The Bergen County Republican Organization : When The Lies Become Their Legacy

by Frank T. Pallotta

Hackensack NJ, in the political annals of New Jersey politics, the Bergen County Republican Organization (BCRO) has become the embodiment of nearly two decades of failure. It’s clear that the mission of this once great organization, has now regressed to stand for something entirely different: retribution, retaliation and a predictable measure of vindictiveness more reflective of a scene out of “Mean Girls” than an organization charged with overseeing the largest county in New Jersey.

Its leadership has been forever tainted with accusations ranging from election law violations to a very public disclosure of what appears to be a pay-to-play extortion scheme. Secret backroom deals and a lack of transparency have been the hallmarks of a culture that has cast a pall over the entire County.

And now, in a predictable act of finality, Chairman Jack Zisa, Vice Chairman Margaret Frontera, Parliamentarian Rich Malagiere, and newly “minted” insider Tom Toscano Jr., have reportedly initiated a vengeful “slash and burn” campaign targeting individuals and municipalities that have “dared” to voice their concerns over the organization’s ineptitude and political misconduct. This is textbook retaliation.

The scope of their retributive mission is staggering, with reports that nearly a hundred individuals from townships including Mahwah, Wyckoff, Franklin Lakes, Old Tappan, Dumont, Fair Lawn and Oradell have found themselves at the receiving end of the BCRO’s retaliation in a sloppily orchestrated effort to punish those brazen enough to question leadership. Zisa has used his own clandestine team of “puppet” Chairs in Dumont, Old Tappan, and Wyckoff for example, to remove deserving incumbent County Committee Candidates from their ballot positions, in favor of BCRO friends and associates who have pledged their blind loyalty to a corrupt shell of a past dynasty.

However, in towns where Municipal Chairs were NOT “Zisa-insiders”, the Chairman was forced to exercise his own dictatorial authority by removing the candidates himself – and then refused to answer for his actions. In fact, Zisa reversed more municipal chair county committee decisions in the past 60 days than every single County chair over the past two decades – combined!

Zisa, Malagiere, and Tommy Toscano Jr., along with accomplices, Drita McNamara (Wyckoff), LD39 Assemblyman Bob Auth (Old Tappan) and Bob’s Chief of Staff, Phil Fredericks (Dumont), driven by envy and anger, assumed their vengeful actions would be explained away as random punitive measures against a small handful of dissenters. Yet, a wide-ranging, targeted strategy has emerged, focusing on exacting revenge against entire municipalities at the direction of their Bergen party bosses. In Wyckoff and Mahwah for example, conversations between candidates for office, and Rich Malagiere, Tommy Toscano Jr., and Jack Zisa focused NOT on the candidate’s ability to legislate and lead, but rather on the their past relationship with me, Frank Pallotta, telling multiple candidates that they would NOT receive the support of the Organization because they were seen with me, or supportive of me. Welcome to the Jungle.

The BCRO path, is now one of self-sabotage. The organization’s leaders – old and new – seem to be preoccupied with retaliation, rather than rebuilding, while alienating those they claim to represent.

Bergen County needs more than a new Chairman. We need to forge a new era where political leadership embodies the virtues of honesty, openness, and a dedication to the well-being of the community. The BCRO must introspect, rectify its past errors, and forge a new identity centered on the essence of public service.

Removing the head of the snake does very little, when the serpent remains poisoned.

Let the past decade serve as a warning to all of us when a political entity strays from its foundational values and becomes entangled in the snares of vengeance. Bergen County residents are entitled to leaders who cultivate solidarity and a progress, rather than sow the seeds of bitterness and conflict, which as has been the case with Zisa – and now Toscano.

It is incumbent upon the organization to forge a path forward, free from the shadows of retribution. Only then can we hope to restore its standing as a bastion of principled governance and redeem its place in the hearts of the Bergen County electorate.

 

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