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No Time to Be Nice at Work

prisoner_numer2and6_theridgewoodblog

By CHRISTINE PORATHJUNE 19, 2015

MEAN bosses could have killed my father. I vividly recall walking into a hospital room outside of Cleveland to see my strong, athletic dad lying with electrodes strapped to his bare chest. What put him there? I believe it was work-related stress. For years he endured two uncivil bosses.

Rudeness and bad behavior have all grown over the last decades, particularly at work. For nearly 20 years I’ve been studying, consulting and collaborating with organizations around the world to learn more about thecosts of this incivility. How we treat one another at work matters. Insensitive interactions have a way of whittling away at people’s health, performance and souls.

Robert M. Sapolsky, a Stanford professor and the author of “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers,” argues that when people experience intermittent stressors like incivility for too long or too often, their immune systems pay the price. We also may experience major health problems, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and ulcers.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/21/opinion/sunday/is-your-boss-mean.html?_r=0

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An arbitrary view of civility in Ridgewood

civility_the_ridgewoodblog

JUNE 12, 2015    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2015, 12:31 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

to the Editor:

The mayor continues to hold civility meetings, the purpose of which is unclear. Now it appears a subject of concern is sports conduct on and off the field.

Is this an appropriate topic for the council to be involved in?

I’ve been in town for 39 years and have attended numerous sporting events. On rare occasions there have been a few angry parents and a coach or two who has been asked to leave the field. Is anyone surprised? Nothing except maybe religion and politics gets people more excited than their kids and sports.

It happens at all levels and everywhere. We are not unique. Problems should be addressed when and where they happen. That being within the sports community.

At the last council meeting, the village manager accused a sitting council member of incivility for asking questions regarding the budget and a recent job hiring. It appears that this word is being used to inhibit the political process.

If asking questions, showing displeasure and disagreeing with the powers that be is considered uncivil, then we all need a civics lesson.

Webster’s 1913 definition of civility is: The state of society in which the relations and duties of the citizen are recognized and obeyed. Based on this definition, civility begins at the top and it is the common man who should be treated in a civil manner.

It is not easy to speak out and those that do should not be intimidated by some arbitrary view of what it means to be civil.

Linda McNamara

Ridgewood

https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/letter-to-the-editor-an-arbitrary-view-of-civility-in-ridgewood-1.1354505

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Ridgewood civility panel addresses sports teams

Ridewoodsports_theridgoodblog

JUNE 9, 2015    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 2015, 12:13 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Civility talks in Ridgewood have made their way to the athletic fields, as a group of residents and officials discussed how the village can be better represented by teams that play in town.

The discussion on June 1 was led by the Rev. Jan Phillips and focused on both the behavior of players, coaches and parents as well as the treatment of athletes during practices and games. Ridgewood has both town recreational programs and travel club teams that participate in various levels of competition utilizing village fields.

One portion of the evening explored the way children learn sportsmanship from the adults in charge. In light of the occasional story that surfaces in New Jersey and elsewhere about the subpar behavior of coaches and parents, it was argued that an alteration in attitude has to start with children when they are young since the adults could not change themselves.

But the Rev. Thomas Johnson suggested that those adults must model those proper behaviors, because that is where the players pick up their cues.

“I’d rather make the effort to change,” Johnson said. “I can’t expect my children to change when I am stubborn about changing my lifestyle, my behavior. So where is the model for change? You’re asking our kids to do something and they learn from us.”

Parks and Recreation Department Director Tim Cronin noted that many organizations have a code of ethics for all involved with teams – players, coaches and parents – and leagues have strict rules about behavior, such as a policy to stop a game until an unruly spectator has left the premises.

Resident Paul Vagianos suggested that the coaches of each team gather all players and parents for a meeting before the first practice of the season in order to get all involved on the same page.

https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/panel-addresses-sports-1.1352021

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Civility Forum Tonight 730pm

Yevgeny_Onegin_by_Repin

Civility Forum – June 1 at 7:30PM

The next Civility Forum will be held at 7:30pm in the Senior Lounge at Village Hall.

