the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Village Manager Heather Mailander was pressured to announce her resignation at the end of her report during the council work session Wednesday evening. Mayor Paul Vagianos and Deputy Mayor Pamela Perron pushed Mailander to resign on January 24th . Mailander held a dual title of manager and clerk, and resigned from the manager position only. She will remain as Village Clerk, a position she has held for three decades.
It did not take long for the new regime to show its teeth in an underhanded scheme after the total debacle with the “Schedler Park” ball field mess , the expected push to get rid of Mailander came on cue.
Councilmember Lorraine Reynolds accused the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of going rogue and making a unilateral decision without the input of the entire council ,inviolation of the state open meeting or sunshine laws . Councilmember Reynolds said she was never consulted as to the decision to remove Heather Mailander as the Village Manager and that the decision showed a lack of transparency and a violation of the public trust. Reynolds said she had serious questions about the process and how the decision was made.
The mayor was quick to say the council was involved but after Councilmember Reynolds 5 plus minute rebuke from the dais the Mayor had a “deer in the headlights ” look about him.
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Rev your engine.
Did SW say the town spent $2m renovate the schedler house?
Nice work ms reynolds. Stay the course.
“Discussion” begins at around 54 minutes. Lorraine succinctly tears them into shreds at 1:02. She sets up the lawsuit that will be coming. Well worth watching. “What occurred and who was involved in the decision leading up to Paul and Pam telling Heather to resign….I was denied my right to participate.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8qdz6KCNpA
Lorraine – stay strong. You are the bright light on the Council.
Paul, Evan, Pam and Siobhan make me want to throw up in my mouth and make my skin crawl. Paul is just downright skeevy.
Outstanding!
Hang in there Lorraine.
Supposedly the mayor council do not want employees holding multiple positions anymore. No more stipends. We have directors and supervisors getting stipends petition, some of them are not even certified, or have experience. We told you this was coming. We told you that they’re bringing a big broom. Believe me they’re not done.
It hasn’t been legal for Heather to hold two roles for all these years. No more Mayor’s lap dog, thanks to the new council for following civil service.
You can hold multiple civil service jobs. Please provide a citation to the civil service rule that says you cannot.
You can hold two positions, but not for the same employer in the same pension. It’s listed under where the titles are defined in NJAC
Then have her give up clerk position
Not the point
They made a decision ex 3 council members and then lied.
I found Heather super-responsive.
Might the mayor and Ms Peron might have a friend in mind for the recently vacated position…?
Welcome Jeanie Johnson, the new village manager.
idk why holding two positions is a problem if both can be done well. Vagianos holds two jobs, village sleeze and town jack*ss. He’s really good at both.
I won’t anything by this Snake !!!
Let us not forget about the romantic affair that was being hidden from taxpayers by two former council “colleagues.” This allegation of a Perron/Vagianos back room collaboration may be a warning signal of sorts. Keep your eyes open everyone. We don’t want to be hoodwinked by bedroom shenanigans again.
To imply this is really crass and unwarranted. Whatever you feel about these two councilmembers, remember that they have spouses, children, grandchildren and friends. And this sort of rumor mongering is dangerous and hurtful. PJ – you should take this comment down.
The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
And you know this was written by a women how?
Agree. Let us not go there.
Fine. As long as they don’t go there themselves.
Nothing was implied. History was recounted. Sometimes history repeats itself. Why are you so sensitive? Something to hide? Or wondering if you might have a need to hide something down the road?
Whether or not the reason is no multiple positions, there should have been 5 members of the council to make the decision. Not two. Lorraine is 100% right!
Stop the idiocy. Heather is still the Village clerk. She can’t hold both titles by the same employer and pension system under NJAC.
Paul – “Town Council was completely aware of everything.”
Lorraine – “I was not away of anything.”
Paul – “I understand. Siobahn . . . ”
So either Lorraine is crazy or Paul is lying. I am going with the latter.
And is it too much to ask that our Mayor knows we are a Village and not a town (sigh)?
Classic TV!
Oh well, no one cares. See ya.
No stipend’s for anyone supervision anymore. We told you that this was coming. We have a Forman getting a stipend for yard waste, and the foreman never ever even hung on the back of a yard waste truck. if you’re going to get paid a stipend for such an entity, you have to do the job. Amazing how this is been going on for a long time. Well, this is going to stop.
