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The state of Monroe County politics on the Democratic side of aisle is a mess.

For starters, who is in charge?

In some respects, that matters less with the splintering of the Democratic caucus on Wednesday into two separate groups. The ramifications of that need some explanation.

And then there is the uncertainty around what happens next, as a majority of Democratic legislators bypassed their colleagues' objections and voted Thursday to appoint Jackie Ortiz the party's next Democratic elections commissioner.

Why is all this important? Because County Executive Adam Bello is the first Democrat to hold that seat in more than a quarter century and was, until Wednesday one vote shy of a majority in the Legislature. And what aspects of his agenda weren't already derailed by the pandemic could be wrecked by what is happening this week.

Monroe County Office Building in Rochester, NY.(Photo: Brian Sharp/@sharproc)

"I think it ultimately plays out with the implosion of the Monroe County Democratic Committee, and then it's going to be done and Adam is going to be done."

Those are the words of Minority LeaderVince Felder, D-Rochester. Except he isn't minority leader, according to the majority of his caucus. Except he insists he is. And Legislature President Dr. Joseph Carbone isn't recognizing anyone as minority leader for the moment. And now there is a vote scheduled on the Democratic elections commissioner Thursday morning. Which Felder says will be illegitimate as well.

To help make sense of what has happened, and what is about to happen, here goes:

Democrats metprivately ahead of Tuesday evening's special meeting of the Legislatureto discuss a potential settlement in a Sheriff's Office lawsuit and review agenda items for the meeting. Felder was asked to put forth the Ortiz appointment and, by differing accounts, either refused to do so or asked, "Why?"

Felder has objected to the process for selecting Ortiz, and maintained he would not carry it forward.

Felder said the meeting then descended into chaos, and he ended the call asLegislator John Baynes, D-East Rochester/Perinton, made a motion toappoint Legislator Yversha Roman, D-Gates/Greece/Rochester,as leader, which was seconded. Felder said he had already pushed the button ending the Zoom call as Baynes spoke up. Legislators then voted by email, Roman said.

"The vote can only take place at a meeting called by me," Felder said.

Said Roman: "Many of us were concernedwith the direction county government was going. That is ultimately one of the reasons why there is a new minority leader."

Carbone cited the dispute in leadership when he abruptly ended the Legislature meeting, saying he wouldn't pick sides. The Zoom call was cancelled as Legislator Rachel Barnhart, D-Rochester was heard calling for a vote.

"The technology was abused twice," Barnhart said of the day's events."If we had in-person meetings, you would not be able to do that. In an in-person meeting they would have had to kick everyone out of the room ... in a Zoom meeting they just hang up the phone call."

Some technical notes:Ortiz was not on the Legislature's meeting agenda, officials said, and could not have been added at that late stage. Also, the Democratic caucus has no bylaws, so there is no set process for a transfer of power.

Democrats control 14 of the Legislature's 29 seats, and align behind a minority leader as the Democratic caucus with its own staff office.

That group is divided 9-5, split largely along racial lines that have coalesced around selection of the Democratic elections commissioner. The Board of Elections is jointly overseen by a Democratic and Republican commissioner and their staff.

Felder is part of the five, which have aligned with Republicans to override a Bello veto of legislation increasing BOE staffing.The other four in Felder's camp, announced formation of the Black and Asian Democratic Caucus during a Wednesday news conference, and laid out an agenda focused on social services and social justice issues. They took no questions. Legislator Ernest Flagler-Mitchell is leader of that group, which also includes legislators Sabrina LaMar, Calvin Lee and Frank Keophetlasy.

Background: Breakaway faction of Democrats circles back to LaMar, Morelle clash

The split allows them to amplify the issues important to city residents, they say. But itweakensthe Democratic minority as a voting block, and thus weakens Bello.

The county executive, in a statement, directed his criticism at Carbone, for allegedly putting politics over community and "grinding legislation to a halt" that would benefit the community. Carbone fired back with a statement of his own, saying "Bello needs to get his own house in order," and blaming the county executive for leading Democrats "down the destructive road they are on today."

Bello has not responded to multiple interview requests from the Democrat and Chronicle over the past two weeks. As for the legislation being held up,nothing much changed as matters require approval of the full Legislature, which has its next regularly scheduled meeting on Sept. 8.

Legislation authorizing the additional caucus includes a provision to fund its staff office by reallocating money from the existing Democratic office. Money would be appropriated based on the caucus' percentage representation in the Legislature. If approved, Democrats will lose more than one-fourth of their current allocation of $228,676. The legislation could be taken up by the full Legislature at its next meeting on Sept. 8.

"(Thursday) morning we will convene as a caucus to appoint Jackie Ortiz," Roman said. "I will be calling that meeting as the leader," Roman said in an interview Wednesday.

That vote was 9-0, with only the majority faction attending the virtual meeting. Ortiz is expected to be sworn in Thursday afternoon, and could take office this week, or attempt to. Ortiz did not immediately respond to a messages seeking comment.

Felder hasinsistedthat any appointment vote would be illegitimate;same as the one to replace him. He reiterated that in a letter to Carbone on Wednesday, writing "As I am still leader, you should not receive any appointments to positions from anyone or correspondence regarding the responsibilities given to the minority leader per the County Charter."

All of this seemed to be sorted out two weeks ago when state Supreme Court Justice John Ark said there was no legal reason the Legislature couldn't vote to install Ortiz, and encouraged them to do so.

Ark is scheduled to have all parties back in his courtroom on Friday. But Ark's previous directive hasn't changed much.

Pressing Felder on what he meant by Bello being done, he explained: "If the people walk away from him, he is not going to get re-elected."

And if he can't get things passed through the Legislature, Felder added, he isn't going to get anything done.

Contact reporter Brian Sharp at bdsharp@gannett.comor at 585-258-2275. Follow him onTwitter @sharproc.This coverage is only possible with support from our readers. Sign up today for a digital subscription.

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Trying to make sense of this week in Monroe County Democratic politics - Democrat & Chronicle