Ridgewood NJ, Glen Rock Patch calls ethics complaint , “Gadfly Files Ethics Complaint Against Ridgewood Mayor, Manager” ( https://patch.com/new-jersey/ridgewood/gadfly-files-ethics-complaint-against-ridgewood-mayor-manager ) . Interesting choir of words , once again leading to the question why is the Patch always looking to protect Mayor Aronsohn ?
While the “Patch” came under heavy criticism for its coverage lapses during the Ridgewood Village Council election ,the above headline will do nothing but add fuel to the fire that the Patch continues to chose the Village Council Majority over Village of Ridgewood residents and taxpayers .
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, The Integrated Preschool Program is a preschool program that is taught by a dually certified K-2 General Education and Special Education teacher. The program strives to engage preschoolers in learning experiences through play. Special needs students and general education children are placed together in an integrated learning environment that employs a developmental approach to learning. Children are engrossed in a variety of activities which promote language, cognitive, motor and social/emotional development. Special education children are placed in the program through an evaluation process performed by the Special Programs Department.
Click here for more information and the application form.
With the state’s Transportation Trust Fund less than three weeks away from running out of money for new road, bridge and rail projects, Gov. Chris Christie said the fix being pushed by the Democratic-controlled legislature lacked sufficient tax breaks to be signed into law. Claude Brodesser-Akner, NJ.comJ Read more
pic “Xanadu ” the last great government idea for the Meadowlands
The No North Jersey Casinos Coalition held a press conference at the Trenton State House on Monday to announce that the group had formed and was standing in opposition to the proposed North Jersey casinos that many NJ lawmakers want to see built in locations like Alyana Alfaro, PolitickerNJ Read more
Ridgewood NJ, Congressment Scott Garrett offers prayers for the victims of the Orlando terror attack, “My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of everyone in Orlando and throughout the United States who are mourning the senseless loss of so many promising young lives. The cowards who perpetuate this kind of violence against innocent people should know that we will never back down and we will never give in to their warped view of the world. We are Americans, and we stand together to defend freedom and liberty. I thank the first responders who responded to this tragedy for their bravery in the face of unspeakable violence.”
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.
By Stephen Dinan – The Washington Times – Monday, June 13, 2016
While immigrants draw much of the attention, it’s their children who are proving to be the most fruitful recruiting ground for radical jihad in the U.S., accounting for at least half of the deadly attacks over the past decade.
The latest instance of the second-generation terrorist syndrome played out in Orlando, Florida, over the weekend when Omar Mateen, son of immigrants from Afghanistan, went on a jihad-inspired rampage, killing 49 people and wounding 53 others in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.
Authorities said Mateen had flirted with other terrorist groups but declared his allegiance to the Islamic State on Sunday morning as he began his horrific spree.
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)
by Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Jenny Jarvie and Del Quentin Wilbe
The gunman who attacked a Florida LGBT nightclub had attended the club before the attack and had used a gay dating and chat app, witnesses said.
Kevin West, a regular at Pulse nightclub, said Omar Mateen messaged him on and off for a year before the shooting using the gay chat and dating app Jack’d.
But they never met – until early Sunday morning.
West was dropping off a friend at the club when he noticed Mateen – whom he knew by sight but not by name – crossing the street wearing a dark cap and carrying a black cellphone about 1 a.m., an hour before the shooting.
“He walked directly past me. I said, ‘Hey,’ and he turned and said, ‘Hey,’” and nodded his head, West said. “I could tell by the eyes.”
What if the Orlando clubgoers had been armed? Pink Pistols wages a battle to get LGBT people to carry.
By Julia Ioffe
June 13, 2016
Within hours of the shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Gwendolyn Patton was on the case. She sat down, banged out a press release and posted it on her website. “This is exactly the kind of heinous act that justifies our existence,” it read. Swatting away the pleas for gun control she knew would follow in the wake of a high-profile mass shooting, Patton wrote: “At such a time of tragedy, let us not reach for the low-hanging fruit of blaming the killer’s guns,” she went on. “A human being did this. The human being’s tools are unimportant when compared to the bleakness of that person’s soul.” She lamented that the revelers mowed down at the Pulse were practically sitting ducks: In Florida, even though gun laws are quite loose, you’re not allowed to carry firearms in a place that serves alcohol. What if there were a designated carrier, she wondered? Someone tasked with remaining sober and toting a gun around a bar? “It’s sad that we must consider such things,” she concluded, “but when there are persons out there who mean us harm, we must find ways to protect ourselves within the law.”
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 [email protected])
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
