Release Date: Jun 9 2008
To the Members of the Bergen County Democratic Committee:
Like you, we've spent our lives as Democrats because we believe in the principles of the Democratic Party.
We were inspired by the likes of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. to give back to our community and be part of the solution to the problems that face America.
Our participation in this party was never motivated by personal or economic gain. We've spent our lives as Democrats in a county that for the most part was a GOP stronghold.
Chairman Joseph Ferriero is to be congratulated for taking an ailing county organization and transforming it into a viable political power. Bergen County has never had more elected Democratic officials than now. Bergen County has never been more important to statewide Democratic victories than now. But with this success has come the foul stench of pay-to-play, rampant patronage and a culture that government contracts for lawyers, accountants, architects, engineers and others is much more important than responsible public policy.
Ironically, the very individual responsible for much of the success this party has had in the last decade finds himself the poster child for all that is wrong with politics.
Raising obsence amounts of money should not be more important than developing a message as to why Democrats should be given the honor of governing here in Bergen County. Political power is not an entitlement, but a privilege and this party has forgotten that basic principle! Being effective voices for our party was always more important than how many jobs we could deliver or how many contracts we could provide for donors.
Is winning at all costs the only thing that matters?
We all need to look in the mirror in the morning and like what we see. As we look into the mirror of our party, we're heartbroken by what we read and what we've seen.
Politics is not perfect. We're well aware of the rough and tumble world of elective office. We all serve at various levels to represent our communities. We're hardly shrinking violets by any standard. But enough is enough.
The Bergen County Democratic Party of today has become unrecognizable to us. The party that opposed the Vietnam War and stood for social justice has become a suburban version of machine politics where money, jobs and professional appointments is all that matters. Winning, at the expense of losing our political soul, is not more important than honest governance.
We don't need to rehash to you the problems Chairman Ferriero is facing. All you need to do is pick up The Record newspaper or log on to the various websites that cover government and politics.
What's also disturbing is that we have a Republican operative and patronage employee of county government apparently in business with the county chairman. Why is the leadership of this party enabling a former five-term Republican mayor and freeholder who served as former GOP County Executive Pat Schuber's chief of staff?
Why is this chairman enabling the embarrassing actions of our party's counsel who seems obsessed with collecting as many professional contracts he can accumulate no matter how destructive to Democrats at the ballot box? An individual who openly despises pay-to-play reform while spending as much time in Florida as he does in Bergen County?
How does any of this help our party win come the fall campaign?
As party leaders, we can't stand by and say nothing and we believe most of you feel exactly the same way. The time for the chairman to fire Dennis Oury as this party's legal counsel was yesterday. The time for this party to stop enabling Republicans in the highest positions of influence needs to cease. There is more than a plethora of talent within our party to serve with distinction as the head of the county's most controversial utility. We are asking County Executive Dennis McNerney to call for the immediate removal of Leonard Kaiser as Executive Director of the Bergen County Utilities Authority.
Because our party has won, many have looked the other way for the purpose of party unity. But is party unity that important if we lose our reputation and credibility along the way? Our party needs structural reform now.
We cannot have the position of county chairman so powerful that it replicates the authority of a communist dictator! Elected officials such as legislators, mayors and other elected Democrats need to have a say in how this party operates.
These issues need to be resolved now. This party must provide the leadership to cleanse itself of these issues that are destroying our ability to represent the working families of Bergen County.
We all have had our issues with Chairman Ferriero. But the future of this party is much larger than any differences of opinion we've had with him. The time for this party to reform itself is now. For that to happen, we need your support as the grass roots representative of your election district.
We look forward to working with you and other members of this party who want to restore the pride and passion that's been replaced by cronyism and clubhouse sleaze.
Sincerely,
Senator Loretta Weinberg, LD 37
Jack Savage, Councilman, Maywood
Timothy J. Driscoll, Mayor, Bergenfield
J. Paul Cunningham, Teaneck Democratic Committee, Vice President, Real Bergen Democrats Association
