There is an old episode of The Simpsonswhere the release of a "hot new doll" threatens to take sales away from the traditional Barbie-type "Malibu Staci" doll. While the Malibu Staci brass met to discuss the next step to regain market share, they decide to go bold - and release a "new version" of the doll which is exactly the same as the old version, but with a new cowgirl hat.
Living in Bergen County and recently getting myself onto the County Committee, I had hopes that after what the Bergen County Democratic Organization has been through over the past few years, that there would be a bold new direction - something more than a name change to Democratic Committee of Bergen County, or a "new hat" would be warranted.
After all, this is an Organization that represented a Party which held pretty much every important position in Bergen County a few years ago - including County Executive, Sheriff, all seven Freeholders, a number of State Senators and pretty much every candidate for Congress in the District. Then there was embarrassment after resignation after embarrassment after indictment after infighting after embarrassment after resignation- and while new BCDO/DCBC Chairman Lou Stellato attempts to steer a badly wounded ship back in the right direction, even what seems like a great move is being handled clumsily.
"I'm running for re-election," the former Fair Lawn mayor told Patch. "I had a very good return in all the precincts [in the primary election]," he said, adding that he's "never stopped campaigning from the last election three years ago."
Now, I have known Paul for around 5 years - he is a Councilman in Ridgewood (where I live), and we stay in regular touch. When it comes to moving the BCDO/DCBC in the right direction, there are a few people - but not many - who can take a big role in doing so. Paul is most certainly one of them and he should be elevated in a way that gives him more exposure and makes Bergen County Democrats proud to be part of this Organization again. New "up and comers" need to be recruited and groomed, big ideas need to be considered as Bergen County Democrats try to right the ship and regain credibility with voters.
While Paul is on a relatively short list of people who can help in a big way, rumors and innuendo about forcing Ganz off the ticket - even if he is tied to former Chariman Joe Ferriero - is not a productive way to give Committee members and voters the warm and fuzzies. It's too bad that the BCDO/DCBC doesn't seem to be learning a lesson when it comes to showcasing its more valuable people.
My, but the wheels of justice turn slowly. Elaine Rabbitt, former Bergenfield Council Woman indicted for a forgery that nearly changed the course of a State Senate special election in 2005, finally got to face a judge.
Mike Kasparian, who took the reins of the Bergen County Democratic Organization after notorious county boss Joe Ferriero's leadership collapsed under the weight of its own corruption, is out. Kasparian said today he'll step down from his post in March.
The struggle over BCDO's direction apparently at a new plateau, and Kasparian now on a get-out timetable, Weinberg was all compliments today, but signaled what she's after. Special to Blue Jersey:
I am looking forward to new, fresh, inclusive, substantive and progressive leadership who will work to rebuild our Bergen Democratic Organization from the grass roots up. I would like to thank Michael Kasparian for his service.
Two years ago, I drafted a post (edited by the good members of Blue Jersey) with a rundown of what happened in the 2008 Congressional election in New Jersey's fifth district. We deconstructed the voting trends in each of the four counties, discussed how outreach and messaging (and money), as well as a different strategy, are needed to (1) win Bergen County, where most of the votes are and (2) close the gap in Passaic, Warren and Sussex Counties:
But this is a low information district with an inherent Republican advantage, where a large majority of people never hear a stump speech or listen to debates. And that is especially true in the rural areas that count for roughly one-third of the votes. So it's clear that very heavy handed, yet accurate, tactics must be used - and used consistently in a way that will not only reach these voters, but close the gap in Sussex and Warren Counties by 1/3 to 1/2 of the roughly 25,000 deficits of 2008 and 2004.
Now, I will admit this post may be a bit more subjective. But that's because since 2008 (and out of that diary), I helped start "Retire Garrett", a grassroots effort with outreach in all four counties to help recruit a candidate, solicit donors, craft message, coordinate outreach, and try to tackle the very tough feat of ousting Garrett in a fairly Republican leaning district. I (with other volunteers) figured this would be a 2 cycle effort, but worth pursuing.
And as it goes, "all politics is local" - I think this is even more true on a, well, local level. None of these Democrats voted for health reform, they didn't have any hand in what was going on nationally and while there was more "Republican voter enthusiasm", that is a mere excuse for the real reason for what happened in Bergen County last night.
