By Sam Bojarski
Brooklyn resident Emile Bazile has been appointed district leader in the Kings County Democratic Party, officials announced Sept. 8. He is expected to be confirmed by the party next month.
The appointment makes Bazile, 24, the first Black district leader for New York’s 50th Assembly District, which encompasses the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Fort Greene.
It also makes Bazile, who works for the office of District 50 Assemblymember Joe Lentol, the fourth Haitian-American in a district leadership role for the Democratic party. The other three Haitian-Americans currently serving as district leaders are District 42 Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte, who also chairs the Kings County Democratic Committee, Josue Pierre, who serves as male district leader for the 42nd Assembly District and Edu Hermelyn, the male district leader for the 43rd Assembly District.
“I am committed to expanding the traditional role of a District Leader beyond its formal duties in the Democratic Party,” said Bazile, a resident of Williamsburg, in a press release from the Kings County Democratic Party announcing his appointment. “I envision working with my co-leader as a community advocate, drawing attention to issues affecting the district such as housing affordability, environmental justice, and insufficient infrastructure to accommodate our district’s unprecedented growth.”
Forty-two district leader positions comprise the executive committee of the county Democratic Party. Each assembly district, of which there are 21, is represented by one man and one woman. These district leaders staff polling sites, choose county judicial candidates, vote on leadership and help set policy for the party.
District leaders are typically elected, but no male candidate qualified to appear on the ballot this year in the 50th Assembly District. As a result, Kristina Naplatarski, the female Democratic district leader-elect, appointed Bazile to fill the vacancy for the upcoming 2020-2022 term.
Both Naplatarski and Bazile are expected to be sworn in during the next Kings County Democratic Party meeting in the coming weeks.