American Aspiration

I realize I've been dormant for a long time on this front.  Since last I wrote, Representative Scott Garrett is still representing the Fifth District, Gov. Chris Christie is still the governor, but Papa Joe was convicted on racketeering.  

I'm writing not because I've moved back into the Fifth district, but because I've published a small book on politics.  I missed writing about politics, and decided instead of a new blog I'd release my thoughts in book form.  American Aspiration: Where We Are and Ways to Get Where We Want to Be is now available in the Kindle Store, with additional formats coming soon.  A little sample of topics and the introduction is below.  Enjoy!

Here's the table of contents:

Introduction. 2

Part One:  Where We Stand. 4

• Facts to Keep in Mind
• Government Deficit & Spending
• Household Wealth and Debt
• Our Lack of Information

Part Two:  Why We Can’t Have Nice Things. 12

• Political Industrial Establishment
• Privatization of Essential Services & No Bid Contracts
• Congress & Our Lack of Participation

Part Three:  How We Begin to Make Things Better. 19

• Vote in the Next Election, and the Next, and the Next
• Get Informed in 10 minutes a Week
• Buy American like Your Job Depends on It
• Take a Breath and Think
• Start Talking To Each Other

Part Four:  Nice Things We Could Have. 30

• Infrastructure
• Vocational Training & Higher Education
• Honoring Those That Serve
• Stuff Others Already Have
• Where Do We Go Now?

Notes. 37

And the Introduction:

Introduction

This began innocently enough as my latest blog creation, and became this collection of short essays.  Like many, I see the direction the country has been moving as troublesome.  Politics has always been a bit of a love/hate relationship for me, I have always believed better things are possible when our system works the way it should, and have rarely seen that happen.  I was a Boys State Senator, ran my county’s Republican office, went to the New Hampshire primaries, ran for Congress as an Independent, wrote a blog visited by the press, as well as staffers in Congress and the White House, and attended President Obama’s Inauguration.  As one of my former Political Science professors noted, I like to get my hands dirty.  

Probably where I felt I had the most impact during my run for office was during my classroom chats.  You got the sense there was optimism and energy in students, despite the cynicism of some of the adults in the room.  Years later, through conversations around the lunch table at work, I realized optimism or even a basic understanding of government is lacking.  It’s not just the millennials, many of my peers and elders have been so overwhelmed by the 24/7 political sniping and institutional ineptitude that they’ve thrown up their hands. 

So, I sat down with the hope/intention of writing something that would make it easy to find the information to make decisions and (hopefully) have readers feel more comfortable participating in the system.  It honestly isn’t that hard if you know where to look, but as I wrote I realized some background and context would probably be helpful.  The idea of telling people to go to such and such a website blind didn’t feel right, so here we are.  The collection is broken into four parts:

• Where We Stand covers some interesting facts like how we’re spending money, the United States ranking 25^th in median income, and how little we know.
• Why We Can’t Have Nice Things reviews special interests, privatization and our lack of participation as it relates to our “leaders” in Washington, our states and school boards.
• How We Begin to Make Things Better dives into voting and becoming informed with an e-mail a week, as well as buying Made in the USA, digesting information and talking politics with others.
• Nice Things We Could Have goes over items many nations ranking higher already have, and asks about the things we could have that we don’t.

 My hope is that you’ll read this, talk about it, and gift it to friends and family on your way to a more involved citizenship.  If you’re already involved, I hope you will recommend or gift it to someone you know is not involved but would be receptive.  While I could have put it up as “just another” blog, the grand experiment is that the insights in this book are enough that it is gifted and paid forward to others. 

While I tried to make it approachable, some of it may seem technical.  I’ve been told by some it’s a quick read, and by others it’s very heavy, so I believe it’s probably just about right.  It’s not intended to be an overly scholarly piece, more of a conversation starter, but I do have lots of end notes for those who may wish to dig deeper.  If nothing else, my hope is that you benefit in some way from reading this.  

Signing Off for Now

After taking the heart of the election season off, this is pretty much a forgone conclusion, but I figured I would make it official. Blog the Fifth, for now, is going on the shelf. I have a number of reasons, but I leave it feeling a sense of accomplishment.

