“Residents will have to pay for the Mayor and Village Managers legal fees.” TRUE. Which begs the question, why would Roberta, Paul et. al do something so blatantly out of step with the law so as to cause taxpayers to spend money to fight them legally, in addition to taxpayers footing any legal bills they have? Additionally, where is Matt Rogers? The bond counsel has been providing legal advice on these matters to date…why has he not weighed in?
This is a horrible precedent to set for our Village…I would think residents would be outraged if the Village was promoting one presidential candidate over another on the website. Thank you to Gail, Lorraine and everyone else involved with these efforts. It is sad it came to this, there was no need for Paul, Roberta etc to go this far as they had a lot of support on their side, but now everything is tainted.
Ridgewood NJ, An employee’s conduct is subject to the laws of the state and the regulations of the employing agency. With respect to those jurisdictions operating under Title 11A of the the New Jersey Civil Service Act, the following provisions apply: “a person holding a position in the career service or senior executive service shall not directly use or seek to use the position to control or affect the political action of another person or engage in political activity during working hours.” N.J.S.A. 11A:2-23
Am completely sickened by what people write on this blog about our elected officials. Gwenn, Paul, and Albert are some of the smartest, most devoted town leaders we have had in Ridgewood.
The electorate of Ridgewood voted FOR the parking garage by a 2-1 majority.
Why are you costing us more money with a $45,000 NEW referendum? Where were you the first time we voted? You came too late to the game, and you may win after all, but you haven’t done it by posting nasty things on this blog or with costly lawsuits and second referendums.
We need a table where people sit down together and discuss the misunderstandings here–not a social media blitz that calls information propaganda. The REAL propaganda is on this blog.
Hackensack NJ, A group of Ridgewood residents filed a lawsuit in Superior Court today, challenging a decision by the Bergen County town to place a political propaganda video and written propaganda on the municipal website “expressly advocating a “yes” vote on a bond referendum to finance a parking deck, which is slated to go before Ridgewood voters on June 21, 2016, and have urged voters to view this one-sided presentation. This action is brought to redress these violations of law.”
The filing comes less than a week after Ridgewood officials began distributing an 11-minute political video and four-page parking referendum guide, via the Village of Ridgewood website, urging voters to support an $11.5 million bond issue to build a parking deck on Hudson Street. The town’s mayor, manager, CFO, and engineer, along with the architect and contractor hired to design the garage. All appear in the video.
Ridgewood voters will go to the polls on June 21 to decide whether or not to adopt an ordinance that would allow Ridgewood to bond 11.5 million for a parking garage at Hudson Street. The $11.5 million is associated with what is known as Design D- 325 spaces, 4 stories, 5 levels, 5 ft over the footprint of the existing lot.
Ever since a 1953 ruling issued by former U.S. Supreme Court Justice and New Jersey Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, it has been illegal for local governments in New Jersey to use public resources to influence voters on a local election. While towns are allowed to send evenhanded factual material to voters, the ruling says it is “outside the pale” and “not lawful” for towns to spend money on political materials urging voters to pass or reject referendums.
According to the lawsuit, the video and the 4 page parking referendum guide on the village website, are “propaganda” that contains a “one-sided, slanted and unjust presentation” of the parking vote. Using “extravagant and dramatic language,” the ads argue in favor of the referendum’s passage, while disparaging the referendum’s opponents.
“The use of Ridgewood’s municipal funds to pay for political marketing is unconscionable,” said resident Gail McCarthy..
The lawsuit comes two days after Ridgewood’s mayor, Paul Aronsohn and village manager, Roberta Sonenfeld, were accused, by the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government, of state ethics law violations for their roles in the political video.“Aronsohn and Sonenfeld are certainly entitled to their own opinions about the referendum, but they are not entitled to use taxpayer dollars to aggressively promote a one sided opinion to the public,” added resident Lorraine Reynolds.
