Committees

Animal Welfare

With the increasing focus of the City Council and New York State Legislature on Animal Welfare issues, our committee was formed to propose and monitor pending legislation, as well as comment on existing legislation.  

Linda Jacobson, Chair

The purpose of the Animal Welfare Committee is to report to the VID Membership issues and legislation affecting all animals in the City and State of New York, and not excluding the Federal Government.

Working with our elected officials it is also our purpose, with the approval of the VID Membership, to initiate legislation that we feel would improve the health and welfare of all animals.

Are you interested in joining this Committee?  Have a question? Send your message HERE.

Campaign Committee

It is the job of the VID Campaign Committee to elect public and party officials who exemplify our ideals and are committed to implementing them.

Tony Hoffmann, Chair

The Campaign Committee meets regularly to plan campaigns, organize candidate forums, and run campaigns to elect our endorsed candidates.

Among the campaign activities we do are:

• Voter Registration Drives
• Petitioning
• Phone Banking
• Canvassing
• Texting
• Mailings
• Dear Neighbor Letters
• Election Day Operations.

The campaign committee also gets involved every four years in the presidential
election. We help organize on a weekly basis sending bus loads of volunteers to
neighboring states to canvass for the Democratic nominee.

Are you interested in joining this Committee?  Have a question?  Send your message HERE.

Education

VID’s Education Committee supports policies that ensure every student has equal access to a quality education.

Patricia Laraia, Chair

Are you interested in joining this Committee?  Have a question?  Send your message HERE.

Environmental

The goal of the Environmental Committee is to propose to the Executive Committee and the membership progressive policies related to environmental issues. An environmentally clean and safe world is a human right. By supporting the club’s legislative efforts, we hope to make our actions more productive and successful.

Nat Johnson, Chair

A few of our social and legislative priorities include:

• Expanding sanitation services like increasing composting and trash collection in New York City,
• Support and promotion of Local Law 97
• Passing legislation in the State and City to require restaurants to exclude and reduce the amounts of plastics entering our environment,
• Promotion of legislation like the “Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act,”
• Eliminating all fossil fuel subsidies,
• Banning new fossil fuel power plants and infrastructure,
• Promote in New York State and City renewable energy infrastructure such as heat pumps, solar and wind power.
• Banning use of fracking by-products such as highway de-icing agents and the use of State subsidized power for cryptocurrency mining,
• Expanding the availability and number of EV recharging stations, and switching NYC-owned vehicles to become fully electric,
• Requiring manufacturers to implement strategies to promote recycling of their products, “Extended Producer Responsibility,”
• Promotion of climate-friendly farming “regenerative agriculture policies,”
• Keeping chemical contaminants and cancer-causing agents out of our water supplies,
• Actively support NYS’s environmental goals.

Committee Members

Anne Heaney, Elizabeth Mann, Lois Rakoff, Freda Bradlow, Onya Brinson and several former club members

If you would like to join the VID Environment Committee or would like more information, send us an email: HERE.

Gun Control

Formed to support the Parkland Student Activists in February 2018, VID’s Gun Control Committee works to reduce gun violence in our city and state by mobilizing voters and working with elected officials to pass common sense gun reform. 

Karla Moskowitz, Chair

Are you interested in joining this Committee?  Have a question?  Send your message HERE.

Gala Committee

Every year VID honors elected officials, members and community organizers whose progressive policies and work we value and support. The gala usually takes place in September at a locally owned restaurant and is an anticipated and fabulous event! Many hands are needed to coordinate the gala so please join the team! Ideas, suggestions and help of all sorts are always welcome and needed.

Questions? Contact [email protected]

Housing

When it comes to housing, VID has long championed the fight to preserve, and to build new, affordable housing

Jonathan Geballe, Chair

We have formed a Housing Committee whose goal is to protect rent-stabilized and rent-controlled tenants. Please stay tuned for information regarding VID's Housing Clinic. Among their accomplishments: Bedford tenants win ‘class-action’ status in rent-reg fight

Are you interested in joining the Housing Committee?  Do you have a question?  Are you an at-risk rent-regulated tenant?  Send your message HERE.

Legislative Affairs

The Legislative Affairs Committee leads VID’s policy on state and local legislation, especially with respect to subject matter areas not covered by other committees.  The committee advocates for priority legislation each year, and drafts bills where necessary.

David Siffert, Chair

Are you interested in joining this Committee?  Have a question?  Send your message HERE.

Membership

The membership committee plays an important role and helps keep track of the membership database.  Help make sure that members are up to date so we can have a thriving club and community of members who can participate.  Club members in good standing can join the Executive Board, committees (or suggest new ones), vote in important club elections for leadership, vote to endorse candidates, vote on Resolution letters to elected officials and more. Database entry training available. Join us!

Questions? Contact [email protected]

National Affairs

Given the stakes of the upcoming 2024 national elections, VID should seek opportunities to influence national Democratic policies and politics.

Ed Yutkowitz, Chair

 Our National Affairs Committee; 

• Identifies emerging issues and ideas with national and international implications.
• Seeks creative solutions for national problems.
• Develops strategies by which VID can play a part in promoting these solutions.  

The National Affairs Committee addresses:

• The rise of autocracy and assaults on voting rights and personal and press freedom.
• How Democrats can better craft their message and use local and national media to reinvigorate their brand and promote their policies and politics. 
• Expanding Democratic representation in Congress and the Senate.  

The Committee:

• Invites expert guests to speak on a variety of subjects, such as public health, foreign policy, transportation, economics (including labor, trade, and changing work- and marketplaces), technology, and culture.
• Provides a national perspective on issues of local concerns, including the environment, crime, immigration, and education.
• Works with state and national Democratic elected officials and organizations to influence and strengthen their policy and communications strategies.

Are you interested in joining this Committee?  Have a question?  Send your message HERE.

NYS Democratic Party Strategy

The VID NYS Democratic Party Strategy focuses on providing recommendations to Governor Hochul and NYS to reform the NYS Democratic Party’s structure, leadership and efforts to set up the party for success from local to federal elections.

Melissa Carty, Chair

Are you interested in joining this Committee?  Have a question? Send your message HERE.

Out of District

The VID Out of District Committee focuses on assisting Democratic Campaigns to win in districts out of the Village Independent Democrats immediate district.  

Melissa Carty, Chair

We work to ensure that Democrats win in races at all levels from local to federal races.  We leverage our expertise in phone banking, writing postcards, texting and canvassing in person where possible to assist Democratic campaigns in their election bids. 

We most recently were involved in the following winning campaigns: Pat Ryan’s Congressional race in NY-18, Josh Shapiro for Governor of PA, John Fetterman for Senate in PA, Susan Wild’s Congressional Race in PA-7 and Matt Cartwright’s Congressional race in PA-8.

Are you interested in joining this Committee?  Have a question? Send your message HERE.