The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
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Hackensack NJ, earlier this week Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced his office will be ensuring election integrity by addressing voting rights or civil rights violations. Just hours later, the Bergen County Democrats nominated Thomas Padilla to the Bergen County Board of Elections. The appointment is ultimately made by Governor Phil Murphy.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Hackensack NJ, the sudden resignation of Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino has opened a can of worms for Bergen County Democrats .
In the suit, which was filed in April in state Superior Court in Hackensack, Omid Bayati, the former director, claimed Sheriff Michael Saudino fired him earlier this year after Bayati uncovered inappropriate vendor deals made by Phil Lisk, a former IT director.
The suit also said Bayati objected in December to the county’s plan to fund the Sheriff’s Office with $7.5 million in federal money it expected for housing detainees for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The move, which Bayati believed broke state law, was intended to keep the budget flat during County Executive James Tedesco’s reelection campaign, the suit said.
Bayati’s suit claims Saudino and the county breached his contract and violated both his civil rights and New Jersey’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act, which shields whistleblowers. He is suing for compensatory damages, attorneys’ fees, interest, emotional distress and punitive damages, the suit said
October 16,2017
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Ridgewood NJ, Federal prosecutors argue that if the Menendez case gets tossed it would legalize bribery of public officials. Faced with the grim prospect that a federal court judge may throw out some of the charges against Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez based on his reading of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, federal prosecutors warned over the weekend that such a move would not only harm their case against Menendez but also “jettison the vast majority of bribery prosecutions” and “broadly legalize pay-to-play politics.”
Federal prosecutors raised those concerns after U.S. District Court Judge William H. Walls suggested that the overturning of the conviction of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell last year, the high court also invalidated the “stream of benefits” theory of bribery that prosecutors have used to build cases against Democrat Menendez and other public officials.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
The annual reorganization meeting, Freeholders Mary J. Amoroso, Germaine M. Ortiz, and Thomas J. Sullivan were sworn in for their first full three-year terms. Freeholder Tracy Silna Zur–now entering her fifth year as freeholder–was elected as board chairwoman and Sullivan was selected as vice-chair.
The Democrats remained true to form and immediately began by raising what promises to be the first of many tax increases, the open-space tax.
The move increases the open-space tax back to 1 cent per $100 of assessed valuation, which is expected to bring in $12 million more annually for a popular program that had seen its funding cut by 75 percent in recent years.
November 10,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Republican Donald Trump’s stunning victory over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton to become the nation’s 45th president will have immediate repercussions on New Jersey’s key players.
Here are the 2016 presidential election’s Garden State winners and losers :
WINNERS
Bergen County Democrats
Bergen County Democrats made a clean sweep in Countywide elections.
Chris Christie
All we can say is you can’t fall off the floor .
GOP State Sen. Michael Doherty
The Conservative New Jersey state senator was an early Trump supporter. Doherty (R-Warren) was the only state legislator to board the Trump Train right from the get go as other Republicans waited for Trump to gain momentum.
U.S. Rep. Tom MacArthur
MacArthur (R-3rd Dist.) was the only GOP House member from New Jersey to attend the Republican National Convention that nominated Trump unlike the rest of the NJ GOP Cowards.
Jared Kushner
Trump’s son-in-law acted as a top adviser to the Republican nominee. Liberal Kushner is the publisher of the New York Observer, which owns the New Jersey political news website PolitickerNJ.
Kellyanne Conway
New Jersey native ,Trump’s campaign manager, she cheerfully guided and disciplined the Trump campaign to take the White House. If she were a “liberal ” we would be all hailing her as breaking the glass ceiling ,being the first women to run a successful national campaign.
the late Antonin Scalia
The late Supreme Court justice from Trenton is the role model Trump says he will use to choose future Supreme Court picks.
LOSERS
The Bergen County Republicans
The “silent majority ” never appeared .
U.S. Sens. Bob Menendez and Cory Booker
Two more years in the minority for New Jersey’s U.S. senators. Menendez (DR) still an ethics cloud over his head , while lightweight Booker (Twitter) failed at race baiting .
Pollsters , Election Experts and Media Outlets
The Election Day results were as big of a loss for pollsters , the mainstream media was outed for being even more bias than everyone thought and the experts were wrong about every single issues ,every single day.
Barack Obama’s legacy
Trump campaigned on undoing the president’s legacy and scaling back or nixing the executive orders he signed while in office. Trump will look to turn back trade deals, climate deals, Iran Nuke deal and Dodd-Frank.
Bailout nation is over. October’s Obamacare bills , plus GOP control of the courts ,house and senate make repeal and replacement of Obamacare almost a given.
Kim Guadagno
Turned on Trump falling into ill repute with the GOP base ,gearing up for a 2017 gubernatorial run ,joined the ranks of GOP cowards.