This was not a repudiation of Obama or Menendez or Lautenberg or even anything close to an affirmation of support for Christie. This was about what the Bergen County Democratic Organization did when it was in control and a resounding rejection of those policies.
Following the logic of Kathy Donovan, candidate for Bergen County executive can give you a headache. First, she was challenged by Dennis McNerney to oppose the Governor letting the millionaire's tax expire. Instead of joining in that call, she called it "populist rhetoric":
He still believes that taxing residents is the answer to everything. And he doesn't undderstand that placing undue burdens on any one element of society ultimately forces greater burdens on everyone else."Taxes in New Jersey are confiscaory. Taxpayers who can are voting with their feet, and moving elewhere, leaving the burden to those who remain. Mr. McNerney's populist rhetoric is totally transparent.
That's right, asking millionaires to help while everyone else is feeling more pain by the day is just populist rhetoric. But while she says we should lay off the millionaires, she's scrambling to find any way but scrapping the blue laws to raise money and is looking toward the billionaires:
"New Jersey taxpayers and not billionaire team owners from New York should be the beneficiaries of this windfall," Donovan wrote in a letter to Christie. "You have asked all taxpayers, homeowners, teachers, public employees, boards of education, municipalities and others to sacrifice. Shouldn't the Jets and Giants be included? "
I wonder how Donovan drew the line that millionaires shouldn't be included with her request of the Jets and Giants to share the burden? I guess the billionaires aren't populist rhetoric and it's wrong to tax the rich, unless they're really really rich. You would think McNerney would continue to drive these issues relentlessly throughout the campaign.
It's a shame that last night's BCDO convention failed to pick a candidate to run for CONGRESS!!!
The people of the 5th CD are being politically disenfranchised because the BCDO machine is so damned delusional that they evidently think that running a Democrat against Garrett would increase Republican turnout and maybe hurt their local candidates. I don't buy it.
Running scared is a sure way to lose elections. You would think we would have learned that from the way Corzine just lost to a hypocritical Bush administration hack who's not even in the same league as Jon Corzine.
The Republicans smell blood. I predict their turnout in November will be even higher than it was in 2008...or pretty close to it.....and that Democratic turnout will be relatively depressed.
There needs to be an exciting new charismatic energized candidate to run against Garrett, with or without the establishment Democratic party line!!! Such an aggressively progressive candidate will give Democrats a reason to get excited enough to leave their homes and vote in November.....such a candidacy will actually HELP the lower tier races! Let's find that candidate and get them on the ballot!!!
Sadly, even with boss Ferriero gone, the BCDO still hasn't figured out that to win as a Democrat in today's political climate you have to get people excited. The old machine is broken and out of gas.
Don't get me wrong, I'll still show up and vote the party line in November....the way I figure it, our candidates are still better than what the Republicans have to offer; but I dare say that there will be a lot of disaffected Dems staying home and a lot more turned on Republicans crawling out of the woodwork encouraged and inflamed by Christie's win and by the fact that we didn't even bother to run against Garrett.
Bullies don't walk away just because you cross the street. On the contrary, that sign of fear just motivates them to cross the same street and to beat you up all the more.
The politics of running scared has infected the Democratic party at every level. and that's a shame.
Of course it's more complex that that......it has more to do with trying to keep the payers who play happy and with not upsetting the establishmentarian apple cart. It's about the money, stupid.
Here's a great video that is directed toward the national situation...but I put it to you that it applies to New Jersey politics as well. When he says "DC" think Trenton....
What I find interesting about last night's BCDO convention - besides reluctance to put somebody up against Scott Garrett - is that of about 1,350 county committee members, only about 800 showed up to vote, and 14% didn't bother to vote for McNerney. Ruh-roh! - - promoted by Rosi
This year, the BCDO power players really did panic, but they circled the wagons effectively for their Joe Ferriero candidates.
The two Congressmen in BCDO territory currently are Garrett and Rothman. The BCDO put up NOBODY for Garrett's seat. They don't even pretend to care anymore.