Eye in the sky. It’s still has to be done the correct way!! And it wasn’t.
Lorraine is AWESOME. Three lawyers on the dais. And Lorraine out
Paul went to law school, passed the bar, practiced law for a a few years but has not practiced in over 30 years and has no law license. His is not a lawyer (and he makes crappy gyros!).
Don’t insults actual lawyers.
The point here isn’t whether you like Heather, or didn’t like Heather. It isn’t whether she should’ve held two jobs or shouldn’t have. The point is that the mayor and deputy mayor went outside of government rules in order to get rid of her. They are the ones under question here.
And they lied about it at the public council meeting for all to witness. Video tape doesn’t lie.
Wow Lorraine ! Good for you
Do you know what’s gonna happen don’t you .they will go back and conduct the rules by law, and in the end guess what the mayor and council are the boss. The village conducts, dirty business each and every day they force people into retirement or resign if not, you will be fired. This practice has been going on for many years now. Most of you know this already. At least if you’ve been working for the village for a long time you would know this.
You know what’s going to happen . . . someone will sue the Village over this. Besides working outside of the law to force Heather to resign, they have now created a hostile work environment for her.
We will ALL pay for Siohban petty need to pay back Heather for the One Village/One Vote debacle and for Paul’s arrogance. That’s what this is really about, is it not?
I believe as soon as three of them participate in a discussion it’s a violation.
Anyway, we got what you voted for.
You know, there’s an old world, saying, and it goes like this. Sometimes in life it’s not what you know. it’s who you know. Paybacks are a bitch aren’t they. Sometimes in life you never know who you’re talking too , or what they can do to you. That’s why you need to be nice to everyone. meaning do the right thing. and that certain times that was the case. Was it.
Can The Blog please clarify how many Council members were actually involved or if it was a coup by the mayor and Veep? Rumors are killers. We need the truth.
Listen to the video. Paul and Pam admit to being involved. Siobhan says she recused herself, Weitz says nothing (which says everything) and Reynolds says they never spoke to me about this.
This is Siobhan’s payback to Heather for the One Village / One Vote lawsuit. There is no way in hell she didn’t have a hand in this. Weitz , in saying nothing, indicts himself in this mess.
Hilarious when they get to Siobhan for her update immediately following the fireworks, she meekly highlights decorating the cbd. Talk about added value.
There are rules for how this kind of thing is handled legally, including a written and timely warning before being fired (let’s face it, advising somebody to resign is the equivalent of “an offer you can’t refuse”) and advertising for the position. Council must backtrack and do as the law requires.
Funny how a bunch of lawyers brainstormed this one.
To answer the person who asked, we don’t know how many of the four were involved. We know that Paul and Pam were. Lorraine said something about she asked Siobhan and Siobhan vaguely indicated that she knew something but didn’t really know. And Evan has not said. If Siobhan had been approached and said she couldn’t discuss it, then you could be pretty sure that Evan also knew, but he hasn’t admitted it.
Evan knew. Listen closely to what he says; “Even before I knew about tonight’s announcement.” So he had prior knowledge and should not even try to deny it. He admits he knew in advance.
The mayor and deputy mayor suggested she resign a position. Doesn’t even say if they spoke to her together, and if they did, that’s still legal. They didn’t want someone holding two positions and half-assing both of them. She chose to resign as manager. She could have resigned as clerk instead. She could have chosen not to resign, at which it would be discussed in closed session and voted on, and leave her chances up to fate. If she felt confident that she was doing her job well and could stand on her own merits, let her do that. This was her decision. Loraine could have shared her opinions with Heather as well (and maybe she did). Freedom of speech is guaranteed by the constitution, they’re allowed to talk to people, just as Loraine was allowed to speak her mind, as correct or incorrect as she may have been. That wouldn’t have happened under the last mayor… dissenting opinions would have been quashed.
Age discrimination lawsuit coming our way.
She’s still the Village clerk – she can’t hold two positions from the same employer under the same pension under NJAC. No more stipends!
And I have a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you.
Lorraine is the only level headed, respectful person in this VC. A real RW asset. The rest, led by Vag are untrustful and sneaky. I will never trust him and the way he speaks makes me cringe. A hypocrite of the highest order. There is a lot MORE to come from this batch . Just wait and see. They had their agenda prepared long time ago and now it is time to execute.
I mean, it is shocking how furiously they picked Schedler as their first priority when they’re not even settled in their chairs yet.
