Leonard Kaiser

This is one of the reasons people think some politicians are tone deaf.  The Bergen County Utility Authority voted unanimously to give a no-bid consulting contract to Leonard Kaiser, who resigned as BCUA Executive Director last year after FBI agents searched his home.  Kaiser was a partner in a government grants business that led to the indictments of former Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero and BCDO attorney Dennis Oury. 

Asked about the contract by The Record, BCUA Commissioner (and East Rutherford Mayor) James Cassella said: "Len has a lot of knowledge.  In fairness to Len, why not give him a little stipend?"

Bergen County Utilities Authority (BCUA) Executive Director Leonard Kaiser – a business partner in the grants consulting firm at the center of the indictments of former Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joe Ferriero and former party counsel Dennis Oury – retired yesterday for “personal reasons,” according to a press release issued by the agency.   

That marks the third recent resignation for Kaiser, whose home was raided by the FBI in November.  He also left his position on the Meadowlands Commission and as president of the North Arlington Education Foundation. 

In a statement, Kaiser said that he had been planning to retire for three years.

“I have spent 34 years in public service – as a councilman, a freeholder, a mayor and a county government official. It’s been an honor for me to have these opportunities and I am grateful to all those who have aided and supported me in all of those endeavors,” he said.

The Record is reporting that FBI investigators raided the home of Bergen County Utilities Authority Executive Director Leonard Kaiser, a partner in a grants consulting firm owned by Joseph Ferriero and Dennis Oury.  Federal agents executive a search warrant at 7AM this morning at Kaiser's North Arlington home, where he was the longtime Mayor.  Kaiser, a former Republican Freeholder, allegedly owns a 23% share in Governmental Grants Consulting, which was founded by Ferriero, the Bergen County Democratic Chairman, and Oury, the BCDO Counsel.  Both were indicted in September.

CLICK HERE TO READ CHARLES STILE'S OCT. 15 COLUMN ON KAISER

Click here to read Bergen County Chairman Joseph Ferriero's indictment.

AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO THE BERGEN COUNTY DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE 

Ironically, the very individual responsible for much of the success this party has had in the last decade finds himself the poster child for all that is wrong with politics.

Raising obsence amounts of money should not be more important than developing a message as to why Democrats should be given the honor of governing here in Bergen County. Political power is not an entitlement, but a privilege and this party has forgotten that basic principle! Being effective voices for our party was always more important than how many jobs we could deliver or how many contracts we could provide for donors.