Oury comments anger district 37 Democrats
By Matt Friedman, PolitickerNJ.com ReporterThe 37th district Democratic legislators sent Bergen County Democratic Organization Chairman Joe Ferriero a letter last night expressing frustration at comments from the organization’s lawyer, Dennis Oury.
In Tuesday’s Bergen Record, Oury told columnist Charles Stile that he planned to go to court to challenge pay to play legislation passed in 2004 and 2005 that was sponsored by state Sen. Loretta Weinberg. The initial legislation set standards for choosing no-bid contracts and limited certain kinds of contributions, while a later piece of legislation allowed local governments to pass stricter pay-to-play laws.
Oury told The Record that the legislation was unconstitutional and unfair to “the little guy,” – that the political playing field would be skewed to millionaires like Gov. Corzine or Doug Forrester. He also said that most voters don’t care about the issue.
“As three people who have run races in primaries and general elections from our district and county-wide, and as card carrying members of the "government do-gooders", we wonder what experience Mr. Oury has in any of these areas?” asked the legislators. “We are particularly concerned about our party taking a stand on this issue without the input of our leadership and rank and file. It is bad government, bad politics and bad timing just before an election.”
Weinberg has an adversarial history with Ferriero, often acting as an independent thorn in the side of a chairman who keeps most of his delegation in lock step. She successfully fended off a potential primary challenge from a Ferriero-backed slate in April.
Neither Ferriero nor Oury could immediately be reached for comment.
“It’s a sign of extremely bad judgment and it’s another example of the Bergen County Democratic Organization is not one person, or even two people. It’s all of us who are elected,” said Weinberg of Oury’s comments.
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"Joe Ferriero never influenced me not to speak to Loretta. I would never be influenced in that kind of way." -- State Sen. Paul Sarlo, on his relationship with State Sen. Loretta Weinberg.
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Syndicate
Great Picture of Loretta and (Napolean)Joe
Oury and Napolean(Joe) don't care what you have to say or think Loretta. We get it already.
Another BCDO embarassment.
How many municipal positions does Mr. Oury have? This guy is so arrogant and so brazen that he could care less if his ridiculous comments hurt the very Democrats who appointed him to these numerous public payrolls. Dennis Oury has the political sense of running water. Oury seems only concerned in protecting the political practice of collecting patronage plums that are the grease of machine politics.
Are you for real?
Is not news that the 37th district is in play this year. The Democrats are facing for the first time a very vocal and aggresive candidate that is getting great cross partisan support. Clara Nibot is Campaigning for Senate in the 37th district as if she was doing it in the 39th district. With the Clean Elections fundings and her energy she can do real damage to the Democrats. I think the statement of Mr.Oury about Senator Loretta Weinberg integrity concerning "Pay to Play" is very critical and the timing could not be more perfect. If the attacks from her own party keep coming Nibot should start putting her Champagne on ice because she may very well be celebrating this November.
weinberg the hypocrite
loretta weinberg claims that the so called pay to play is bad because it causes tax increases. this has never been proven. what is true however is the fact that weinberg and her running mates (which the record article didn't consider important enough to name) have consistently voted to increase state worker's salaries and benefits which causes huge tax increases. and the real hypocrisy is that they do this at the same time that they accept tens of thousands of campaign contributions from the unions representing these workers. hypocrisy of the highest order.
Dennis Oury and Joe Ferriero
Dennis Oury and Joe Ferriero are insulting the intelligence of voters, taxpayers and fellow Democrats alike. They say they are protecting "the little guy"? You mean like those professionals and businesses that donate $10,000, $20,000 and $30,000 to BCDO campaigns? Oh, those little guys.
There aren't too many rank and file county committee people ponying up that kind of money.
The point they are purposely missing is that pay-to-play creates exclusivity among professionals who then, by virtue of significant contributions, join a small pool from which the Boss chooses. Then he sends his signals to the County Executive's office or the local municipal loyalist with the orders of who gets the contract based on the BCDO contributor list.
It is not that the Ferriero favored contractor is not qualified, it is that others who have not played the money game are excluded from the process, thereby possibly denying the taxpayers a better bang for their tax buck.
ironic
Does anyone else see the irony in the fact that the legislators standing up for the "pay to play" laws they passed are not affected by it. Few members of the public are aware that while the "pay to play" laws bar contributions to political parties, and candidates for municipal, county, and gubernatorial office, they do not apply to contributions to individual legislators.
irony
it's not irony in D37. It's total hypocrisy
Patronage 101
Irony, BergenLaw, rests within your feigned lack of knowledge about how things work. It is well known that political parties (i.e. political Bosses), and elected municipal, county and gubernatorial officials have the power and responsibility of awarding patronage in the form of contracts and jobs in their respective elected positions.
State legislators, US Senators and US Congressional officials have no such power or authority. They make laws not contracts. Perhaps that is why the current pay-to-play laws target the offending offices you named.
You should consider going back to school to brush up on your legal studies.