Dead Souls: How Brooklyn Democrats Create Local Councils From People Who Don't Know It or Have Died Long Ago

Alfreda Davis, a lifelong Brooklyn-based housing activist, passed away from complications following brain surgery on November 1, 2020. So her family members were shocked by what they learned last week. It turns out that on December 1, 2020 - a month after Davis' death - the leader of the Coney Island Democrats filed an official form in which the deceased was registered for a seat on the Brooklyn Democratic Party district committee. New York Daily News.

“I don't know how or why her name was used in this way,” said Cheyenne McGregor, Davis' granddaughter. “I find it strange and disturbing.”

The inclusion of Davis's name on the form submitted by Dionne Brown-Jordan, Democratic leader of South Brooklyn's 46th congressional district, is part of a ploy by the district's Democratic Party leadership. The goal of the ploy is to gain unlimited power over internal party operations by recruiting "dead souls" into your committee.

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The form Brown-Jordan filled out also included the names of at least three other Brooklyn residents who they said were never briefed on committee appointments.

Among them is Caroline Michelsen, a 92-year-old former actress living in Bay Ridge.

"I do not know why it is so. I shouldn't have been there at all. They didn’t tell me about it,” Michelsen said. She used to be affiliated with the Brooklyn Democratic Party, but has been inactive for many years due to her advanced age.

In Davis' case, the granddaughter said the party paid tribute to her late grandmother in December 2020 at a Zoom meeting. That is, they knew for sure that she was no longer alive.

Brown-Jordan's 2020 bid has been approved. The party approved the entire list of candidates, including the "dead souls", at a meeting on December 23 of that year.

Even though Davis was dead, she was being used as a proxy. That is, she automatically voted the same as Brown-Jordan. Thanks to this, a number of party vacancies were approved at the meeting and five new amendments to the rules were adopted.

Michelsen, a 92-year-old Bay Ridge resident, said she also did not attend the meeting. Two other unwitting members of the committee, Noah Weston and Bill Engfer, said they weren't there either because they didn't even know they were being nominated.

Revealing the list of "dead souls" from Brown-Jordan followed behind the message of the news portal The City. It said that the Brooklyn Democratic Party had submitted lists to the Electoral Council to fill committee vacancies that included the names of at least 20 people nominated without their consent, they had no idea they were being nominated. These lists were filed on behalf of Brown-Jordan and Michael Silverman.

Tony Malone, a county committee member since 2018 and director of communications for the New Kings Democrats, said party leaders are using the proxy system to deceitfully expand their influence.