Garden State Patriot

Here is the second of my interviews with the Bergen Freeholder candidates. In this interview with John Driscoll we also touch upon open space and property taxes, but also venture into the issue of municipal consolidation and the question of whether Bergen should maintain a county police force.

I’d like to once again thank both candidates for their time. If you live in Bergen I hope you will give them your support and vote on Election Day. 

Once again, here are Rob and John’s web sites: Rob Hermansen for Freeholder, John Driscoll for Freeholder

Cross-posted at Red County and Conservatives with Attitude!

Obviously, the governor’s race here in New Jersey is garnering plenty of attention – both locally and nationally. But there are also many assembly and county level races of importance as well. Such is the case here in Bergen County where an oportunity exists to make a dent in a Freeholder board which has been under Democratic control for the past 6 years (and under their complete control for the past 3). Like their counterparts down in Trenton, fiscal restraint and discipline is not something they like to practice – as seen in the video I posted last week. Candidates Hermansen and Driscoll plan to put a stop to that and bring some sanity back to managing Bergen County’s finances.  

With that said, here is the first my two interviews with each candidate, beginning with Rob Hermansen. Watch here as we discuss a number of issues, from corruption at the BCDO, open space and – of course – property taxes. And please check in again tomorrow for my interview with John Driscoll.

For more information on both candidates, be sure to check out their web sites: Rob Hermansen for Freeholder, John Driscoll for Freeholder

Cross-posted at Red County and Conservatives with Attitude!

Earlier today I had a chance to speak with Bergen Freeholder candidates John Driscoll and Rob Hermansen while at the Fair Lawn street fair. The Bergen Freeholder board has been under Democrat control for the past 6 years – and under their complete control for the past 3 years. In my interviews with each candidate we discuss a number of topics including property taxes, open space and the corruption which has plagued the Bergen County Democrat Organization.

So, please check in this week for these two interviews and to get a flavor for some local politics. 

 Cross-posted at Red County and Conservatives with Attitude!

Here is a video of the Bergen County freeholders taken at last month’s meeting. A citizen asks them about a $100,000 grant they are to be voting on to purchase property in River Edge. Here is how it unfolded:

Cross-posted at Red County and Conservatives with Attitude!

The District 40 primary is about to take an ugly turn. Assembly candidate Anthony Rottino is suing his opponent, Scott Rumana, for defamation. The suit was brought on due to some accusations in a Rumana mailer and magazine advertisment that Rottino’s development company used taxpayer funded bonds to build low income housing in Newark and East Orange. From PolitickerNJ:

The vicious Republican primary fight in District 40 just turned even nastier.  

Assembly primary challenger Anthony Rottino is suing incumbent Assemblyman Scott Rumana (R-Wayne) for $350,000 over a mailer and magazine advertisement that he said made false accusations about his development company building low income housing. 

The suit charges that Rumana’s campaign piece falsely claimed that a company Rottino has a stake in, P.C. Development, used $16.5 million in taxpayer-funded bonds to develop low-income housing in Newark and East Orange.  That, according to Rottino’s attorney, Matthew DiBrino , is a “blatant lie,” as was a photo of a building purporting to be one that Rottino developed. 

According to the court filing, the ad reads: “While Rottino profited from building low income housing, Scott Rumana fought against it.”

The D-40 primary has already been hotly contested to say the least. Challengers Rottino and Caruso have been consistently hammering Rumana as a faux Republican who has failed to stand up for party values. When Rumana had a chance to meet with D-40 voters last week at a BCYR event, he didn’t show up. Now, this law suit raises the stakes that much higher.

Suffice it to say, a lot of eyes will be awaiting the outcome of this primary on June 2nd.

Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude and Red County.

The New Jersey Young Republican Federation held one of its biggest events of the year over the weekend. I wasn’t sure myself if I was going to be able to attend but I am glad it worked out so I could. Being that I will not be a YR for much longer – the dreaded ‘4-0′ is right around the corner – I am happy that I went. Not only was the event filled with a number of terrific speakers, but it was a great opportunity to meet so many like-minded people who are trying to build the Republican Party back up. From what I saw the future looks bright.

