Furia asks that Burlco Dems not be judged on just Perr

Eighteen hours after Burlington County Democratic Chairman Rick Perr resigned amidst a protest from local Democrats over his connection to a political action committee that helped finance Peter Cammarano's campaign for Hoboken mayor, a top party leader says that the controversy was not a Burlington County Democratic problem, but rather "a problem involving two individuals who happened to be Burlington County Democrats."

"The Burlington County Democratic Party is unified, strengthened and positioned to move forward toward November as we continue to fight for reform for every resident of our great county," said Alice Furia, the Democratic Vice Chair.  "In an unprecedented display of unity, county Democrats at every level and in every region stood up and rebelled against corruption in our own house."

The full text of Furia's statement:

"The Burlington County Democratic Party is unified, strengthened and positioned to move forward toward November as we continue to fight for reform for every resident of our great county.

"In an unprecedented display of unity, county Democrats at every level and in every region stood up and rebelled against corruption in our own house. It is this dedication to clean and open government that separates us from the Republicans and is a testament to the fortitude of our party.

"The Burlington County Democratic Party is not a party of one individual; it is a collective organization whose future rests on the shoulders of the hard working, rank-and-file Democrats who roll up their sleeves every day to fight for our values. The strength of our party always has been our collective will, our spirit and our commitment to improve the lives of working families. 

"As I have said from the beginning, this was not a Burlington County Democratic Party problem. This was a problem involving two individuals who happened to be Burlington County Democrats.

"I have spent my entire life working tirelessly to promote the values and principles of the Democratic Party. Our party has made tremendous gains and won historic elections in the past few years. That momentum must, and will, continue.

"The citizens of Burlington County deserve the highest ethical standards from their governmental and political leaders and I assure them that the Democratic Party is steadfastly committed to providing leadership based on these principles.

"The Burlington County Democratic Party's future is bright. Today, Democrats occupy four of the eight county-wide elected offices; we outnumber Republicans by nearly 30,000 registered voters, and we have flipped a number of municipal governments to our column.

"This issue now is behind us. Tomorrow, the sun will come up and we will continue our campaign to bring accountability, affordability, and accessibility to county government.

"We will continue being the only party that can put Burlington County's 20,000 unemployed residents back to work, the only party that can rein-in taxes and spending so our hard-working families can afford to live and retire here and the only party that can help our most vulnerable citizens, our seniors and disabled, achieve a better quality of life. These are the issues that truly matter."