Former Brooklyn Democratic Party boss Frank Seddio was unanimously approved as a commissioner on the city’s Board of Elections by the City Council’s Democratic caucus following a more contentious closed-door vote by its Brooklyn members.
Seddio now serves as one of ten commissioners — one Democrat and Republican from each borough — overseeing the administrative staff that runs elections for New York City’s 5.3 million registered voters.
His confirmation by Council Democrats, on Jan. 13, came despite objections from good government groups and a number of the party’s political clubs, and without any formal opportunity for public comment.
While state election law does not require the Council to hold a public hearing or vote on Board of Elections commissioners, it’s conducted both for previous Board of Elections appointments as recently as 2023.
Ben Weinberg, director of public policy at Citizens Union, one of the groups that opposed Seddio’s nomination, said they had urged the Council to exercise its power to pick a commissioner with “experience and fitness to administer elections” rather than elevate a party insider without any public consideration of his fitness.
“It’s not only about Seddio. It’s about giving the public a chance to know and to voice their opinion about the officials who are going to run elections in New York City,” he said.
“The Council knows how to hold public meetings. They’ve done it in the past, and there’s no reason for them not to do it, Weinberg added. “That’s especially true when you have a figure that has such a close history with the county party.”
According to state law, Board of Election commissioners in New York City are proposed by party leaders from each borough, with the Council then having the option to approve or reject the pick.
Julia Agos, a spokesperson for the Council, deferred to members Chi Ossé and Farah Louis, who co-chair the Democratic delegation from Brooklyn. A spokesperson for Louis didn’t respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Elijah Fox, a spokesperson for Ossé’s office, said that Brooklyn council members had split 8 to 5 over Seddio’s appointment in a vote before the citywide Democratic delegation’s vote, with Ossé opposing Seddio. Progressive Councilmembers Shahana Hanif and Lincoln Restler also said they also opposed Seddio at that point.
The city’s Board of Elections, where staff for virtually every post is still hand-picked by Democratic and Republican party leaders, has been battered by scandals over the years about everything from illegal voter-roll purges to allegations of nepotism.
Most recently, as first exposed by THE CITY, the city Department of Investigation found that executive director Mike Ryan, hired by the board to lead its staff, had made inappropriate racial and sexual remarks to female colleagues. Instead of firing Ryan, as DOI had recommended, the commissioners opted to dock him 15 days pay.
Seddio, for his part, said on Thursday that “I trust that the board examined it and they made a decision based on what they believe was correct.”
Seddio continued regarding Ryan: “I’ve always found him to be somebody who did a good job.”
‘Let’s Get Joe Blow’
Seddio is a former surrogate judge in Brooklyn — a plum position generally decided on by party leaders — who subsequently served as the party’s boss in the borough for eight years, taking over for the late, disgraced Assemblymember Vito Lopez.
As county chair, Seddio was a polarizing figure who railed at times against “these f—ing progressives” who were agitating for more power within the machine.
Seddio’s new commissioner post, which starts next Tuesday, is a part-time role that pays a $300 stipend per meeting and wields significant power over the city’s elections. It also grants the opportunity to award paid positions as election workers to party loyalists,
As he drummed up support for his bid to be a commissioner, Seddio garnered support from some would-be reformers by pledging to push for translators in additional languages at polling sites, THE CITY reported last fall.
Asked on Thursday about his recent appointment, Seddio said he was hoping to bring more transparency to how the Board of Elections conducts business.
“I think it’s important for the public to get a better feel of what this place is,” he said.
Even as Democratic district leaders from Brooklyn ultimately sent Seddio’s nomination to the Council last fall, good-government groups sounded alarm bells, arguing it was a step backwards for an agency, long ruled by party patronage, that had been making steps towards reform.
“City and State lawmakers have repeatedly claimed they’re focused on reforming the NYC BOE and creating a more professional Board and ensuring well-qualified permanent and temporary staff,” read a Dec. 5 letter to the City Council sent from Citizens Union, Common Cause New York and Reinvent Albany, among other groups. “Appointing a former party boss to the New York City BOE would be a step backwards in these reform efforts.”
Seddio noted he’d worked closely with the board over more than four decades. “I don’t think there’s anyone, at least in our borough, that knows the Board of Elections better than I do,” he said.
“Let’s get Joe Blow. He’s good,” Seddio said, sarcastically, of who else Democrats could have tapped for the job. “That guy, the progressive over there, that one there who’s never spent five minutes involved in the process. Give me a break.”
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