The first goal of Blog the Fifth was to hold Representative Scott Garrett accountable, and I did. He and his staff went from making stuff up to sticking by his beliefs without spinning like crazy. In a sense, he's been rewarded, absolutely crushing all comers. I'm not saying I agree with the man, but he's earned my respect for not wavering and not resorting to the distortions so many of his fellow Republicans did in recent months.

Even though he may no longer be my Congressman after redistricting, there is something to be said of knowing exactly where your guy stands and that he usually gets about 60-65% of his constituents to support him.

The second goal was to shine light on the corruption in Bergen County. When I started this thing, Papa Joe and his cronies were running everything and making an open mockery of what good government should be. Papa Joe and his chosen officials are all but gone now, and that's something everyone in Bergen County should be happy about.

County Executive-elect Kathe Donovan is someone I met back in '96 when I was interning at the BCRO, and she was as genuine then as she is now. She was endorsed by Democrats and Republicans alike, and hopefully will lead a thoughtful course correction in the way Bergen County has done business for far too long.

This whole thing isn't to say that I'm going to stop writing.

I've already reserved a new address for a new blog: Mighty Moderate

I plan to start posting over there soon, but for now, thanks to everyone who encouraged this project, read, and commented. Until next time...

Congratulations Governor Christie

When I voted this morning, and saw that many many more people than usual had voted before me, there was definitely a sense Christie may have done it.




Now, being the eternal optimist, I'm hopeful for this new chapter in our state's governance. Not only was Christie able to ride his corruption convictions to Trenton; his substantial county and local level coattails swept aside the first of Papa Joe Ferriero's hand picked Freeholders here in Bergen.


Regardless of who won the election, we were in for a few tough years ahead while trying to climb out of the mess we're in. Voters clearly wanted a change of direction at the top. Our state simply can't afford for partisanship to get in the way of progress. As Democrats control both Chambers in Trenton, compromise is going to be key if we're to rebound from this mess.

Voters have spoken, now we have to see if politicians will listen. I'm optimistic they will, even if cautiously.

No Bidding Bergen: Ferriero Goes Down

This is long overdue. Papa Joe Ferriero has been convicted.

While I've written a couple dozen times about Papa Joe, and could only hope they throw the 40 year/$500,000 book at him to send a message; the Record Editorial about the conviction makes me less enthused than I thought I would be. Here's the important part:

However, it is too early to break out the champagne. New Jersey’s culture of corruption has not been dismantled. It has been slowed down, nothing more. The steady stream of public officials hauled before judges and juries has not been diminished by high-profile arrests.

In Bergen County, the Democratic Party has operated with barely a blip since Ferriero’s arrest. The same candidates are seeking office; the same county committee people control the process. Removing the king, while the rest of the kingdom remains firmly in place, is more show than substance. What happens next is what is important.

Democrats in Bergen have a choice to make, keep doing things the same corrupted way or follow the path of State Senator Loretta Weinberg and win based on principle. They only have to look at the BCRO to see how quickly things can fall apart following a corruption bust. Unfortunately, as the Record pointed out, they haven't even attempted to reform themselves.

The no-bid contracts associated with corruption cost all of us money. And although people barely list corruption as one of their concerns when voting, they're fooling themselves if they think high property taxes and high corruption are unrelated. When the public finally puts two and two together, if the BCDO hasn't changed their ways, they won't be able to win an election for dog catcher.

Menendez & Torricelli: The Company You Keep

Herb Jackson had an interesting piece in The Record today about Senator Bob Menendez's newest ally as chair of the DSCC: Disgraced former Senator Robert Torricelli. If President Obama was serious about getting the stink of corruption and special interests out of politics, Menendez picked the wrong guy "to be helpful".

Here Jackson discusses Torricelli's recent campaign donations:

The DSCC was the biggest single recipient, getting $135,000. Other recipients included the Bergen County Democratic Organization, which got $44,000; and $10,000 contributed in 2003 to the campaign of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who left office this year facing accusations he tried to sell the appointment to fill President Obama’s vacated Senate seat.