Rev. Jan Phillips will lead the discussion. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Dueling Rules

In 1777, a committee of Irishmen drew up the dueling code that would come to be used widely throughout Europe and America. The 1777 Irish code was called the Code Duello, and you can read the complete set of rules at PBS.org: Code Duello. This code was so popular that people worldwide came to see it as the “official” rules of dueling. In fact, the U.S. Navy included the text of the Code Duello in the midshipman’s handbook up until dueling by naval officers was finally banned in 1862 (Holland, pg. 142).

Highlights of the rules include the steps of an apology, might call off the duel; proper dueling etiquette in terms of dignified behavior; the role of seconds; and what constitutes the end of a duel.

Apologies

An apology on the part of the challenged could avert a bloody duel if delivered properly. Keep in mind that most duels were carried out when one man offended another’s honor. As such, the proper apology would logically help solve the problem, even once the duel had already begun. The Code Duello dictates a complex method of deciding who should apologize first:

Rule 1. The first offense requires the first apology, though the retort may have been more offensive than the insult. Example: A tells B he is impertinent, etc. B retorts that he lies; yet A must make the first apology because he gave the first offense, and then (after one fire) B may explain away the retort by a subsequent apology.

The rules also dictate when an apology can be accepted, thus preventing the duel, and when no verbal apology will be sufficient:

Rule 5: As a blow is strictly prohibited under any circumstances among gentlemen, no verbal apology can be received for such an insult. The alternatives, therefore — the offender handing a cane to the injured party, to be used on his own back, at the same time begging pardon; firing on until one or both are disabled; or exchanging three shots, and then asking pardon without proffer of the cane …

Dueling Etiquette

A duel is not a brawl. It is a controlled battle between gentlemen of honor. As such, a certain level of dignity was expected of all participants. Rule 13 is one that describes dignified dueling behavior. It is also one that was frequently broken, since many duelists did not really want to die, kill or maim. They only wanted to defend their honor. Rule 13 states:

No dumb shooting or firing in the air is admissible in any case. The challenger ought not to have challenged without receiving offense; and the challenged ought, if he gave offense, to have made an apology before he came on the ground; therefore, children’s play must be dishonorable on one side or the other, and is accordingly prohibited.

Since the holding of the duel itself would usually be enough to satisfy honor, duelists might use dummy bullets, or declare ahead of time that they would fire their weapon into the air or at a non-vital area of their opponent’s body. The Code Duello frowned on this.

The Code also encourages duelists to sleep on their wounded pride and then duel with a calm demeanor the next day: Rule 15 states:

Challenges are never to be delivered at night, unless the party to be challenged intend leaving the place of offense before morning; for it is desirable to avoid all hot-headed proceedings.

Seconds

The role of the seconds is spelled out in several rules. (Note Rule 18’s reference to smooth-bored guns as opposed to rifled weapons.)

Rule 18. The seconds load in presence of each other, unless they give their mutual honors they have charged smooth and single, which should be held sufficient.
Rule 21. Seconds are bound to attempt a reconciliation before the meeting takes place, or after sufficient firing or hits, as specified.

The Code Duello acknowledges that the seconds might get involved in the fight themselves, as mentioned in the previous section. The Code is highly specific as to how this involvement might occur:

Rule 25. Where seconds disagree, and resolve to exchange shots themselves, it must be at the same time and at right angles with their principals.

When a Duel is Over

Dueling “to the death” is not considered desirable in the Code Duello, although this may have been the ultimate end to many duels. Remember: Dueling is about recovering honor, not about killing. Rule 5 states:

… If swords are used, the parties engage until one is well blooded, disabled, or disarmed; or until, after receiving a wound, and blood being drawn, the aggressor begs pardon.

Rule 22 addresses the issue as well:

Any wound sufficient to agitate the nerves and necessarily make the hand shake, must end the business for that day.

Perhaps one of the most important rules of dueling does not involve the mechanics of the duel itself, but rather who is allowed to duel. In medieval Europe, dueling was the sport of noble-born men. Although commoners did fight and certainly did face each other in contests that could be called duels, an actual, honor-bound duel had to be conducted between two men of noble rank. One reason for this was economic — swords are expensive weapons, and not every peasant had one. But it was also a means of distinguishing the upper and lower classes. Many countries had laws forbidding commoners to fight amongst themselves, while dukes, princes and even kings were expected to duel each other.

https://people.howstuffworks.com/duel2.htm

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Report card: No significant academic gains in U.S. History, Civics since 2010

Civics_0

May 16, 2015

CATO INSTITUTE

The Cato Institute is a public policy research organization — a think tank – dedicated to the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets and peace. Its scholars and analysts conduct independent, nonpartisan research on a wide range of policy issues. Archive»

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The latest results of the Nation’s Report Card for history, geography, and civics are out, and as usual they are depressing.

