The Unitary Chairman

by: carolh

Wed Jul 25, 2007 at 01:08:09 PM EDT

Last night while watching Alberto Gonzales try to wiggle his way out of saying torture was OK and that visiting a sick man on sedation in the hospital wasn't pressuring the guy, I got that familiar feeling.  That someone was trying to get away with something yet again.  I needed to vent.  I needed to tell you all what was going on up here. 

On June 20, our call for a County Convention which is provided for in our Bylaws was completely disregarded by Chairman Joe Ferriero.  In response, Committee member Robert Gulack sent a letter which I will post here in it's entirety:

Dear Chairman Ferriero:

On June 20, 2007, you mailed the members of the Bergen County Democratic Organization a letter in which you offered excuses for not calling a convention on June 27 even though our By-Laws required you to do so.  Your letter makes it clear that you are countenancing ongoing violations of Article III, Section 5(E); Article IX, Section 3; and Article X, Section 4 of our By-laws.  Title 19:5-3, which covers the membership and organization of county committees, provides that "The chairman shall ... perform all duties required of him by ... the constitution and bylaws of such committee."

You are Violating Our Right to Call a Convention

Article IX, Section 3 permits any five percent of our Committee to call a convention "at any time", provided solely that they submit the request for the convention in writing to our Chairman and Secretary.  Once a convention has been called under Article IX, Section 3, you are required to see that the convention is called at the time specified by the written request.  The By-laws do not provide you with any power to make a judgement call overruling the written request by five percent to call the convention.  Neither do the Bylaws provide you with any power to delay the convention beyond the date specified by the written request.

Under Article IX, Section 6(c), you were required to send out the convention notice June 20.  You failed to do so.

In the present case, there are 1328 members of our Committee.  Five percent of that is 67.  Seventy-three members submitted their written request June 11, 2007.  You do not contest these facts.  You simply ignore them.

You May Oppose the Tenth Resolution, but You Must Let Us Vote On It

In your judgement, the tenth resolution is a "waste of resources".  You are perfectly free to make that argument at the convention.  You are not allowed to deny us the convention because you oppose one of the proposed resolutions.  We have the right to hear your argument, and decide if we agree.

You are Violating Our Right to Pass Sense-of-the-Convention Resolutions

Under Article X, Section 4 of our By-laws, "[u]nless otherwise provided for in these by-laws or by statute, all business shall be governed by Robert's Rules of Order." Section 39 of Robert's Rules allows our convention to pass simple sense-of-the-Convention resolutions, unless such resolutions "conflict with the ... by-laws."

None of the ten proposed resolutions conflict with our By-laws.  Indeed, you wrote that "many of these resolutions . . .represent a practice currently utilized by me as Chairman."  Since you are clearly not saying that "many" of your "practice[s]" conflict with our By-laws, your letter admits that there is no conflict between our By-laws and these resolutions.  (If, on the other hand, these resolutions do somehow conflict with our By-laws, your own June 20 letter would constitute a written admission that you routinely violate our By-laws and would therefore raise the question as to whether you are guilty of "many" violations of Title 19.  You can't have it both ways.)

Since these resolutions do not conflict with our By-laws, our Committee has every right to pass these nine resolutions as simple sense-of-the-convention resolutions under Robert's Rules of Order.  We are required to submit these resolutions to a committee controlled by you, and then pass them only by a two-thirds vote.

You Are Violating Our Right to Appeal Parliamentary Rulings

Once a convention is in progress, the issue as to whether any of these resolutions are out of order could be addressed by the Chair.  Any ruling by the Chair could then be appealed under Robert's Rules of Order Section 24. By issuing what is, in effect, a parliamentary runling as a fait accompli in your letter, you are denying the Committee its right to appeal your parliamentary ruling.

The Bergen Democratic Party Must Follow the Rule of Law

Our Committee's By-laws are not a string of esoteric technicalities, which you may ignore according to your whim.  Our By-laws are the detailed and explicit framework in which we do our business as a Committee - when they are trampled upon, our Committee is transformed from a political party of free women and men into a collection of serfs shoved this way or that at the pleasure of a single individual.  Our By-laws also have the force of state law under Title 19.