So, Torricelli donated to indicted Joe Ferriero's BCDO machine and indicted Blagojevich. Jackson posted the invite on his blog. One has to wonder if Senator Roland Burris was among the unspecified "Members of the Senate Democratic Caucus".

Folks need to remember that several of those involved with Torricelli in the past pled guilty to illegal campaign activity. Simply stated, Torricelli's campaign contributions don't pass the smell test at this point and haven't for years.

How Menendez, having to fend off his own corruption accusations in 2006, could choose Torricelli as his go to guy in North Jersey is baffling if improving the culture in Washington is actually a goal. At least at first glance, this is simply more of the same money conquers any principle fundraising. Such a shame.

Only in New Jersey

When I was down at Transparency Camp the other weekend, I tried to explain to folks the types of shenanigans that go on at the local level here. With that in mind, I'm going to try and give readers regular examples of this. This first edition deals with "non-partisan" school boards, in two BCDO dominated towns.

First, on the nepotism front, in Palisades Park the school board had a resignation this week. The reason, Board Member Yungoo B. Woo couldn't legally serve on the Board, because he hadn't lived in town for more than a year.

After being in a town of 17,000 for less than a year, Woo was appointed to the Board in February. Woo is a cousin of current Democratic Councilman, and former School Board Member, Jason Kim. Claiming he moved into Kim's house last March, Woo will be able to run for his seat on the school board this spring.

Second, on the suppression of descent front, the Closter School Board voted unanimously to not allow Steve Issacson, who regularly roasts Closter's Democrats at unofficialwebsiteofclosternj, to run for a seat on the school board. They reached this decision prior to Mr. Issacson's deadline from the state to select whether he wanted to run for Closter Board of Education or the Northern Valley Regional High School District. Issacson had filed papers to run for both, but now will only be able to run for Northern Valley.

As one of his fellow Closter folks found, there seems to be some question as to whether the Board missed the deadline to invalidate Issacson's petition. From the State's website:

Objections or Challenges to a Nominating Petition ***
Monday, March 9, 2009 (46th day prior to election)
No later than the 46th day before the election objections or challenges to a nominating petition must be filed in writing with the secretary of the school board. The school board must immediately notify the challenged candidate. (19:60-7)

At issue may be when the objection was filed. From the Record, on Tuesday, March 10, or after the deadline to file a complaint:

Closter schools Business Administrator Peter Iappelli said he plans to formally object to Isaacson's nomination if one of the petitions is not withdrawn.

"I'm aware of [his nomination] being defective, and I'm just doing what my responsibilities require me to do," Iappelli said. "He sees it as something different. Everything's fine if he withdraws from Northern Valley and lets us know in writing.

Granted, Iappelli may have filed his objection later in the day, but it doesn't change the fact Issacson had until today to decide.

It should be interesting to see how this all plays out. Get your popcorn.

Shulman's Sarlo Stumble

PolitickerNJ and the Star Ledger are reporting that State Senator Paul Sarlo is calling for the status of Representative Scott Garrett to be investigated. From the Star Ledger:

"The New Jersey Division of Taxation needs to open an investigation to determine whether Scott Garrett is engaged in a tax evasion scheme to duck his fair share of New Jersey state taxes," Sarlo said in the Shulman campaign statement.

Of all the people the Shulman campaign could have gotten to say this, Sarlo is near the bottom of the list for least corrupt NJ politicians.

First, Sarlo was the patron saint of EnCap, the largest waste of Bergen County and NJ taxpayer dollars in decades. We're talking millions if not billions of dollars wasted; in addition to the use of eminent domain within his own District threatening to take away generations of family businesses.

Second, with the exception of the Lautenberg/Andrews tiff, Sarlo is one of indicted former BCDO Chairman Joe Ferriero's favorite State Senators. He was so close to Ferriero, that his quest for Majority Leader in the State Senate back in November was blocked by reform minded State Senator Loretta Weinberg.

Third, he represents absolutely no one from our District. There are plenty of elected Democrats within the District who could have called for the corruption investigation, maybe even a respected leader like Weinberg. But Sarlo!?!

