Cumberland County Organizers Celebrate Good Government Wins with an Eye to the Future
For the women leaders of the Cumberland County Sewer Rate Watch Group, the moment Bernard Capital arrived on the scene, they knew they had to act. They didn’t want to see their public utility sold off, making life more expensive in already economically beleaguered Cumberland County, all to profit the investors of a Louisiana based private equity firm. They did what concerned citizens are told they ought to do: they contacted their elected officials. And that’s when it all got a lot more complicated.
Getting Up Close & Personal with the Cumberland County Machine
Though Cumberland County Commissioner Director Joe Derella proved slippery to publicly pin down for a stance on the issue, behind closed doors he held private meetings with county mayors to promote the sewer privatization plan. The County attempted to push through the sale without holding the legally required public hearings. They attempted to circumvent steps mandated in the NJ Wastewater Privatization Act. Utility authority board members resigned, complaining of privatization pressure from “outside forces.”
Citizens Demand Answers
Wondering where the public good factored into all of this, citizens began attending meetings, asking questions, seeking clarity. They got everything but that. Clearly the problem was not just an out of state private equity firm eyeing a public utility. It was also the machine politicians whose routine operations keep citizens in the dark while they do business predicated on secret discussions and cronyism. So many of the strands of the privatization plan connected back to Cumberland County party boss, Doug Long, a former County Commissioner, former Democratic party chair and a cog in the larger South Jersey political machine run by party boss George Norcross. Though Long is currently awaiting sentencing for tax evasion, his law firm is still receiving public contracts.
Demanding a voice and accountability from their government, the citizens began to organize. They got lawn signs. They got themselves to meetings. They filed public records requests and shared their findings. And they reminded people that an election was coming up and that officials who are not service minded or answerable to the public ought to be replaced.
Shaking Up the Status Quo
November 2, 2021 was a good day for this grassroots group. The plan to sell the county sewer system has been shelved. The authority utility board has been expanded, allowing more space for different views. An independent executive director has been appointed to that board.
And on the County Commissioner board, Director Joe Derella has been ousted as he and his running mate lost their bid for re-election to Republican challengers who opposed the utility privatization plan. The county government is no longer under single party rule. This opens the door for possible checks and balances and real debate on issues. A single party state is a democracy failure. As the saying goes, absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Now this grassroots group is eyeing the future, deciding what’s next. They remain vigilant in their watchdog work, keeping tabs on county government, both the county commission and the board and authorities that control ample budgets, make appointments and award contracts. The group has begun doing important citizen education work, explaining the difference between ordinance and resolutions, examining details of county budgets, and publicizing information about county bond debt.
The grassroots group is not strictly aligned with any political party. In a political machine climate where the distinction between D and R matters less than who’s an insider and who’s an outsider, this makes sense. The outsiders are fighting their way in together. They are doing it armed with their convictions and hard won information about how power really operates where they live and who it serves.
This is What Democracy Looks Like
Though it’s a favorite chant at big public rallies, it may be that this is really what democracy looks like — a group of citizens coming together, pouring over documents, parsing public records, following paper trails to figure out what’s broken in their community and how to fix it. The Cumberland County Sewer Rate Watch Group will likely be rebranding soon as they set their sights on new targets to bring good government reforms to Cumberland County. Whatever name they land on, they will continue rolling up their sleeves, working together to make their little corner of the world the best place it can be. Those willing to get their hands dirty in the name of improved South Jersey democracy may just want to join them.
