Steve Rothman

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Freeholder David Ganz is among Bergen County’s elected officials who have called on indicted Democratic Chairman Joe Ferriero to resign by January 15. But he does not feel that the legal opinion issued last night by the party’s counsel, Paul Kaufman, provides a legitimate way to force Ferriero out.

“I’m only practicing law for 30 years, but I think it’s a weak opinion. What he basically says is there’s nothing that authorizes it, but here’s how you do it, and then drops a footnote regarding the Attorney General who reaches the opposite conclusion,” said Ganz. “What he’s doing, in my view, is trying to take a conclusion that a lot of people want – maybe nearly everyone wants – and writing a legal opinion to justify it.”

The gist of Kaufman’s conclusion is that although no clauses in the bylaws of the Bergen County Democratic Organization (BCDO) address the removal of a sitting chairman, the committee could still legally call a vote on his removal.

Ganz felt that the opinion appeared to have been written with a conclusion already in mind.

With nothing in the Bergen County Democratic Organization’s bylaws that gives authority to oust a sitting chairman, the party’s general counsel is working on a legal opinion to see if there is a mechanism to oust indicted Chairman Joe Ferriero.

“I’m working on a legal opinion right now, actually as we speak,” said counsel Paul Kaufman, who had no further comment on the matter.

An opinion is expected to be given to the party’s executive committee --  who voted for a resolution calling on Ferriero to resign by January 15 if he is not cleared on all eight corruption counts before then -- within the next several days.

Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero has been on a leave of absence since September.

HACKENSACK – After a meeting that stretched over three hours, the Bergen County Democratic Organization’s executive committee called on indicted Chairman Joe Ferriero to resign by January 15th unless he is exonerated on all eight of the corruption charges he faces before then.

That was not what U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman was hoping for. He made a motion calling on Ferriero to resign immediately which was overwhelmingly rejected, with only three of the 40 members present voting in favor. Instead, a committee member Rothman did not want to identify motioned that Ferriero should resign by January 15th. That motion passed with 25 members voting yes, nine voting no and six abstaining.

“I did vote against it, because I thought that he should resign immediately,” said Rothman.

Michael Chertoff with President George W. Bush in a 2005 White House photograph.

UNION – Talk to people in New Jersey’s legal profession and no one denies that what Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff perhaps lacks in charisma or courtroom presence, he compensates for with something more fundamental:  profound powers of reason. 

“Going back 20 years, he was a great lawyer, a brilliant lawyer – hard but fair,” said attorney Ted Wells.

His friends in the New Jersey political world say Chertoff’s a creature of hard analysis not politics.  “This is one of the brilliant legal minds of the country,” said Assemblyman Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield), who introduced Chertoff today at Kean University, where the Homeland Security Secretary and author of the USA Patriot Act reflected on his three-year term in the Bush administration.

His tenure included his grim mea culpa in front of Congress following what he acknowledged was his department’s 2005 failure to respond effectively to Hurricane Katrina. 

But Katrina didn’t come up today as a cross-section of audience members in friendly fashion mostly picked the Elizabeth native’s brain about general public policy during the question and answer portion of his presentation.

Last week's fight between Henry Waxman and John Dingell for chairmanship of the powerful House Energy and Commerce committee also featured a less visible battle waged by U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone -- only the latest in a series of moves to effectively position himself for a potential promotion to the Senate.

Soon after the election, Pallone joined Waxman's whip operation to take on the automakers' leading advocate in Congress in what appeared to be a long shot, unprecedented challenge to the seniority system. It was a gutsy move that paid off. His support was largely under the radar, but it's the kind of step that will get observers in Washington to take him more seriously.

Working against Pallone was Rob Andrews, who whipped votes for Dingell. Just as in his primary senate challenge to Frank Lautenberg, none of his colleagues from the state delegation backed him in that effort. Most insiders no longer consider Andrews a serious contender for Senate.

That currently leaves U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman as Pallone's most likely serious opponent for the seat. Rothman was an early supporter of Barack Obama and served as his campaign's Northeast Regional co-chairman, while Pallone was a high-profile Hillary Clinton supporter. But Rothman's greatest advantage may be that he hails from the 9th Congressional District which includes portions of Bergen and Hudson counties -- the Democratic party base.

Getty Images Photo

U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) is expected to receive substantial support from New Jersey Congressmen in his bid for House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman

Today, in his first major vote as an incoming member of the U.S. House of Representatives, John Adler is expected to support Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) for Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, according to sources with close ties to Camden County Democrat.  Waxman is challenging longtime chairman John Dingell, an 82-year-old Michigan Democrat who has served in Congress since 1955. 

My opponent was gracious  and I wish him success in this next term.  I appreciate the fact that our race never deviated from an honest, respectful competition of ideas and positions on important issues

The announcement that U.S. Rep. Steven Rothman will spend Election Day in Chicago with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama fuels speculation that the Congressman from Bergen County may be up for a post in the new administration.  Rothman has said he has no interest, but then again, that's what they all say just before they take the job.

Rothman has been interested in moving up to the United States Senate, and he clearly has his eye on the seat of 84-year-old Democrat Frank Lautenberg, who is expected to win re-election to a record fifth term tomorrow.  Rothman and other Democrats are already planning as if the Senate seat will open up in 2014, and the harsh reality is that many of the potential candidates get that it might not take that long.  An Obama administration post doesn't necessarily take Rothman out of contention for a U.S. Senate seat (indeed, it could actually propel him past other Democratic Congressmen), unless the seat opens up within the next year or two.  

If Rothman leaves, the front runner to replace him was supposed to be State Sen. Paul Sarlo.  But recent health issues for the 40-year-old Bergen County Democrat are considered serious, and that could take Sarlo out of the race if there is a special election early next year.

JERSEY CITY – He stood with Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il.) before anyone else in the New Jersey Congressional delegation, and for that a crowd of Obama backers gave him his props here today when U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Fairlawn) climbed onto the stage.

“Not only will an Obama presidency change the world,” Rothman argued. “It will change the way Americans see each other.”

The congressman soaked up the cheers.

He won’t be here with his fellow New Jerseyans come Tuesday night.