In what has been a campaign strong enough to make the DCCC's list of top campaigns, this may have been the Shulman camp's biggest stumble. Shulman's had more momentum and money than anyone taking on Garrett, and an unparalleled friendly climate. But introducing Sarlo as a surrogate right before the debates opens up a whole can of worms.

The House Corruption Built

Most Democrats in Bergen County that are part of the indicted Joe Ferriero's inner circle are remaining mum on the charges. That is to say, all except County Executive Dennis McNerney:

“This is a sad day for all those involved, but at the same time, I’m confident that the strong Democratic organization [Ferriero] built and nurtured will move forward and crush all of our Republican opposition this year and in future elections,” McNerney said.

"Built and nurtured" is an awfully nice way of saying bribed and stole. Granted, it took nearly ten years as chairman to get the party to where he is today, but Ferriero had a lot of help with the indictment and guilty plea of another Bergen County chairman to jump start the process. It was only 4 years from when the guilty plea was entered until the Democrats became a powerhouse. McNerney may be right this time around, but 2010 may be a different story.

Ferriero & Oury

I'm late to this for a various number of reasons, but PolitickerNJ and Blue Jersey have coverage going.

The thing is, no matter how many years these guys get and no matter how large the fine, the taxpayers can never be made whole from their corruption.

BCDO Politicizing the Police

With all of the news about the Democratic convention, it might have been easy to miss this story in the Record today. For those that hadn't heard about what's going on in Paramus, the town is being sued by a retired police office who alleges retaliatory action was taken against him for not selling fundraising tickets for Papa Joe Ferriero's BCDO candidates.

At the center of a deposition handed over to the Record, town clerk Ian Shore points to BCDO attorney Dennis Oury being part of the process from the beginning:

During the deposition, which was taken Aug. 14, Borough Clerk Ian Shore told lawyers that the discussion occurred in a closed council session and that Dennis Oury, the former borough attorney, brought up the idea.

When asked if any borough official or employee discussed taking steps to "hurt, harm, damage or inflict any type of suffering" on former Sgt. John Ward, Shore responded, "Yes."

[snip]

During his deposition, Shore described two instances of being approached by Democrats to sell fund-raiser tickets. He testified that he decided to sell tickets for former Councilman Michael DeMarse because he wanted to keep his job.

"I thought it would take some of the pressure off me," he said. "He used to bust my chops, like he wanted me out of here."

This is flat out wrong. The pressure on civil servants is already intense, however being coerced into fundraising for one political party or the other is beyond the pale. Knowing that the politicians seek retaliatory action for not playing ball against police officers should be a crime (I'm not sure it's not). These are people's careers, not political appointments.

Politicization of the police department, on any level, is a dangerous path to walk. People who are called to be police officers (I do believe it's a calling) cannot be placed in a position where their career is impacted by external political power brokers. Sure, they have inner-office politics like the rest of us, but external politicians have no place behind the police desk.

Simply said, if partisan politics is placed behind the police desk, it could lead to selective enforcement of the law. Folks noticed when I went to court for the lawn sign placement in Paramus that no Democrat was listed as receiving a ticket, even though their signs were next to mine. I shrugged it off, because I thought maybe they had a different appearance date. Now I'd be curious to know if they were actually ticketed.

While I doubt there's anything there, these are the sorts of questions that can be raised when the process is corrupted. How many other towns has mega-town attorney Oury turned into a wrongfully politicized environment?

Ferriero's War Chest

Oshrat Carmiel of the Record, who sadly is leaving for Bloomberg, delivers yet again in holding BCDO boss Joe Ferriero accountable. It seems Ferriero has one heck of an unregulated slush fund.

Ferriero has maintained and controlled a fund called “Ferriero for County Chairman” since 2004, according to four years of disclosure forms he filed with the Internal Revenue Service last month.

The fund — which is not subject to state campaign disclosure laws because Ferriero is not a publicly elected official — collected tens of thousands in unlimited donations from some of the county’s and state’s biggest professional contractors. They include partners in the Teaneck law firm of DeCotiis Fitzpatrick Cole & Wisler, PMK Group and Neglia Engineering.

