GOP Wants to Put an End to 'Unnecessary Spending'

Members of the Grand Old Party said Republicans have a “good chance” to usurp control of the Passaic County Freeholder Board this year.

Hundreds of Passaic County residents showed up at the Wayne Police Athletic League Wednesday for a beefsteak fundraiser for the Passaic County Regular Republican Organization. Governor Chris Christie was scheduled to attend but canceled his appearance. He was stuck in Trenton negotiating the terms of the pension reform legislation, officials said. 

Frank Fusco, Robert Ceberio and Larry Tosi, who won the Republican primary Tuesday night, were on-hand to greet attendees. Ceberio and Fusco are running for spots on the freeholder board. There are three Republicans on the seven-member board.

Tosi is running for surrogate.

“They have to gain control back and need people who relate to the residents of this county,” Joe Billy said. “I think people are ready for a change at the county level because they are tired of seeking their taxes spent unnecessarily.”

Fiscal accountability is something that residents and candidates said is missing in county government. Residents said that finances must be audited immediately after the election, regardless of who wins.

“I think there are a lot of people who think that politics and government, at this level, don’t matter,” Billy said. “But often these are the people who have the most to say about how tax dollars are spent. This is the level where it matters most who is in office.”

Tosi has said that, if elected, he does not want to turn his office into a “patronage mill," referring to the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners, where 100 employees were terminated after a state investigation earlier this year, as part of an effort to crack down on patronage and nepotism.  He said that no politician has the right to appoint people to office just because they are friends.

Residents agreed.

“I think it is outrageous the way the county is being run right now with respect to who is collecting a paycheck and why,” Keith La Forgia said. “Republicans are smart enough to differentiate between who deserves to be in charge and who gets to be in charge because of who they know.”

Should the Republicans gain control of the freeholder board, La Forgia said he thinks they should immediately find a way to lower county taxes by 10 percent.

The Passaic County Regular Republican Organization has said that the county has the highest taxes in the country in terms of percentage of income.

“Officials need to stop taking more money from us and saving more in the county treasury,” Wayne resident Jim Marrocco said. “You’ve got to start somewhere. When times are tough, we’re all tightening our belts. Our officials should do the same.”