The lawsuit asks for an injunction declaring the advertising illegal, and asks for a formal accounting of all public money and time spent promoting the referendum. If the referendum succeeds, the suit also serves notice that the voters will seek to have the election set aside as being based on “payments and expenditures that are contrary to law, and not authorized by the election or other laws” of the State.
I’m writing about the upcoming garage election and specifically about something that has happened which now puts the whole process into question.
On June 9th, a ‘Vote yes’ video and other materials were posted on our Village website, along with an e-notice that was sent out by our Village Manager, which directed residents to this site. To use government funds to make such slanted materials and to post them on a government website goes beyond inappropriate.
NJ Fog, a government watch group, has filed a formal complaint against Mayor Aronsohn and Village Manager Sonenfeld, which can be viewed here.
It is imperative that every resident knows about the situation.
So, I am asking you to a) share this email with every resident that you know and b) contact the Ridgewood News at 201-612-5400 and ask for either Alexandra Hoey or Jaime Walters to request that this issue be given a front page article, which it deserves. Please call them this morning as they go to print shortly.
Thank you for doing your part to protect our Village.
Readers react to ethics complaint against Mayor and Village manager :
Just when you think Aronsohn cannot get any lower, well guess what he digs himself in deeper. The list of crummy things he has done to soil our village goes on and on. Such as the Mike Sedon affair, another election tampering effort by Aronsohn. Glad he is being called to task on this one and his bobble headed village manager too.
These two are so dirty, The manager and her lap dog need to go by july 1, End of the story. we are all sick of this bull shit in town, This manager staff all needs to go, what a bunch of shit heads. They don’t know how to treat people. what a joke. scam after scam.they are all in bed together.
The real kicker here is that taxpayers paid for those unlawfully produced materials and we will pay again in terms of legal fees to defend Mrs. Carroll and Mr. Aronsohn. The only justice will be when they are both walked out in cuffs.
Ridgewood NJ, Many readers over the years have often complained about petty vandalism ,and in particular the stealing of Village signs around town . From the Facebook page “it takes a village” we recently learned that the Dunham Trail sign has gone missing . According to Patricia Barnwell Pechko “My pet peeve has always been vandalism. I am so upset that one of the signs my son built for his Eagle Scout service has been stolen from the Dunham Trail entrance on Spring Street. It was multi-bolted and steel reinforced so this was no small task to steal. If anyone sees it laying around, please let me know so we can fix and remount it.”
Folks it is often more than just the signs its the effort and thought as well as the cost that goes into these things.
Ridgewood NJ, For over 27 years, the YWCA Bergen County has been providing quality dance instruction for children ages 3 to 12 in a fun, loving and relaxed environment. We instill in our students a lifelong affinity for movement, activity and fitness. Classes will begin on June 26 and run through August 20, 2016.
Twinkle Toes (ages 3 to 5 yrs) develops movement skills through ballet basics and body motion. Ballet I (ages 5 to 7 yrs) allows beginning dancers to improve ballet basics and movement. Ballet II (ages 8 to 12 yrs) teaches classical ballet techniques, basic dance terminology, and traditional barre and floor routines to develop coordination, grace and stamina. Jazz/Tap I and II (ages 5 to 7 yrs; 8 to 12 yrs.) works on jazz and tap dance movements and rhythms. Tap shoes required.
All classes run in 8-week sessions and are held at the YWCA’s 112 Oak Street, Ridgewood facility. For more information contact the Membership Department at 201-444-5600 ext. 400, or visit www.ywcabergencounty.org.
The YWCA offers dozens of other fitness, wellness, and enrichment programs for kids, teens, adults, and seniors, as well as American Red Cross certified swim classes for swimmers at every age and level. Drop-in child care is also available at the 112 Oak Street, Ridgewood facility. Visitwww.ywcabergencounty.org for details or call 201-444-5600 for a free brochure.
Cholesterol does not cause heart disease in the elderly and trying to reduce it with drugs like statins is a waste of time, an international group of experts has claimed.
