To most voters, county government is nearly invisible. They know about national and state government from the media, and they may know about local government because of its direct impact on their lives.  In the political backwater which is Bergen County, thus, a quiet but immense change has take place in the last nine years.  Bergen, the most populous county in New Jersey, was formerly known as a swing county politically, with control moving back and forth between the two major parties.  However, since the election of Joseph A. Ferriero as County Democratic Chairman in 1998, campaign contributions have soared to new highs and Democrats have gradually tightened their grip on the county government. As of now, the County Executive and all seven County Freeholders are Democrats beholden to Party Boss Ferriero. Meanwhile, the County Republican Party has all but disappeared as an effective counter force. Joseph Ferriero provides campaign funding for Democratic candidates at all levels in return for their loyalty. In fact, a majority of the Democratic County Committee members in Bergen's seventy towns are now persons chosen by and loyal to him, often because they have County jobs.  Meanwhile, Ferriero uses a variety of means to punish those who are not...

Because of county government’s low visibility, it is not easy to arouse the kind of indignation which one might expect against the blatant old-fashioned political machine which has been created. At some point Ferriero will lose his power in the County either through reform or political change. For now, our best efforts should be put towards identifying and supporting good candidates with the character, courage and principles to run against Ferriero's "pay-to-play" machine.