U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett and Josh Gottheimer
Scott Garrett (R-5th Dist) lost in a highly contested contest to Clintonista Democrat Josh Gottheimer . Gottheimer ran a campaign based on name calling and is left rudderless with Clinton machine seemingly out of business. 7 term Garrett, will leave with a smile on his face when the Trump administration pushes through the “Garrett agenda” ie …repeal Obamacare ,repeal Dodd-Frank and cancel the Iran nuke deal.
Yes, Voted down the foolish northern casinos , but said yes to the tax raising amendment as well as voted for all the campaigns that said they would raise taxes from Hillary,Gottheimer, Bergen Freeholders ,sheriff, and so on .
file photo by Boyd Loving
From the archives: Local towns paying heavily for Bergen County loan program meant to save time, money
DECEMBER 28, 2009, 8:47 PM LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, JULY 22, 2010, 2:41 PM
BY STEPHANIE AKIN AND CHRISTOPHER SCHNAARS
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD
This story was originally published Dec. 28, 2009.
A Bergen County loan program touted as a quick and easy way for local governments to pay for big-ticket items has instead plunged some of them into long-term debt.
The five-year-old Municipal Banc was supposed to let cash-strapped towns bypass conventional borrowing methods and get county-backed loans for emergency services and public works projects. The program promised 24-hour loan approval with no red tape, backed by the county’s AAA credit rating.
Most towns and school districts that used the program borrowed only what they needed and spent the money quickly. Many praised the program for its convenience and low fees.
But some towns took out loans for items as inexpensive as rope and firefighter boots, borrowed money long before they intended to make purchases and paid interest on money they never spent. In some cases, their applications were approved even though they provided little information about how the money would be used.
From 2004 to 2008, Rutherford, Fair Lawn and Hackensack let a total of more than $1.6 million in loans sit idly in Commerce Bank accounts while taxpayers paid more than $200,000 in interest and fees. Fair Lawn, for example, waited four years to buy a $130,000 generator.
“That’s like saying, ‘I’m going to buy a house, I’m going to pay a mortgage and interest on the house, but I’m not going to move in for three or four years,’” said Joseph Tedeschi, a Fair Lawn councilman.
TD Bank took over the program after it bought Commerce in March 2008.
Five consultants that donated more than $450,000 to Bergen County Democrats from 2004 to the end of 2008 were paid at least $1.8 million for professional services by the Bergen County Improvement Authority — the agency that oversees the Municipal Banc — including more than $180,000 for services tied to the loans.
Those consultants included Dennis Oury, the former counsel for the BCIA and the Bergen County Democratic Organization. Oury, who pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges in September, collected more than $1.1 million from the BCIA during that period. Oury resigned from the BCIA in early September 2008 after federal officials accused him of fraud.
The program auditor, Ferraioli, Wielkotz, Cerullo & Cuva, also was the auditor in three of the towns that were the heaviest users of the program: Fair Lawn, Hackensack and Rutherford.
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Readers say Record Article Paints and Inaccurate Picture of Hudson Parking Garage Meeting
1. one sentence about public comment at the very end of the article, when the public spoke for hours.
2. indicates that most favor plan A, when many public members spoke about related issues and not about which plan they favor. No discussion of related concerns.
3. completely omitted that Mayor Aronsohn intends to disregard the STATE law and do an end-run around the requirement that FOUR council members must vote for a bond. In the event that two decide not to vote for the bond, Aronsohn will go directly to the county to get them to issue the bond. He has already met with them and already has this in place with them just waiting for his call. This is despicable. Gwenn and Albert are going right along with this. Even though it is LEGAL to do this, it is completely disrespectful to our local government and flies in the face of the spirit of good governance.
Local Bond Law N.J.S.A. 40A:2-1 et seq. November, 2009 Page 1 Local Bond Law N.J.S.A. 40A:2
A bond ordinance shall be finally adopted by the recorded affirmative votes of at least 2/3 of the full membership of the governing body. In a local unit in which the approval of any officer is required to make an ordinance or resolution effective, such bond ordinance shall be so approved, or passed over veto before it shall be published after final adoption.
This law, above, is a state law and requires 2/3 majority to issue a bond. Three out of five is only a 60% majority. Here goes out elected officials all set up to break the law.
The public comments were certainly not “binary”, and the council’s opinion wasn’t really the focus of the time.
Would Ridgewood be “legally on the hook” for any bond the county issued? I agree that seems like a major end-run around the law!
The actual council session is available here online: https://www.ustream.tv/channel/village-of-ridgewood-public-access
Xanadu exec says company was asked for Menendez contribution after key federal permit was issued
FEBRUARY 3, 2015, 4:40 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015, 4:47 PM
BY HERB JACKSON AND JEFF PILLETS
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD
A top executive from the Virginia company that first proposed the failed Xanadu project in the Meadowlands said the firm was asked to raise $50,000 in 2005 for then-Rep. Bob Menendez after it received a critical permit from the Army Corps of Engineers, court documents show.
