Dennis Oury

Dennis Oury stepped down yesterday as general counsel of the Bergen County Democratic Organization, according to party spokesman Bill Maer. 

Oury who was indicted Tuesday on an eight-count corruption charge along with BCDO Chairman Joe Ferriero. 

Party Vice Chair Kay Nest has appointed Paul Kaufman, a former mayor of Leonia, to take over the position.  Kaufman’s name was initially floated as a potential replacement for Ferriero, who has not resigned.

In October, 2007, Dennis Oury gave the Bergen County Democratic Organization a $25,000 interest-free loan. 

At the time, Oury was the BCDO’s general counsel.  Yesterday, he stepped down after Tuesday’s indictment charging him and Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joe Ferriero with eight corruption counts. But the loan remains on the books.

Kay Nest, the party’s vice-chair who’s acting as chairwoman while Ferriero takes a leave of absence, said that she didn’t know about the loan, but it’s something that the party will be sure to address in the coming weeks, when top officials will pour over its finances.

When asked whether the BCDO should return the loan, Nest said “you just gave me a good idea. I didn’t even know about that.  I’ll definitely look into it.” 

With potential candidates already angling for the job of Bergen County Democratic Chairman, U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Englewood) said that there’s no need to elect a new chairman until after the November election.

“Many of us feel that there’s no need to rush to choose a new chairman. We are in the process of finding out the true condition of the party and its finances,” said Rothman, who emphasized that indicted Chairman Joe Ferriero hasn’t even resigned yet.  “And then examining what legal requirements exist with regard to new elections for chairman.” 

Indeed, Democratic Bergenites acknowledge that the party is facing significant debt – a feeling that in recent years has been much more familiar to their Republican counterparts. 

NEWARK - Charged with eight counts of corruption, Bergen County Democratic chairman Joseph Ferriero and Bergenfield attorney Dennis Oury made bail today on a $200,000 property bond ordered by federal Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo.

Indicted yesterday for their role in a grants scheme, Ferriero and Oury turned themselves over to the FBI today and appeared in Cox's courtroom around 2:30 p.m.

They stood with their attorneys in a pretrial appearance that laasted all of five minutes.

Gerald Krovatin of Newark is representing Oury, and Joseh Hayden of Roseland is representing Ferriero.

Each defendant said three words when Cox asked them if they understood the bail package agreement.

Dennis Oury was indicted yesterday on federal fraud chargesDennis Oury, the powerful Democratic attorney who was indicted on eight corruption counts yesterday, has resigned from his post as chief counsel of the Bergen County Improvement Authority, according to the agency’s chairman, Ron O’Malley.

Oury’s employment with the agency had been a point of contention among some factions of the Bergen County Democratic Party. State Sen. Loretta Weinberg mentioned it as a reason why she would not support O’Malley for county chair if and when Joe Ferriero, who was indicted along with Oury yesterday, resigns. Others, however, said that there was no reason to push Oury out before there was even a formally recognized investigation.

But O’Malley today took his name out of the mix, saying that, even if there is a vacancy, he won’t run. If he became chairman, he would have to step down from his position at the BCIA. O’Malley doesn’t believe this is an opportune time to do that.

NEWARK - He says it every time, and he said it again this time: until larger numbers of people get involved in civic life and engage the democratic process, public corruption by a few will continue to dominate.

"The only thing that ultimately holds people to account is the ballot box," U.S. Attorney Chris Christie said on the day he announced the indictment of Bergenfield Attorney Dennis Oury and Bergen County Democratic Organization Chairman Joseph Ferriero.

"I’ve said that for years," Christie added. "That’s the only way it gets fixed."

Asked today about the indictment of Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joe Ferriero and local Democratic counsel Dennis Oury at a bill signing shortly before U.S. Attorney Christ Christie announced it, Gov. Corzine said that “it’s always disappointing when there are public corruption issues in the state.”

But Corzine had not yet heard official word of the indictment, and limited his comments.

“First of all, I don’t know about it. I’ve heard rumors of that. I will wait to look at the actual indictment and what other circumstances come up,” he said. 

Corzine has not made a statement since the indictment was made public. 

Bergen County Republican Chairman Bob Yudin said that the indictment of his Democratic counterpart, Joe Ferriero, reiterates the need for both parties to be represented in Bergen County government.

“It’s a very sad day, and a very unfortunate day for the people of Bergen County. It shows what one-party rule leads to. The entire Democratic organization in Bergen County is corrupt,” he said. “The three freeholders running for reelection were mentored by Joe Ferriero, they’ve always supported him, and it shows why we need a return to the two-party system.”

U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, right, and FBI Director Weysan Dun.: Politicker file photo 

Newark - Numbers 129 and 130.

Those were the designations U.S. Attorney Chris Christie used to refer to Bergenfield attorney Dennis Oury and Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero.

"You stack those numbers up against the number of municipalities in this state and 130 starts to look pretty small," Christie said of the number of public corruption indictments he’s secured in the last seven years.

The buzz question coming into this press conference here on the seventh floor of the Peter Rodino federal building was why Christie chose to have a press conference concerning the indictment of Ferriero and Oury without possession of the men themselves.

"It was late in the day," said the U.S. attorney. "The indictment was returned at 2:15 p.m. and we reached out to their (Oury’s and Ferriero’s) lawyers immediately. We asked them if their clients were willing to voluntarily surrender and they told us ‘yes.’

U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman called on both Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joe Ferriero and County Democratic Counsel Dennis Oury to resign today in light of their indictments on corruption charges.

“An indictment is not a conviction, but it is a very sad day for Joe Ferriero and Dennis Oury, and the entire BCDO family,” said Rothman (D-Englewood) from his Washington office. “I believe that Joe and Dennis should resign without delay in order to remove any cloud from the BCDO.”

Ferriero exercised a heavy hand in controlling the party, and Rothman has found himself stepping into a power vacuum. He will likely play a pivotal role in choosing Ferriero’s successor if and when he resigns as chairman.

Rothman said that Democrats are currently trying to figure out exactly when a special election will need to be called, but that there’s no rush, since BCDO Vice Chair Kay Nest is “capable of running the party as the party leadership tries to reach consensus as to the best way to move forward.” For now, the party has election lawyers trying to determine what, exactly, is the latest version of the party bylaws – an apparent point of dispute.