The tangled web
The cover story of yesterday's Record focuses on a property development firm called EnCap and its many "friends" in the Bergen County establishment. The report alleges that by spreading around large sums of money in the form of fees and political contributions, this particular firm has engaged in questionable practices that seem to fail the "smell test." While there is no suggestion that EnCap's activities in Bergen County violated any existing laws, there is a suggestion that the firm and its affiliates have not kept within the spirit of openness and transparency in public affairs.
While it's hard to fault a private corporation for doing what it can to help its chances of success so long as what it does is legally permissible, it is quite legitimate to ask what steps politicians are taking to clean up the system and to distance themselves from appearances of impropriety and potential conflicts of interest. It is nice to see that incumbent State Senator Loretta Weinberg is on the forefront of an effort to restrict developers and their service providers from making campaign contributions to officials who will rule on their projects.
This begs the question, would Weinberg's Democratic opponents support such a measure? Are they willing to put aside the financial interests of the Bergen County Democratic Organization and the Bergen County Improvement Authority to safeguard the integrity of the system? Will they disrupt the status quo and take a stand against pay-to-play, or will they instead try to dance around the issue by touting the benefits they claim to be able to bring to our community? So far, we have only heard the latter.
posted by Teaneck Blog @ 2:54 PM
8 Comments:
Hmmm, does reformer and double dipper Assemblywoman/Freeholder Val Verneri-Huttles husband make his living at the Teaneck law firm of DeCotiis, which made $8mm off of Encap? Doesn't Weinberg/Johnson/Huttle have a say over the NJMC/NJEIT/NJEDA/DCA and other STATE agencies? not the BCDO? Where do these "Teaneck" reformers get there monies?
Oh thats right this website must not go after them--because they are one of us. Instead its up to the BCDO to end the Iraq war, get people in Closter to vote for Democratic Freeholders and get Lorettas BFF Gov Corzine to reform NJ's campaign finance system.
Oh thats right this website must not go after them--because they are one of us.
Do you really think I'm a Loretta Democrat? You can rest assured that I am not. Bring the evidence that Weinberg et al are not really advocates for good government or don't practice what they preach and post it here.
At the same time, please explain why Wildes/Zisa/Wilson and their puppetmasters do not support a piece of common sense legislation like the one Weinberg is now proposing. Or do they? Could there be any time better than the present to stand up for limitations on pay to play type practices in New Jersey?
Wildes/Zisa/Wilson started that sleazy County Seat newspaper which demanded bribes - I mean advertisements - from Board of Ed candidates before they'd run profiles on them.
(So if you see a profile in the County Seat newspaper, you know who "pays to play." Obviously the suburbanite didn't stoop that low.)
I wonder if the COunty Seat will only appear near election times?
PS> Weinberg doesn't have a huge say over state agencies because she's just one of many in Congress. Also, the Republicans used to run this county just as badly as the Democrats do now - but they ran the state far, far, far, far worse. Whitman got us into long-term, serious financial trouble during GOOD times, and caused the deaths of several firemen with her changes to the regs on marking toxic chemicals. Not to mention all the cash going to her sleazy relatives and minions.
1) Weinberg and the 2 double dippers are great at getting the one day headlines, but have you ever noticed they never follow thru. Shes been there since 1992 and only now whe talks about Campaign Finance? She rants that she is the conscience of Corzine.... Well lets deliver.
Heres where she doesn't practice what she preachs- Val Huttle & Decotiis. You seem to be ignoring that her own running mates husband is in the middle of the biggest pay to play story and has a huge conflict.
2) Wilde/Zisa/Wilson support camp. finance, did anyone bother to ask or do you just throw out accusations
3) County Seat was started by Wildes-Wilson-Zisa? You cant believe that can you?
2) Wilde/Zisa/Wilson support camp. finance, did anyone bother to ask or do you just throw out accusations
Did you bother to read the original post?
The question was indeed asked. This garbled response (deliberate?) does not constitute an answer, especially for a slate closely associated with the BCDO. I think most voters without existing factional allegiances will require a little more than that.
Garbler, about double dipping: Has Ken Zisa pledged to resign his Chief of Police position if he becomes an Assemblyman again? It seems to me that being a police chief is more than a full-time job and while I'm not a Hackensack resident, I certainly wouldn't want my chief down in Trenton 2 to 3 days a week. As a District 37 resident, I'd also like to think my Assemblyman would be in his district office from time to when when he's back in the district and not at the Hackensack Police Station, where he's already pulling down a six-figure salary and very nice pension.
Also about Zisa, who already has a record as Assemblyman from about 1993 to 2001 I believe: Can you name me something he did or delivered to the district during those years that really put him a notch above Huttle or Johnson or Weinberg when she was Assemblywoman?
Not one thing...
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