| For those of you who have helped reform the Bergen County and Hudson County Democratic organizations, and those who favor reform in general, my question is whether a top-to-bottom reform effort is needed (e.g., large-scale structural reform) or a change of leadership and some other tinkering would suffice instead. First, let me present some of the facts related to the Camden County Democratic Committee, though, and suggest some positive, constructive steps the organization and its associates can take towards transparent, ethical governance.
1). No conflicts of interest Lately, we come to learn that district 6 state senator Jim Beach has multiple jobs, including part-time job at Camden County College that keeps him in the state pension system. Senate Majority Leader Steven Sweeney is a state senator, Gloucester County freeholder, and union president, giving him three Paulsboro mayor and an Assemblyman. In Sweeney's defense, he does outstanding work for open space preservation as GlouCo freeholder and gives his union pension away to charity, but that's not enough. Sweeney and Burzichelli, the latter of whom I would support to replace Congressman Andrews in the future, if he dropped his dual officeholding, are both protégés of the Camden County Democratic committee, and Beach has been the long-time president of the committee. They vote on bills directly related to their employers outside of the senate and assembly. Any and all public-sector jobs held by politicians must be dropped, since this creates a clear conflict of interests. Here on clean-government favoring Blue Jersey, Senator Sweeney could probably garner a lot of support for his upcoming Senate President bid if he decided against running for reelection for the freeholder board.
2). Support anti-wheeling and transparency overall- Political committees should be able to give donations to other interested committees but not do so without some checks and balances to the process. Recently, Corzine, in his pro-ethics reform platform, has tried to push through a ban on so-called "wheeling"
Key parts of Corzine's plan that require legislative approval include a ban on "wheeling" campaign money from one political party committee to another and tightening restrictions on pay-to-play in counties and towns.
The Camden County Democratic Committee should publicly back anti-wheeling legislation and also support transparency on any and all levels. Further, a very disturbing, but perhaps unsubstantiated, lawsuit against Cherry Hill township came out last year when a former employee said she was fired for not signing onto giving township contracts to contributors to the Camden County Democratic organization. To be fair, I have read of no formal charges brought against any Cherry Hill township officials, and Sanders? accusation, at this point, is just that. But anyone reading this diary knows full well that firms and contractors give money to the Camden County Democrats in exchange for lucrative county and township offers. This practice absolutely must stop, and the Camden County Democratic organization must stay out of the county and township contract process.
3) Fresh blood, reform-minded Democrats One way immediately to inject a fresh perspective on reform is to encourage a democratic process to every Camden County Democratic election, from the county clerk to freeholder to state senator. Alternate slates are sometimes a good way to provide choices to voters and hold current officeholders accountable; in Camden County, Republicans are so weak politically, that alternate Democratic slates would be the only genuine alternatives to the county organization endorsed slate. Currently, though there are progressive-minded reform Dems in the county, there is no Loretta Weinberg on the horizon, but that doesn't mean there shouldn't be. Though I have nothing personal against freeholder Riletta Cream , for example, she has been a freeholder for fifteen years and has been at the helm of some shady freeholder deals and contracts. New leadership should be brought in. Further, for any and all future political aspirations for George Norcross' brother, Donald Norcross, the latter must encourage an open primary, not a de fact appointment, and be squeaky clean when it comes to promoting open governance and transparency, if this Southern New Jersey AFL-CIO leader is to become a serious candidate. Which leads me to my final recommendation....
4) Step down, George Norcross First, I am not blind to the many good things that George Norcross has done for the region and the state, and for that he should be applauded. Cooper Medical Center has become a top-tier hospital because of Norcross? efforts as a Trustee member , and Camden has procured hundreds of millions for revitalization and entertainment revenue because of Norcross' political "lobbying." I admittedly buy into his pro-South Jersey bent and push for dollars and leverage from Trenton. Further, if we're being honest, many of the legislative victories in South Jersey are largely from Norcross' powerful financial arm; we'd probably still be saying "Senator Asselta" and "Senator McCullough" or even "Congressman Myers," for example, if it weren't for him.
Without Norcross' largesse, Democrats would surely lose more elections in swing parts of South Jersey; but those factors have to be weighed less against his unmitigated and unchecked power as an unelected political broker. PolitickerNJ has him as as the fifth most powerful person in the state , but his influence, if anything, is understated by that ranking, and I don't think that Ferreiro or any of the North Jersey powerbrokers can compare to the influence and regional power overall that Norcross exerts.
But does Norcross actually do anything that is illegal? There have been accusations. A few years ago, the so-called "Palmyra Tapes" revealed that Norcross attempted to have a political rival removed from office. He was caught on tape saying:
Norcross ordered him to "fire that f*ck . get rid of [him] . and teach this jerk-off a lesson"
In 2002, Norcross -- again, the question I have is how does someone get such access to top officials in the first place? -- went after senate co-president John Bennett
[He met with] Senate co-president John Bennett to demand $25 million for a proposed civic arena in Pennsauken. Norcross denies that a shoving match ensued, as others have said, but what's certain is Norcross's last words, as he left without getting what he wanted: "I will f*cking destroy you." . To be devil's advocate, nothing is revealed in these two instances except a person with a very, very bad temper rather than a person doing illegal maneuvering. But my concern is how does someone have such unfettered access and power over the most influential politicians in the state, and what check or balance do we have over such an unelected official? Though I can't find the article, I remember reading that Norcross had his own private entrance to McGreevey's office, too. Further, a local Republican who ran countywide a few years ago tells me that he subsequently lost his job because he ran against the Democratic machine. An old wive's tale, or something more substantial?
Again, that's still a question of power and influence: Has Norcross done anything illegal? Probably not. That said, as Commerce Bank executive, Norcross got contracts for nearly every township/borough in Camden County through that bank, according to an unscientific survey that I did; I'm not sure, to be honest, how the new bank, TD, is doing with gaining such contracts. During his time at Commerce Bank, several racketeering and fraud cases involving its executives were raised in state and federal courts, but nothing earthshattering resulted from those charges. He is now also the Chairman for Conner Strong, one of the most successful insurance brokers in South Jersey, but whose contracts in Essex County and elsewhere seem uncommonly favorable.
Epilogue
The best way for the Camden County Democratic Committee to gain instead reform credibility would be for George Norcross to step down and for new leadership take over. Norcross, who I admittedly admire in some respects, has always wanted to live in Florida; if he went now, much of the corruption charges associated with him would probably depart, too, and the committee could start anew. For me to rail against the nepotism and pay-to-play by GOP machine brokers Boss Paulsen and Boss Gilmore in BurlCo and OceanCo, respectively, and not do something to reform my own committee seems hypocritical. For the record, I'm a true-blue South Jersey Camden County Democrat, love my party and its progressive ideals, and don't want to seem like some "traitor." In fact, I've knocked on doors and phonebanked for Andrews, Adler, Sexton, and a host of other CC-backed candidates.
The above, meager diary is my last posting on Blue Jersey, alas, since I?m moving to Charleston, W.V., tomorrow to start a promising faculty position. Thank you, Rosi, Jason, Hopeful, Jay, Nick and the gang for letting me be part of the community here. Blue Jersey helped turn the tide for Menendez in 2006, and I hope we'll do the same for Corzine this year. I wish that I could be with you when marriage equality comes to N.J., when Adler is reelected, when NJ-02 becomes Democratic, and a whole host of progressive victories occur. Someone cover for me over at politickernj.com, please. Love and kindness to all.
-Michael Martin, Haddonfield (now Charleston) |
