Recently, there has been a great controversy in Parsippany's Town Council Republican primary. It seems that a national Political Action Committee which supports the Democratic party has taken notice of our township and decided to support a group of Republican candidates running for council. Since Parsippany is pretty much a Republican town (the Mayor and all five current Council members are Republicans, there's been one Democrat on the council in the last 30 years), it seems odd that a SuperPAC that raised funds for both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama would take an interest. Many people, including a few of the candidates, are quite confused by this. It really doesn't make much sense unless you look at some recent history and dig in to the past of a seemingly inconsequential player in this whole farce.
The first relevant incident occurred in early 2014. Council President Paul Carifi, after a long and public feud with Mayor James Barberio in the 2013 Mayoral race that resulted in accusations of corruption and bribery, proposed a resolution to investigate Township Attorney John Inglesino, claiming Mr. Inglesino had a conflict of interest serving as Township Attorney. Mr. Carifi also voted to appoint Union City lawyer Wilfredo J. Ortiz II, Esq, as acting counsel to the "committee as a whole" created to investigate Inglesino, with a nice $30,000 retainer. Mr. Ortiz was representing his brother, former Parsippany Police Capt. James Carifi, in a lawsuit against the Township, which is somehow not a conflict of interest. The resolutions passed 3-1, with the sole dissenting vote coming from Councilman Mike dePierro. Fast forward to a year later, and we find that Mr. Carifi's attempts to hire his brother's attorney have stalled, due to a countersuit from the Mayor's office and pushback from the county and state.
Now, Mr. Carifi's seat on the council is up for re-election this year, as is Mike DiPierro's and Councilman Brian Stanton. Mr. Carifi has a ticket of three candidates, including himself, running against Mr. dePierro and two others in the Republican primary. Mr. Stanton has chosen not to run. The controversy came two weeks ago, when voters registered to vote in the Republican primary got a visit from some youngsters canvassing neighborhoods asking if voters were planning on supporting Mike "diPiero" and handing out flyers with him and his running mates on them. The flyers were distributed by a group called New Jersey's Future First, a SuperPAC based in Washington DC that has supported Democratic candidates in the past, including Hillary Clinton. Mr. Carifi and his running mates have jumped on this, asking why a Republican like Mike dePierro would take support from Democrats and just what exactly he's trying to pull, which gets really interesting when you start to dig a little. Mr. Carifi in particular was quoted as saying this "is offensive to every Republican voter in Parsippany," which would be hilarious if it weren't for it's hypocrisy. His running mate, Aida Visakay, wants to know "Who brought them here? ... Who's funding them?" Well, maybe she should ask Mr. Carifi, or more specifically, his friend, Mr. Wilfredo J. Ortiz II, Esq.
Who is Wilfredo J. Ortiz II, Esq? Well, the bio on his firm's website says he was born in the Bronx, grew up in West New York, educated at Seton Hall. He's versed in municipal law and has been the township attorney for several townships, including Hasbrouck Heights and Bloomfield, NJ. He's also "a lifelong Democrat" who has chaired several Political Action Committees dedicated to electing Democratic candidates. He has ties to Joe Ferriero and Sen. Robert Menendez, two shining examples of corrupt NJ politicians. Oh, and he has a history of supporting candidates for town councils who then vote for his appointment to the post of township attorney, where he makes a nice commission and gets some of his buddies set up as well.
So to get back to Mr. Carifi's question, why would a Democratic SuperPAC suddenly take an interest in Mike dePierro, a lifelong Republican? Could it be to give his opponent an opportunity to grandstand and claim to be a "true conservative" when in fact, he's trying to get Democrat appointed to the post of township attorney? Let's review some facts:
The great irony here is that this entire thing is the result of the Supreme Court's decision in the Citizens United case, a decision that was made by Republican appointees. Now it's coming back to hurt one of the Republican party's most ardent supporters, one of the last decent Republicans left. Because SuperPACs are not required to disclose their donors, we may never know who is funding New Jersey's Future First, and we will probably never be able to prove Mr. Ortiz's involvement with it. While his history and Mr. Carifi's history suggest that this is very likely the case, the only chance we had of finding out for sure is gone, lost to greed and partisanship.
None of this is a smoking gun but there is some proof, though none of it would hold up in a court of law. Fortunately this isn't a court of law, it's the court of public opinion, so the question that needs to be asked is: does it make more sense that a lifelong Republican who is known throughout his community as a man of integrity would break the law by coordinating his efforts with a Democratic SuperPAC or that a man once accused of fraud and known for his combative and dirty political tactics would team up with a man who has a history of getting people elected to municipal posts and using that leverage to get himself appointed to a lucrative position would use his contacts in the rival party to smear a primary opponent? Who has more to gain from these dirty politics? Like Mrs. Visakay said, follow the money.
"Politics
is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize
that it bears a very close resemblance to the first."
