Member Town Hall Misses the Mark in Addressing Split Budget Vote
One month after DSA Socialists in Office (SIOs) failed to vote as a bloc against the New York State budget, NYC chapter leadership held a membership-wide Town Hall to address the subsequent fallout. Electeds were invited but few attended due to ostensible scheduling conflicts, most opting to submit recorded statements instead of engaging with their base directly.
The meeting began as many chapter gatherings do with a powerpoint presentation from leadership, this one covering the budget process and who holds power in Albany. It’s solemn conclusion: not us. After the presentation, the SIOs spoke and video recordings were shared of those who did not attend. Most of the no-voting electeds expressed frustration with the yes-voters and the failure to vote as a bloc. As for the two yes-voters, Emily Gallagher submitted a video and Julia Salazar left after giving her statement, both missing the opportunity to hear from membership.
Many of the SIO statements were limited to generalities without discussion of the wider implications of the yes votes for our socialist movement. There was little mention of the impact of tenant protection rollbacks and expanded funding to police retail theft on working class New Yorkers. Instead, Emily spoke of getting material wins for her constituents, most of which live in the above-average income neighborhoods of Greenpoint and Williamsburg. This inability to see the broader picture beyond one’s own constituency is striking. Voting for a budget that criminalizes poverty and ignores the city’s rank-and-file tenant movement aligns DSA with the bourgeois state and undermines our socialist project. These contradictions required the opportunity for deliberative discussion, but unfortunately one cannot ask follow-up questions of a pre-recorded statement.
More than half way through the Town Hall, members had the opportunity to speak. Those on stack spoke overwhelmingly against the yes votes, the importance of voting as a bloc and the need for improved communication between DSA’s SIO Committee and membership at-large. There was a call for a long-term political strategy beyond the annual budget cycle as well as a reminder that building power in Albany is not possible without the patient work of base-building, like that being done by DSA’s nascent and under-resourced Independent Working Class Organization (IWCO) tenant organizing project.
The member comments were a clear call to action, but the SIO Committee did not provide a response to either the electeds’ or membership concerns. Following the event, attendees received an email from leadership acknowledging the need for follow up without giving a timetable or possible courses of action. By not outlining tangible next steps, other priorities like the Bowman endorsement and upcoming election will take precedence, pushing the question of organizational discipline to the perpetual back burner. This lack of response (so far) from the SIO committee to the concerns voiced by membership raises the question: how might we hold those tasked with holding our electeds accountable - accountable?
The SIO Committee needs to be restructured as a fully elected body in regular communication with membership which ensures SIO adherence to a principled program aligned with core socialist values. When red lines are crossed there must be pre-outlined methods of accountability, including, in the most extreme cases, censure, suspension, and revocation of endorsement. Town Halls should be held on a consistent, scheduled basis for members to hear from leadership, electeds and each other with sufficient time for deliberative discussion and clearly stated meeting outcomes. Although scheduling conflicts are presented as a reality of electeds' important and busy schedules, SIO attendance at relevant Town Halls should be required and leaving prior to hearing from their membership base should be denaturalized.
All members should reflect on what spaces and structures within DSA support the democratic engagement and leadership development of rank-and-file members and which are going through the motions to give the illusion of democracy. If the chapter hopes to attract and represent wider swaths of the working class, it needs to refrain from reproducing NGO-type processes and structures that tokenize its base in favor of building democratic mechanisms into all layers of the organization.