Fellow CWA! poster Sharon Soon and myself.

Here is a brief synopsis of the day’s events:

Congressman Frelinghuysen was the first major speaker to address the conference and he touched on some of the things going on in Washington, such as proposals that will lead to nationalizing health care. He urged everyone to be ‘vigilant’ in opposing the very left-wing legislation coming from the new administration and Congress. And on another note, in no uncertain terms the Congressman said that Nancy Pelosi’s claims of not being briefed on interrogation methods were ‘a lie.’

Minority Leader Alex DeCroce spoke to the attendees about the prospects of winning this year. He said he was ‘charged up’ about this election cycle and felt we had opportunities to win in areas of the state where Republicans haven’t been successful recently. He also urged people to run for office and to not ’sell themselves short’ and that the party needs people ‘from all walks of life.’ The Assembly Leader spoke of the importance of this year’s elections and that in this state (and the nation) we have ‘gone too far left’ and need to bring things back in the other direction.

Matt Rooney of SaveJersey gave a talk about blogging. Matt did a nice job and emphasized the importance of those of us on the right using blogs and other social networks in getting our message out. Obviously, the Democrats and the Obama campaign used these tools to their advantage last year, but if I may inject my own opinion here, I believe we are catching up quite fast in this regard.

Keith Davis, Atlantic County Chairman, effectively laid out Corzine’s long list of failures, calling him the worst Governor in the country (hard to disagree with that!). But Keith also pointed out what he felt were the two biggest challenges we Republicans face: unity and money. Keith called for the party to come together after the June 2nd primary, going on to say we have the right message this year and were poised to bring back competence to Trenton.

Assemblywoman McHose was next up and addressed several issues. She mentioned that the dying print press has led to fewer press people in Trenton and, ergo, less watchful eyes there to report on things going on in the legislature. Assemblywoman McHose also spoke of women in politics, mentioning that the legislature is composed of more women now than at any time before and that she has had a hand in forming Women’s Caucus. She is also working to pass legislation to further transparency in government. Two such pieces of legislation are the Party Democracy Act and the Transparency in Government Act – the latter of which is being co-opted and watered down by Democrats in Trenton. The Assemblywoman also went on to rail against the DEP, an agency that she said is ’strangling’ the state.

Assemblyman Webber followed and also touched on a number of issues. He touted his role in defeating taxpayer funded elections. The Assemblyman also spoke of the need to use technology and for YR’s to get online and network. He spoke of the YR’s as not just the future of the party, saying ‘we are the now of the party’ (the Assemblyman himself only being 37). He urged them to run for office themselves if they saw fit and not to hold back or wait their turn.

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According to PolitickerNJ, District 40 Assemblyman Scott Rumana is using a front group called the Republican Alliance to help his re-election bid. The co-chair of the group is Robert Pimienta, a major donor to the corrupt Bergen County Democrat Organization formerly led by the now indicted Joe Ferriero.

Pimienta operates Impact PAC, and is a major donor to Bergen County Democrats and their indicted former chairman Joseph Ferriero.

Pimienta has, according to the Record newspaper, donated more than $90,000 to Bergen Democrats and in return received a no bid contract that paid him more than $250,000.  

The most recent Republican Alliance flier has drawn the ire of two mayors in Rumana’s district, Randy George of North Haledon and John Coiro of Totowa. Each mayor was named in the flier while neither is supporting Rumana’s candidacy. They are also upset about being linked in any way to Pimienta and, thus, have demanded that their names be removed from the flier.

“I do not support Scott Rumana or any organization allied with him and I do not want my name used for any function that is run my Mr. Rumana or Mr. Semeraro, “ said Mayor George.  

“As far as I am concerned Scott Rumana and Mark Semeraro are a big part of what is wrong with the Republican Party in Passaic County and I will not have my good name used to support the selfish political goals of Mr. Rumana,”  added George 

Mayor Coiro said  he is not party to the June 4 event and using his name to  raise money for Rumana amounts to deception.