- Ronald Reagan
The first relevant incident occurred in early 2014. Council President Paul Carifi, after a long and public feud with Mayor James Barberio in the 2013 Mayoral race that resulted in accusations of corruption and bribery, proposed a resolution to investigate Township Attorney John Inglesino, claiming Mr. Inglesino had a conflict of interest serving as Township Attorney. Mr. Carifi also voted to appoint Union City lawyer Wilfredo J. Ortiz II, Esq, as acting counsel to the "committee as a whole" created to investigate Inglesino, with a nice $30,000 retainer. Mr. Ortiz was representing his brother, former Parsippany Police Capt. James Carifi, in a lawsuit against the Township, which is somehow not a conflict of interest. The resolutions passed 3-1, with the sole dissenting vote coming from Councilman Mike dePierro. Fast forward to a year later, and we find that Mr. Carifi's attempts to hire his brother's attorney have stalled, due to a countersuit from the Mayor's office and pushback from the county and state.
Now, Mr. Carifi's seat on the council is up for re-election this year, as is Mike DiPierro's and Councilman Brian Stanton. Mr. Carifi has a ticket of three candidates, including himself, running against Mr. dePierro and two others in the Republican primary. Mr. Stanton has chosen not to run. The controversy came two weeks ago, when voters registered to vote in the Republican primary got a visit from some youngsters canvassing neighborhoods asking if voters were planning on supporting Mike "diPiero" and handing out flyers with him and his running mates on them. The flyers were distributed by a group called New Jersey's Future First, a SuperPAC based in Washington DC that has supported Democratic candidates in the past, including Hillary Clinton. Mr. Carifi and his running mates have jumped on this, asking why a Republican like Mike dePierro would take support from Democrats and just what exactly he's trying to pull, which gets really interesting when you start to dig a little. Mr. Carifi in particular was quoted as saying this "is offensive to every Republican voter in Parsippany," which would be hilarious if it weren't for it's hypocrisy. His running mate, Aida Visakay, wants to know "Who brought them here? ... Who's funding them?" Well, maybe she should ask Mr. Carifi, or more specifically, his friend, Mr. Wilfredo J. Ortiz II, Esq.
Who is Wilfredo J. Ortiz II, Esq? Well, the bio on his firm's website says he was born in the Bronx, grew up in West New York, educated at Seton Hall. He's versed in municipal law and has been the township attorney for several townships, including Hasbrouck Heights and Bloomfield, NJ. He's also "a lifelong Democrat" who has chaired several Political Action Committees dedicated to electing Democratic candidates. He has ties to Joe Ferriero and Sen. Robert Menendez, two shining examples of corrupt NJ politicians. Oh, and he has a history of supporting candidates for town councils who then vote for his appointment to the post of township attorney, where he makes a nice commission and gets some of his buddies set up as well.
So to get back to Mr. Carifi's question, why would a Democratic SuperPAC suddenly take an interest in Mike dePierro, a lifelong Republican? Could it be to give his opponent an opportunity to grandstand and claim to be a "true conservative" when in fact, he's trying to get Democrat appointed to the post of township attorney? Let's review some facts:
- In 2010, then-Morris County Sheriff's Deputy Sgt. Paul Carifi supported Steve Olimpio, a lifelong Democrat who switched parties to run for Sheriff.
- In 2013, Councilman Paul Carifi supported Johnathan Nelson, the Democrat candidate for Mayor after losing his primary bid to Mayor Jamie Barberio.
- Mr. Carifi is presenting Wilfredo J. Ortiz II, Esq, a self proclaimed "lifelong Democrat" as the new Township Attorney for Parsippany.
- Mr. Ortiz has run Democratic PACs before, he has connections with the Democrat machine.
- Mr. Ortiz has a history of supporting candidates for Town Councils and then getting himself appointed to lucrative municipal positions.
- Mike dePierro is a respected member of the community, having served with distinction on the Parsippany Town Council for over 20 years. He is a lifelong Republican.
- Mr. Carifi claimed to be a "true conservative" and then in the same breath said that a Democratic SuperPAC, which by law cannot coordinate it's activities with a candidate, supporting Mike dePierro "is offensive to every Republican voter in Parsippany," presumably with a straight face.
The great irony here is that this entire thing is the result of the Supreme Court's decision in the Citizens United case, a decision that was made by Republican appointees. Now it's coming back to hurt one of the Republican party's most ardent supporters, one of the last decent Republicans left. Because SuperPACs are not required to disclose their donors, we may never know who is funding New Jersey's Future First, and we will probably never be able to prove Mr. Ortiz's involvement with it. While his history and Mr. Carifi's history suggest that this is very likely the case, the only chance we had of finding out for sure is gone, lost to greed and partisanship.
None of this is a smoking gun but there is some proof, though none of it would hold up in a court of law. Fortunately this isn't a court of law, it's the court of public opinion, so the question that needs to be asked is: does it make more sense that a lifelong Republican who is known throughout his community as a man of integrity would break the law by coordinating his efforts with a Democratic SuperPAC or that a man once accused of fraud and known for his combative and dirty political tactics would team up with a man who has a history of getting people elected to municipal posts and using that leverage to get himself appointed to a lucrative position would use his contacts in the rival party to smear a primary opponent? Who has more to gain from these dirty politics? Like Mrs. Visakay said, follow the money.
- Ronald Reagan
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