No longer can we tolerate these transgressions of the nationalist populist majority of the party. Reagan’s 11th commandment is dead.
The young Republicans of this club will reject hostility to equal justice, equal rights, and equal opportunity for every American to thrive.
We reject racist and xenophobic rhetoric and policies.
We reject baseless conspiracy theories whose purpose is to incite violence against fellow Americans and suppress our sacred right to vote.
Accordingly, the members of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club Board of Directors have instituted the following policies to ensure the integrity of the club’s commitment to Republican principles and our organization’s objectives.
The battle for the soul of the American experiment and the battle for the soul of the Republican Party go hand in hand. This is but one small step in that battle. And only if we are all in it together can we make that giant leap towards liberty and justice for all.
Joel M. Acevedo, BKYR President
On Wednesday, November 11, 2020, the Board of Directors of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club adopted the following Resolution at their monthly Board of Directors Meeting.
Resolution #7-2020 states,
“NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT:
RESOLVED, by the Board of Directors of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club Inc., that grounds for rejecting a membership application or expelling a member as “inimical to the best interests of the club” shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
An applicant who does not receive the sponsorship of at least two voting members of the Board of Directors attesting to the applicant’s general sympathy with or preference for the Republican Party’s principles and support for the objects of the club.
An applicant or member who has not attended at least two meetings or events of the club within the last 12 months.
An applicant or member who seeks to advance, contrary to the principles of the Republican Party, any ideology or policy, directly or indirectly, that defends or contributes to:
the continued existence or legacy of systemic or institutional racism,
white supremacy or any racial, ethnic, or religious supremacy or nationalism of any kind,
sexism,
xenophobia,
transphobia,
homophobia,
nativism,
sympathy with the causes of the Confederate States of America, or
acts of hate, exclusion, disenfranchisement or discrimination of any kind against American citizens or any person because of matters of conscience or immutable characteristics.
An applicant or member who seeks to undermine support for equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all persons, or to advance policies whose consequences would be evidently tantamount to the same.
An applicant or member who seeks to advance theories or arguments substantially lacking an objective and independently verifiable factual basis.
An applicant or member who seeks to advance any anti-republican platform, movement, faction or person whose effect would substantially be to undermine liberty as non-domination, the integrity of due process, the rule of law, separation of powers, federalism and limited constitutional democratically-elected republican government, which are our only bulwarks to protect and promote liberty and justice for all.”
President Joel Acevedo on behalf of the BKYR issued the following statement on the Presidential election.
On behalf of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club I congratulate President-elect Joseph R. Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala D. Harris. This is an historic election that deserves America’s praise for that we have the first Black woman ever elected to the Vice Presidency. America has a tall order ahead of us and only together can we get pass this inflection point in our history. To echo the words of Gov. Larry Hogan, “Everyone, regardless of political affiliation, should want him to succeed because we need our country to succeed.” Many Americans desperately want all sides to come together for bipartisan, common sense solutions to the serious problems that plague this country. The time to tune out the extremes is now. We can no longer adhere and enable toxic politics. We must come together as the United States of America and continue to advance life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all.
Joel M. Acevedo, President of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club.
On Wednesday, July 29, 2020, the Brooklyn Young Republican Club had our Annual Meeting & Elections for the BKYR Executive Board and Board of Directors. Let us welcome and congratulate our 2020-2021 Executive Board!
Executive Board:
Joel Acevedo, President (2nd Term)
Andrew J. Windsor, Vice President (2nd Term)
Joseph Gomez, Secretary (1st Term)
Board of Directors:
Jordan Cruger
Joshua Ferraiuolo
Jonathan Judge
Alexandra Sherer
One write-in vote was submitted for “Ron Konkoma” for the position of Treasurer. It was determined by the Chair of the Election Committee at the annual meeting that Mr. Konkoma was not qualified for either office having not satisfied the meeting attendance and membership requirements in the bylaws, specifically that Mr. Konkoma is not and has never been a member of the Club. Nevertheless, Mr. Konkoma only received one vote, and would not have reached the threshold of votes required to take office even if the candidate were deemed qualified for office.
