Clean Elections and Democrats in Bergen County

Clean Elections in District 37, Bergen County

Local primaries within the Democratic Party pitted two groups against each other: the Real Democrats and the official Bergen County Democratic Organization (BCDO) candidates. Both groups claimed that they are reformers, honest and full of ideas for the future if elected. What they did not tell the voters is that they heavily rely on special interest’s money that the Clean Election Program intends to eliminate.

The Real Democrats received a $7,200 donation from the Local Union #164 IBEW. The Friends of Butler, Person, and Acquasuivas received $4,000 from Victory 2007, $2,428 and $2,500 and $4,600 from the Bergenfield Democratic Municipal Committee. The Bergenfield Democratic Municipal Committee in turn received donations from many special interests groups such as law firms, construction companies, and others. Other candidates committees ($2,000 from the Friends of Michael Wildes and $1,000 from the Ken Zisa for Senate) also contributed to local Democratic Committee. In essence, it is chock full of special interests that cost Bergenfield taxpayers hefty increases in property taxes through pay-to-play process. The same process has been applied across the District 37 and Bergen County in recent years.

It is almost impossible for local political organizations to match this kind of financial prowess that pay-to-play and wheeling processes bring to our political system. For example, the Bergenfield Democratic Municipal Committee sent to the Bergen County Democratic Organization $5,000 last year. 

The goal of the NJ Fair and Clean Election Program is to restore public confidence in the political process by instituting a voluntary, publicly funded campaign finance system for legislative office and to remove access to special interest contributors as a major determinant of a citizen's influence within the political process. The Clean Election Program also intends to raise public awareness about a proven method of campaign finance that allows candidates to compete for election on the basis of issues without reliance on how much money they raise and spend. The purpose of collecting 800 individual donations of $10 per candidate is to demonstrate voters’ support for such candidate in the campaign. The minimum number of contributions that candidates must raise is 400 individual donations of $10 per candidate. So far only Clara Nibot, Frank Cifarelli and Wojciech Siemaszkiewicz have declared their intentions to be Clean Election candidates and are in the process of collecting donations from registered voters in District 37.

Donations can be sent to:

 District 37 Campaign, P.O. Box 598, Bergenfield, NJ 07621.

The Three Individual $10 Checks should be made to out to:

Cifarelli for Assembly

Siemaszkiewicz for Assembly

Nibot for Senate

Contact:

Wojciech Siemaszkiewicz

201 638-8100