Ridgewood Council, in 3-2 vote, makes manager’s appointment official
MARCH 13, 2014, 1:16 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Ridgewood has a new village manager.
In a 3-2 vote Wednesday night, the Ridgewood Council approved the appointment of 17-year resident Roberta Sonenfeld to the village’s top administration position, a seat that has been vacant since late last August.
Sonenfeld will start her new job March 31, at which time she will begin receiving an annual salary of $155,000. She has already informed the village that she intends to waive any health benefits and stipends for travel expenses.
“This is my dream job,” Sonenfeld said after a line of about 10 residents spoke in support of her and her appointment.
With many family members in attendance, Sonenfeld, 59, said the combination of three decades in senior management roles and her desire to improve her hometown “brought me to this place.”
“I’m passionate about this town,” she said.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-council-in-3-2-vote-makes-manager-s-appointment-official-1.740095#sthash.GVGfZbJ3.dpuf
Proving once again that it’s not what you know it’s who you know. Right Paul?
Hmmmmm….let’s see……only 60% of our elected officials supported this appointment. Great leadership on the part of our mayor.
In the old days the council always made sure they voted 5-0 on matters like this one….do we know who voted against her…?
What were the reasons for the no votes?
Riche and Walsh
More qualified candidates were passed over-Roberta has no experience in local government-Roberta holds no certifications in government
Perhaps this will set a new standard for the Village. No experience required for any job opening. Just have 15 of your best friends send emails to the mayor saying why you are such a nice person and should be hired. Next stop will be a schools superintendent who has never set foot in a school building.
Come on folks give up all the negativity for once. Let’s come together and give Roberta a chance. She has certainly achieved a very high level of success in the private sector and those of us who are actually IN the private sector know how hard that is. You need to be very smart, work incredibly hard and frankly be lucky to rise to the level she attained. Two first two attributes bode well for her success as our Village Manager…….and as in any job or in life itself a little luck along the way always helps. Congratulations Roberta !!
When someone is hired who has only worked in government we deride them for being a “career politician” or “career bureaucrat” and suggest that we need someone with “experience in the real word” or “business world.”
When someone is hired who has business experience we say they “lack experience running a municipality.”
Lets give people a chance who have proven competence whether in business or government.
The next time you need the services of a surgeon why don’t you ask your landscaper to perform the surgery instead bozo.
Lets give her a chance.
Not that many qualifications, and not the best candidate, but hey…she stayed at a Holiday Inn Express.
The state of NJ requires Boro Adminstrators to pass certain requirements and even to have taken certain classes that the state colleges offer AND also being able to have special certifications and these courses to be taught and offered cost tax dollars. In fact many many qualified candidates for this position applied and were rejected for someone who is only a close friend of the Mayor. Worst of this is that the Mayor ran on a a campaign to end this type of cronyism and has even in the past wrote scathing editorials of other politicans who engaged in unseemly cronyism. This is a really a poor choice for the reformer Mayor, also having a retired very wealthly former Banking executive, who was the boss of thousands from a Bank that clearly had their share of legal issues is not one of the best that can lead the village. Also its a poor showing by having the candidates friends come and tout and email their support. Sorry, but the Mayors career seems to have come to end with this decision. Also making $155,000.00 and living in the village and giving up “Travel” expenses is really really an insult to all Ridgewood residents. This is going to be embarrassing. imho
#10 your notion of the level of skill required for the Village manager is distorted. Getting the snow plowed from streets, picking up the leaves and old Xmas trees in the streets and making sure the sewer sludge goes down the drain is not exactly rocket science. All towns and municipalities have been doing this for well over 100 years. Most of the people who perform such mundane tasks are highly trained in their jobs and do them incredibly well but they do not typically have degrees in physics, engineering or surgery. They are just regular people doing their jobs the best they can. Ridgewood had a Village manager with a PhD and what did that prove. He was was incapable of managing people, everyone thought he was an arrogant SOB and no one wanted to deal with him. He was so absorbed in himself that he forgot that to succeed he needed the support of the people around him…..and none would offer it because of his unusually high level of arrogance and his feeling that he was better than everyone. Well we all know how Gabbert turned out. He was shown the door and now he sits in his lonely living room contemplating how he will find his next job.
If running a municipality isn’t exactly rocket science, how come Ridgewood just can’t seem to get it done?
Gabbert was a surgeon, too ?
Sorry #12, I’m confused. Would you prefer a carpet bagger from Saddle River who makes more than the Governor ? Or are you annoyed because her pension will be less than $100K and that sets a bad example for the RPD and RFD who are one of the highest paid public safety forces per capital in the entire U.S. ?
actually the “carpet bagger” made far less than the previous manager and didn’t crash as many Village vehicles
#6, give everyone a break. We all know your agenda.
17 long island has the highest paid cops in the country bar none, saddle river and upper saddle river, Rochelle park all outpace Ridgewood that I can remember. Funny thing is Long island regionalized back in the 70’s thinking it would save money and the only people who gained were the cops.
Looks like Riche’s concerns were knowledge and familiarity of union contract negotiations. That’s odd given we’ve given in to almost every union demand for 20-30 years, and our current CBAs feature multiple taxpayer giveaways. Taxpayers are finally organized in Ridgewood, and IMO it will help to have someone at that table with private sector experience representing tax payers instead of the previous 2009 round of CBAs where you had an “experienced” VM and a Council that gave away 4% annual wage increases from 2009-12 to one of our main unions, during a recession; and ahead of the 2% cap. Best wishes to our new VM. Here’s hoping she brings a reality check to those union contract negotiations.
Thanks #20, agree we’re still amongst the highest paid public safety forces per capita in the country – funny how “contractual” obligations on extra duty work, etc, offer an unclear net benefit to anyone but those who defend the practice.
The cops would love to see the 89 dollar per hour go away, that was concocted to allow the contractors to hire cops without paying the overtime rate of time and one half, the benefit to the town is the profit of the police car fee’s and the administrative fee’s which the town makes a tidy profit. Reportedly over 200,000 dollars and puts cops on the road at other peoples expense,. This is well documented and if it wasn’t true the town would not do it.( extra work)
Glad to see the Village finally questioning the net benefit of the $89 extra duty rate