A review of research involving nearly 70,000 people found there was no link between what has traditionally been considered “bad” cholesterol and the premature deaths of over 60-year-olds from cardiovascular disease.
Published in the BMJ Open journal, the new study found that 92 percent of people with a high cholesterol level lived longer.
Ridgewood NJ, Jane Clementi, Founder and Board Member of the Tyler Clementi Foundation issues a statement on the Orlando night club terror shooting:
“My heart simply breaks for the victims and their families. When will people open their eyes and see the horrific impact of their misguided teachings of bias, discrimination and hate that devalues the human spirit, whether it is in the dramatic physical actions of taking another life or in the slow and steady emotional toll of ongoing bullying. Love will win and these outrageous acts of evil will stop.” – Jane Clementi, Founder and Board Member of the Tyler Clementi Foundation (June 13, 2016)
Ridgewood NJ, from the Facebook page “Take Back Ridgewood” , Mayor Aronsohn is making a case for a 5 story garage because his team can’t keep a surface lot clean.??
We just elected a new council, give the council elect a chance and please vote NO for Mayor Aronsohn’s 11.5 Million bond on Tuesday June 21st.
Can’t keep a surface lot clean? Or did they actively choose to let the Hudson St. lot fall into disrepair? from Its2Big on Vimeo.
file photo by Boyd Loving
Following is a complaint filed with the New Jersey Libertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project with the Local Finance Board–the agency that enforces the Local Government Ethics Law.
June 13, 2016
Patricia Parkin McNamara
Local Finance Board
101 S Broad St – PO Box 803
Trenton, NJ 08625-0803
(via e-mail only to Patricia.McNamara@dca.state.nj.us)
Dear Ms. McNamara:
We intend this e-mail to be our complaint against Paul Aronsohn, Mayor, and Roberta Sonenfeld, Manager, of the Village of Ridgewood (Bergen County).
In accordance with N.J.A.C. 5:35-1.1(b), following are the required elements of the complaint:
1. State the point of the Local Government Ethics Law alleged to be violated.
N.J.S.A. 40A:9-22.5(c), which prohibits a local government officers from “us[ing” or attempting to use his official position to secure unwarranted privileges or advantages for himself or others.”
2. State the name(s) and title(s) of the parties involved in the action and against whom the complaint is filed.
New Jersey Libertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project, John Paff (Project Chairman), Paul Aronsohn, (Ridgewood Mayor) and Roberta Sonenfeld (Ridgewood Manager).
3. Set forth in detail the pertinent facts surrounding the alleged violative action.
Mayor Aronsohn and Manager Sonenfeld appear in a video that exhorts citizens to vote “yes” on a June 21, 2016 referendum question which will, if passed, cause the issuance of $11,500,000 in bonds or notes to finance the cost of constructing a new parking deck.
Notwithstanding Mayor Aronsohn’s statement in the video that its purpose is to educate and inform the public about this issue, the video goes well beyond providing neutral facts. Rather, the video is clearly an advocacy piece intended to persuade Village residents to vote “yes” on the proposal. For example Mayor Aronsohn made the following statements at the noted times in the video:
00:20 “This is an opportunity for us to come out again as a community to show our support for our parking deck, something that most of us believe that we desperately need here in Ridgewood.”
01:43 “The reason we really need a parking deck is three-fold” followed by: a) “a real quality of life imperative,” b) anger over a lack of parking creates a “real public safety concern” and c) lack of parking imperils the “survival of our downtown.”
3:20 “For [the three reasons stated above] we really need a parking deck.”
10:37 “There’s going to be one question on the ballot that day: ‘Do you support this parking deck’ and I hope you vote ‘yes’ because it’s so important for our community.”
Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld also stated at 01:35 that “As the Village Manager, I realize it’s a parking crisis. Yes, a crisis. A crisis which will get worse if we do nothing about it.”
In Citizens to Protect Pub. Funds v. Board of Educ. of Parsippany-Troy Hills, 13 N.J. 172 (1953), then New Jersey Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. (who later became a Justice of the United State Supreme Court) ruled that school boards could use public funds to educate the voters on ballot initiatives provided that they didn’t cross the line into advocating for or against the measure.
