Bergen Grassroots Endorsements

Written by: Paul Eisenman on Nov 3, 2007 3:24 PM EDT

Bergen Grassroots Endorsements

As Election Day nears, we consider it appropriate to summarize the actions of your Steering Committee members with regard to endorsing candidates for County and State governments within our purview. That includes three candidates for the Bergen County Board of Freeholders and one Senator and two Assembly members in Legislative Districts 36, 37, 38 and 39.

It was our judgment that there were two key questions for which we needed answers from these candidates because of our strong commitment to pay-to-play reform. We wrote to all 18 candidates on September 20, well in advance of Election Day. Here are the questions:

●Are you prepared to work for stronger laws in the State Legislature and Bergen County and its municipalities to control the pernicious effects of pay-to-play on the business of government?

●As a member ex officio of the Bergen County Democratic Organization, how will you vote on Chairman Ferriero's proposal to test the constitutionality of reform ordinances like the one recently adopted by the Teaneck Township Council?

District 37 The Democratic candidates for State Senate and Assembly, Loretta Weinberg, Valerie Vainieri Huttle and Gordon Johnson provided prompt and precise answers: "Yes" to the first and "No" to the second. We have worked side-to-side with these legislators in the ongoing fight for pay-to-play reform in the 70 municipalities of Bergen County. We share many other views of the role of government with them, and we endorse their re-election unequivocally.

District 36 The Democratic candidates are all incumbents: Paul A. Sarlo for State Senate and Frederick Scalera and Gary Schaer for Assembly. There was no response from any one of them.

District 38  The Democratic candidates are Assemblyman Robert Gordon, seeking the seat being vacated by Senator Joe Coniglio; Assemblywoman Joan Voss, seeking re-election, and Freeholder Connie Wagner, seeking to fill the seat vacated by Assemblyman Gordon. No one responded to the September 20 letter. At the behest of the Steering Committee, a Bergen Grassroots officer had an extended conversation with Mr. Gordon's district director, offering support in exchange for a commitment to oppose pay-to-play. A callback was promised; it never came.

District 39  In a solidly Republican district, the Democratic candidates are Joseph Ariyan for State Senator and Esther Fletcher and Carl J. Manna for Assembly seats. They face a trio of incumbents. No one responded to the September 20 letter. As in LD38, a Bergen Grassroots officer had an extended conversation with an aide to Mr. Ariyan offering support in exchange for a positive response to the questions. There was no response.

Freeholders None of the candidates responded to the letter requesting their views on pay-to-play reform.

One may assume that all 15 candidates decided independently not to respond with their views on pay-to-play reform. That would have been a remarkable coincidence. What is much more believable is that they all received marching orders from the man to whom they owed the opportunity to seek these offices: Bergen County Democratic Organization boss Joe Ferriero. And we all know his position of pay-to-play.

Under these circumstances, the Steering Committee of Bergen Grassroots concluded that it was not possible to endorse any one of these 15 candidates without compromising our organization's principles.

Bergen Grassroots Steering Committee Michael Catalano, Joey Dobbs, Paul Eisenman, Bob Gulack, Hedda Ribolow
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