First, the preliminary (not verified) results:
Total votes (voters): 800
McNerney: 710
McGuire: 710
Carroll: 592
Calabrese: 659
Hogan: 620
Belfon: 174
Kovic: 159
McCall: 157
Unspecified number of write-ins for Wilson
District 9:
Rothman: 479
District 5: no votes because the BCDO doesn't want to waste precious money on Congress.
Lets start at the beginning with the event that threw the BCDO into panic. Freeholder Thomas Padilla announced he is stepping down. That one event caused an election where a third seat needed to be filled. When voting for three seats, the top vote getters in the pool get the nod. You don't just vote for each seat separately. So, more candidates in the pool, the least popular ones will lose. Everyone knew that James Carroll, the most identifiable Joe Ferriero supported candidate was the most endangered incumbent this year.
With Julie O'Brien, the defeated candidate from last year in the mix, as well as the popular Mayor Birkner of Westwood, who was endorsed by Senators Loretta Weinberg and Paul Sarlo, and Maywood Mayor Eustace, as well as Ferriero-crat Cid Wilson in the pool, the chances of a Carroll win went down exponentially.
And so, in order to really make sure that their incumbents were safe, the other candidates were made to sign a promise that they would NOT run in the Dem Primary in June if they lost at the convention. In fact, they had no choice. In order to attend the convention and throw their hats in the ring, they had to give up any right to run off the line in the Primary.
Now the stage is set, to avoid the Dem voters of Bergen County having a choice that wasn't made for them at 50 Main St. in Hackensack.
BUT, that damned third seat. They still had to fill it. What to do, what to do. They had to PICK the third guy. That is what Joe would have done. But this is the NEW BCDO. Can't have the sheep thinking that the decision was made for them already. So, the other candidates start suspiciously dropping like flies. Eustace, O'Brien, Birkner. We won't tell them who to vote for, we'll just take their choices away in the name of "unity" which Joe Ariyan brings up while extolling the virtues of Birkner as a "unifier" who puts his party ahead of himself. That's BCDO speak for he dropped out due to BCDO pressure. When O'Brien dropped out and Ariyan read her email at the Candidates Night, she mentioned that Hogan was the Chairman's pick - to the utter dismay of Kasparian, who was hoping to appear as neutral as Switzerland.
So, OBVIOUS pressure to clear the field for the two incumbents. Then the snowstorm hits and Hackensack shows a tremendous reluctance to cancel the Convention last Thursday. After all, the only folks that matter are in Hackensack, THEY can get to the convention. But after some Committee members call them on it, they relent and reschedule the event to this Thursday. It is telling that they refused to put up a Candidate against Garrett, because they thought it would boost Rep turnout and hurt their "local" candidates". Who knew big Jim Carroll was so precious that he would prevent us from putting up a candidate to possibly win the seat of the Social Darwinist against Evolution? They obviously like low turnout elections and were hoping there would be one last Thursday, but they had to have a real convention.
This week, really only three Ferriero-crat choices, and only three non-Ferriero-crat choices. The goons had their marching orders and they executed perfectly. The "outsiders" Belfon, McHale, Kovic lost to the "insiders".
The really interesting thing is the numbers:
Out of 800 voters, the results show a less than lock step following of orders. McGuire and McNerney did well, but Hogan, the new candidate got more votes than Carroll. Carroll would probably NOT have gotten the nod if the others had not dropped out and Hogan was not touted as the Chairman's pick.
What I find fascinating is the spread between Calabrese and Carroll. It appears that their are cracks in the armor there. Perhaps a realization that dual-office holder Carroll is the most visible standard bearer for the Joe Ferriero legacy. Some BCDO members appear to realize that the Convention is just one battle. To win the war, you need to let the voters actually do the choosing in November.
The BCDO thinks they can control everything, right down to making sure there is an uncontested primary, but they cannot control the fact that the Chairman they adored and emulated and loyally followed to the bitter end, is now a convicted felon. They LOST two seats last year and by not picking a fresh face, they are sealing their fate in November.
There were reports of some folks voting who did not have the correct paperwork. However, Lynn Hurwitz and friends stacked the deck enough in their favor that it wouldn't have changed to outcome. Joe Ferriero would be proud.
The Ferriero-crats won. And they made the challengers sign a letter, in order to participate in the convention, not to challenge in the Primary.
Interesting that Carroll got many fewer votes than Calabrese and even Hogan. Carroll must have been sweating this one.
