Last night, the Columbia County Democratic Committee (CCDC) endorsed Heidi Cochrane to be the party's 2022 nominee for State Supreme Court Justice. Sam Pratt reported the decision on his blog, SamPratt.com: "County Dems endorse Cochrane over Herman, Portin for judge."
Last week, the Hudson City Democratic Committee sent a letter to the CCDC requesting that the meeting, which was scheduled for and took place on April 28, be postponed, pointing out that the date of the meeting "conflicts with an important time of religious observance for three of our voting members." The letter went on to explain, "April 28, the 27th day of Ramadan, is expected to be the celebration of Laylat al Qadr, the holiest day of the year," and argued, "The vote on the candidate for Supreme Court Justice is extremely important, and the Bengali members of the HCDC [Abdus Miah, Dewan Sarowar, and Shershah Mizan] feel very strongly about participating in the process and representing their substantial Bengali community, who have long been strong, active Democrats." The request for postponement from the Hudson Democrats was obviously not honored.
COPYRIGHT 2022 CAROLE OSTERINK
Your readers should know that the CCDC did accommodate the request of the HCDC regarding Ramadan. Abdus Miah, who is referred to in the Sam Pratt story you linked to, was able to attend the meeting because Sam Hodge, CCDC Chair, arrived at a solution that permitted the meeting to go forward in accordance with the CCDC bylaws, which do not allow proxy votes. In a thoughtful response to the HCDC's letter, Hodge offered to let the HCDC's Muslim members arrive late and cast their votes after the meeting was called to order and a quorum reached. Abdus, Dewan Sarowar and Shershah Mizan were able to break their fast with family on this holiest day of Ramadan, come to the meeting and vote, and then return to their mosque for hours of praying. Abdus's ability to speak at the meeting in support of Brian Herman was facilitated by the CCDC Executive Committee.
ReplyDeleteDorothy Heyl
HCDC Treasurer