There's a New Sheriff in Bergen County. (Meet Allen J. Gailes, Jr.)

Was this really necessary? (2.00 / 2)

>>A stint as a councilman and police sergeant does not qualify you to be sheriff.<<

Unless you're attacking the judgment of Bergen County voters, it most certainly does.  McGuire was a cop for 20 years before becoming sheriff; that's hardly a stint, try as you might to denigrate his service.  I don't have all the information on hand, but I suspect McGuire, in those years, accrued a significant amount of commendations and spent a lot of time in various divisions of service.  He also spent about 7 years in the US Military's police service, so he was hardly a novice even when he joined the police.

I understand you weren't that involved in politics when McGuire was first elected, so I'll assume you're not purposely putting out a hit job here.  Of course, statements like

>>And dressing up like a five star generalissimo feathered with an ever growing ensemble of glittery badges and medals from head to toe for every single camera in the county is not my definition of a man hard at work in law enforcement.<<

doesn't help your case, because either you're unclear what each of those badges means, or you're again minimizing decades of service and all the deeds that earned McGuire those badges.  I would imagine Lieutenant Gailes wears the badges he's earned, too, but to infantalize and, at the same time, compare the pride in showing those badges to being a dictator is outrageously inappropriate.

Gailes's resume certainly looks impressive, but your attack on McGuire isn't exactly a fair one.  I bet if you took all of McGuire's service in stride, instead of throwing out a pithy "a stint... as a sergeant" to minimize decades of government service, McGuire's resume would be equal to that you've posted here.

You think McGuire's too close to Ferriero; I disagree, but that's certainly a fair, if misguided, opinion.  However, to minimize his governmental service borders on, if not is, outright offensive.

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by: sucopsucoh @ Tue Feb 20, 2007 at 15:43:01 PM UTC

Right on, sucopsucoh (3.50 / 2)

Say what you want about whomever you want, that's usually the point of this place, but have some facts and get them straight if you want to run off at the mouth and not look like

a) an imbecile
b) a child
c) all of the above

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by: ridethedonkey @ Tue Feb 20, 2007 at 15:58:35 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

in all fairness.... (3.00 / 1)

Thank you for reading my post. I personally don't have McGuire's resume in front of me, so by all means, if anyone could help me out, please feel free. As far as I know, before being promoted to Sheriff, McGuire served as Councilman in Oakland and rose to the rank of Sergeant in the Ridgefield Park police department. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I personally don't know McGuire. As a Democratic voter in Bergen County, my impression of McGuire is based on seeing him at local events proudly wearing his badges for innumerable photos. His uniform certainly has a lot of them; it would be good to know what they actually represent. But I guess it's not a crime to look your best for a photo. And yes, I am new in politics, but since I've begun to follow local elections, I've not found a reason as to why I should vote for McGuire in the upcoming primary. And I will disagree with your last paragraph. Any elected official is subject (fairly or unfairly) to the public's opinion. As a voter, I am personally dissatisfied with this sheriff. And as a voter, I reserve the right to criticize/minimize any elected official that I am personally dissatisfied with. I would also love to know why you think my opinion of McGuire and Ferriero is misguided.

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by: lsanchez490 @ Tue Feb 20, 2007 at 18:37:20 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Hey, by all means, express your dissatisfaction. (2.00 / 2)

My point, however, was that the tone and substance of your post was offensive in light of McGuire's background; for example, you said he's like a "generalissimo", which I don't feel is an appropriate comparison, as the (general) connotation of that word is to military dictatorship.

>>Thank you for reading my post. I personally don't have McGuire's resume in front of me, so by all means, if anyone could help me out, please feel free. As far as I know, before being promoted to Sheriff, McGuire served as Councilman in Oakland and rose to the rank of Sergeant in the Ridgefield Park police department. Please correct me if I'm wrong.<<

You're not wrong; however, what you inferred (that McGuire was not qualified) is, IMO, unwarrented.  McGuire was elected handily by the voters of Bergen County, so his resume certainly passed muster.  As I said, you're certainly entitled to support another candidate, but you're distorting McGuire's resume; to really get a measure of the man, you'd have to equally pull every single commendation, certification, and division McGuire worked in in order to make your comparison (that the lieutenant is more qualified) work.

>>And yes, I am new in politics, but since I've begun to follow local elections, I've not found a reason as to why I should vote for McGuire in the upcoming primary... As a voter, I am personally dissatisfied with this sheriff. And as a voter, I reserve the right to criticize/minimize any elected official that I am personally dissatisfied with.<<

Criticizing is perfectly possible without minimizing McGuire's accomplishments, particularly those prior to his election as Sheriff, is really all I'm saying.

>>I would also love to know why you think my opinion of McGuire and Ferriero is misguided.<<

Simply put, the BCDO is larger and more complex than many posters here are willing to acknowledge.  I could see how, as someone fairly new to county politics, it would look monolithic and homogenous, but there are a number of viewpoints, political alignments, and, frankly, people represented within the BCDO, both new and old.  There are people like myself, who volunteered and worked hard under both Gerry Calabrese AND Joe Ferriero AND who will continue to work hard for whoever becomes Chairman when Ferriero decides to hang up his spurs and pass the torch.  Simply put, McGuire represents a new phenomenon within Bergen County as a whole; a popular Democrat whose base is outside the traditional Democratic towns in southern Bergen.  Has this led to a change in the culture of the BCDO?  Yes, but a change for the better, because a new range of viewpoints important to northern Bergen are being represented (and, I think, the increasing electoral success of Democrats up there validates those viewpoints).

