With Sarlo and Dressel out, Kasparian appears to have clear path to chairmanship; Ferriero fires BCDO attorney

News tonight from Bergen County that labor leader Richard "Buzzy" Dressel has retreated from his bid to succeed indicted Bergen County Democratic Organization (BCDO) Chairman Joe Ferriero came as no surprise to leaders on both sides of a fight who know Dressel can't win.

Dressel's intentions followed reports that members of a county committee built by Ferriero favor his hand-picked successor, Democratic Party fundraiser Michael Kasparian, in the lead-up to a Jan. 22 convention.

When party leaders tried to offer state Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen) as a compromise to the Kasparian forces on the one side and Dressel and key ally state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) on the other, Dressel backed down.

Sources say party leaders initially attempted to bring Sarlo in on the prompting of U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Fairlawn), but they wanted the dual-office holding state senator to give up his job as mayor of Wood-Ridge. Sarlo didn't want to do that. He also flatly didn't want the chairmanship except on an interim basis.

Anyway - and more critical to what appears to be the emerging success of their choice - Ferriero's people dug in with Kasparian, whose candidacy galled Weinberg's forces as the outgoing party boss personally called supporters seeking Kasparian support using the latter's office telephone.

Ferriero is leaving to fight federal corruption charges.

As he departs office in advance of a Jan. 22nd convention - a date he selected -sources also say he fired Paul Kaufman, new general counsel for the BCDO and the replacement for Ferriero ally Dennis Oury, who also faces corruption charges.

Kaufman wrote the legal opinion used to oust the chairman when Ferriero tried to cling to his post. Sources said his firing, coming days before Ferriero's departure, was last shot payback from the boss.

Weinberg had initially threatened to leave the party if the Ferriero-backed Kasparian succeeded him.

Today she called for specific reform measures she wants to see Kasparian undertake in the event he becomes chair, which she conceded now appears likely.

"We are public officials who answer to the public," said the state senator, long a Ferriero detractor. "We want open and transparent government, and the first thing I want is an outside audit. I want to see him change the party hierarchy so the party is not dominated by county employees."

Criticized by rank and file party members for being too quick to brand those among the Ferriero minions as "corrupt," the state senator this evening explained her position.

"I don't believe the people are corrupt," she said. "I believe the party hierarchy is corrupt. About the worst I can say about the county committe members is they're too scared to speak up." 

Her enemies have sought to portray Weinberg as an ongoing critic of her own party with particulalry bad timing in a gubernatorial election year in which Democrats need Bergen County.

Weinberg said she is a political pragmatist who thinks it's bad politics not to offer protest in the face of an incoming party chairman enjoying the obvious support of a chairman fighting corruption charges.

"I would like to see this party cleaned up so Chris Christie doesn't use this against us in November," the senator said of former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, a Republican candidate for governor.