The exam, formally known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress, is administered to a representative sample of U.S. students to give a snapshot of student performance in a variety of subjects nationwide. Education Week reports:

The nation’s eighth graders have made no academic progress in U.S. history, geography or civics since 2010, according to the latest test results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

Fewer than one-third of students scored proficient or better on any of the tests and only 3 percent or fewer scored at the advanced level in any of the three subjects.

However, Chad Aldeman of Bellwether Education Partners argues that saying students “have made no academic progress” is “the wrong way to look at it” because of something called Simpson’s Paradox (which has nothing to do with the voice of Principal Skinner and Mr. Burns turning down a $14 million contract):

Because NAEP takes a representative sample, it’s also vulnerable to something called Simpson’s Paradox, a mathematical paradox in which the composition of a group can create a misleading overall trend. As the United States population has become more diverse, a representative sample picks up more and more minority students, who tend to score lower overall than white students. That tends to make our overall scores appear flat, even as all of the groups that make up the overall score improve markedly.

Recent NAEP results in history, geography, and civics illustrate this trend once again. Education Week reported that scores were “flat” from 2010 to 2014. That’s mostly true—the scores were all higher than in 2010 but didn’t meet the standard for statistical significance. But scores are up over longer periods of time. Here are the gains since 2001 on geography (* signifies statistically significant):

• All students: +1
• White students: +4*
• Black students: +7*
• Hispanic students: +9*
• Students with disabilities: +8*
• English Language Learners: +7

… A few things jump out from these longer-term results. First, overall scores are up a little bit, but particular groups of students are making big gains. One rule of thumb suggests that 10–15 points on the NAEP translates into one grade level. Applying that here, scores for most groups of students have improved by roughly a full grade level over the last 15 years or so. Second, achievement gaps are closing as lower-performing groups are catching up to higher-performing ones. Third, Simpson’s Paradox makes the overall scores look relatively “flat.” Don’t let that mislead you. Although we might wish for faster progress, American achievement scores are rising.

However, other education policy experts have cast a gimlet eye on this interpretation. Jay P. Greene of the University of Arkansas argues, “It is not appropriate to explain away the lack of aggregate progress in academic achievement by referencing Simpson’s Paradox and dis-aggregating results by racial/ethnic group.” In a blog post on the mis-use of Simpson’s Paradox a few years ago, Greene wrote:

The unstated argument behind the use of Simpson’s Paradox to explain the lack of educational progress [is that] minority students are more difficult to educate and we have more of them, so holding steady is really a gain.

The problem with this is that it only considers one dimension by which students may be more or less difficult to educate —race. And it assumes that race has the same educational implications over time. Unless one believes that minority students are more challenging because they are genetically different [which, Greene notes, he does not think Aldeman believes], we have to think about race/ethnicity differently over time as the host of social and economic factors that race represents changes. Being African-American in 1975 is very different from being African-American in 2008. (Was a black president even imaginable back then?) So, the challenges associated with educating minority students three decades ago were almost certainly different from the challenges today.

If we want to see whether students are more difficult to educate over time, we’d have to consider more than just how many minority students we have. We’d have to consider a large set of social and economic variables, many of which are associated with race. Greg Forster and I did this in a report for the Manhattan Institute in which we tracked changes in 16 variables that are generally held to be related to the challenges that students bring to school. We found that 10 of those 16 factors have improved, so that we would expect students generally to be less difficult to educate.

