the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, We had the rare treat at last night’s council meeting , hearing from Rurik Halaby not once but twice in one evening. In opening comments he expressed dismay with all the legal fees this council is incurring (thank you Paul Aronsohn), the “secret” search for a new manager who will most likely be a friend of a current council member (as opposed to a friend of Paul Aronsohn ) and that too much is being done in closed session.
Cathy Quinn spoke in defense of maintaining the no parking on Pomander Walk. lo and behold she is an Episcopal minister at Gwenn Hauck’s church, St. Elizabeth in Ridgewood. Many remember that Gwenn pushed and pushed for the “no parking” zone on Pomander and now we know why.
Later in the evening, Mr Halaby was in fine form as he praised former mayor Paul Aronsohn for his lovely column in The Ridgewood News and then said that Susan should be doing the same as the “public” (the six people who still like Paul Aronsohn) is in the dark with this new council.
Thankfully, Anne Loving stepped up to the mic to say that Paul’s self-serving column gave little information and The Ridgewood News was doing a great job with weekly articles dedicated to the council meetings.
Rurik went on to make some muddled comments about a puppet council who in some ways was like or not like Donald Trump based on some notion of over regulation. He also blamed the recent vacancies on some of the boards and committees on the community’s dissatisfaction with the council ( not the removal of incompetent political hacks hired by Paul Aronsohn). Thankfully, his 5 minutes were up.
His wife, the acerbic Cynthia Halaby of daffodil fame, had admonished the council earlier for the condition of the trees and for making references to Summit, NJ in the Uber discussion when Summit is nothing like Ridgewood.
Mike Sedon gave a praise worthy report on the new Five Year Forestry Management Plan which will allow for numerous grant opportunities and training for village employees and Shade Tree Commission volunteers to address our dwindling stock.
The Uber discussion actually went quite well and it looks as though we will do a 6-month pilot program starting in January. A resolution is on the table for next week’s meeting and the village CFO will run some projections on expected revenues taking into consideration subsidies and the gain or loss of premium parking passes.
Ridgewood Guild president and town whiner, Tony Damiano spoke way too long on why isn’t he being informed on a regular basis about every project sanctioned by the village. Susan tried to address his concerns but he was too busy complaining to hear her.Perhaps the Ridgewood Guild needs better more informed leadership?
Boyd Loving once again was great addressing leaf issues with very good suggestions about how we should inform the landscapers of changes in our policies, Village regulation changes and pick up schedule . He also suggested a listing on the village website of the registered landscapers so that residents can make more informed choices , The registered list would also make enforcement easier.
re: “The Uber discussion actually went quite well and it looks as though we will do a 6-month pilot program starting in January. ”
Crossing my fingers for a rape-free pilot.
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Uber is not to be trusted. They do not vet their drivers properly (yes, the rape, and beyond that) and how much insurance they carry is not clear. This should not go forward.
Time for Mr. Damiano to give it a rest. Many residents do not care as much about the viability of individual downtown stores as the owners want them to.
The little man should be ignored….
Tony Damiano was beyond nasty. Really unbelievable. Excuse me Mr. Guild, but if someone has to have cable installed they have to run it by YOU? Last I checked Damiano is not an elected official, he runs a crappy little junk shop and he does not pay his employees enough to park.
Damiano is so nasty. Why in the world would the Guild want such an Atilla representing them? He turns everyone against the little shops in town.
Damiano can’t even get out of his own way. It’s so absurd to watch him continue to embarrass himself as he prances and whines like a yenta in front of the council and entire town. He’s such an embarrassment. If only he knew how people refer to him.
Tony, give it a rest. You sound as completely ignorant as Rurik demanding to know what is discussed in closed session. As if he matters to anyone.
Your terrible store is largely known to be a junky kitchy greedy store no one really goes to.
You DONT give to local schools or charities and you’re lucky to be there.
Now sit down and be quiet. I am glad I never attend because it would be impossible not to openly make fun of you. You make it too easy.
Why do these people get to speak at every meeting? Both are Trump-like blowhards. Enough already.
Tony Damiano has such a confrontational offensive stance about everything. He is of no use to the Ridgewood Guild. If anything he turns people against the downtown stores. I for one would never EVER shop at his store based on his acerbic nasty rantings