file photo by ArtChick
July 26,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Many readers have voiced concern and suspicions over Village committees, sighting the fact that several namely the Historic Preservation Commission and the Financial Advisory Committees have acted more like promoters of former Mayor Aronsohn’s special interest agenda than looking out for whats best for Ridgewood .
“I don’t like it and believe we already have too many advisory groups. They have too much clout and are not necessarily to be trusted. REAC’s first pronouncement was that turf is great. FAC said we need the biggest parking garage–and the chairman of the Historic Preservation Commission concurred, no doubt helping the first garage referendum to pass last November. I’d rather see them all disbanded and let the council do its own research. Appropriate people could still help.”
“A real concern is that the new council falls prey to this nonsense. Aronson was a disaster for Ridgewood. Continuing his policies is a mistake. Yes, there is a lot on their plate, but this council really needs to get moving fast to undo the damage he did. Fidgeting isn’t going to carry the day. And if they are not up to the task they said they were capable of performing, then they need to take a good hard look at themselves. Now is the time to appeal the Valley Hospital debacle and undo the Village massive family housing ordinances.”
Councilman Ramon Hache told the Ridgewood blog yesterday that the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce will fill three positions on the Central Business District Advisory Committee . Ramon went on to say the point of the committee is to create a more inclusive dialogue unlike the previous administration that ignored residents wishes ,and only listened to a small group of people or packed committees with developers and or friends of developers creating a situation where Central Business Development plans were “out of whack” with what residents wanted giving Ridgewood residents no voice in the decision making process.
At the end of the day its a leadership issue ,although the new council is green they do appear to have all the necessary ingredients ;an open-mindedness,willing to listen ,independent thinking and a concern for the Village to lead Ridgewood into the future.
3 positions by Chamber of Commerce? That was NOT disclosed at the council meeting by councilman Hache. Chamber of Commerce is the main trouble maker. We all know Vagianos have personal interest in these projects. WHY are they contributing THREE members?
If Columbus had an advisory committee he would probably still be at the dock.
It seems that we create a committee for every perceived problem. We will have a committee and that will mean that all the Chamber of Commerce members will come up with a wish list that the committee will have to resolve.
Every perceived problem does not require a response or compromise.
I am sure that the garage will be on the top of the list. That is already being handled by the council.
“Chamber of Commerce will fill three positions” So the question for Councilman Ramon Hache is what other groups will be repersented and will they also have three positions?
C of C should not have an official voice. I can’t stand them any more. Moreover, Vagianos pretends to speak for all C of C members, who are never polled for their views. He speaks for himself. The whole thing feels very, very wrong.
I read the resolution. It will be only one member from the Chamber and the 3 positions referenced are business/property owners in the CBD. All appointed by the council. In total, 4 members from the business community and the rest from residents and the village out of a total of 11.
Vagianos has no credibility. The CoC has very little credibility. But to say they should have no input is going a little far. The CoC has a stake and a point of view. They are entitled to be heard. Lets not replicate the last council. Bur the emphasis here is that it is merely advisory. Helpful input is always welcome, but the will of the vast majority of residents should always prevail over the narrow interests of developers and Greek garage-builders.
good start with repaving cottage, waulnut, and huddson lots first,
Why are there three Chamber members? The committee will be stacked.
Do not let the professional developers on the committee.
The committee will have three members voting as a bloc. Remember the recent council? This will not be productive. They can make recommendations but should carry NO weight in council decisions.
This can wind up a disaster like the FAC.
9:05…there will be ONE member from the Chamber. Read the document. Total of eleven people. Even if there were three, it wouldn’t be a majority.
“Total of eleven people” Im sure they will get a lot of things done .