One write-in vote was submitted for “Nicole Liebman” for the positions of Treasurer and Board of Director. It was determined by the Chair of the Election Committee at the annual meeting that Ms. Liebman was not qualified for either office, having not satisfied the meeting attendance and membership requirements for office in the bylaws, specifically that Ms. Liebman did not attend fifty percent of Club meetings in the calendar year. Nevertheless, Ms. Liebman only received one vote, and would not have reached the threshold of votes required to take office even if the candidate were deemed qualified for office.
One write-in vote was submitted for “Jason Loughran” for the position of Treasurer and the candidate was elected to the position of Treasurer by write-in having received the majority of votes. It was determined by the Chair of the Election Committee at the annual meeting that Mr. Loughran was qualified for office having satisfied the meeting attendance and membership requirements in the bylaws. At the annual meeting, Mr. Loughran accepted this position pending confirmation that it was not a conflict of interest with his employment. He has since then declined the position due to a conflict of interest.
Recap of 2020 Thus Far
BKYR Civic Republican Caucus:
Established by the Board of Directors on June 10, 2020, the BKYR Civic Republican Caucus met Wednesday, July 15, 2020, Chair of the Civic Republican Caucus, Jonathan Judge, hosted a successful inaugural meeting of the Caucus. The Caucus was established to propose, discuss, achieve consensus, and approve proposed Civic Republican-oriented policy positions from members, guest speakers, and others.
The purposes of the Civic Republican Caucus are:
a) to educate people about civic republicanism as a political philosophy;
b) to foster discussion about how it can be practiced within the Republican Party, in politics generally, and most importantly within policymaking; and
c) to advance the adoption of civic republicanism, wherever necessary and appropriate, within the Club, the Republican Party at the local, state and national levels, and within politics and policymaking generally.
The next meeting of the Brooklyn Young Republican Civic Republican Caucus will be held Monday, August 10. Please sign up here for an invite:
The Brooklyn Young Republican Club established a Policy Committee, co-chaired by Felicia Kalan and Eric Butkiewicz. The Committee has met twice, in the months of April and June, and is currently working on policy proposals to present to the membership of the club:
“Creation of a Policy Committee; Purposes; A standing Policy Committee (the “Committee”) shall be constituted to review all Club business concerning matters of public and party policy in order to prepare informed recommendations to the Board of Directors and/or to the Club membership, as appropriate, before further consideration is made. The Committee shall also prepare an annual agenda (the “Agenda”) of priority issues and initiatives for the Club to undertake. The Agenda shall be prepared and submitted for consideration by the Club membership no later than April 30th of each year.” (Resolution #2-2020)
The next meeting of the Brooklyn Young Republican Policy Committee will be held Wednesday, August 19. Any members wishing to join email us at info@brooklynyr.com for an invite.
2020 Events & News
January 2020, Out of Many, One: Advancing Equity and Justice for All | BKYR Meeting: The Brooklyn Young Republican Club had an awesome 2020 kick-off at the January meeting and heard from our Community Advocates Panel.
Community Advocates Panel
Jason Loughran, Associate Director of Special Programs & Initiatives at Department of Veterans Affairs, speaking on Veterans Outreach;
Felicia Kalan, Founder of Elevate Her Consulting, a freelancing collective that supports moms in finding remote work with a mission to end the gender-based wage gap, speaking on Women’s Empowerment;
Anthony J. Finkel, Founder of DPH Property Maintenance Service, a company that addresses a need in his community for high-quality, low-cost property maintenance services, speaking on Entrepreneurship;
Devin Balkind, President of the Sahana Software Foundation, a nonprofit organization that produces the world’s most popular open source information management system for disaster relief and humanitarian aid, speaking on Clean & Transparent Government.
February 2020, Black History Month: Advancing Black Equity Panel: The Brooklyn Young Republican Club celebrated Black History Month with a panel on equity for Black Americans, moderated by NY1’s Errol Louis, discussing issues and solutions needed to advance Black equity in Brooklyn and beyond.