The thing is, it isn't just about winning the convention. You gotta win in November. Dual office-holder Carroll will be the BCDO's albatross in the General.
Say what you want about former BCDO Chairman Joe Ferriero, but he knew how to rack up Democratic wins in Bergen County. As for his successor, Michael Kasparian, 2009 didn't look too good but let's not give him all of the blame for the loss of two freeholder seats and a near draw between Christie and Corzine in the backyard of the very popular Democratic Lieutenant Governor candidate. After all, he did have to come in on the heels of a cloud of corruption and it didn't go away (probably still hasn't). That being said, Kasparian did say that he was not going to be the same type of leader as Ferriero and would have more transparency in the BCDO. I assume he also had a goal of restoring the tarnished image of the BCDO.
Which makes the information I have been hearing that much more puzzling as well as maddening.
Now, knowing that Scott Garrett is by far one of the most out of step Congressmen, tucked safely in a district that is hand drawn for a Republican to hold on the Congressional level and the desire for the Bergen Democrats to lay as low as possible, I can understand a level of concern, given the county and statewide election results last November. But I have heard from at least four different people in four different parts of the county who have spoken to three very well known and high profile people high up in the BCDO - all of whom have indicated the chosen strategy of the BCDO (and I am paraphrasing):
We think it would be best to not run a challenger to Scott Garrett in the hopes that Republican voter turnout will be depressed and our local candidates will have a better chance of winning
Where to even begin here? How about the following reasons why this is quite possibly the absolute dumbest and worst political strategy I have seen in a good long time:
Republicans are more motivated this year than in the past 6 years. To think that they won't be coming out stronger and hope they will forget there is an election is fantasyspeak;
Having no Congressional candidate will not "free up motivated volunteers" to help with, for example, Freeholder, County Executive, County Sherriff or other lower tier races - local races where quite frankly, most people don't know or care enough to get involved;
Voter turnout in an off year (i.e., non-Presidential) is low as is - without giving the base a real reason to vote - and voting just for downticket races is hardly reason enough to get the full base out to vote - will only depress Democratic turnout further;
Sending a signal that you don't even want to field a top of the ticket candidate is a message of fear - a losing message. This will likely (1) depress the base vote further, (2) depress the motivated activists who would otherwise vote for an entire ticket, tell their friends and neighbors to do the same, volunteer and talk up the race and (3) create a backlash and resentment among those who know the damage that Scott Garrett does to the people of this district; and
Give the impression that an attempt to save their own personal political lives is more important than helping those constituents who they hope will elect (or re-elect) them to serve.
What message does it send to me - a motivated activist who has spent the better part of my four years living in New Jersey working to oust Garrett? That I should not only suck it up and let Garrett walk to a win - even if he ends up embroiled in his own horrific scandal - but I should also be a sport and team player and have all of my friends and neighbors come out and vote for downticket candidates because why?
And I know that there are hundreds of people like me - people who can get hundreds more to vote for a whole slate of Democrats. What the Bergen Democrats don't realize, just like the New Jersey Democrats who don't understand Garden State Equality's stance on not donating to the Democratic Party as a whole, is that our votes, our time and our money is earned.
By not running a Congressional candidate, the Bergen Democrats are doing none of the above - and they will only lose by a larger margin than if they had a Congressional candidate.
BCDO convention is now Thursday of this week. - - promoted by Rosi
I wish I had better political news to report from the Bergen County frontlines, home of convicted felon Party Chairmen, and sitting Council members indicted for forgery.
I had hoped the Ferriero conviction and the subsequent crushing loss of the first Ferriero-crats to lose a Freeholder election in years, would at least chasten the Pay-to-Play crowd. I was also hoping the new Chairman of the BCDO, who seems like a decent guy, would have the strength of will to stand up to Lynn Hurwitz, who is actually still running the BCDO. It appears I was wrong.
