Michael Wildes

Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes says his fellow Democrat, Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, should resign from the Englewood Council following revelations that he gave $1,850 to Lyndon LaRouche's PAC.

"I have known two Gordon Johnsons in politics.  One is avuncular and knows what the politically correct thing to say is. The other is divisive, mean-spirited and profoundly lacks common sense, " said Wildes. 

 

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I, along with many in the state, in District 37 and especially in Englewood, the city where I serve as Mayor, have been waiting for a coherent explanation from Assemblyman and Englewood City Councilman Gordon Johnson regarding his reported contributions to Lyndon LaRouche PAC.

As most of us who are remotely aware of politics in the United States know, Mr. LaRouche has espoused divisive and hate filled charges and conspiracies against homosexuals, Jews, the Royal family, leading Democrats, and more throughout his three decades on the national stage.  I found it difficult to comprehend how Mr. Johnson would somehow have been unaware of any of that at age 57, especially as a politician.

Because it seemed incomprehensible, when Mr. Johnson was first accused of this by his Republican opponents, I waited for his response, assuming there was a good possibility it was mistake of some sort.  On Friday, through news reports it was, by his admission, true.

I want to state for the record, that Mr. Johnson and I are not political allies, although we are both Democrats.  I did not support him in his Primary in 2006 when he ran for the City Council, he already held office as an assemblyman, for a variety of reasons, including the fact that his election would result in the reduction of the number of positions held by African Americans in Bergen County, because he was challenging a competent incumbent African American.  Furthermore, I went on to be a legislative candidate on a ticket opposed to his last spring.  It was for those reasons that I did not react before this charge was both verified and Mr. Johnson had a fair opportunity to state his position. 

In the end, what was most disturbing, beyond the nearly $2,000 Mr. Johnson gave over a two year period in seven different contributions, were his statements regarding the matter over this past weekend.

The Record on Friday, October 29th, reported that:  Johnson said he was "impressed" with LaRouche's grass-roots effort and the way he had managed to inspire youths. He acknowledged LaRouche's controversial persona but said that did not necessarily mean his positions are without merit.

"I find LaRouche to be kind of an extremist, kind of an outsider, so to speak," Johnson said. "Just because he's different doesn't mean he doesn't have some good ideas."

By the next day, Mr. Johnson’s position had changed:

"Had I been aware of the LaRouche record of anti-Semitism, I obviously would not have made my contributions," Johnson said in a statement.

What are the positions that Mr. LaRouche holds that Mr. Johnson considers to have merit? 

I can’t imagine a responsible politician who calls himself a good government official helping to underwrite an organization that calls Al Gore a “Nazi” and calls upon Speaker Nancy Pelosi to resign.

But then again, last year I could not imagine that Gordon Johnson would seek revenge for my not supporting him in his 2006 Primary for City Council by falsely accusing me of employing “thug tactics” against African Americans to help the Independent candidate he promoted and backed in that same year’s General Election in an effort to incite racial bitterness.

Of the people Mr. Johnson alleged were supposedly threatened by my supporters, every one appeared at a hearing and testified under oath that he or she was not threatened or intimidated, everyone except one woman who refused to attend in person or by phone.  That same woman did, however, manage to find the time several months later to attend a press conference with Mr. Johnson just two weeks before the election.  This was done with Mr. Johnson’s full awareness of the true facts, and completely disregarding them.

Following this blatant attempt on Mr. Johnson’s part to racially and religiously divide Englewood for political benefit in the last days before an election, Mr. Johnson was severely rebuked by the leading clergy of the City for the “timing of the events complained of” and for the use of “incendiary words.”  (See the attached.)

I was re-elected by a 2-to-1 margin despite Mr. Johnson’s efforts, with large pluralities in African American districts, which means so much to me.  With the election over, Mr. Johnson never again raised the subject.

I let it go last year, because I did not think it was in the best interests of Englewood to continue political debate involving race baiting that would only result in more suspicion and mistrust among our residents.

Therein lies the central point of my statement today.

I wish Mr. Johnson’s repeated contributions to Lyndon LaRouche were his only lapse of judgment in his public career regarding insensitivity to divisiveness. Unfortunately they are not.

I have known two Gordon Johnsons in politics.  One is avuncular and knows what the politically correct thing to say is. The other is divisive, mean-spirited and profoundly lacks common sense.

I believe the latter Gordon Johnson repeatedly donated to Lyndon LaRouche PAC.  It was that Gordon Johnson who solicited contributions from city employees on government property for a “Clean Election.” And I believe it was that same Gordon Johnson who saw nothing wrong in what he had done.  (The Record on October 26, 2007.)

This is the Gordon Johnson that a diverse city like Englewood cannot afford.  It is easy to tear people apart. Keeping people united in purpose and in understanding is not nearly as easy a task.

I have consistently fought to bring people together in Englewood, especially in efforts to win city referendum to reconstruct our schools, which have mostly a minority enrollment.  That is why I personally found Mr. Johnson’s and his small band of operatives’ tactics to be repugnant.

Senator Weinberg described herself as “embarrassed” by Mr. Johnson’s affiliation with Mr. LaRouche.  The Senator can’t imagine the embarrassment the people of City of Englewood feel.

I will not concern myself here with Mr. Johnson’s legislative career.  However, as Mayor, and with all differences aside, I believe the time has come for Mr. Johnson to resign from his position on the Englewood City Council.  First, he must step down because within our city it is now clear he repeatedly stands as a symbol of destructive politics at its worst.  Second, he must go because he should not hold two offices.