Dr. Janice Johnson Dias, Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Anthony Beckford, President of Black Lives Matter Brooklyn
March 2020, Women’s History Month: Advancing HerStory Panel: The Brooklyn Young Republican Club celebrated Women’s History Month with a panel on the role of Women in the Republican Party and America, moderated by Republican Women for Progress Co-founder, Meghan Milloy.
Advancing HerStory Panel:
Meghan Milloy, Co-Founder of Republican Women for Progress.
Shoshana Weissmann, Director of Digital Media at R Street Institute.
Alexandra Sherer, Republican District Leader & State Committeewoman, A.D. 74
Sarah Quinlan, Conservative Contributor at Arc Digital
March 2020, Vice President Andrew Windsor served as Acting President while President Joel Acevedo was activated with the Army National Guard: Over the last few months, the COVID-19 pandemic has tragically affected tens of thousands of lives. One governmental response, activation of the New York State Army National Guard, sent Brooklyn Young Republican President Joel Acevedo on New York State’s COVID-19 Response Mission. In that time, as listed below, the club readjusted execution of the 2020 Strategic Plan under Acting President Andrew Windsor, and members took it upon themselves to lead COVID-19 relief in their own communities.
April 2020, Creation of BKYR Policy Committee: The Brooklyn Young Republican Club established a Policy Committee, co-chaired by Felicia Kalan and Eric Butkiewicz. The Committee has met twice, in the months of April and June, and are currently working on policy proposals to present to the membership of the club.
June 2020, Instagram Interview with former NYU College Republican President, Kristen Gourrier: The conversation revolved around race relations in the Republican Party and America. A recording of the conversation can be found on the Club’s Instagram page: @BrooklynYR
June 2020, Creation of BKYR Civic Republican Caucus: This is a caucus within the Brooklyn Young Republican Club for all interested members and others who desire to learn more about civic republicanism, and wish to influence policy and Republican politics on the premise of achieving liberty as non-domination for everyone.
June 2020, Membership Meeting & Trivia: Club member Joseph Gomez, prior to being elected Secretary, hosted a trivia night on New York State politics, where Club members caught up with each other and competed for a $20 Amazon Gift Card.
Campaigns You May Be Interested In
Lastly, the Brooklyn Young Republican Club would like to promote the following Brooklyn GOP candidates. This is not an endorsement, as these candidates have not gone through our endorsement process; the Brooklyn Young Republican Club has not endorsed any candidate for any election in 2020, even staying neutral in primaries. However, now that the primary season is over, we believe that many of our members would be interested in volunteering for the following Brooklyn GOP candidates:
Nicole Malliotakis, Congress District 11
Vito Bruno, NYS Senate District 22
Michael Tannousis, Assembly District 64
To volunteer and help these candidates win election SIGN UP HERE:
We look forward to seeing you at our future events! Our next club meeting for members will be Wednesday, August 26, and you will be notified in advance when the date approaches.
Joel M. Acevedo, President of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club, has made the following statement:
“Dear Club Members,
As some of you know, I’m a reservist in the Army National Guard, and we are being activated to assist with efforts relating to coronavirus containment measures in New York State. This means that I will temporarily be unable to handle the day-to-day tasks as President of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club. In my absence, per our bylaws, Vice President Andrew J. Windsor II will assume those day-to-day functions as acting President effective Wednesday, March 18, 2020, until I return.
I urge everyone to be safe, stay healthy, and give your full support to Andrew and the club’s activities during this time until my activation has concluded. Wishing you all the best until that time.”
Andrew J. Windsor II, Vice President of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club, has made the following statement:
“Fellow BKYRs,
Firstly, I want to commend Joel on his dedication to serve the people of our state in his capacity as a reservist in the Army National Guard. Selfless citizens working together for the greater good during difficult times, like now, are what saves lives and makes America an incredible place to call home. I look forward to continuing the programming and activities of the club that Joel has spearheaded and, beyond that, we’re all looking forward to his swift return. Stay safe, good luck and Godspeed, Joel.”