The BCDO is as bad as ever. We have a new captain, but the same old crew is steering the ship. At the BCDO, the folks who carried out Joe's orders are still very much in charge. Leading the crew is Lynn Hurwitz, who looks like Phylis Diller but isn't funny in the least. Ms. Hurwitz, who was the lead cheerleader for Boss Joe, is the Hackensack Municipal Democratic Chair as well as being Deputy Chief of Staff for Bergen County. She also happens to be married to Howie Hurwitz, who is Executive Director of the Northwest Bergen County Utilities Authority, one of the shadow government bodies in the news lately. She is one half of the BCDO's most active Power Couple and very much in charge at the BCDO no matter who the Chairman is right now.
This week is a big one for the BCDO. There will be the BCDO convention this Thursday night. The silver lining is that there are some positive differences this time. Instead of having the candidates address the Committee AFTER the vote where only one choice was available all the way down the ballot, there was actually a candidates night BEFORE the BCDO convention. Due to one Freeholder stepping down there are 3 freeholder seats in play this election instead of only two. There is wrangling over that third seat. But because of that, and new candidates in the election, there is also the danger for the Ferriero-crats that one of the newcomers may dislodge one of the incumbents. Oh, joy!
The two incumbents in question, are staunch FOJ (Friends of Joe Ferriero) - or Ferriero-crats. Current Freeholder James Carroll is ALSO a dual office holder as current Mayor of Demarest. Unfortunately for the incumbents, they are both tied to the legacy of Joe Ferriero.
The current BCDO members are painfully aware that despite what Dennis Oury used to say, the voters actually know what pay to play is now, and they really do care. They see the impact on their Municipal tax bill when Halliburton-sized engineering firms who donate to the BCDO are hired by their towns. In Bogota, T&M, (which is jokingly referred to as "Time and Materials") the big engineering firm from South Jersey, was dumped this year, and in Emerson, Mazer, another big firm who often got no-bid jobs from Bergen County under the incumbent Freeholders, was ALMOST replaced until the Democratic Mayor broke the tie to keep them. This was AFTER the Dems LOST in Emerson because of Redevelopment plans hatched without the consent of the governed. The Bergen County voters now have a low tolerance for dual office holders as well and can't wait to rectify that situation by separating Carrol from one of his elected offices.
And so, the crew at the BCDO appeared to panic last week. Faced with the very embarrassing possibility of having their incumbents losing the BCDO nomination, they asked all candidates running for Freeholder to actually sign a letter stating that they would not run in the Primary if they lost in the BCDO convention. Adding to their panic was the moment on Candidate's night last Tuesday when Joe Ariyan read Julie O'brien's email dropping out of the race. In it she explained that she was dropping out due to too large a field of candidates, which led to speculation that she was politely asked to bow out so as not to hurt Carroll's and Calabrese's chances. She also made reference that the Chairman's pick was actually Northvale Mayor John Hogan, the guy with the lightest resume. The progressives in the BCDO smelled blood in the water. The old guard Ferriero-crats were finally actually worried that the rank and file BCDO members might actually ditch the incumbents.
And so it was no surprise what happened next. While everyone else in Bergen County was gearing up for a Nor'Easter, the BCDO leadership exhibited an unnatural hesitation to cancel the BCDO convention scheduled for Thursday night. They didn't cancel it until Thursday morning, after getting complaints by committee members Wed night who wanted to know how people were going to get there. Apparently, an email had been circulated regarding BCDO's decision to hold the convention and that people would have to get there regardless of the weather. It suspiciously appeared that the ONLY folks who would be able to get there would be from Hackensack - Lynn Hurwitz's Committee Members or folks picked up in SUV's perhaps courtesy of some officials the way Joe Ferriero used to get rides from the County cops. The BCDO leadership, after getting wind that the rank and file may come to the conclusion that their motives may not be as pure as the Nor'easter driven snow, realized folks might question their hesitation to cancel the election. AFTER the complaints robo calls finally went out Wednesday night assuring everyone that IF the storm did hit, the convention would be postponed to another day. The actual robo-calls finally postponing the convention went out Thursday morning.
With the convention wisely postponed to this Thursday we MAY see a fair election this time. There should even be actual voting machines too. There are a several good candidates this time, including the very popular Mayor Birkner of Westwood who is heavily supported by labor, progressive Sebastian Belfon, supported by grassroots Dems in Bergen County and impressive Dr. Pargellan McHall. These are three candidates popular with the BCDO members and who are also not tied to the BCDO Pay-to-Play legacy of the past.