To be an effective political froce for the betterment of a democratic nation, our  Democratic Party must be conducted with the full respect for the democratic rights of every member of our Committee.  Every one of us has rights under the By-laws - not just you.  We are calling a convention to show our support for democratic processes.  Your continuing failure to call the required convention shows your contempt for democracy under law

Sincerely, Robert Gulack, Member, Bergen County Democratic Committee.

Thank you Thank you Thank you

by: carolh

Wed Jan 31, 2007 at 10:21:58 PM EST

Inside, it was the first time I saw the Chairman not smiling broadly at an election.  His attorney Dennis Oury stepped outside later only to try to shoo us CC members away from the door with the excuse that in another hour some children would be leaving the school to be picked up by their parents. 

When the children finally left the building at 6 they seemed thoroughly thrilled by the whole affair and asked lots of questions about what was going on.  I told them we were all Democrats and that they were witnessing democracy.  One little girl of 11 told me that Hillary is her hero.  Some of them asked if they could hold up our signs for us.  Michael Wildes poked his head out the door, sensing a photo op, then quickly ducked back inside when he saw what our signs said.  It was rather funny.....

We didn't need too many protesters there, the CC members themselves wound up taking up signs after voting and standing on the steps to plead with those entering to Vote NO.  We had big stickers that simply said NO on them.  Although the sign holding went on outside in the cold, many CC members proudly wore their NO stickers into the voting room. 

Apparently Ferriero's friends needed to do the kind of arm-twisting the Republican Congress used to do when they would hold a vote open for hours while pressuring the last few fence sitters that it would in their best interest to vote with the party.

The next bylaws vote will probably try to change the notice to about an hour, because giving us a week was clearly enough time to rally the grassroots. 

So, thank you for helping us spread the word.  An informed electorate is the only way to go.

The 37th has a great team

by: carolh

Wed Jan 31, 2007 at 02:51:13 PM EST

He spent over $70,000 on ONE party he basically threw for himself at the most expensive club in the newest Atlantic City casino and spent millions on the County Executive race that he needed to keep our County Employees held hostage to his whims, and spent NOTHING on the race for the Congress in the 5th district. We are dealing with guys who would be considered local warlords if we were in Afganistan.  I for one refuse to appease Mr. Ferriero.  I want to keep my honest legislators where they belong.

I hope you will join me at the Hackensack Middle school tonite. Ferriero's goons will be there, intimidating our County Committee folks, but the votes should be secret, and even though Mr. Ferriero has twisted arms to get signatures on the propaganda he sent out this week, the consciences of individual committee members I hope should be enough to shoot down this ill conceived attack on our very democracy. 

Think about this folks. Part of your property taxes go to pay for professional services.  In a Ferriero town, you can bet you are paying much more for a Borough attorney or engineer than you would be in a non-Ferriero controlled town.  How else can money get funneled back to the BCDO and Ferriero's machine? 

This huge problem affects so many more things in your local government than you realize.  If we stop the pay-to play nonsense, then maybe our County employees can breathe easier and not be beholden to one man who can destroy their careers in a heartbeat.  Our civil servants in Bergen county are hostage to Boss Ferriero.  Lets free them.  Come to the Hackensack Middle School and send a message to the local warlord.  WE will choose our own government.  Not you, sir. 

Weinberg, Johnson and Huttle (and Englewood) speak to the County!

by: lsanchez490

Mon Jan 29, 2007 at 05:03:48 PM EST

BCDO Bylaws changes Vote is January 31 at 5 pm

by: carolh

Wed Jan 24, 2007 at 12:14:07 PM EST

Shortly after my election to Borough Council, our Tenafly Committee people were advised by the BCDO staff to give up our Committee seats if we won a council seat - so we could "have more votes" in the elections.  Fortunately, I was suspicious and found out that Councilmen and women who are not on the Committee any longer CANNOT vote on the bylaws.  If you are an elected official and you gave up your committee seat as you may have been advised by the BCDO staff, you have given away your right to vote on the Bylaws this coming Wednesday.  Hence the Bold face type in the first paragraph that "Only County Committee Members are eligible to vote on these Bylaws changes."

Just one more in a series of ethically challenged moves by our Chairman. 

That is also why he kept me on Column 2 on the ballot for Council and put me in Column 4 for my county committee seat in the Primary last year.  The Committee seats are much more valuable to the BCDO.