Approximately 40-50 members of the Village Independent Democrats (VID) met on Thursday, December 12 in St. John’s Church on Christopher Street. There were brief reports by district leaders Keen Berger and Arthur Schwartz followed by an enthusiastic presentation from Kristina Andreotta from Citizen Action. She requested help from VID members in implementing ethics proposals of the recent Moreland Commission by contacting Governor Cuomo’s office and asking that funding for implementation be included in January’s governor’s tentative budget, an act that would make actual implementation later in the year much easier.
Elections followed in which club president Tony Hoffman was re-elected, and vice presidents Nat Johnson, Irene Kaufman, and Katherine Wolpe were also selected, all by unanimous votes. There were then unanimous votes for resolutions supporting the Small Business Jobs Survival Act (establishing commercial rent control), opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership (a trade bill with significant benefits for large corporations), and supporting Senator Gillibrand’s position on how the military should handle sexual assaults. Also, a thank you letter is to be sent to Senator Reid commending his recent reform of filibuster rules in the US Senate.
Finally, there was a discussion, although no proposal, on who should be the next city council leader. All speakers who expressed a preference spoke in favor of Melissa Mark-Viverito.
The next general meeting will be on Thursday, January 9, at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 83 Christopher Street.
