North Brooklyn District Leader-Elect Kristina Naplatarski announced Emile Bazile as her choice to take over the vacant male district leader seat in the 50th Assembly District, Brooklyn Paper reports.
24-year-old Bazile, son of Haitian immigrants and a lifelong resident of South Williamsburg, said he was excited to work with Naplatarski, tackling issues like affordable housing, environmental justice and better transparency and accountability of Kings County Democratic Party.
"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," Bazile said.
"I also want to focus on conducting outreach to underrepresented portions of the district to ensure that voices who are often marginalized are heard and served."
On August 26, Naplatarski opened the selection process to the public and other northern county members through a virtual forum, unusual given seats are normally selected without much public input.
Over almost two hours, seven candidates filled out a questionnaire and made their case before the forum. Naplatarski opted for Bazile, wanting to select a person of color from the far side of the district who shared her goals for local issues and party reform.
"As a lifelong resident of Southside Williamsburg with a strong track record of public service, Bazile has a deep understanding of the 50th Assembly District and is committed to serving the needs of its diverse constituencies," Naplatarski said.
Brooklyn Democratic Party Leader Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte supported the choice and said Bazile "will soon be nominated."
"Naplatarski is truly remarkable in her steadfast goals to help Kings County Democratic Party be transparent and democratic as it could be," Bichotte said.
