June 15, 2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Hackensack NJ, A group of Ridgewood residents filed a lawsuit in Superior Court today, challenging a decision by the Bergen County town to place a political propaganda video and written propaganda on the municipal website “expressly advocating a “yes” vote on a bond referendum to finance a parking deck, which is slated to go before Ridgewood voters on June 21, 2016, and have urged voters to view this one-sided presentation. This action is brought to redress these violations of law.”
The filing comes less than a week after Ridgewood officials began distributing an 11-minute political video and four-page parking referendum guide, via the Village of Ridgewood website, urging voters to support an $11.5 million bond issue to build a parking deck on Hudson Street. The town’s mayor, manager, CFO, and engineer, along with the architect and contractor hired to design the garage. All appear in the video.
Ridgewood voters will go to the polls on June 21 to decide whether or not to adopt an ordinance that would allow Ridgewood to bond 11.5 million for a parking garage at Hudson Street. The $11.5 million is associated with what is known as Design D- 325 spaces, 4 stories, 5 levels, 5 ft over the footprint of the existing lot.
Ever since a 1953 ruling issued by former U.S. Supreme Court Justice and New Jersey Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, it has been illegal for local governments in New Jersey to use public resources to influence voters on a local election. While towns are allowed to send evenhanded factual material to voters, the ruling says it is “outside the pale” and “not lawful” for towns to spend money on political materials urging voters to pass or reject referendums.
According to the lawsuit, the video and the 4 page parking referendum guide on the village website, are “propaganda” that contains a “one-sided, slanted and unjust presentation” of the parking vote. Using “extravagant and dramatic language,” the ads argue in favor of the referendum’s passage, while disparaging the referendum’s opponents.
“The use of Ridgewood’s municipal funds to pay for political marketing is unconscionable,” said resident Gail McCarthy..
The lawsuit comes two days after Ridgewood’s mayor, Paul Aronsohn and village manager, Roberta Sonenfeld, were accused, by the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government, of state ethics law violations for their roles in the political video.“Aronsohn and Sonenfeld are certainly entitled to their own opinions about the referendum, but they are not entitled to use taxpayer dollars to aggressively promote a one sided opinion to the public,” added resident Lorraine Reynolds.
The lawsuit asks for an injunction declaring the advertising illegal, and asks for a formal accounting of all public money and time spent promoting the referendum. If the referendum succeeds, the suit also serves notice that the voters will seek to have the election set aside as being based on “payments and expenditures that are contrary to law, and not authorized by the election or other laws” of the State.
Yesssss!!!!
Residents will have to pay for the Mayor and Village Managers legal fees.
I’m waiting for the ahronson perp walk in handcufs
So proud of these citizens for doing this. Thank you!
Yay!!!
Thank you to the residents who filed the suit.
Mayor and Roberta will have to pay for it. They caused it.
Awesome! The demand for the results of the election to be set aside if the “Yes” votes prevail is an excellent strategy. Does the complaint also include an alternative demand that the election itself be postponed until after the new councilmembers are sworn in? If not, you might want to amend the complaint to include that or some similar kind of demand. Once again–hip, hip, hooray! for Ms. McCarthy, Ms. Reynolds, et al. You’re setting an excellent example of the civil society put into action for the good of the ENTIRE community, not just bits and pieces if it.
Brilliant!
Someone asked where Albert and Gwenn are. Rats abandoning a sinking ship. Are they in a bunker together?
You should probably include the Mayor’s PR firm in as a defendant just to be safe. Serve all current defendants with interrogatories post haste. Find out who else is involved with this boondoggle and name them all as defendants. This bunch has been getting away with too much for too long and should be made to feel the heat of the displeased electorate.
“Residents will have to pay for the Mayor and Village Managers legal fees.” TRUE. Which begs the question, why would Roberta, Paul et. al do something so blatantly out of step with the law so as to cause taxpayers to spend money to fight them legally, in addition to taxpayers footing any legal bills they have? Additionally, where is Matt Rogers? The bond counsel has been providing legal advice on these matters to date…why has he not weighed in?
This is a horrible precedent to set for our Village…I would think residents would be outraged if the Village was promoting one presidential candidate over another on the website. Thank you to Gail, Lorraine and everyone else involved with these efforts. It is sad it came to this, there was no need for Paul, Roberta etc to go this far as they had a lot of support on their side, but now everything is tainted.
Mayor and village manager do not know what ethics is. Glad to see lawsuit, hopefully it will be heard “ASAP”.
Deck? It’s a garage. Nice try Paul, et al.
Yes! Let’s hand some more of our scarce municipal dollars to the lawyers. All these three letter acronyms think that when they sue the village they are spending other people’s money. They are not.
The plaintiffs may also wish to amend their lawsuit to include the fact that on February 24, 2016, Mr. Aronsohn used taxpayer funded IT equipment (the Village’s e-mail server) to distribute a very inflammatory email in an desperate attempt to derail a petition drive underway regarding funding the proposed parking garage (deck) via a bonding process.
So this is not the first time taxpayer dollars have been used to promote his personal agenda.
Walk him out in handcuffs, now.
4:13. If you are frustrated the people you should aim that frustration to are Paul, Roberta etc. They think they can do whatever to whoever and it doesn’t matter…but it does. The only way to stop them is through legal channels bc the local media or many Facebook forums censor the truth.
Its weds night warm summer eve alot of car traffic circling broad st all spots taken also due park event meantime the train station had at least 30 open spots At 745 electronic VOR SIGNS ON WRONG SIDE OF TOWN cud divert traffic to train lot and diners walk one to 3 blocks to restaurants
4:13, this was not filed by an alphabet organization, and did you not hear the voters on May 10th loud and clear, when they basically told you that you should just shut the hell up.
The mayor has cost us untold dollars in his various jackass endeavors. But worse than what he has cost us financially is the way he has sullied our beautiful town. Remember how he tainted the 2012 election by nuking Mike Sedon’s job? Election tampering. And now this. This is sickening. He is a cancer, and so is Roberta and Gwenn and Albert. Thank god they can be surgically removed.
I love it….
4:13 the people who filed are not associated with a group. They are spending their own money to stop the illegal and unethical behavior of our elected officials and village manager. You should be thanking them for standing up and putting some skin in the game, instead of pontificating like an asshole. Which you clearly are.
Money well spent….when does he move out ?
This is an example of ‘Luddite’ thinking; NIMBY would be another way to characterize this action; Ridgewood cannot run from reality and it cannot avoid change or the future; with informed lead ship we can create well planned change with collaboration; the earliest editorials about parking from 1974 shows too many are stuck in a Groundhog Day mindset. Let’s manage to the future w parking, healthcare and housing.