“People reading this flier and considering buying a ticket to the event might get the impression that I am supporting Rumana and Semeraro. That is absolutely not the case,” said Coiro. 

“The Republican Alliance is a front group for Rumana. It is not a group interested in helping Republicans win campaigns. I do not want my name associated with such an organization,” added Mayor Coiro.  

Mayor George added that anyone thinking about attending the June 4 event should reconsider. “If you want to support ineptitude in the Republican Party, then by all means support the Republican Alliance,” said George.  

Assemblyman Rumana, along with Assemblyman Russo, of course, are facing a primary challenge from conservatives Joe Caruso and Anthony Rottino. Caruso and Rottino likewise had harsh words for their rivals earlier this week, likening them to Republican turncoat Arlen Specter:

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To no suprise, the Bergen County establishment is lining up for gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie. From the Bergen Record:

More than 230 Bergen County Republican officials formally endorsed Christopher J. Christie’s bid for governor Friday, dealing a setback to his rival, former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan.

Sen. Gerald Cardinale, the long-time conservative stalwart from Demarest and Bergen County Clerk Kathleen Donovan of Rutherford, a social moderate, top the list of prominent officials.

All five GOP legislators representing Bergen endorsed Christie, as did Bergen County Republican Organization Chairman Bob Yudin, whose endorsement is not an endorsement of the entire BCRO. The BCRO will hold its convention on March 19.

Assemblyman Richard Merkt of Morris County and Brian D. Levine of Franklin Township, Somerset County, also are vying for the nomination for governor.

Yudin said “practical politics” led him to back Christie, the former U.S. attorney for New Jersey, over Lonegan, who runs a conservative non-profit group.

“I believe Chris Christie has the best chance of winning,” Yudin said Friday. “It will be a close election, but Christie will carry Bergen County. If he is able to do that, my freeholder candidates will win. For me it is practical politics of who can win in November.”

While the economy is expected to dominate the political agenda this year, polls taken last year showed that public corruption was a major concern for Bergen voters, Yudin said. Christie’s conviction of 132 public officials during his seven-year tenure as U.S. attorney — including his investigation of the Bergen County Democratic Party — will “go a long way toward Christie doing well in Bergen County,” Yudin said.

Lonegan dismissed the endorsement as “proof that Chris Christie is the candidate of the status quo.”

“We are going to win the convention in Bergen County and we’ll win the primary,” Lonegan said. “This is a good old-fashioned insider game against the grassroots, the failed established Republicans versus grass-roots activists and I’m glad to be on the side of the activists.”

Early polls show Christie with a double-digit lead over Lonegan.

Despite my support of conservative Steve Lonegan in this race, I have tried to be open and fair to Mr. Christie. However, to this point I have yet to see or hear anything from Mr. Christie to convince me of his passion and commitment to conservative ideals and conservative solutions for New Jersey. Quite honestly, I am not sure at this point that he can.

On the one hand Steve Lonegan has a long track record of where he stands on the issues. Having been a mayor and State Director of Americans for Prosperity NJ, there is no reason to doubt Steve’s principles.

On the other hand, Mr. Christie does not have a track record. His major accomplishments come as a prosecutor, not as a politician or activist. This makes it difficult for a discerning voter to have faith in his stated positions and not think it’s just saying the things one needs to get elected.

This aside, my frustration with the Republican establishment in this state is growing as this primary period continues. As Mr. Yudin implies, winning at any cost is really their goal. If this means going with the candidate with the “best chance to win” then that is what they will do. You see, ideas and solutions are secondary. Supporting the candidate who actually best represents, and is most committed to, real change is secondary.

This is something that grassroots Republicans in New Jersey need to reject. The ultimate goal is not to have more politicians with (R)’s next to their name in state government; the ultimate goal is to achieve true reform in keeping with our founding principles. True reform that limits government and puts it back on the side of the people.

In order to succeed in this respect, as voters we need to identify and support those candidates we truly believe will do so; not just go with the latest ‘name.’

Cross-posted at Red County.