In addition, my Cato colleague Andrew Coulson—creator of the infamous chart below—expressed skepticism about using the main NAEP assessment (which changes between test administrations) to analyze long-term trends. Instead, he points to the NAEP’s “Long-Term Trend” series that was designed just for that purpose. Unlike the main NAEP assessment, the Long-Term Trend remains relatively unchanged over time. Sadly, the results are bleak:

It is true that both black and Hispanic students now score higher than they did in the early 1970s, and the difference isn’t negligible as it is with the overall aggregate trend. … The trends for white students, who still make up the majority of test takers, are only marginally better than the overall trends. Whites gained four points in each of reading and math, and lost six points in science. The overall picture for whites is thus also essentially a flat line, and it is their performance that is chiefly responsible for the stagnation in the overall average scores, not the increasing participation of historically lower-scoring groups.

In short, there is little evidence that Simpson’s Paradox explains flat U.S. student performance in the last few decades.

 

https://eagnews.org/report-card-no-significant-academic-gains-in-u-s-history-civics-since-2010/

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Civility Forum – May 11th at 7:30PM

Jousting_renfair

Civility Forum – May 11th at 7:30PM

The next Civility Forum will be held at 7:30pm in the Senior Lounge at Village Hall. Rev.

Jan Phillips will lead the discussion. Everyone is welcome to attend.

THE CIVILITY INITIATIVE AN ONGOING COMMUNITY DIALOGUE JOIN MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY RELATIONS ADVISORY BOARD AND OTHER VILLAGE STAKEHOLDERS FOR THIS ONGOING CONVERSATION.

May Topic: Why Decorum Matters…During Committee Meetings & on Village Sport Fields. The Community Relations Advisory Board of Ridgewood & Glen Rock was created to provide intercultural experiences for residents and sponsorship of forums and other public events that promote ongoing communication and awareness of human relationships in the communities.

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Pamela Geller: A Response to My Critics—This Is a War

Islamic Center - Cordoba House

Pamela Geller: A Response to My Critics—This Is a War

Pamela Geller @PamelaGeller

7:37 AM ET

Pamela Geller is the President of the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) and publisher of PamelaGeller.com.

Some are saying I provoked this attack. But to kowtow to violent intimidation will only encourage more of it.

Sunday in Garland, Texas, a police officer was wounded in a battle that is part of a longstanding war: the war against the freedom of speech. Some people are blaming me for the Garland shooting — so I want to address that here.

Republicans Aren’t the Only Ones Who Believe in GodViolence Is Worse Than BlasphemyNFL Probe Finds Patriots Probably Deflated BallsNBC NewsCall for Answers in Death of Bipolar Man in Restraint Chair NBC NewsCrash Test: Did Germanwings Pilot Practice His Fatal Dive?NBC News

The shooting happened at my American Freedom Defense Initiative Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest, when two Islamic jihadists armed with rifles and explosives drove up to the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland and attempted to gain entry to our event, which was just ending. We were aware of the risk and spent thousands of dollars on security — and it paid off. The jihadis at our free speech event were not able to achieve their objective of replicating the massacre at the offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine last January — and to go it one better in carnage. They were not able to kill anyone. We provided enormous security, in concert with the superb Garland police department. The men who took the aspiring killers down may have saved hundreds of lives.

And make no mistake: If it weren’t for the free-speech conference, these jihadis would have struck somewhere else — a place where there was less security, like the Lindt cafe in Australia or the Hyper Cacher Kosher supermarket in Paris.

https://time.com/3847453/pamela-geller-a-response-to-my-critics-this-is-a-war/?xid=fbshare

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Verbal attack on Ridgewood mayor must stop

Paul_Aronsohn_dunking_theridgewoodblog

MAY 1, 2015    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, MAY 1, 2015, 12:31 AM

THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Backbiting must come to an end

To the Editor:

I do not subscribe to the Manichean political vision of good guy/bad guy, white hat/black hat that many Ridgewood residents seem to espouse. We are all a shade of gray, part saint, part sinner.

With this in mind I am getting fed up with the slings and arrows that Mayor Paul Aronsohn has been subjected to. Our mayor may not be perfect, as I have indicated in many of my letters to The Ridgewood News, but he is one of the best and most effective mayors Ridgewood has ever had. Let us support him as he does his best for Ridgewood.

The backbiting has got to stop. I wish all those who talk the talk can expend some of their energies to walk the walk. Ridgewood will be a much better place for it.

