[This article was written by Gabriel Kuriloff, newly elected Democratic Committeeperson in Ward 22, Division 03 on June 9, 2026 one day after his Ward Reorganization Meeting. It represents his perspective of events via an email to his neighbors. Recirculated with his permission.]

Good afternoon neighbors, 

First of all, thank you so much to all who supported me and elected me as your committee person. Working with my colleague, the Reverend Gregory Holston, I hope to continue to honor the tradition of service that Lori and Michael have upheld. 

I am writing to update you all on the events of our Ward 22 reorganization meeting which took place yesterday evening. I apologize for the delay in getting this out, but, as you will see below, this turned out to be a challenging experience for me personally. 

As I committed to when I ran for the role, I am dedicated to working to make Ward 22 an “open ward.” (Please see here for a description of the principles of an Open Ward). In line with this commitment, I was part of a large group of committee people including Reverend Holston, who gave our support to Octavius Price, a newly elected committee person and a neighbor and community member we trusted to support the transformation of the 22nd into an open ward. 

Last night we assembled to, we thought, vote for Ward leadership. Unfortunately, Cindy Bass, current City Councilmember and current Ward Leader did not intend for there to be a democratic vote. You can read a summary of what happened in the Inquirer here, but I have also provided my own summary below as a first hand account. 

What Transpired

After keeping the committee people waiting outside for over a half an hour, we were allowed into the church building and the room where the meeting was held. Ms. Bass announced that there would be no motions, that the only point of order was the election of the Ward leader and that it would be a “slate election” and she read off the names of the folks who would be her slate of officers. She then announced there was a second candidate, “Octavious”, and without allowing him to speak or even name his “slate,” she announced that there would be a voice vote. She said “all those in favor of Octavious?” and we called out “Aye!” She said all those in favor of Cindy Bass and her supporters likewise called out. She then declared herself the winner and immediately demanded that everyone in attendance leave the room. The entire proceeding took less than 3 minutes. 

Some Notes

-Ms. Bass brought a sign-in sheet to the meeting with a vote tally in her favor pre-written at the top. 

– We counted 48 total committee people in the room at the time the doors closed. We know that there were at least 26 votes for Octavius in our coalition. 

– Members called for a roll-call vote during and after the voice vote. These calls were denied. 

Aftermath

As we were very literally being pushed out of the door of the church, In the aftermath of the vote, we were trying to sign the attendance sheet (the one with the prefabricated vote tally) to create evidence that we were in attendance. A gentleman from Ms. Bass’s team snatched them away and there was a significant amount of yelling and grabbing at the papers. In the middle of this, the gentleman from Ms. Bass’s team grabbed me by the shoulders and shoved me up against a nearby vehicle. 

Next Steps

Octavius is leading a fight against this anti-democratic travesty. I will be actively supporting these efforts and working with a city-wide coalition of supporters. There will likely be an appeal hearing this weekend with the members of the Democratic City Committee. I will keep folks updated as this proceeds.

At the same time, I will continue to work to build positive community in our neighborhood; I will continue to collaborate with neighbors and fellow committee people to find and advocate for candidates that represent the interests and the will of our community; and I will continue to work to ensure that we are the best represented Ward in the city on election day. 

Please let me know if you have any questions or if there is anything at all I can do for you. 

With appreciation, 

Gabe