What Is A District Leader?
The District Leader is an unpaid volunteer elected official. Each district gets to elect two district leaders, one male and one female, with the same responsibilities. District Leaders are elected for two-year terms.
This year’s election for Democratic District Leader is on Tuesday, September 15, 2009.
The most important role of a District Leader is to be an advocate for the community. Too often, neighborhood concerns are brushed aside by the powerful interests involved.
As District Leader, Paul Newell will stand up and fight when our neighborhoods are ignored.
In addition to advocacy, the District Leader performs an essential role in our electoral process. Below is a list of a District Leader’s formal responsibilities.
- Hires poll workers and election inspectors for the primary elections every September and the general elections in November
- Attends Democratic Party meetings and events on behalf of the district
- Listens to the residents of the district to learn what issues are affecting their quality of life, such as housing, employment, education, environment and crime
- Organizes meetings and events in the district to give community members a strong voice
- Works with the district’s city, state, and federal elected officials to insure that the voices of the community are heard
- Organizes opposition when elected officials or state/city agencies ignore local residents.
- Provides support to elect good candidates to public office in the district
- Is an information resource to the district’s voters in numerous ways including poll site locations, election results and general information about candidates
… the lower East Side, East Village, Chinatown, Wall Street and Battery Park City would gain in Newell a well-qualified representative who is both in sync with the district's political leanings and in touch with grass-roots concerns about traffic, schools, affordable housing and sustainable neighborhoods.
The New York Daily News, 9/7/2008