Council Member Robert Holden is looking to form a bloc of like-minded moderate colleagues in the City Council to provide a counter to members on the “far left”.
Holden submitted paperwork to the Council Speaker’s Office to form the “Common Sense” caucus about two weeks ago and is confident it will be approved in the coming weeks, he told the Queens Post Friday.
He said about 10 to 12 current council members have expressed interest in joining the caucus.
Council Members Kalman Yeger of Brooklyn and Joseph Borelli of Staten Island are working alongside Holden to create the caucus.
Queens Council Member James Gennaro has also been named as a potential caucus member in published reports, though Holden declined to provide names of members who may join.
The moderate caucus would provide a direct counter to the Council’s progressive caucus, which was formed in 2009 and currently has 20 members. The Council’s other five caucuses are the Black, Asian and Latino caucus; the Irish caucus; the Jewish caucus; the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender caucus; and the women’s caucus.
Holden said he hoped to form the Common Sense caucus four years ago but didn’t have support from the council leadership.
This time around, Holden said there’s growing momentum for more moderate politics because “people are fed up”.
“People see that the city is out of control under de Blasio’s socialist positions,” Holden said. “We need to go back to the center.”