In addition, BCDO funds go to a wide range of politicians, particularly local level officials who are becoming the farm team for promoting Democratic ideals outside of the towns that comprise the traditional Democratic base.  If your big problem is that McGuire, who I have to assume thinks he's done a good, re-electable job as Sheriff, is working with the organization for re-election, and that he's donated money to an organization that distributes that money throughout the county, well, I can't do anything about that.  But I don't agree that A+B=C in this case, because a lot of people donate money, time, and run under the BCDO line without being indebted to Ferriero.

Everyone can support who they want in the primary.  I'll be supporting and working hard for Leo McGuire.  However, I'm not going to diminish Lieutenant Gailes in order to do it.

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by: sucopsucoh @ Tue Feb 20, 2007 at 19:06:42 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

A little naive (4.00 / 1)

I appreciate your efforts to support Dem candidates in Bergen, but you are quite naive if you think that everyone who is deserving gets money from the BCDO.  You only get help from the BCDO lately, if you sell your soul and agree to pay to play tactics and letting Ferriero pick your borough attorney and your borough engineer.  You might think the BCDO helps out Dems just for being good candidates but that just ain't so.

Do you think Ferriero will let you pick your own Borough Attorney?  Sure he will - just as long as it's Ortiz and Paster.  These are no-bid contracts.  You don't get something for nothing with these guys.

I may not have been in politics as long as you, but I know what I am talking about - you have to trust me on this one.

One Vote.  Yours.  It really does matter.

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by: carolh @ Tue Feb 20, 2007 at 20:12:11 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Look, I get how politics work. (2.00 / 2)

That's not what I'm arguing.  I don't know Ortiz or Paster, nor am I aware of their qualifications or lack thereof.  Who would you have hired?  This is not an idle question, because it cuts to the heart of the pay-to-play debate.  Who should the HH council have hired if not Ortiz?  What if Ortiz's resume was the most impressive?  What if there was reason for reservation about other candidates' abilities?  Are we asking all talented individuals who may or may not one day get a contract to voluntarily remove themselves from politics entirely? And, if that's the case, does this mean we'll be left with only the mediocre and untalented (and, acknowledging the implicit cheap shot, I'll get to it before anyone else: "Isn't that what we have already?" Good, now that that's out of the way...)?

I'm not going to pretend all politics is a Woodstockian love-in where we all get along and everyone's just groovy.  Returning to the original topic, the BC Sheriff's race, the previous two Sheriffs mismanaged the department; the previous Democratic sheriff left in disgrace.  I get where you're coming from.  However, by and large, the BCDO is a good organization that's open to talent from all ends of the spectrum.  I've worked alongside former Rockefeller Republicans from Mahwah, Reagan Democrats from Rutherford, raging (in the metaphorical, not literal sense) liberals from Englewood, and moderates from Paramus (sometimes all at the same time).  Not a one of us agreed with all of the positions of the others, nor with all of the chairman's positions. What united us (and, okay, this is moving in the free-love, sappy direction) was that we believed Bergen County was better served by Democrats than Republicans, and that Joe Ferriero, if he wasn't perfect, is a good steward of the Democratic Party.  I'm inferring that wasn't your experience, but I can only speak for mine.

So, returning to your original point, I truly believe the BCDO is a force for good in county and state politics; it's staffed by some of the best and brightest in Democratic politics, all of whom I'm certain will become future stars in our party.  Is it perfect? No.  When we disagree with the chairman, do we try to change his mind?  Sure.  Do we always win?  No, but we win enough to make the relationship worth having.

Until we have public financing or spending limits (the most frequently suggested pay-to-play reforms I've seen are lacking, and suffer from the Corzine dictum, which is those with enough money can squelch any talented candidates who can't compete with stacks of Fortune 500 cash), I'm not entirely sure how to navigate that line between political support and government contracts, because let's face it, I don't want to turn down political support from good people just because they might apply for a job down the road.  Maybe that makes me naive, but I've yet to see another workable solution.

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by: sucopsucoh @ Tue Feb 20, 2007 at 21:05:24 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Unadulterated Sophistry at Its Most Ludicrous (3.00 / 1)

I'm not going to pretend all politics is a Woodstockian love-in where we all get along and everyone's just groovy.

That "argument" is unadulterated sophistry at its most ludicrous.

Do you really believe that the movement to free politics from the obviously corrupting influence of a pay to play system of legalized bribery is, somehow naive or unrealistic?

Do you really believe that the bossist domineering model of "leadership" provided by an authoritarian "leader" like Ferriero is the best that Democrats can do to implement our values and that people like Loretta Weinberg, Valerie Vanieri-Huttle and Gordon Johnson are hippies from the 60's?

Any "good people" in the BCDO who are loyal to Joe Ferriero and who go along with the unsavory culture of patronage, sweetheart deals, etc of the BCDO are making a compromise with their Consciences that imho they don't have to make.

If you are not actively struggling to clean up the filthy reality of pay to play/legalized bribery you are, by default (at best), REINFORCING IT!

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