Local emphasis is at issue between two factions
By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
President Obama’s inaugural speech looped on a TV screen to greet about 45 guests at the Hillsborough Democratic Committee’s celebration Monday night at Royce Brook Country Club on Hamilton Road.
A nearly life-size photo of the president stood by the door to the dining and dancing area where red, white and blue decorations adorned tables, a DJ readied music, and the bartender fussed to move his napkins and coasters in order.
Meanwhile, across town on Wertsville Road, another 10 Democrats gathered in the home of James Bergstrom to munch pizza, listen to the president’s speech and discuss for about two hours the meaning of the historic day.
That there were two Democratic events at the same time in two separate places indicates the split nature of the township political party at the moment.
The more formal affair was organized by the official township Democratic Committee and newly formed Hillsborough Democratic Community Club. It was presided over by Michael Goldberg, the elected township party chairman, and Vice Chairman Aldo Martinez along with William Kole, the young new president of the community club.
Across town were Democrats who are members of the Hillsborough Democratic Alliance, a group of activists itself only 2 or 3 years old as the progenitor of a former Democratic club.
Both groups were excited by the message and spirit brought by the president, they said. They have little quarrel with national policies and direction.
”It was a very exciting day and a great opportunity for Americans to see what lies ahead in Barack Obama’s second term,” Mr. Goldberg said. “It was a strong and motivating speech, and we’re very proud to be part of it by winning in Hillsborough in November.”
Meryl Bisberg, president of the Democratic Alliance, said she thought Mr. Obama “seemed very comfortable and talked more than rhetoric. In my mind, he moved to the agenda as an entrée to the State of the Union speech.”
She called it inspiring to hear the president talk of global warming, immigration and gun laws.
Mr. Bergstrom, the Alliance vice president, said he had positive feelings.
”It was a call to action to get behind him like we haven’t seen from Obama before,” he said.
Bring that unity over the national picture down to a local level, and the two sides begin to splinter, though.
Ms. Bisberg said she thought the official local party was focused primarily on finding candidates to stand for election. That’s important, she said, but it’s just as necessary to look for issues to bring out Democrats and motivate them through activities.
Mr. Goldberg said Mr. Bergstrom and Ms. Bisberg “felt they needed to support local candidates in their own way,” conceding there wasn’t much coordination between the fall local campaign and the Alliance.
”It was a very troublesome thing,” he said. “We made every attempt to work with them to have they come back and work for us, even up to the night of the vote.”
He said, “Philosophically, we’re all on the same page” with the same issues important to them all, “but it came down to a practical matter on how to support candidates and organization.”
”We’re all Hillsborough Democrats, and we all want to win,” he said.
The origins of the dispute go back to June, Mr. Bergstrom said.
Mr. Goldberg called a meeting to elect a party chairman as the township party committee’s bylaws stated. As it turned out, Lloyd Haas and Mr. Goldberg tied with eight votes apiece, Mr. Bergstrom said. After a recess, a discounted ballot and a recount, Mr. Haas should have won, 8-7, he said.
Mr. Goldberg appealed the process to the Somerset County Democratic Committee, whose attorney ruled there was no need to even hold a reorganization meeting, Mr. Bergstrom said. The county committee in 2010 had changed to four-year terms, and the attorney ruled Mr. Goldberg didn’t need to face re-election after two years in office, Mr. Bergstrom said.
The committee and HDA groups operated separately for a while, Mr. Bergstrom said, but had a spat over leadership of the Hillsborough Democratic Alliance at a December meeting when Ms. Bisberg and Mr. Bergstrom were elected president and vice president, 16-14, over opposition from Mr. Goldberg and supporters.
Mr. Goldberg said he didn’t know where Mr. Bergstrom got that tally and said there was a dispute over who should have been allowed to vote.
Jan. 9, Mr. Goldberg successfully petitioned the Somerset Democratic Committee to have Mr. Bergstrom and Ms. Bisberg removed as elected district committee representatives because they had failed to support the local candidates — himself and James Farley — for Township Committee in the fall election. He said the move had nothing to do with the votes for the party leadership or for HDA officers. Elected committee members are required to support Hillsborough Democratic candidates to be part of the party structure, Mr. Goldberg said.
Mr. Bergstrom said they still are discussing how to deal with the expulsion and whether to object legally.
In January, the new Hillsborough Democratic Community Club was formed, ostensibly as a substitute for the Alliance. The new club is “committed to the main goal of electing Hillsborough Democrats,” Mr. Goldberg said, and now has about 17-18 members after its first meeting two weeks ago.
One of its core functions is to bring in people into social events or discussions and thus find people who might want to move up to be district committee representatives or even candidates for office, he said.
Ms. Bisberg said she believed Democrats should work on issues as much as party organization, motivating people to get involved and hoping they’ll emerge as leaders to run for office. They intend to use the Alliance as a way to get people active, they said.
The party split is “more about how you make it happen,” she said. “We tried to grow inside the district committee, but we had a person (Mr. Goldberg) who wanted absolute control and wasn’t so interested in neighborhood representation.”
Ms. Bisberg said she has worked to grow the Alliance since becoming its president in early 2011 to the point where it has about 50 dues-paying members. The group has hosted a number of events for the local and national party — a lot around Obama’s election, she said.
But there have been a number of issues — sustainability, the Green Village development application before the Planning Board, the Gibraltar Rock Quarry solar array application — that Mr. Goldberg opposed the Alliance discussing, Ms. Bisberg said.
”They were all issues we felt Democrats should look at and Mike didn’t particularly want us to,” she said.
Mr. Goldberg said his emphasis has been to make the party structure work.
”I can say we bent over backwards to try and find a way to work through this,” Mr. Goldberg said. “Over the course of the last year, there have been too many times it has not worked out that way.”
For now, the two sides seem intent to continue on their own paths. The Democratic Community club is advertising a State of the Union speech watch party for Tuesday, Feb. 12, at Pizza and Pasta Restaurant, 930 S. Main St., Manville.
Ms. Bisberg said the Alliance likely will organize something similar of its own.