Long story short. The BCDO crew that ran the show for Ferriero is supporting incumbants Freeholder Calabrese and dual office holder Carroll as well as Hogan, who, surprise, surprise was also a member of the compromised Bergen County Board of Elections. (The Election Commission deserves it's own whole diary). The Ferriero-crats are supporting the Ferriero-crats. The rest of the BCDO may be ready for a change, but we still have the same crew steering the ship and re-arranging the same old worn out deck chairs. This Thursday we'll see if the BCDO can actually turn before it hits that looming iceberg - the November election or at least toss a few old deck chairs off the boat.
Joe Ferriero has been on the stand defending himself at his trial and when pressed on using his influence to help get business, here was the exchange that took place:
Honig suggested that Ferriero set up a new business where he would recommend municipalities to pursue for business and use his "influence" to help get the grants get passed.
"By me having relationships," Ferriero asserted, backing away from the word "influence."
"Influence - that's your word," Honig said, referring to an e-mail between Ferriero and David Spatz, who eventually was hired by GGC to write grant applications.
"It's not a bad thing," Ferriero responded.
That's right, influence itself is not a bad thing. It's how you use that influence that determines whether there are problems. The defense rested their case today and the jury is scheduled to begin deliberations on Monday.
Dennis Oury was called and testifed at the Joe Ferriero trial yesterday. When asked about why he wasn't named on resolutions appointing he and Ferriero's consulting company as grant writer, he said it was an intentional omission:
Each of the towns that received in December 2001 a resolution appointing GGC as grant writer was controlled by Democrats. Thomas Barrett and Anthony Mottola were listed as officers in each resolution, and Ferriero and Oury were not named at all.
"It would not have been good for business if our names surfaced in a public way, for reasons I said before," Oury testified.
Ferriero emerged from the questioning as the driving force in the scheme, the de facto lobbyist pressuring state officials to free up state grant money, and the author of a phony shareholder agreement that assigned "front people" to disguise their interest in Government Grants Consulting LLC. And it was Ferriero who dispersed their payments, including $25,016.97 for Oury.
According to Stile, Ferriero was mentioned in 20 of the 61 questions asked by the Judge. Ferriero's trial is scheduled to start tomorrow, with his lawyer saying he will not plead guilty and that he wants a speedy trial.
This week, Carol Hoernlein resigned from the Tenafly Council seat she's held for two and a half years, and withdrew from her re-election campaign, citing health reasons.
You can trace the arc of Blue Jersey by Carol Hoernlein, who posts here as carolh, a username hardly anonymous given how clearly she's localized herself by her writing. She's one of the early registered users here, and contributes on a number of fronts, from tainted food, to the arrival of a new firetruck in Tenafly. But most powerfully, she's chronicled the mutiny that rocked the Bergen County Democratic Organization (BCDO), the thirst there for party transparency and democracy, and the strong progressive undercurrent that fuels it. For me, the best things she writes are about her joy discovering the power of ordinary people to drive change.
We hope you feel better, Carol. Rest up. And with so much of the pulse of the 2009 Governor's race centering on Bergen County, I'm sorry to see you off Council, but I hope your voice raisesup somewhere else.
Former Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero's defense attorney filed a motion in federal court today to dismiss the indictment against him.
Joseph Hayden, who represents Ferriero, said that they're seeking to dismiss the case based on an "unprecedented expansion of the mail fraud statute."
The more Joe Ferriero's name is in the news, the more it makes me think that Loretta Weinberg may end up being the choice for Lieutenant Governor. She appears to do the does the most to blunt the attacks that will fly relating to Ferriero. I have seen arguments made that she doesn't bring enough votes and I think it's debatable whether anyone really brings enough votes, but does she help the Governor not lose some on this issue?
"The leadership of the Hackensack University Medical Center Board of Governors consulted with the hospital administration and everyone agreed to reverse the decision regarding The Record. We apologize to our patients and our staff for any inconvenience, and we apologize to The Record. We are putting this incident behind us and moving forward."
Maybe they hadn't heard the saying, never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel. I don't see how they even could think the decision to ban the paper would make the problem being reported on go away. Instead of banning the paper for reporting, they should go after the practice that's being criticized. I guess they thought it would be easier to try and attack the messenger. In reality, all they did was draw more attention to the issue.
