Robert Yudin

The Bergen County Democratic Organization (BCDO), which in the past year has seen indictments of its party chairman, counsel and the conviction of a state senator, set up an ethics training program for all county committee members and party officials last week.

The program, however, is not mandatory, which BCDO chairman Michael Kasparian called for when he was first seeking to replace indicted Chairman Joseph Ferriero. 

Kasparian made ethics training a major part of his campaign to succeed Ferriero, listing it as the first item of his six plank platform.  Although not mandatory, he's encouraging county committee members to go one of two routes: either attend a May 20 ethics training seminar at Bergen Community College, where Gov. Jon Corzine will be a guest, or watch a Power Point presentation online before submitting a test. 

"The county committee people are elected officials, so as a private organization, it's not the chairman's intent to make this mandatory," said BCDO counsel Joe Ariyan, who added that he did not believe that Kasparian had the legal authority to force ethics training on committee members, even if he wanted to.  "It is encouraged, because the chairman ran on a platform in part on ethics reform, awareness and transparency."

The 26-page Power Point presentation was put together by retired Superior Court Judge Daniel Mecca.  It does not delve into exhaustive detail, instead covering the basics of potential conflicts created by business relationships with local entities, fundraising, event attendance, gift acceptance and other prohibited outside activities.  It outlines when should recuse themselves, and penalties they can face if they do not. 

The Bergen County Republican Organization will hold a convention tonight to pick two Freeholder candidates and settle a hotly contested race for State Committeewoman.  Four candidates are seeking a shot to challenge Democratic incumbents Julie O'Brien and Vernon Walton: Mahwah Councilman Robert Hermansen, Paramus GOP activist John Driscoll, '08 Freeholder candidates Christopher Calabrese, and perennial candidate Sabaudin "Sab' Skenderi.  The front runners are Hermansen and Driscoll, who have been endorsed by the BCRO Policy Committee and won the Northeast Republican Organization (NERO) convention two weeks ago. 

The real race to watch is for State Committeewoman, where Eleonore Nissley, the grand dame of the Bergen County GOP, is seeking a return to the seat she held from 1965 to 2005.  Nissley narrowly lost her bid for an eleventh term to 25-year-old Collette Campbell, who managed Steve Lonegan's campaign for Governor.  Campbell resigned her seat earlier this year. A former GOP State Vice Chairwoman, Nissley faces competition from Mary Conway, who has the backing of GOP County Chairman Robert Yudin, and former Franklin Lakes Councilwoman Pearl Spector.

Bergen Republicans will also endorse a candidate for Governor.  Former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie is the favorite to win.  He has dominated the endorsement game in Lonegan's home county and won 91% of the vote at the NERO convention.  Lonegan has stopped campaigning for organizational endorsements and made an unsuccessful effort to get Yudin to remove his name from the ballot.  Even though Lonegan is not actively seeking votes, it will be telling to see how well he does on his home turf.

Ridgefield Councilman Nicholas Lonzisero has filed a letter of intent with the Bergen County Republican Organization to run for assembly in Legislative District 38, according to the party's chairman, Bob Yudin.

So far, no other Republicans have come forward to run in the Democratic-leaning district, which some members of the party think maybe, just maybe could be put in play in light of the state's economic woes and the pending federal corruption trials of former State Sen. Joseph Coniglio (D-Paramus) and ex-Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero.

"We're actively recruiting now," said Yudin.

Oakland Mayor John Szabo is backing Assemblyman Scott Rumana for re-election. Szabo is also the Township Planner for Wayne, where Rumana was mayor.

All politics is local, and all local politics is business.  That’s one way to explain the intensity of support for Assemblyman Scott Rumana in Oakland, one of the Bergen County towns in the 40th legislative district.  Oakland Mayor John Szabo is the full-time planning director for the Township of Wayne.  Rumana, the Passaic County Republican Chairman, is the former Mayor of Wayne and wields considerable influence in local politics. 

Former Assembly Majority Leader Paul DiGaetano has responded to a column by The Record’s Alfred Doblin about Bergen County GOP Chairman Bob Yudin.  Doblin reports that Yudin promised Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce that he would not support any effort to withdraw organization support for Assembly incumbents in District 40 – and that now Yudin is under some pressure to “break his word.”

The full text of DiGaetano’s letter follows:

Robert Yudin, a 67-year-old appliance store owner from Wyckoff, could be one day away from becoming the Bergen County Republican Chairman – a post that up until about six years ago was one of the most powerful positions in New Jersey politics.  Yudin will face incumbent Rob Ortiz in a runoff election tomorrow night.  Over the last few years, the former Wyckoff Board of Education member has made three unsuccessful bids for Freeholder.

Yudin's first campaign for public office came 41 years ago, when the 26-year-old Navy lieutenant who had just left active duty was recruited by Essex County Republicans as their candidate for Assemblyman.

Bergen County Republican Chairman Rob Ortiz and challenger Bob Yudin are furiously working the phones today in preparation for Tuesday’s runoff election for the party’s top seat.

The key to winning the chairmanship will be to appeal to the 115 voters who supported Ben Focarino last night before he was knocked out of the race. But, due to a rule reversal, Ortiz and Yudin will also have the opportunity to appeal to voters who missed last night’s election.

That has renewed controversy over whether or not to allow those who didn’t vote last night to vote next Tuesday.

When the results were read last night, Election Committee Chairwoman Patricia DiCostanzo announced that Tuesday’s runoff would be restricted to last night’s voters.

That first upset Yudin, who objected to it before acquiescing a few minutes later, while Ortiz’s supporters agreed with it.

But that ruling was apparently reversed this morning by Ortiz, allowing all county committee voters to participate.

The latest controversy among Bergen County Republicans: the hotly contested election for County Chairman has been scheduled for the Jewish holiday of Shavuot.  The party’s policy committee met tonight and considered a proposal to extend the voting hours until 10:30 PM, a time that would allow Orthodox Jews to vote – but shot it down by a 6-3 vote.

The race to watch next week is the contest for Bergen County Republican Chairman, where incumbent Rob Ortiz, who took over after embattled party leader Guy Talarico resigned last June, faces a challenge from former Freeholder candidate Robert Yudin and former Bergen County Utilities Authority Chairman Ben Focarino, an old hand in the BCRO who ran against Ortiz last year. Ortiz has faced criticism for, among other things, promoting the embattled Andy Unanue for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination earlier this year.