Jim Dausch said in testimony in 2008 he believed Menendez’s efforts led the Army Corps’ top manager in the New York area to hand-deliver the permit in March 2005, and within two months Menendez telephoned him — a call he assumed was about the contributions.
Related: Ferriero wants U.S. attorney disqualified from RICO case; prosecutors cite new evidence against ex-Democratic leader
Dausch said he could not remember if the initial request to raise $50,000 came directly from Menendez, or from two others working with the Mills Corp. on the project, Teaneck attorney Bob DeCotiis or lobbyist Kay LiCausi, who is a former member of Menendez’s staff.
“But one way or the other, it was clear that the request was coming from Menendez and, and it was in anticipation, we understood, of a run that he was planning to make for the Senate in 2006,” Dausch said.
Labor leader Thomas J. Sullivan Jr. takes oath to fill Bergen County freeholder vacancy
JANUARY 28, 2015, 8:36 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2015, 10:06 PM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
HACKENSACK — Bergen County’s newest freeholder, labor leader Thomas J. Sullivan Jr., was sworn in Wednesday, vowing to “listen to everyone’s voice.”
Flanked by his family, Sullivan took the oath of office administered by County Executive and fellow Democrat James Tedesco during the board meeting.
Sullivan was chosen Sunday by members of the county Democratic Committee to fill the seat vacated by Tedesco on Jan. 1. He would next have to run in the November election to serve the last remaining year on Tedesco’s three-year term.
“I can’t think of somebody that would represent the people of Bergen County, and all the people of Bergen County, better than Tom,” Tedesco said.
Tedesco previously had sworn Sullivan in at a private ceremony in the freeholder chambers on Monday morning.
Outside Money and High-placed friends aided Bergen County Democrats
NOVEMBER 8, 2014, 4:47 PM LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2014, 12:01 AM
BY CHARLES STILE
RECORD COLUMNIST |
THE RECORD
A trio of Democrats launched a fierce and costly courtship of Bergen County Democratic Chairman Lou Stellato, whose blessing could make or break their bids to become the next New Jersey governor three years from now.
They arrived in Bergen County eager to demonstrate the depth of their loyalty. They brought their checkbooks. They brought their donors and operatives. And one brought an expensive “micro-targeting” guru to pinpoint Democratic votes.
Phillip Murphy is a former Goldman Sachs executive and a former U.S. ambassador to Germany.
Together they invested nearly $160,000 in Democrat James Tedesco’s defeat of Republican County Executive Kathleen Donovan on Tuesday and the reelection of Freeholders David Ganz and Joan Voss. The money represented nearly 18 percent of the Democratic campaign, state campaign finance records show.
But money told only part of the |story.
Senate President Stephen Sweeney, an officer of a South Jersey ironworkers local, used his influence to steer ironworker money into the state and helped prevent Donovan’s team from snapping up support from other trade unions.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/stile-high-placed-friends-aided-bergen-county-democrats-1.1129627
Hudson county machine looking to move in ?
Question of control over Bergen Dems if Stellato-led party doesn’t win has no easy answer
By Mark Bonamo | 11/01/14 4:56pm
BERGEN COUNTY – The political future of Bergen County will be shaped by the outcome of several elections on Tuesday. The county executive race between Republican incumbent Kathleen Donovan and Democratic challenger Jim Tedesco, the freeholder fight between Democratic incumbents David Ganz and Joan Voss and Republican challengers Bernadette Coghlan-Walsh and Robert Avery and the contest in the Fifth Congressional District, which includes parts of Bergen, between GOP incumbent Scott Garrett and Democratic challenger Roy Cho put much of this November’s election emphasis on the state’s most populous county.
One thread linking all of these races together is Bergen Democratic Chairman Lou Stellato. In recent articles in PolitickerNJ, local Democrats have offered support for Stellato’s leadership, while Stellato himself has talked tough in the days running up to the election.
But even if things go badly for Democrats across the board, there may not be an immediately viable replacement for Stellato, if one is called for, because of the fragmentary nature of power among the Bergen Democrats.
Three prominent Bergen Democrats who could conceivably exert control over the county party are notably preoccupied, and arguably don’t have enough solitary power to take command alone.
State Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D-37) is a powerful statewide political player, often called “the conscience of the Legislature.” Yet there could be enough loyalists of former Bergen Democratic Chairman Joe Ferriero, who was convicted on corruption charges in 2009, who could try to block any move by Weinberg-backed allies for party control.
https://politickernj.com/2014/11/question-of-control-over-bergen-dems-if-stellato-led-party-doesnt-win-has-no-easy-answer/