When he was running for Bergen County Democratic Chairman after Joseph Ferriero resigned, Michael Kasparian pledged a series of reforms which would "first and foremost include the implementation of an ethics training program for all candidates who desire the support of our party. This commitment will be similar to the state mandated program that all commissioners and authority members, myself included, must complete annually."
Now Kasparian has changed his mind. He's still offering the ethics training, which includes a written test, but he's making it optional. There will be no penalty for party leaders who decline to complete the training, take the test, or fail the test.
The lawyer for the BCDO says they can't compel County Committee members to take ethics training. But they really can: Kasparian can agree to deny the organization line to any candidate who does not pass the ethics training.
It's not like they've had any problems in Bergen that oh I don't know, brought the chair to power that they would want to guard against future abuses. I've heard the saying if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, did it make a sound. Along those same lines, if someone takes the ethics test and fails it, but no one is told, did it really happen?
I think all public officials should have to go through ethics training. A bright line needs to be drawn through much of the grey area in this state. In addition, this would ensure that if they do break the law like many that have come before them, they can't say if only they would have known.
County Committee members should have received a letter from BCDO Chairman Michael Kasparian detailing his progress with the programs he promised to implement back in January.
Here are the highlights:
A BCDO ethics training, spearheaded by retired Superior Court Judge Daniel Mecca, will be held on May 20th. Governor Corzine has been invited, and plans to participate. The BCDO web site is up and running. (It looks a little wonky on Firefox, but it works.) Looks like they've got a decent bit of content there, including the BCDO bylaws and a list of all County Committee members and Municipal Chairs. (Addresses are not included, and I think that's an understandable precaution.) An independent financial assessment is being conducted by Bederson Associates. An Executive Committee meeting was held in March, and another will take place in June. A fundraiser will be held on May 21 at Le Jardin in Edgewater; invitations will be forthcoming. Executive Director Daniel Ortega, Fund Raiser Marissa Heluk and Treasurer Mat McCarter are leaving their positions. The new executive staff includes Executive Director Matt McHale, Fundraiser Allison Zayas and Treasurer Donald Lenner.
I like that the web site is up, and overall it looks like progress has been made. I'm not familiar with most of the individuals named in this letter, though, so I can't speak to what sort of direction the staffing choices suggest.
I actually met Mike Kasparian at Senator Loretta Weinberg's Fundraiser last week. It meant a lot to folks to see him there. I know I appreciated it. I got the chance to speak with him. Governor Corzine and Senate President Codey also appeared and showed their support for our Senator.
It was a really nice event and it was a positive sign that we may actually get more unity at 50 Main Street in Hackensack. He was extremely gracious and polite. It is difficult not to immediately like Mr. Kasparian. He does seem to be acting in good faith. I thanked him for taking on a difficult task.
And so I am relieved. We should be supporting our popular incumbents for re-election. It looks as if that just may happen in District 37. Cid Wilson is apparently dropping his bid to run for seats that are already held by Johnson and Huttle in District 37.
For a few years now, I have felt like the parent who has to yell "Now, don't make me come back there!" to Joe Ferriero's supporters who tried at every opportunity to punish Loretta Weinberg and her team for winning against Ken Zisa in 2005. It was exhausting every time we had to fight when Joe kicked us off the BCDO line for (gasp!) actually voting for our LD37 team. Every time Joe and his supporters acted up, I felt we had to fight like hell to preserve some semblance of democracy. THAT is why the Real Bergen Dems formed in the first place. It all started with rebelling against the tyranny of Joe Ferriero and his petty vindictiveness.
Well, now that Joe is gone, I am hoping like many Dems in Bergen County that it was all a bad dream and we can proceed forward where the ideas of 1100 folks can be pooled together instead of the dictates of just one guy named Joe.
It has been a good start for Mike Kasparian. I hope this new sense of civility continues. The call to get an accurate accounting of the BCDO finances will be a great start as well. We all need to know the situation so we can plan for the future. But we have to be honest. We also have to end Pay-to-Play.
If Mike Kasparian is serious about ending Pay-to-Play and running a leaner operation, we can spend more money on finding great candidates and helping them win. Maybe even in the 5th Congressional District (Pretty please?)