This is not a political maneuver on my part. If Mr. Johnson and his supporters are honest, they will admit that they control the Democratic County Committee and that they would select Mr. Johnson’s replacement.

The real issues are Mr. Johnson’s judgment (or lack thereof) as the ONLY citywide elected council member and his lack of intellectual integrity by, in one breath claiming to be against dual office-holding while in another refusing to cease doing it.

Englewood

needs to end the divisions and political infighting Johnson has come to personify, and come together.  His prompt resignation from this City Council will be a healthy step in letting the healing process begin. Read More >

HACKENSACK - A feud between the Bergen County Democratic Organization and a popular State Senator has come to an end.

"I wasn’t going to say it, but Cinderella did come to the ball finally," State Sen. Loretta Weinberg told a crowd of reporters, onlookers and party spear carriers in the Hackensack headquarters of the Bergen County Democratic Party.

It was a metaphor Chairman Joseph Ferriero delighted in embellishing, as the pair announced they would be reconciling after a Rizzo-Kenickie-like brawl that had seen Weinberg bucking the party hard for at least the last two and a half years.

In the wilderness, Weinberg always had a key ally in Corzine, who backed the rebel legislator’s successful bid for Senate in 2005. The move riled Ferriero and the county establishment, and the ongoing civil war was on the verge of another big cymbal clash this primary season, with battle lines drawn between Ferriero’s candidates - Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes, former Assemblyman Charles "Ken" Zisa and Cid Wilson; and the Weinberg faction.

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Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero will endorse State Sen. Loretta Weinberg tomorrow, ending a civil war in the 37th district. Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes will drop his challenge to Weinberg in the Democratic primary, as will Assembly candidates Ken Zisa and Cid Wilson.

Ferriero, along with Gov. Jon Corzine, is expected to announce his support of Weinberg and Assembly incumbents Gordon Johnson and Valerie Huttle, at a news conference on Thursday. The Democrats will instead launch a united front to unseat the Republican incumbents in the neighboring 39th district.

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Unless the Bergen County Democratic Civil War ends before spring, look for a massive amount of money to be spent in the 37th district primary. County Chairman Joseph Ferriero has privately pledged to spend considerable funds to oust three incumbent legislators running off the line in June, and his Senate candidate, uber-ambitious Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes, is a fairly amazing fundraiser in his own right. He raised nearly $600k for his mayoral re-election bid (with nearly $200k remaining), and has nearly $500k cash-on-hand in a federal campaign account he formed just in case the ninth district House seat opens up.

Ken Zisa, a former Assemblyman who will run with Wildes on Ferriero's ticket, has more than $100k in his account.

Incumbent State Senator Loretta Weinberg has about $150k in her warchest. Her running mates have modest amounts of cash-on-hand: Assemblyman Gordon Johnson has about $24k, while Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri-Huttle has $18k.

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The 167-member Englewood Democratic Club has endorsed Robert Stern for Mayor over the Democratic nominee, incumbent Michael Wildes. Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, who is running for Councilman on Wildes' ticket, and Council President Scott Reddin (an aide to Congressman Steven Rothman) are also supporting Stern, a registered Democrat who is running as an Independent. Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, who lives in Englewood, is officially neutral, but said that "if elected, Dr. Stern would make a great mayor".

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One race increasingly worth watching is in Englewood, where uber-ambitious Democratic Mayor Michael Wildes faces a sprited challenge from another Democrat running as an Independent, Dr. Robert Stern. Stern has built a grass-roots organization that Bergen Democrats claim is catching on, although there is no empirical evidence of his success. Last week, Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, who is running this year for an Englewood Council seat on the Wildes slate, alleged that the incumbent Mayor was intimidating African American voters in Englewood.

The 58-year-old Dentist, Little League Coach and John Harms Center President has attacked the incumbent for his support of over-development and his clear interest in running for higher office. (Wildes lost a Special Election Convention for State Assembly in 2005 to another Englewood resident, Valerie Vainieri Huttle, and has nearly $460,000 in a federal campaign account, just in case Congressman Steven Rothman decides not to run for re-election in 2008.)

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Governor-elect Jon Corzine is the special guest at a fundraiser for Hillary Rodham Clinton's re-election campaign in East Brunswick tonight. Tickets are "$420 and up." Assembly Speaker Albio Sires is headlining a fundraiser for Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes' federal campaign account tonight. Tickets are $150 per person, and there is a $1,000 per person VIP reception. Wildes has raised over $400,000 for a future congressional race, if incumbent Steve Rothman decides to run for another office. Wildes' main competitor for the 9th district seat is State Senator Paul Sarlo, although Assemblywoman-elect Valerie Vainieri Huttle could also emerge as a House candidate.

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Valerie Vainieri Huttle 121 (56%)
Michael Wildes 96 (44%)

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The Bergen County Democratic Organization is unofficially backing Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes in his bid for Loretta Weinberg's Assembly seat against Freeholder Valerie Vainieri Huttle. Until a few hours ago, Wildes has been a fervant foe of County Chairman Joseph Ferriero.

One Democrat not likely to be pleased with Ferriero's blessing of Wildes' candidacy is State Senator Paul Sarlo. If Congressman Steven Rothman runs for U.S. Senate in 2008, both Sarlo and Wildes want his House seat. A legislative seat will allow Wildes to expand his geographic base.

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