Ferriero's slush fund

by: Juan Melli

Sun Jun 22, 2008 at 10:42:44 AM EDT

Charles Stile sheds some light on Joe Ferriero's fundraising operation. It highlights another example of legalized corruption:

Joe Ferriero dipped into a private, unregulated campaign stash to pay for automated robo-calls, slick fliers and other expenses in his lopsided June 10 reelection victory as Bergen County Democratic Organization chairman.
The Ferriero for County Chair account is a little-known arm of the Ferriero fund-raising machine. It is stocked, in part, by contributions from companies that have lucrative contracts with the Democratic-controlled county government and agencies, state records show.
Donors include Maser Consulting of Red Bank, which earned more than $450,000 on a variety of public works and services for Bergen County from 2005 to 2006, according to records filed with the state Election Law Enforcement Commission. Maser contributed $2,500 to the Ferriero fund in May 2006, records show.
The Secaucus-based law firm Waters McPherson McNeill PC, which earned more than $1.2 million as general counsel to the Bergen County Utilities Authority during the past two years, contributed $5,100 in 2006 and 2007. [...]
Donors are free to cut Ferriero a check for any amount they want - contribution limits imposed on other candidates do not apply. In theory, Ferriero can spend the money on anything, including personal expenses. The account is just as exempt from public scrutiny as the new crop of legal defense funds for legislators facing federal corruption charges. These funds allow legislators to raise and spend without any regulatory oversight.

It seems to me that whatever values Ferriero once held have since been replaced by a single-minded quest for money and power. This slush fund is only the latest example. Recall this incident reported by The Record on November 6, 2004:

A county police officer racked up more than $1,000 in overtime while chauffeuring Bergen County Democratic boss Joseph Ferriero to Yankees games and to an Atlantic City casino, Police Department records show.

On the one hand, Ferriero enjoys the fundraising loophole that doesn't apply to public elected officials. On the other, he abuses a privilege reserved for elected officials. And even then, "only under extreme circumstances should elected officials get this," said [Valerie] Huttle, who said she has been driven by county police to official functions twice in her four years on the [freeholder] board."

Only after he got caught by The Record did Ferriero say he was "sorry" for abusing the taxpayers and promised to return the money. The Record is doing their job by shedding light on the situation. Are Bergen County voters paying attention?

Juan Melli :: Ferriero's slush fund

Tags: Joe Ferriero, BCDO, police escort, corruption, Bergen County, The Record, (All Tags)

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Ferriero's slush fund | 3 comments

I agree with the article (0.00 / 0)

but take exception to the comparison of Corzine weighing in on Joe's re-election - to Corzine backing Weinberg in 2005 and helping Ferriero save face by avoiding a thumping in the 2007 Primary after dismal poll numbers for the Wildes/Zisa team.

The 2005 Zisa-Weinberg fight involved the seat of STATE SENATOR and would affect the State Legislature which represents the people of NJ and is an official elected position in the GOVERNMENT. Weinberg was a popular Assemblywoman and the backing helped Corzine LOOK LIKE he was for ethics reform. Joe's re-election was for Chairman in the Democratic PARTY.

Unfortunately, Joe Ferriero has such wide influence at so many levels of government it is hard for some folks to separate his internal PARTY seat from that of a sitting state senator.

I thought it was highly appropriate for Corzine to endorse Weinberg, who would be a fine addition to the State Legislature with whom he works. Corzine, letting everyone in the BCDO know that he is just OKEY DOKEY with the way Joe runs the BCDO even though it is corrupt to the very core is a VERY bad signal to send to Dems who are politically active in Bergen who may have wishes to advance up the Democratic or political ladder in NJ.

Very different situations. One involved a GOVERNMENT elected seat which many politicians feel the need to endorse for, the other involved a party operative who is currently the subject of a Federal investigation.

No matter how this is spun, Corzine's judgement is in question here.

One Vote. Yours. It really does matter.

by: carolh @ Sun Jun 22, 2008 at 17:32:15 PM UTC

Ferriero is slushy (0.00 / 0)

Boss Joe Ferriero is quite the slushy guy, alright. Let me get this straight.

He takes contributions that do not have to be reported from firms that have contracts with county agencies to fund his reelection to a powerful party post that allows him to allegedly influence the awarding of those contracts by leaning on the public officials he got elected through the prowess of his political machine.

Wow. He really has mastered the system, hasn't he?

by: TerryMalloy-OnTheWaterfront @ Mon Jun 23, 2008 at 12:36:51 PM UTC