September 11,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Is it just a coincidence that the Village Council’s approval, by a 3-2 vote, of a controversial 90 foot baseball field at Schedler came less than 30 days prior to a $100k donation from the Ridgewood Baseball Softball Association, in the form of matching funds for a Bergen County Open Space Grant, or is this a classic case of quid pro quo? What say you?
And why were some Village Council members kept completely in the dark as to the grant application and the donation?
RBSA just sweeten the pot a little nothing wrong with it when dealing with this Council.
funny how the rbsa found $100,000.
The surpluses these organizations carry amaze me. Who can forget the RBA guy that got caught embezzling in 1991 or 92….
$80K in the early 90s…pre-cursor to Coin Boy…
Standard operating procedure in the world of NJ corruption.
Money talks, nobody walks. Clinton Avenue is another classic case in point.
Isn’t this a violation of the donations ordinance?
RBSA no different than any other political party, anything for a buck.
No 11:09 the Councils mouth piece has researched it and what do you thing the answer will be.
Ridgewood council revises gift ordinance
May 30, 2014 Last updated: Friday, May 30, 2014, 12:31 AM
By Darius Amos
STAFF WRITER |
Print
Financial donations to the municipality will still be subject to scrutiny by appropriate village officials, but a set of recently approved guidelines has modified the process in which contributions are considered.
Ridgewood Council members unanimously adopted a resolution that created a list of checks and balances when donations fall within specific monetary levels. As in the past, the village manager will enforce the rules and procedures, but now, the governing body will have direct input on potential gifts that meet certain criteria.
During a discussion last month, council members briefly reviewed the revisions to Ridgewood ordinance 3273, commonly known as the “gift ordinance.” Four categories of donations have been established: under $500 in value; $500 to $5,000; more than $5,000; and individual contributions when the total annual donation reaches $7,500.
According to the new procedures, all contributions $5,000 and less must be reported to the village manager’s office, which will accept gifts from known and anonymous donors after full vetting. The Ridgewood Council will review all gifts in the event a donor has a permit or application before a municipal board or agency 90 days before or after the contribution was made.
For gifts exceeding the $5,000 threshold, donors will be required to submit the village’s “Contribution Form” and await review and receive approval from the village manager and council members. The manager and council will receive all reports on a contributor whose individual gifts fall below $5,000 but when the “cumulative value exceeds $7,500 in a calendar year.”
Mayor Paul Aronsohn noted that, in creating the new guidelines, the council was “trying to strike a balance” with accepting monetary donations and public transparency. The redrafted version, he said, “puts the burden on the council, and we can decide. We found a good, happy medium.”
“There is such a spirit of generosity, and we want to embrace it,” Aronsohn added. “We want transparency so everyone sees what’s going on.”
The original gift ordinance was passed in 2008, revised in 2010 and brought back to the forefront last year after several local benefactors offered financial donations for specific Ridgewood causes, such as the printing of an emergency preparedness guide, invitations to a political fundraiser for Gov. Christie and renovations to the Stable building. Potential donors included The Valley Hospital, developer John Saraceno and philanthropist David Bolger, the three of which had current or pending applications before the village’s Planning Board.
Council members and attorneys considered each case as it developed, and ultimately made separate rulings on them — the hospital donation was declined, invitations to the fundraiser were deemed acceptable, while funds dedicated for the Stable project were accepted.
Other cases were smaller in scale, as described by members of Ridgewood’s Project Pride committee, who said their organization relies on its volunteers to donate their own time and materials because of the terms of the previous gift ordinance. The group receives nominal funds through the annual municipal budget.
“We can’t take donations, not even 100 bucks,” Gary Cirillo, president of Project Pride, told Ridgewood Council members while reviewing the group’s 2014 budget.
Councilwoman Gwenn Hauck noted that Ridgewood should open its arms to donors and contributors, particularly in times when all municipalities are experiencing financial crunches.
“It’s important for us to encourage philanthropic donations,” Hauck said during last month’s discussion. “The world will rely more and more on public-private partnerships. The municipality should not discourage philanthropic urges.”
Quid pro quo all the way baby!
They have $100 K to throw around and I struggle to come up with the money for my kid to pay on their teams? How about giving the rest of us a break.
Follow the money.
I am so f’ing sick of reading that the mayor wants transparency. Transparency my a**. He tried to cover up that the RBSA was giving the $100K until a resident pressed the point at last Wednesday’s meeting.
The three of them absolutely do not care if they broke a law. Here is a DIRECT QUOTE from Pucciarelli from last Wednesday:
: “Maybe we’re breaking the law, but it’s not a good law.”
Yes, our deputy mayor, who happens to be a LAWYER (something he loves to remind us of every other minute) has that little respect for the law. Listen to him on the U-stream. Who would believe that a lawyer would say this? Who would believe that an elected law-maker would say this?
Disgusting, despicable, disgraceful, disingenuous, dastardly, damnable. The three of them stink.