This is a loophole that needed to be closed yesterday. As a county and a state we cannot have faith that our leaders are serving our best interests when this sort of activity persists. Every decision is brought into question, and with good reason.

When the party boss can solicit funds to host meet and greets between his chosen and the donors they need in the name of his Committee Chairmanship re-election fund, the old wink & nod is clearly at play here. Taxpayers end up suffering because of it.

As a state we have the highest tax burden in the nation, and so long as we turn a blind eye to this garbage it won't get any better.

Must Read: Melli on BCDO

Juan Melli, founder of Blue Jersey, announced in no uncertain terms he's arrived at Politicker with a great piece breaking down Joe Ferriero's grip on power in Bergen County.

Here's the juiciest morsel:

It's easiest to understand the starkness of the situation in terms of the raw numbers. While only 0.4 percent of the approximately 900,000 Bergen County residents work for the county government, a preliminary analysis shows that over 40 percent of the Democratic municipal chairs and legislative district leaders in the county hold government jobs. And for many, there is an unambiguous understanding that their job is contingent on Ferriero retaining power.

Good stuff...

Congrats Sen. O'Toole

PolitickerNJ reports that State Senator Kevin O'Toole has been tapped to lead the NJ Republican County Chairs. Maybe he'll be able to help out new BCRO Chair Bob Yudin finally break the lock of Joe Ferriero.

No one doubts it's an uphill battle. Ferriero used his pay-to-play mastery to raise over $300K to squash the challenge of the Real Bergen Democrats this spring.

Bergen Reformers Bloodbath

Well, the Real Bergen Democrats went down in flames yesterday:

With 93.5 percent of Bergen County votes counted late Tuesday, the incumbents appear to have defeated the challengers by about 3 to 1.

According to the returns, Ganz received 18,383 votes, McPherson received 19,276, and Walton got 18,890.

On the challengers’ slate, Skiba got 6,302 votes, Hoernlein got 6,468 votes and Rasul got 5,476.

"The results show a mandate for the Bergen County Democratic Organization," said Bill Maer, a spokesman for the county Democrats. "This shows that the voters are comfortable with the leadership we’ve shown over the last few years."

Maer's statement is a little misleading. What he should be saying is that 11.8% of registered Democrats are comfortable with the leadership, because that's how many people actually voted for McPherson when compared to registered Democrats.

But, credit where credit is due, you don't win elections with the people that decided to stay home. Inside Bergen highlights the beating The Real Bergen Dems also took at the County Committee level. And the pay-to-play goes on...

Same As the Old Boss?

Well, in a statement re-posted on Blue Jersey, the Real Bergen Democrats have called for the resignation of BCDO Chairman Joe Ferriero and Attorney Dennis Oury:

The time is now for the Bergen County Democratic Organization to remove Ferriero and Oury from any positions of authority within the party's structure. We're calling upon the Chairman and the Party's chief counsel to put the integrity and the good name of all Democrats ahead of their individual personal and professional agendas of wielding their positions of power for their own gain.

For those with a memory of Bergen County politics, this isn't the first time a party chairman has been faced with calls for his resignation. BCRO Chairman Berek Don was forced to resign following his involvement in a money funneling scheme to former Senator Torricelli.

From the NY Times circa 1997:

Mired in personal and professional scandal, the leader of New Jersey's largest county Republican party has resigned, party officials said.

[snip]

The county Republican vice-chairwoman, Rita Kirk, said that Mr. Don, who resigned Monday, wanted to avoid bringing negative publicity to the county organization.

Unlike Don who pled guilty in 1999, it's important to mention, again, that there have been no indictments in the Ferriero situation.

However, US Attorney Chris Christie seems to have been more prudent when issuing his subpoenas since the Menendez debacle. It should be interesting to see how this plays out.

No Bidding Bergen: Subpoenas

For those that hadn't heard, subpoenas are flying out of US Attorney Chris Christie's office as part of his investigation of the BCDO's pay-to-play loving lawyer Dennis Oury and Chairman Joe Ferriero. I can't help but smile about this one.

Here's how The Record describes the scope:

In all, seven municipalities, one school district and a county agency have been served with subpoenas relating to Oury since last Wednesday.

