“Jeff Voigt and Siobhan Winograd cannot be trusted. Ms. Winograd, along with Steve Friedes, recently became the administrators of the Facebook group Ridgewood Mom’s and Dads. Members are fed a daily dose of her one -sided campaign of misinformation intended to persuade readers to forfeit their right to vote on the biggest budget impacting local property taxes. Ms. Winograd, hardly a trustworthy advocate for transparency and fairness, has conveniently blocked many residents from seeing her posts, preventing them from participating in the discussion while other Ridgewood residents are completely blocked from the group. She has hijacked Ridgewood mom’s and dad’s to advance her political agenda. Members are unaware as Ms. Winograd spreads misinformation unchecked and unchallenged. Most recently Matt Lindenberg, one of Winograd’s partners in the scheme to take away your right to vote, announced a 60% voter participation in the previous November Board of Education elections. Not only did that not happen, it is not indicative of the comparatively and significantly smaller voter participation in the Board of Education elections at the bottom of the ballot. Yet, Lindenberg’s grossly inaccurate statement remains unchecked on Ms. Winograd’sn own Facebook thread.
In the same thread she states, “we all need to form that opinion with a common set of facts…” Problem is Siobhan Winograd failed to include “accurate” in her statement and readers are unknowingly left with only her “facts”.
There are reasons Ms. Winograd should not be trusted with the dissemination of information about voting rights. Her actual agenda stems from the 2018 Village Council elections. Ms. Winograd, who made a large financial contribution to a particular candidates campaign, sat by that candidates side on election night as they acknowledged defeat at Village Hall. After an unprecedented tens of thousands of dollars spent by her candidate on a Ridgewood council election, she realized she had to find another way to get her desired results. She realized that when local voters have the opportunity to focus solely on local issues her candidates would likely not win. Thus her efforts began to move the nonpartisan Village Council elections to November. The Board of Education elections are just a notch in the belt of her ultimate goal.
Never trust either Voigt or Winograd.”
Ok so we don’t trust them. Why can’t the school budget yes / no vote be part of the annual vote in Nov? What does trusting anyone have to do with mandating the vote date change
Funny how they’re kicking people out for ‘residency’ issues while select other out-of-towners remain in the group for their own agents. Not to mention, to act as quid pro quo for the admin’s personal projects.
It is a state regulation. Vote on the budget in April or do not vote on the budget.
careful what you say about Winograd or she may sue you… https://theridgewoodblog.net/new-jersey-woman-sues-fellow-soccer-mom-for-tarnishing-familys-reputation/
Many of us whose children attended elementary school with the Winograds or played soccer for the Maroons’ club, would adamantly agree with this reader. Ms. Winograd has launched multiple law suits against Ridgewood residents over the years, using the legal system to try and punish anyone who crosses her. One of the more egregious steps she took, was to file a lawsuit against the Maroon soccer club trying to claim religious discrimination because her husband wasn’t appointed to the Board. Winograd and her husband together have created animosity and division in the community over the years, and it’s clear she will use any means necessary to push her personal agenda and campaign of disinformation.
This anonymous article does not quote me accurately. Here were the contents of my Facebook post:
“It’s hard to assign a “good” or “bad” label on turnout levels. A few benchmarks though, for comparison, of total votes cast in Ridgewood:
– 2019 School election (Apr): 2,473 total votes cast (unofficial)
– 2018 Midterm election (Nov): 11,400 total votes cast for U.S. Senate
– 2018 Midterm election (Nov): 7,663 total votes cast for Ridgewood BOE
– 2016 Presidential election (Nov): 13,308
– 2016 BOE election (Nov): 8,650
So it seems clear that expecting 3x, perhaps even 4x, the turnout by moving the BOE vote (and Village Council vote) to November is a reasonable expectation.”
Here is the source of my data:
– https://www.bergencountyclerk.org/election/ (note official 2019 results have since been posted)
– https://www.bergencountyclerk.org/services/24
I do not believe in a “scheme to take away your right to vote.” Rather, I believe that our community’s interests are served more effectively when a broader cross section of the Village elects like-minded candidates in November, rather than a much smaller group voting on a budget in April with which we’re not as intimately knowledgeable. With regard to the previous commenter, unfortunately my understanding is that NJ State law requires any separate budget vote to be held on election day in April when turnout has been shown to be lower; only a small number of communities have chosen this option.
I certainly acknowledge that there are members of the community who disagree with me. I’m happy to have an open dialog with anyone interested in having a transparent and constructive conversation. Perhaps civil, face-to-face discussions over coffee in town? I’ve signed my name to this, and hope others will do the same.
Winograd and Voigt are terrible sources of information. They have agendas up the ying yang and their agendas have nothing to do with what is right for Ridgewood.
What was that stupid show that Winograd had her son put on at a meeting recently? Was watching from home, it was incoherent and most of all why did she get to showcase her son? And why was Voigt egging her on to get her daughter to receive applause? It was weird. This is not middle school. This is a government meeting.
Its a Facebook group! Don’t join Ridgewood Moms and Dads. Or just start your own Facebook group. Its a free country.
Matt Lindenberg I’m not blocked by Winograd or Mom’s Dads on Facebook . Took a look at your post and it’s exactly as reported in original comment and not taken out of context. Is there a reason you didn’t include it in your response? Doesn’t seem very honest.
Here it the Facebook post as written by Matt Lindenberg, “I guess I see it as a choice between 50-60% (not positive about those numbers) electing good BOE members to get the budget work done right, or 14% voting to approve it. Given that choice, my opinion 50-60% representation is better. You may disagree.”
Matt Lindenberg, as someone participating in a campaign to take away a voting right, shouldn’t you know the facts? Don’t you have an obligation to tell people the truth? In this instance your 50-60% is completely inaccurate and even more so when considering lack of down-ballot participation. Again, doesn’t make me feel comfortable with the integrity of your group.
Ridgewood residents deserve better than a campaign of misinformation.
Apologies if the 50-60% numbers were not exactly accurate at the time (as I said they might not be). Hopefully the additional research I did to obtain the numbers above (which come directly from the County Clerk) set your mind at ease about any potential misinformation.
if this person’s comment is true : “It is a state regulation. Vote on the budget in April or do not vote on the budget.”
Then the entire debate is moot. We have to vote on the budget in April and we can stop debating that. Separately we should elect people to the BOE that adhere to the fiscal responsibility to keep education costs at or below inflation so that the yes / no vote is only needed to keep them honest.