Rurik Halaby

Ridgewood

https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/letter-to-the-editor-verbal-attack-on-ridgewood-mayor-must-stop-1.1323117

 

MAYOR’S OFFICE HOURS FOR RESIDENTS -Saturday, May 2

Mayor Paul Aronsohn holds office hours for Ridgewood residents the first Saturday of every month. Mayor Aronsohn will meet with residents on Saturday, May 2 from 9AM to Noon in the Council Chambers (Sydney V. Stoldt, Jr. Court Room) on the fourth floor of Ridgewood Village Hall.

For an appointment to meet with the Mayor, please call the Village Clerk’s Office at 201-670-5500 ext. 206. You may come to the Mayor’s office hours without an appointment, but those with appointments will be given priority

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Mayor can just offer scripted apology for uncivil Council Meeting Behavior

Mayor_theridgewoodblog

file photo by Boyd Loving
April 23,2015
Anne LaGrange Loving

Ridgewood NJ, Our Mayor has been taking a lot of heat for his continual gross mismanagement of the Village Council meetings, and rightfully so.  He allows, and in fact he enables, every level of disrespect and incivility to flourish in these meetings, from the subtle to the blatant.  In order to be helpful to our busy Mayor, here is a previously scripted apology that he issued more than two years ago for this same behavior.  He can just carry it around with him on his ipad and read it whenever the need arises for an apology.  This will allow him more time to prepare for his civility meetings.

From the February 6, 2013 Village Council Minutes:Before the meeting began, Mayor Aronsohn noted that there had been a lot of feedback from the Village Council Work Session meeting on January 30, 2013. Some people commented that when Councilwoman Walsh had the floor, she should have been allowed to speak without interruption; others felt that the issue should not have been on the agenda in the first place, because it was confrontational; other comments were that Mayor Aronsohn should not have allowed Council members to attack each other. Mayor Aronsohn stated that it was not a great meeting, and as the person responsible for running the meeting, he wanted to apologize to his colleagues and to the public, because he said that frankly, the public deserves better. The public does not deserve a fighting Council, but a working Council. He pointed out that there is a lot of work to do, and it is good to have differences of opinion, but that there are ways to disagree while being agreeable. Mayor Aronsohn said that going forward, he hopes and expects that the Council members can agree to disagree, and that while there are issues to be settled, the Council members can and will work through them in a much more civil and respectful way.

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Reader says Arosohn and Company practice ,“When you’re imposing tolerance and respect on people, there’s no need to actually show them any.”

31

PJ: Have you viewed any of Pat Condell’s videos?

For a Brit, he’s pretty clear on the evils of tyrrany.

Here he demonstrates clearly that he must have visited Ridgewood in person at some point in the recent past, and that when he did, he enthusiastically imbibed the message of public civility imparted by our treasured public icons, the three amigos:

Pat Condell’s words: “When you’re imposing tolerance and respect on people, there’s no need to actually show them any. Just keep throwing mud until it sticks, because you’re up to your neck in double standards here, so you need to be extra vigilent against unwelcome opinion, which in your position can be more than inconvenient (if that wasn’t outrageous enough), it can be downright threatening.  So anyone trying to stir up healthy, rational debate should always be swiftly marginalized and crushed, in the spirit of reconciliation and healing.  And, if your conscience troubles you, just remind yourself that you’re doing the wrong thing for the correct reason, and you’ll be fine.”

Civility Forum – May 11th at 7:30PM
The next Civility Forum will be held at 7:30pm in the Senior Lounge at Village Hall.
Rev. Jan Phillips will lead the discussion. Everyone is welcome to attend.

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Council should focus on good governance

DSCF3180-300x225

file photo by Boyd Loving

To the Editor:

I read Darius Amos’ report of the Village Council April 8 meeting (“Hiring eligibility expands,” April 10, page A1) and, although I always like Darius’ reporting, I believe he missed out on the most important part of the presentation by the labor attorney for the village.

Someone, I don’t know who but I can guess, invited Ridgewood’s labor attorney, Beth Hinsdale, to speak before the scheduled public portion of the meeting. Everyone in the room had to sit quietly and listen for over 45 minutes as she skewered Councilwoman Susan Knudsen. From her first erroneous statement to the end, it was an attack on the person of a council member who dared to ask a question, or question an answer.