The same principle applies in this case. While Mayor Aronsohn and Manager Sonenfeld may certainly inform and educate voters on the pros and cons of the parking deck proposal, they are not allowed to use public resources (e.g. the Village website) to persuade voters. Government officials’ use of public resources to persuade voters is unfair because referendum opponents do not have access to those resources and have to use private resources to distribute their message.
We assert that Mayor Aronsohn and Manager Sonenfeld violated N.J.S.A. 40A:9-22.5(c), because they used or attempted to use their official positions to create and appear in a video which is intended to secure an electoral advantage for proponents of the public question and impose an electoral disadvantage upon the proposal’s opponents.
4. Indicate whether the complaint concerns the complainant in any way and what, if any, relationship the complainant has to the subject of the complaint.
Complainant has no interest in or relationship to this complaint greater than any other citizen or organization who wishes for all government officers and employees to comply fully with the Local Government Ethics Law.
5. Indicate any other action previously taken in an attempt to resolve the issue and indicate whether the issue is the subject of pending litigation elsewhere.
No other action has been taken previously in an attempt to resolve this issue and this issue is not the subject of any pending litigation.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. I ask that you please acknowledge your receipt of this complaint within 30 days.
Sincerely,
/s/ John Paff, Chairman
New Jersey Libertarian Party’s
Open Government Advocacy Project
Speaking for only myself, I agree about the improper use of the town website to promote a yes vote, especially since the Village Council is not in agreement and since, as you state, no info is given about the project or the alternatives. It is clearly a political use of public resources. Sending this type of political message via email using the village alert system or via regular mail on village letterhead or at public expense would also be wrong.
This seems unethical to me. It may also improperly interfere with a fair election. As to what can be done, I’m not sure, short of the dissenting Council members demanding the website post be taken down. This raises the question about what the process is for review and approval before anything is posted to the village website. Perhaps the Village attorney should be notified of the incident and can direct the webmaster to take down the post. Perhaps you should copy the State Local Finance Board (which reviews ethics complaints) and ELEC (Re the election faux pas).
Just throwing some thoughts out there, and maybe others copied can add more. NJFOG administrators are copied as well as a few other board members who may be knowledgeable about this matter.
Here’s one other thought, if you have no luck. My understanding is that elected council members have equal access to a town’s public information officer and may issue press releases via that route. Perhaps the dissenting council members can utilize that route to get their own message out. Of course, they would have to be careful to provide information and alternatives rather than to just say ‘Vote this way or that’.
Ali Stroker says that her life took a radical turn the summer she was 7. Her next-door neighbor decided to direct a backyard production of Annie and cast Stroker as Annie. “It was a really special summer. I remember my life beginning,” says Stroker. From the time she was 2, a car accident left her paralyzed from the chest down. “I felt like my identity was around my wheelchair for so long” she says. “Once I started performing I was someone else. I could be an actress and singer and not just a girl in a wheelchair.”
From that Annie production, Stroker was hooked. Playing different roles, becoming a variety of people was healing. Performing bolstered her confidence. “It served different purposes not only in my career, but also helped me become the person that I am today,” she says. She also took voice lessons finding singing to be totally liberating. “Being paralyzed my body doesn’t necessarily always do what I want it to do,” Stroker explains. “But with my voice there are no limitations. It’s not held back by anything.”
This vote is completely tainted. The Board of Elections needs to come to Ridgewood and shut down the process. No vote on June 21. The vote should not take place. How do we make this happen?
The election needs to be stopped. This is grossly illegal that government money was used to finance a campaign telling residents how to vote. That website is paid for by all of us. Those employees who were busy being videotaped should have been working instead of making a propaganda tape. Mayor Aronsohn may be walked out of Village Hall in handcuffs before this is over. Well, wouldn’t that make a fun video for Dana’s go-pro!!!