The Star Ledger added this tonight:

But while the initial round of subpoenas made it seem as though Oury was the focus, two people familiar with the investigation said it was really centered on Ferriero. Oury and Ferriero are partners, along with Leonard Kaiser, executive director of the Bergen County Utilities Authority, in the consulting company.

Until there are indictments, there's really not much to talk about (remember the Menendez investigation?). But, one can only hope this is a step toward a cleaner government. With that in mind:

What a Couple of Weeks

Well, it's been a few good weeks for me. The major project I was working on is done and I got a little trip in there. A few interesting things went on while I wasn't watching, so let's get to it:

1. Representative Scott Garrett has continued his quest to blame Democrats for all that is wrong with the economy. During a speech largely aimed at Democrats, he also continued his practice of misrepresenting facts when it comes to numbers. Garrett stated that gas had not yet crossed $2 a gallon on Election Day in 2006, sitting around $1.90.

Had Garrett or his staff bothered to check with Energy Information Administration they'd know gas was at $2.20. While no one denies, prices have gone up, why exaggerate the truth? Either it's an honest mistake, or a continued pattern of misrepresentation that raised it's head when Garrett was misrepresenting income levels during the SCHIP debate.

2. Shockingly, Garrett and Senator Bob Menendez issued a joint statement regarding a bill to help veterans. This was written up by the folks over at Blue Jersey and Herb Jackson of the Record. It's nice to see partisanship put along. As noted by Jackson, Garrett's efforts in this area haven't gone anywhere since November. Hopefully, Menendez coming on board might help get it done.

3. Garrett led the fight against the housing package that went through the Financial Services Committee, which will be voted on by the House this week. Of particular interest was Garrett going against a proposal to give an automatic 10% equity if someone refinances their loan through FHA. I've checked with folks in both parties, and all agreed with Garrett that on face value the proposal seemed a little over the top and rather unfair to those without the opportunity.

4. Garrett went on television to argue against regulating deceptive advertising and double billing by credit card companies.

5. Camille Abate, candidate for the Democratic nomination, put up a biographical video on YouTube.

6. The Bergen County Freeholders were ripped by the Record for voting as a block the majority of the time. It's a bit ridiculous that the Freeholders claim they have an open process when they schedule their meetings at times when no one can make it.

More to come...

Filing Day Fun

Well, those hoping Representative Scott Garrett might face a challenge in the Republican primary have been disappointed. Garrett will be running unopposed in June. However, there were a lot of interesting occurrences:

On the Congressional level, previously announced candidates Camille Abate and Dennis Shulman were joined by Roger Bacon of Phillipsburg. This permitted Wally Edge to make a joke.

Bergen

On a more local level, the Real Bergen Democrats are mounting a challenge to Joe Ferriero's BCDO. Here's how The Record explained the situation:

Freeholder incumbents David Ganz, Bernadette McPherson and Vernon Walton, backed by Ferriero, will face a challenge from former Hasbrouck Heights Councilwoman Carol Skiba, Tenafly Councilwoman Carol Hoernlein and newcomer Aishaah Rasul.

In the county clerk race, former Westwood Councilwoman Gail Frasco of the Real Bergen Democrats will go up against Diane Testa, Fairview's borough attorney and administrator. Republican incumbent Kathleen Donovan does not have a primary challenger.

[snip]

"This is not a reflection on the [BCDO's] county candidates, since this is being done purely for political purposes to get as many county committee seats in the 37th District," said Bill Maer, a spokesman for the BCDO.

No, I'm fairly certain it's a reflection on the BCDO and how it's run, and by extension how the county is run.

Carol Hoernlein, for one, has been fighting the fight against Papa Joe for a long time. I highlighted a blog post by her last year, and good government types on the Democratic side of the aisle should be happy to have her on the ballot.

I write about the ills of pay to play, probably not enough, and anyone who signed up for the Democratic primary to vote for either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton should think about voting in the June primary. When I was on the trail in 2006, I would often say the corruption people were furious about down in Washington was going on right here, but with Papa Joe playing the role of Tom DeLay.

