With the swearing in of dozens of new legislators, it could be a new day in Trenton, but it’s the same story in district 37.
As that district’s three legislators start new terms, there’s no indication that the feud between them and Bergen County Democratic Organization Chairman Joe Ferriero will die down and time soon.
“The only thing that Joe and I are on the same page today is that I think we’re both still supporting Hillary. We’ll see what happens in ’08,” said Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle.
Huttle and her running mates, State Sen. Loretta Weinberg and Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, have seen some set backs since announcing a new reform campaign in October that reignited the intra-party feud between them and Ferriero – including Ferriero’s response that Huttle’s lawyer husband was conveniently omitted from their anti-“shadow government” campaign. But Huttle said that November’s election bore their reform message out with Timothy Driscoll becoming mayor of Bergenfield and its subsequent firing of municipal attorney Dennis Oury, a key Ferriero ally.
“There is a new day in Bergenfield, and I continue to say that Bergenfield will become the role model, not only in district 37, but throughout the state, of people who were really inspired by reform,” said Huttle.