What would Howard do?

by: dfa_lewis

Fri Mar 23, 2007 at 11:16:41 AM EDT

( - promoted by jmelli)

Last month, I received an interesting message from a Bergen County official:

What a shame this organization [Bergen Grassroots] has come to this. Early on I thought it was a group that could make a difference and worked with them. Very childish. Not what Governor Dean had in mind I'm guessing.

The message was a response to an email sent by Paul Eisenman, Chairman of Bergen Grassroots, the local chapter of Democracy for America (DFA) which I co-founded. The purpose of Mr. Eisenman's email was to rally grassroots activists to protest BCDO Chairman Joe Ferriero's hastily called January 31st vote to alter the BCDO bylaws in a way that would have given him complete control over the party line. (Amazingly, the changes to the bylaws were defeated despite Mr. Ferriero's committee purges of 2006.)

dfa_lewis :: What would Howard do?

Out of respect to the official, with whom I have had a good relationship in the past, he/she will remain nameless. However, it's a bit presumptuous to say that Howard Dean endorses Mr. Ferriero's pay-to-play, favors for patronage, dictatorial style of politics. As a presidential candidate, Governor Dean's appeal to the progressive grassroots rested in his belief that political power belonged to the people, not party insiders. That philosophy is very much alive today in DFA. It's a philosophy I try to live, and encourage in others, every day.

There are a lot of good people who get sucked into the patronage system, and who may not even realize how their independence is threatened when they owe their jobs or political fortunes to people like Mr. Ferriero. I'd just like to point out that the days of this system within the Democratic party (and especially within Bergen County) are numbered.

I've seen no better sign of this than at last night's extraordinary Real Bergen Democrats campaign kickoff for the Weinberg/Johnson/Huttle team. Not only has nearly every local union broken with Mr. Ferriero to support the Weinberg team, but now DFA (headed by Howard Dean's brother, Jim) has bestowed an endorsement that is sure to bring national attention to this race. Despite Mr. Ferriero's vast cash reserves, he may have overstepped this time by running his own picks against the most beloved progressive politicians in New Jersey.

As Howard Dean wrote to me in 2004 regarding some concerns I had, just before accepting the job of DNC Chairman:

[T]here is no chance of sacrificing principles to do the DNC job. If that happens, it's a job not worth having!

Although change comes slowly, the Governor has stayed true to his word.

I have a question for my friend, the Bergen County official: Is this what you had in mind before you ran for office, or are you sacrificing principles for your job? (What do you suppose Howard would do?)

Tags: DFA, Paul Eisenman, Bergen Grassroots, grassroots, Loretta Weinberg, Jim Dean, Howard Dean, LD37, (All Tags)

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What would Howard do? | 2 comments

Actually kinda funny (4.00 / 1)

As quite often Deans revenge ends up being. Do you think the irony of that un~named officials statement would be lost on said official......

Howard Dean.

Jim Dean.

Check out my 3 paragraph primer on Polywell Fusion.

by: FogerRox @ Fri Mar 23, 2007 at 18:47:27 PM UTC

Great post! (4.00 / 2)

That really shows how the Bergen County governance is now tainted by Bergen County politics. Which is a total shame. There are extremely talented people living here in Bergen County - who are not even affiliated with a political party who would work tirelessly for the public good. But when a certain political party makes sure you must kneel and kiss Ferriero's ring and swear fealty before you can have the privelige of serving as his political hack while doing the job of ALL the people of Bergen County, many talented good people just stay away from public service. We have to REMOVE politics from government. It sounds crazy but really think about it. Governing takes into account all of the people, Politics is simply the process by which elections occur and the public is exposed to the ideas they will take into account when choosing who governs.

County or government jobs should be about competence - not loyalty. Haven't we seen how bad that worked during Katrina? And since? Most county employees are are not elected. Or appointed. They apply for a job just like any other American. They take a civil service test for competence - that is if a test is ever called. Unfortunately, cronies are often put into jobs Provisionally and the test is never called - unless they want to get rid of you. That is how the civil service system is compromised.

Years ago when I worked for the state of NJ at Bear Mountain as the only NJ engineer on a provisional basis because I was the only existing employee with an engineering degree, I was treated pretty badly. I was not given my own desk, my computer that NJ paid for was given to the boss's hunting buddy, and the NJ state car was given to the NY maintenance crew who used it to drive into Highland Falls for lunch. The autoCAD drafter who was also friends with the boss actually punched me in the stomach one day when no one was around. They all wanted the job and were angry that I got it since I was not friends with the boss. Well, I had to write a letter to the Executive Director of the Park to get my own desk and a PC. I had to go to Iona Island and pull an old drafting table out of a dark warehouse, and set it up myself, but I finally got a desk and a little self respect. I then was told I had to move it right next to the blueprint machine, which is pretty mean if you know how bad a blueprint machine smells.
Unfortunately after I wound up in the hospital for surgery and was out for three months, someone called for my test, without telling me. To this day, I am not sure if it one of the boss's cronies who wanted my job, or the Boss himself who was tired of his cronies bothering him about not getting my job. But, I was told after I returned to work that three folks had taken the test, passed it and were vying for my job and that one of them would get it.
Lucky for me I had been offered a job the week before by an engineer in Bergen County.
That is how they "get rid of you" in government jobs. The cronyism happens so much, that folks are surprised when someone competent actually gets through the system. I was chosen for that job by the Superintendent of the NJ section of the Park to represent NJ in a nearly completely NY office. But the NY employees who were friends of the boss had different ideas. The fact that they actually thought they would get an engineering job without actually being an engineer just absolutely floored me. The fact that the system was broken is the only explanation for that. Cronies usually get in.
At this time, the Bear Mountain problem is solved thanks to Elliot Spitzer. One of the first things he did was replace the head of the NY Parks Dept. and make the former Superintendent from NJ the Acting Executive Commissioner at Bear Mountain. Too late to save my job, but I wound up better off anyway.

The problem here in Bergen County though is still a big problem. I grew up knowing the Bergen County Engineer - Ed Ranuska. He worked for the County for 30 years. Why? Because he was extremely competent and he NEVER declared a political affiliation. He knew if he did he would be out with the next change of party. We should free county employees from that fear. They should not have to declare party loyalty. They should be able to concentrate on their jobs at hand. Not worry that if they don't work on their boss's re-election, they will lose their jobs to the next party in power.

Thanks for telling us about this Lewis, it just shows how tied Bergen County government is to Bergen County politics, and that's just wrong.

One Vote. Yours. It really does matter.

by: carolh @ Sat Mar 24, 2007 at 19:05:37 PM UTC