Ms. Hinsdale also impugned an employee of Civil Service, calling her incompetent. Nobody stopped this presentation when it became personal, not our mayor, not our attorney, not our manager, nobody. This confrontation did not belong at a public meeting; if Ms. Hinsdale had a problem with something a council person said, it should be resolved either by a brief statement of facts or a letter read by the mayor.

Ms. Hinsdale even inferred illegalities on the part of Ms. Knudsen because of her sons, which in the end was the final straw for me.

Incredibly, with composure, Ms. Knudsen refuted some of the charges, especially the charge that the Civil Service employee who gave an official answer was incompetent, and even having the composure to apologize for any misunderstanding.

But this was not enough as the accusations continued until Ms. Hinsdale finally stopped talking.

I urge all residents to see the video of the meeting for themselves and decide if this is the kind of government we want to support, or do we want to reform. I said at the meeting we should forget about civility and focus on good governance, which is being totally ignored these days.

Ellie Gruber

Ridgewood

https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/letter-to-the-editor-ridgewood-council-meeting-lacked-civility-1.1311630

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Councilwoman treated unfairly

DSCF3241

file photo by Boyd Loving

To the Editor:

Recent headlines reported on the Mahwah councilwoman who was so angry at her mayor that she cursed and gave an inappropriate gesture which was directed at him at a public meeting. As bad as that was, it was over in a moment and was nothing compared to the harassment Ridgewood Councilwoman Susan Knudsen was made to endure at the April 8 meeting.

Right before public comments, Mayor Paul Aronsohn invited the village labor attorney to the microphone to answer questions related to the ordinance to be voted on that evening. The attorney then proceeded to verbally attack Ms. Knudsen for 47 uninterrupted minutes. It was clear that the mayor was complicit in this outrage as no one intervened to stop her.

It was a terrible thing to watch and our tax dollars paid for this debacle. Ms. Knudsen was, as one resident said, “grace under fire.”

Later on, another resident stated that she had witnessed the mayor and the village manager screaming at Ms. Knudsen at the close of the previous meeting. They denied it even though another council member was present to hear it.

To add insult to injury, it appeared that an ethics violation was to be brought against Ms. Knudsen for responding to her attackers. While this did not happen, I question the motive for even putting it out there.

Ms. Knudsen’s crime seems to be that she sought more information regarding the proposed ordinance so that she could make a better informed decision. I don’t know if what happened at the meeting was illegal but it was certainly against any rules of order that decent people operate under.

I believe our mayor owes Ms. Knudsen a public apology at the very least and he must discontinue the town civility meetings immediately. It is the height of hypocrisy to hold these meetings and a clear case of the pot calling the kettle black.

Linda McNamara

Ridgewood

https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/letter-to-the-editor-ridgewood-councilwoman-treated-unfairly-1.1311632

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Uncivil behavior in Ridgewood

DSCF3180-300x225

file photo by Boyd Loving

Regarding “Ridgewood eases residency requirement” (Page L-3, April 10):

The Ridgewood Village Council meeting of April 8 was the third consecutive meeting at which uncivil behavior on the part of some elected and appointed officials completely overshadowed the business at hand.

While The Record article indicates that the village’s labor attorney, Beth Hinsdale-Piller, “clarified a number of items,” it fails to mention the derogatory tone of voice and accusatory language (directed squarely at a current council member) utilized by Hinsdale-Piller throughout her remarks.

While Hinsdale-Piller had requested that no interruptions be made during her statement, the council member who was the subject of her remarks was not extended the same courtesy and was repeatedly interrupted by others.

Rude comments from the council’s dais seem to have become the norm in Ridgewood. Recent meetings have included attacks on current and former members of the council, the police chief and members of the public.

Mayor Paul Aronsohn summarized the meeting by saying that the discussions had been “good” and “healthy,” even if “not always friendly,” thereby completely minimizing the vituperative nature of these meetings.

In February 2013, Aronsohn publicly apologized for such behavior, saying the public deserves a working council, not a fighting council. More than two years later, we continue to witness argumentative, sarcastic and downright nasty comments from certain elected and appointed officials.

Ridgewood residents deserve better, and we deserve it now.

