providing local Republicans with the ability to select candidates to nominate, organize clubs, and recommend individuals to serve as Board of Elections personnel during elections.  The position, however, is completely flexible and can be whatever a person wishes it to be, so long as they are getting the job done.

The process for becoming a District Leader/State Committee Member is similar to that of County Committee Member, except that the signature requirement is much higher, between 200 – 500 signatures for the entire Assembly District.  However, working in concert with County Committee Members, who require each an average of 10 signatures to qualify (30 County Committee Members = 300 Signatures) can help expedite the process.