Revolution Is Knocking At Democratic Boss's Door

The Record
August 2, 2007
By Mike Kelly

It's August, and love is in the air.

Actually, it's just Bergen's Democrat boss Joe Ferriero claiming to be a new man.

This tale begins with Ferriero himself. He may be the top donkey in the county Democratic Party, but he hasn't always been all that enamored with democracy and the idea that a political party ought to be a gathering of diverse ideas.

Ferriero wanted the party to speak in one voice -- his. They don't call him "Boss" for nothing.

Along comes Robert Gulack, a party committee member from Fair Lawn. He apparently doesn't like to be bossed around.

You can see where this is going, right?

"We are not serfs and this is not a czarist dictatorship," said Gulack of Ferriero.

Said Ferriero: "The man is totally crazy."

Ain't love grand?

In June, Gulack, a respected lawyer for the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, reached the breaking point. He became so irritated at Ferriero's style of leadership that he circulated a petition to call a meeting to consider 10 proposed changes to the party bylaws. Think of these proposals as a political "honey-do" list.

My favorite: When the party votes on resolutions or candidates for office, "representatives from all sides should be allowed to check that the ballot boxes are empty prior to voting."

What, no cheating? Now, that's progress:

Gulack, whose SEC office was so close to Ground Zero that his lungs were damaged by toxic dust, got more than enough signatures on his petition to call a meeting. He even reminded Ferriero that the party bylaws require the chairman to call a meeting when enough party members ask for one.

"As you must be aware," Gulack wrote, "the laws of the state of New Jersey do not permit you to violate our bylaws."

In recent years, Ferriero had built quite a legacy. Among other things, he has been accused of orchestrating forged letters of resignation of party members who did not support him, trying to block candidates from speaking to the party convention and forcing party members to unfold secret ballots to show how they voted on resolutions or nominations.

Ferriero did not toss Gulack's petition in the trash. He tabled it, claiming there was no need for a general meeting of the Bergen Democrats until the party's bylaw committee studied Gulack's proposals.

That was June 20. July came and went -- with no meeting. Gulack fumed.

"Embarrassing," he said. "All we are trying to do is get the Democratic Party to run in a way that is not embarrassing."

Well, guess what. The bylaw committee is scheduled to meet next Tuesday. Ferriero says he even arranged the meeting so that state Sen. Loretta Weinberg, a prime critic and bylaw committee member, would be home from a California vacation.

"I think he's beginning to get the message," Weinberg said.

Is he? Ferriero? A new man?

Reached by phone on Wednesday in the Virgin Islands where he is vacationing, Ferriero pooh-poohed the impact of Gulack's petition drive and the proposed bylaw changes.

"I don't know what the issue is," he said.

Memo to the Boss: The revolution is knocking at your door. This is the first skirmish.

And it's no small thing. The national presidential race looms, and Bergen's Democrats are considered a key player in the New Jersey primary in early February 2008 – perhaps the most critical players in what shapes up to be a pivotal test between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Will the Bergen contingent be unified?

It's August. Democrats are trying to fall in love again.

This is scary.