Anne LaGrange Loving

Ridgewood, April 13

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Civility Forum – May 11th at 7:30PM

dueling-swords

Rev. Jan Phillips will lead the discussion. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Ridgewood NJ, at the last meeting  there was a consensus to continue the series of forums that are exploring civility. Additionally, we agreed to further discuss rules, regulations and guidelines for community sports.

Several participants have asked to discuss the recent Mahwah Council Meeting. The forum will discuss the impact of anger, frustration and behavior.

We have access to the Senior Center located within the Ridgewood Municipal Building,Monday May 11, 2015, 7:30 P.M. – 9:00 P.M.

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Aronsohn speaks of TRANSPARENCY and CIVILITY. And yet we have NONTRANSPARENCY and INCIVILITY under his reign of terror

31

Just watched the 15 minute portion of the video relating to this issue, and…WOW!  https://www.ustream.tv/recorded/60629688

As a 22 year Ridgewood resident I am disgusted by these three and Roberta. Cleaning the leaves is not a measure of good management. VM stated she doesn’t understand civil service so what are we paying her for? The love fest with these three and Roberta has crossed the line and has got to stop. They are uncivil to councilwoman Knudsen and treat her terribly. I am grateful for her decency and hard work. Knudsen should have the full support of Village residents and the three with Roberta should feel the wrath of the people.

What an utter mess our well-meaning and diligent public servants have made, in absolute good faith, with all appropriate due diligence, and deserving of no blame or negative consequences of any kind, with the exception of a nearly unintelligible but unmistakably nasty and inappropriately personal and emotion-laden tongue-lashing of Ms. Knudsen by Ms. Hauck! (/s)

This is a perfect example of how abruptly the rules of civility will be tossed out the window when the righteous scorn is to be delivered by one of the Three Amigos to a non-Amigo.

After you listen to Susan – and to Gwenn’s idiotic response……then slide ahead on the UStream to public comments and listen to Boyd’s comments at 1:24:34. He very emphatically ripped into them. And then our mayor had the audacity to attack Boyd (which he quickly backed off on) and then Paul went on to attack Susan during Boyd’s comments. Wow, Susan really struck paydirt and the dirty secrets are being revealed. THANK YOU SUSAN

I saw it live last night. Hauck sounded like a rude child who got caught doing something they shouldn’t have been doing. He Hauck, did you miss the point of the entire discussion; certainly seems like it. I love it when Susan says “well, just let me address that” repeatedly. And then when Roberta says “well. I hate to do this to you Susan” and then throws out a nothing-burger and Susan shoots her down with a solid response. . PRICELESS.

Susan comes to the meeting well informed and well prepared. I agree she is articulate and assertive in a polite and meaningful fashion.

And Boyd, you keep doing Boyd.

Last week Councilman Pucciarelli told Councilwoman Knudsen that “It’s not always about you” and “Don’t flatter yourself.” I look forward to hearing how this was civility at its best. In fact, that was a rude, condescending, contemptuous way to speak to anyone, much less a fellow council member on the dais during a council meeting. That arrogant, narcissistic misogynist MUST GO if he is so foolish as to run for reelection to the Village Council next spring. His outbursts are pointless, counterproductive, ego driven, and embarrassing both to him personally and to our Village government.

Here is an ironic twist. Aronsohn speaks of TRANSPARENCY and CIVILITY until the words have lost their meaning. And yet we have NONTRANSPARENCY and INCIVILITY under his reign of terror. Knudsen and Sedon are doing their level best to restore transparency and civility – but until we get rid of Aronsohn that won’t happen.

MAYOR’S OFFICE HOURS FOR RESIDENTS -Saturday, April 4 from 9 AM to Noon

Mayor Paul Aronsohn holds office hours for Ridgewood residents the first Saturday of every month. Mayor Aronsohn will meet with residents on Saturday, April 4 from 9AM to Noon in the Council Chambers (Sydney V. Stoldt, Jr. Court Room) on the fourth floor of Ridgewood Village Hall.

For an appointment to meet with the Mayor, please call the Village Clerk’s Office at 201-670-5500 ext. 206. You may come to the Mayor’s office hours without an appointment, but those with appointments will be given priority.

Civility Forum – May 11th at 7:30PM

The next Civility Forum will be held at 7:30pm in the Senior Lounge at Village Hall.

Rev. Jan Phillips will lead the discussion. Everyone is welcome to attend.