Eight dems file for Bergen freeholder; No challenge for Garrett

[Mike]

http://www.politickernj.com/editor/3...gen-freeholder

Eight Democrats file for Bergen Freeholder
By Editor | February 5th, 2010 - 12:29pm

Eight Democrats will compete for three Bergen County Freeholder seats when the party holds their county convention on February 25: incumbents James Carroll and Elizabeth Calabrese, former Freeholder Julie O’Brien, Northvale Mayor John Hogan, Westwood Mayor John Birkner, Maywood Mayor Tim Eustace, former Ridgefield Councilman Rob Kovic, Bergen County College Trustee Cid Wilson, Dr. Pargellan McCall, a retired NJCU professor, and Cliffside Park Green Committee Chairman Sebastian Belfon. Incumbent Tomas Padilla is not seeking re-election.

Control of the Board of Freeholders is at stake this November after Republicans won two of the seven seats in 2009. Democrats will need to hold two of the three seats to maintain their majority.

Bergen County Executive Dennis C. McNerney, Sheriff Leo McGuire, and U.S. Rep. Steven Rothman (D-Fair Lawn) are unopposed for the endorsement of the Bergen County Democratic Organization. No Democrat filed to challenge U.S. Scott Garrett (R-Wantage).

[northjersey]

Ferriero is still calling the shots. The Dem freeholder ticket will be "Double Dipper" Jimmy Carroll, Calabrese and O'Brien, all of whom have been selected by "Uncle Joe" in the past.

[Mike]

I've heard Kasparian speak twice and hope you are wrong saying that Ferriero is still calling the shots. Can't imagine they'll run O'Brien again. I know they'll go with Carroll and I'd sure like to see him lose.

[Mike]

Bergen County Dems pick their candidates
Thursday, March 4, 2010
BY MICHAEL GARTLAND
The Record
STAFF WRITER

The Bergen County Democratic Organization selected candidates Thursday night to run for several elected posts, including county executive, sheriff and three freeholder seats.

The party’s county committee, which has about 1,350 members, chose several incumbents to run for re-election, including U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman, County Executive Dennis McNerney, Sheriff Leo McGuire and Freeholders Elizabeth Calabrese and James Carroll.

Northvale Mayor John Hogan also won a party nomination to run for county freeholder, beating out former Ridgefield Councilman Rob Kovic, Pargellan McCall of Hackensack and Sabastian Belfon of Cliffside Park.

“We’re energized,” McNerney said. “We have a great record. … At the end of the day we’re going to run on our great record.”

Republicans honed in on that record Wednesday, just one day after McNerney announced his plans to cut the Open Space tax.

County Republicans noted that they had called for a similar tax cut more than a year ago.

Bergen County Republican Organization Chairman Bob Yudin described the move as “shameless.”

“Now all of a sudden, when McNerney is facing a desperate election, he is trying to co-opt our ideas that he ignored for years,” he said.

Thursday’s convention votes do not guarantee against Democratic primary challenges, but ensure the party’s backing when the primary takes place in June.

The BCDO did not select a nominee to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett in his run to maintain his seat in the 5th Congressional District.

Incumbent Freeholder Tomas Padilla, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family, decided not run for re-election. And a handful of candidates — former Freeholder Julie O’Brien, Westwood Mayor John Birkner Jr., Cid Wilson of Leonia and Maywood Mayor Timothy Eustace – dropped out of the race before Thursday night’s convention.

The Democrats may face the toughest challenge to their power on the county level in several years. The BCDO has experienced a series of setbacks during the past two years, including the federal corruption convictions of former Chairman Joseph Ferriero and the party’s chief counsel, Dennis Oury, as well as losing two county freeholder seats in last year’s election.

Michael Kasparian, who took over as head of the BCDO in the aftermath of Ferriero’s fall from grace, promised to reform the party when he took control of it in Jan. 2009, but some members contend that change did not come quickly enough.

“We have a chance to choose the right candidate who is no affiliated ith the old regime,” Kovic said. “We need to be the first people to challenge our own people when they do something wrong…this is gong to be the biggest challenge in the election.”

Kasparian acknowledged that the Democratic party has had challenges on the national level during the past year, but described the county party as unified and said he expects a strong showing in November.

“I can’t think of another time that the Democratic message has had more resonance,” he said.

The Democrats still hold five of seven freeholder seats, but control of the board is at stake this year, with three seats to be contested. Until this year, the freeholder board had been filled entirely by Democrats since January 2007.

County Clerk Kathleen Donovan, a moderate Republican, plans to face McNerney’s in the general election, and, in contrast to recent primary election cycles, the Bergen County Republican Organization appears to be unified in its support of her.

Democrats expressed mixed feelings about their chances in the November election.

McGuire describes his five years of work as a sheriff “as unprecedented” and specifically cited his office’s implementation of “telepsychiatry” to save the county money on psychiatric evaluation costs. The program uses teleconferencing to initially evaluate detainees that claim psychiatric problems before further evaluation.

“The energy is here in Bergen County for the Democrats this year,” he said.

Assemblyman Gordon Johnson of Englewood gave a more muted response when asked about the party’s chances.

“It’s going to be a very difficult fight,” he said. “We in the Democratic party had better have a strategy in place.”

E-mail: gartland@northjersey.com

http://www.northjersey.com/news/berg...tml?c=y&page=1

[Valory Bardinas]

County Clerk Kathleen Donovan ! Yeah, Go Kathy, go.

[Mike]

Bergen GOP chooses Cliffside Park man to replace freeholder candidate
Thursday, August 19, 2010
BY MICHAEL GARTLAND
The Record
STAFF WRITER

The Bergen County Republican Organization chose a replacement Thursday night for Rochelle Park Mayor Frank Valenzuela, a freeholder candidate who dropped out of the race two weeks ago after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

The party’s county committee overwhelmingly voted for John Mitchell of Cliffside Park to fill the vacancy left by Valenzuela.

Mitchell, a retired government operations director with Con Edison, has not held elected office before. He has been defeated four times in runs for the Cliffside Park Borough Council.

“I’m thrilled,” Mitchell said of the opportunity to run for freeholder. “Everybody seems to be very supportive.”

Bergen County Freeholder John Driscoll supported Mitchell.

“John’s a good man. He’s a hard worker,” Driscoll said. “I think he’ll do OK.”