By Joseph Kellard
"I think if we talk about the differences between Democrats and Republicans -- if we talk about how the Democratic Party is inclusive, how it includes minorities and women, how we are trying to address the issues that affect the people -- that will filter down to Long Beach and help Democrats get elected there," Zapson said before his fellow Democrats elected him to succeed party Chairman Steve Polcer at Corbin & Reynolds on Tuesday night.
Zapson cited high gas prices and the home mortgage crisis as examples of where those distinctions can best be drawn. "Now I'm looking at people losing their homes in foreclosure, and the government is not doing anything to help them, but helping to bail out the banks," Zapson said. "That has to change."
But Zapson said he realizes that before he can seriously tackle these and other issues, he must lead the local Democratic Party back to its winning ways. Since the GOP took control of City Hall for the first time in 40 years in 2003 -- and Zapson lost his seat on the Nassau County Legislature to then Republican challenger Denise Ford -- the City Council has switched back and forth between Democratic and Republican majorities.
Last November, the Democrats let their majority slip away again when incumbent council Vice President Robert Tepper and running mates Gina Guma and Lawrence Benowitz lost to incumbent Tom Sofield, former Councilwoman Mona Goodman and newcomer John McLaughlin, all of whom ran on the Republican line.
Before Zapson spelled out his agenda to stop the pattern of gaining and then losing power, the committee's vice chairman, Steve Kohut, touted Zapson as someone who can bring new leadership and energy to Long Beach Democrats and keep them in power. "We are a group that since the 1940s did nothing but win," Kohut said. "Defeat for us is something new for us, along with our reaction to that. But keep in mind that you can either be defeated and divided or united and victorious."
Zapson's first priorities are to get petitions signed and to stage voter registration drives, with the goal of registering 500 more Long Beach residents as Democrats by summer's end.
Some Democrats have chalked up November's loss to the party's dysfunction and infighting, and others have charged that the county's Democratic leadership poured most of its resources into the campaign of county Legislator David Mejias, whose seat was in trouble. Still others have suggested that the Democrats' strength had been eroded by Long Beach's changing demographics and a decline in loyal voters. Beachfront rest homes once populated by elderly, Democrat-supporting Jews, for example, have given way to high-priced condominiums favored by GOP supporters.
"Last time out, we had an awful turnout," said Joel Crystal, a former City Council president. "The Republicans will always turn out their 3,500 people to vote, and we used to turn out 6,000 people, and we're not doing it anymore."
Zapson said that fundraising is also at the top of his agenda, and he called on his supporters to form a committee to add to the organization's $11,000 in savings.
Zapson also stressed the importance of holding regular monthly meetings, and he called on supporters to work for Barack Obama's campaign. He is also planning a series of local, week-long events during the Democratic Convention in August.
"I can't say for sure exactly what that's going to consist of," Zapson said, "but we're going to start working on it now, so that two months from now, when the convention is all over the place, there will be something going on in Long Beach as well."
Zapson, who is an attorney in Long Beach, said he is returning to politics and sought the committee chairmanship because he considers 2008 an important year for Democrats. "And I want to be part of it again," he added.
A Democratic committeeman for 20 years, Zapson was a civic activist in the 1980s, and spearheaded an effort to bring a recycling program to Long Beach. When City Councilman Harvey Weisenberg was elected to the state Assembly in 1989, Zapson was appointed to Weisenberg's vacant seat, and that November he was elected to the first of his four terms on the council.
In June 1999, Zapson won a special election when Bruce Nyman stepped down as legislator in the heavily democratic 4th District, which includes the entire Long Beach barrier island and parts of Island Park and Oceanside. That November, Zapson was re-elected. He lost his seat by a nose to then-Republican Denise Ford in 2003, when the Republicans swept the city government.
Stan Nussbaum of Atlantic Beach, a state committeeman for the 20th Assembly District, said that Zapson has the background and experience to bring the Democrats back to power. "I think he really has the desire and the ability to get this committee back off the ground," Nussbaum said, "and rebuild it to what it used to be."
Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