Should the Real Democrats fail at knocking out Freeholders Bernadette "EnCap" McPherson or David Ganz, the Republicans will have their own slate going in November. However, it won't be decided with out a primary of their own. Once again, The Record:

Republicans are not immune to a primary contest as two freeholder candidates aligned with U.S. Senate candidate Murray Sabrin, including his wife, will face off against a slate endorsed by the Bergen County Republican Organization.

Florence Sabrin and Paul Mladjenovic will vie for the two seats against Christopher Calabrese and Jeffrey Heller.

It should be interesting to see how this all plays out. The Record has a complete list of people filing to run in the June primary in Bergen.

Sussex

Both candidates for Freeholder, current Republican Freeholder Phillip Crabb and Democrat Donna Griff will be running unopposed in June.

When I find info regarding Passaic and Warren counties, I'll post it.

Profiting from Eminent Domain

The Record ran a must read story today for anyone interested in how pay-to-play works, or at least the questions raised by it continuing. At issue is the relationship between a large donor to the BCDO and his work for the Freeholders as a no-bid real estate agent/consultant. From the article:

Robert Pimienta, a registered Republican from Franklin Lakes, gets a cut every time the Democratic-controlled county government signs a lease or buys property.

[snip]

A week after county freeholders added that provision to his contract, Pimienta received $91,000 in connection with a Teterboro site the county condemned via eminent domain for a new juvenile detention center.

[snip]

Pimienta, 48, said in an interview last week that there is no connection between his county contract and the $90,000 he and his PAC have bestowed on Democratic candidates and groups in Bergen County since 1999.

If that's dried out, we would have the best fertilized county parks in the nation.

There's no doubt Mr. Pimienta is a big time player and donor. In addition to the BCDO, he's aparantly given $61,400 to federal candidates. Previous to 2000, when Republicans ruled Bergen County, it was mostly Republicans like Bob Dole and Steve Lonegan. After 2000, it's the Democrats ranging from Hillary Clinton to Paul Aronsohn.

It's bad enough that we have no-bid contracts on non-emergency tasks, depriving county taxpayers the confidence they are getting the most value for their dollar. Now, we have an individual receiving a near reimbursement in fees for eminent domain seizure as political contributions made to the BCDO.

With the BCDO unwilling to reform itself, my hope is that the BCRO will resolve it's recent spat of ineptitude and bring the hammer down on pay-to-play. This sort of activity, with the budget crisis we face, is absolutely unacceptable.

Dumbest Excuse of The Campaign

A week after Papa Joe Ferriero admitted he plays a hand in awarding no-bid contracts, BCDO Freeholder Chairman Tomas Padilla has been attributed the lamest excuse against open government I've ever read:

Padilla said that posting the agenda online presents "logistical issues," in that items posted before the meeting could be pulled or tabled during the meeting and may not be accurate within hours of posting.

The bulk of freeholder discussion happens at work sessions a few hours before the general meeting, Padilla said.

If the NFL can update on-line statistics every 30 seconds for every game, at the same time, surely the Bergen County Freeholders can update their agenda to reflect minor changes. "Hours" and "may not be accurate" don't belong anywhere near each other in this day and information age. It's as easy as: "Save As", selecting HTML format, and uploading the revised file. They don't even PDF the things.

In addition to having agendas devoid of content, there are no minutes on the Freeholder website of what they did. We have no way of checking their arguments for or against anything. The Freeholders posted the video of one working meeting, once, and they uploaded the meeting in Quicktime so you have to download the file instead of stream it. They certainly aren't going out of their way to let voters see what's going on. If Al Gore can coordinate a 24 hour on-line concert around the world, surely the Freeholders could set up a webcam and stream the meetings.

Another problem is the Freeholders only post their commemorative resolutions. What about the resolutions awarding no-bid contracts? What about the resolutions cutting or raising taxes? They claim in their literature they've cut taxes, but there is no proof, no recorded vote, nothing. All we as voters get to see are public notices, scattered throughout the Record. Why aren't the public notices published on the website?

There is absolutely no excuse for why any of this isn't done by the Freeholders, except to deliberately shield themselves from public scrutiny.