Ortiz could face two challengers in June

When Rob Ortiz assumed the chairmanship of the Bergen County Republican Organization five months ago, he made it clear in his inaugural speech not to expect any miracles. And it would indeed take a miracle to bring unity to the organization so quickly, which today seems to remain almost as fractious as when he took over.

Already, two potential challengers to Ortiz come June appear on the horizon: former Bergen County Utilities Authority Chairman Ben Focarino, an old hand in the BCRO who ran against Ortiz in July, and former freeholder candidate Bob Yudin.

So far, Ortiz has touted some municipal victories, particularly in Rutherford, as evidence that the party is clawing its way back to relevance against the dominant Bergen County Democrats. But many Bergen County Republicans who agreed to put aside loyalties and give Ortiz a chance to revive the party have already started making noise about the glacial pace of progress, and are disappointed that Ortiz – who largely ran on his fundraising abilities – has yet to bring the party out of debt, which stands at a better-than-expected $38,000 (a number discovered after an audit commissioned by Ortiz).

Yudin, a perennial freeholder candidate who this past election came closer to winning than ever before, started talking up his potential candidacy for the chairmanship immediately after the election, and plans to make a decision early this year.

“I have found that there is a common thread of disenchantment with him among the party regulars. He made promises. He hasn’t kept them,” said Yudin.

Yudin is particularly upset by what he considers a paltry amount of resources spent on the Republicans’ three freeholder campaigns. He put the number at $12,000 at the last minute, while Ortiz said that the party spent $35,000 on the campaign, noting that they still owe money to the consulting firm Jamestown Associates.

“I’m not sure where he gets the number. He’s very selective,” said Ortiz, who argued before the election that the party’s limited resources should be put to use primarily in municipal elections.

If he runs, Yudin said he will promise to be a full-time chairman. The prime factor in regarding his decision, he said, is whether he can step away from running his appliance store to devote all his efforts to the county.

Meanwhile, Yudin continues to help operate the Web site Best4Bergen.org that he and fellow freeholders created for their campaigns independently of the county organization. A post on the site’s home page from last month month lamented the “disappearance of county level GOP support” from his campaign.

And Yudin’s former freeholder running mate, Paul Duggan, wrote a letter to the Bergen Record lambasting the freeholder board for granting pay raises to elected and appointed officials, singling out County Clerk Kathleen Donovan, Bergen County’s only Republican countywide elected official, for criticism.

During the campaign for the Chairmanship, Focarino, Ortiz and fellow candidate Bill Thomson pledged to form a “triumvirate” to work together no matter who won the chairmanship. But so far, aside from a meeting right after the election, the three have not met to discuss strategy.

“Neither one of us has been called to arms, in effect, to be involved in whatever Rob has been attempting to accomplish,” said Focarino.

But Focarino said that it’s too early to judge Ortiz’s job as Chairman – that he’s taking a “wait and see” approach. Still, he would not discount the possibility of running for the chairmanship again come June.

“I would not want to discount being in the midst of that election if it does materialize,” he said.

During the run up to the election, one theme frequently raised by Ortiz supporters was the need for new blood in the party – and as a 35-year-old relative newcomer to the Bergen County political scene, Ortiz represented just that. He’s further infused the party with youth by adding 18-year-old Matt Mowers, who managed Gerald Cardinale’s successful reelection campaign in November, as executive director.

But Focarino cautioned that the party shouldn’t focus solely on new blood.

“We want to get involved with youth, definitely, but we still want the old timers. You need the knowledge- it’s important to have that,” he said. “You don’t want to have children that are born and then they’re telling you what to do.”

Other party insiders express frustration that Ortiz keeps a small inner circle and doesn’t consult enough with the party old-timers or the rank-and-file. One early Ortiz backer who wished to remain anonymous was upset that the party had only held one meeting since the November election, and that there was no united Republican front to criticize the freeholder board for granting pay raises.

Washington Township Council President Bob Schroeder, a former gubernatorial candidate who supported Bill Thomson for the chairmanship, said that Ortiz needs to focus more on building grass roots support for Bergen County Republicans. His leadership style, he said, has been too much like a chief executive officer – which would be fine if the Republicans had the proper infrastructure in place.

“I think Rob is working from the top down rather than from the bottom up,” he said. ““I have not spoken to him since he was elected. I would have hoped that he would have reached out to the municipal chairs and elected officials in Bergen County.”

Republican consultant Thom Ammirato, who supported Ortiz, said that the chairman could stand to be more aggressive in meeting with party members and attacking Democrats.

“I think there probably needs to be a better job in keeping up the communication with people,” he said. “If I could give him one piece of advise is in 2008 you’ve got to hit the ground running and run hard.”

Ortiz has also faced criticism for not leaving the BCRO headquarters, for which the party pays approximately $4,000 a month, including utilities – a building conservative strategist Rick Shaftan compares to a “mausoleum.”

Ortiz said that when he assumed the chairmanship, the party couldn’t afford to pay for storage or put up security deposits for a new location. When the lease expires in June, he said, he’ll reconsider. Ortiz acknowledged that he could never please everyone in the party, but said that he has been making progress and discounted the notion that the party is not unified.

“If 95 % of the people are on the same page, the 5% that aren’t say that we’re not unified,” he said.

Although he held a fundraiser in October that raised $120,000, most of that money went to campaigns rather than paying down debt. Money is trickling in, Ortiz said.

“I’m not sure what the expectations were. I did say when I was running that it’s going to be a process and we have to convert people on the national level to donating on the local level. I think we’ve done quite well considering we raised more money in this quarter than we have in previous years,” he said.

But Ortiz still has his strong supporters. Assemblyman Dave Russo said that he thinks Ortiz is doing a good job given the circumstances. District 36 chairman Joe Crifasi saw his district’s legislative candidates come much closer to Democratic incumbents’ vote totals than expected – which has led some to blame Ortiz for not devoting county resources there. But Crifasi doesn’t hold it against him.

“Would I have liked him to (send money)? Yes. Did I ask him to? Yes. Did they have anything? No. There just wasn’t anything to give,” he said.