Oceanside Democrats come together

After three decades of inactivity, the Oceanside Democratic Club is reforming and trying to become active in the community once again.

The club was never officially shut down, but sort of fizzled out many years ago. Since then, some have tried to resurrect it, but without success. Now, Ellis Simon, a longtime Oceanside resident, is taking up the reins.

“We want to fill a void in the community,” Simon said. “Many Democrats live in Oceanside, but don't get involved politically because the party has been invisible here. We want to let these Democrats know we are here, and this being a Presidential election year is the best time to reach out to them.” 

The impetus for the reforming of the group was a Facebook page created by Boris Yagudayev. The page, Oceanside Long Island Democrats, garnered 75 Facebook followers. And it sparked a conversation: was there interest in an Oceanside Democratic Club?

In January, an open meeting was held at Panera in Rockville Centre, and about 12 people attended. From there, a steering committee was formed and produced a constitution and bylaws and chose people to serve as officers. Simon is the President and Yagudayev the Vice President. Kim Kramer is serving as treasurer and Barrie Weisblum is the corresponding secretary. Oceanside residents William Biamonte, the Democratic commissioner of the Nassau County Board of Elections, and Jeff Toback, former Nassau County legislator, are trustees.

“I think our role is going to be several things: to coalesce people who are interested in supporting Democrats and find a common bond or home base, if you will,” Simon said. “But also to become informed about what’s going on and how it affects the community and to find out what’s going on in the community.”

Of course, one of the other goals of the Democratic Club is to get more Democrats elected to office, both on the local and national level.

To that end, the first meeting will feature a speaker from Obama for America discussing the president’s reelection campaign. Afterward, there will be a second discussion about politics in Oceanside.

“We have, in effect, one-party rule in the Town of Hempstead, which is our local government,” said Simon. “And because of that situation, there’s only one voice about what’s going on. So we want to develop another view and construct a conversation.”

The first meeting of the Oceanside Democratic Club will take place at 7:30 p.m. on May 2 at the Oceanside Lutheran Church Friendship Hall, located at 55 Fairview Ave. in Oceanside.