This writer is incorrectly re-writing political history in NY, and doing the unforgivable of not giving credit to those who opened the door for Richard David, and inventing corollary historical facts. Albert Baldeo, a maverick lawyer who frequently bucked the system, was the first Guyanese and person of Indian Caribbean/South Asian origin to win the contested District Leadership position, in 2010, with 80 % of the votes. Unlike David, who was shooed in, and did not have a contested race, Baldeo won his competitive, acrimonious race against Harpreet Singh Toor, who was soundly defeated by Baldeo. Similarly, Baldeo has also achieved the highest amount of votes in any election, when he almost defeated the 20 year Chairman of the Queens Republican Party, losing by less than 500 votes. In fact, Baldeo was cheated out of the seat, after many media outlets declared him the winner. Baldeo got over 17,000 votes in that 2006 State Senate election, and rocked the political establishment. David got 2, 822 votes, a comparatively miniscule aggregate.
David should resign his City position, before he can be an effective District Leader. As Chief of Staff at the New York City Administration for Children’s Services, he has failed to deliver resources to his district in that capacity. Indeed, it is one of the most corrupt, incompetent and despised agencies in government, where several children have died of abuse because of its dysfunction. He would have to take positions against these and similar city agencies, and his conflict of interest will severely curtail the effectiveness he needs. He has to reach beyond the endorsements of the political hacks who are despised as insiders in the Democratic Party, and be independent to be taken seriously.