Lorraine Reynolds exposing the corrupt Village Council. Thank you councilwoman lorraine for being brave and standing up to these bullies. Does anyone really believe winograd didn’t particiapate?
I hope complaints are filed. With at least two attorneys involved, possibly three, consider complaints with the NJ Bar Association.
a clear violation of the law. where is the meeting notice? when was the meeting? how was the meeting conducted? who participated and how?
njsa 10:4-6
A public mecting is one held by a public body at any level of
govemment – state, county or local – with the intent to discuss or
act as a body on on public busincss.
It is not necessary that a meeting result in some action; mere
discussion off of public matters is enough to make it a meeting public.
A public body is a group of two or more persons empowered as a voting body to perform a public governmental function.
1st- Boycott Greek to Me
2nd- Email these people and demand answers. Demand the village explain exactly who did what and when and how it followed the law.
msr@mrogerslaw.com
pvagianos@ridgewoodnj.net
pperron@ridgewoodnj.net
lreynolds@ridgewoodnj.net
eweitz@ridgewoodnj.net
swinograd@ridgewoodnj.net
Can’t boycott that awful restaurant because I never go there. (The food in Greece is great, by the way.) But I’ll do it in spirit.
Lorraine said she was unaware. Paul responds the town council was aware. Lorraine repeats she was unaware. Paul responds to move on.
Someone is lying. It doesn’t make sense for Lorraine to be lying. There’s no reason for her to lie.
No doubt Paul Vagianos is lying.
Paul lied to the public. Paul lied to the people. Paul Vagianos lied to the residents of Ridgewood. Paul Vagianos is a liar. A liar who cannot be trusted.
Did Perron speak to GreenRidgewood and NoMo May? Don’t cut ur grass for a month to support bird life, habitat for insects, let the clovers bloom, etc But its ok to clear 7 acres of trees?
Hmm that seems a bit rich!
Speaking of NoMow May, someone already has posted the official poster of “NOMOW MAY” on the Village website! Its only Feb.3 and freezing!
This is a repeat. We have seen this movie years ago with the 3 amigos and their village manager…nothing ever came of it except the garage, high density housing and Healthbarn
Too many meetings and residents voices over looked on all 3 subjects above. Residents were ignored now we are stuck with all 3! Sound familiar?
Now we are in for more. Nobody is EVER held accountable and Ridgewood residents keep getting it in the a** from our council because the losers vote these losers in without and knowledge of what is really going on
Where is our town attorney on all this???
It’s even worse this time. 4 amigos. Fasten your seat belt. The avalanche of bs , screw the residents and the town initiatives is coming. The good voters have abandoned hope and didn’t show up, the brainless who always pick “change” brought us all the CHANGE. Tragedy is that the idi0.ts who voted for them don’t have a clue about the workings of this town.
but if it is illegal where is the Village attorneys voice?
Paul Vagianos = Paul Aronsohn.
Listen up people ,in the past the village doesn’t give two shits about what is the law .they break the law every day. They’ll do something illegal today ,and worry about it a year and a half later. That’s why they have lawyers fees put into the budget. They don’t care they never did. They don’t give a shit about any employees. Everybody’s just a number everyone is replaceable. Nothing new. I just would love to know who they bring in the train some of the staffing, because they become professional, bullshit artist.
Boy in the past 30 years, I’ve seen some crazy shit go on in the village. We had some interesting managers haven’t we.
1- Larry worth
2-James tenhove
3-ken Gabbert, aka the doctor
4-Roberta Stonefield
5-Heather mailander
6 – ?????????????????
Thank you Councilwomen Reynolds! Bravo!!!!
Mayor Paul said during the meeting that he lives on the east side of down suggesting he is empathetic to the schedler neighbors. In fact he doesn’t live over there. Paul Lie ? Yes
He owns a home near Glen School. Does he not live in it? If not, where does he live? If it is outside of ridgewood, why is he a mayor?
He does not live in the Schedler neighborhood. That was the point.
Paul Lie = Paulie
Well, I guess instead of having pizza parties, we are going to have Gyro party.
I would like to say that thank God for this blog. reason being because in the past the village had a lot of power over the Ridgewood news, and they don’t have the power over this wonderful blog. And believe me, they cannot stand it .they wouldn’t imagine ,wouldn’t believe how the blog has become a major news article ,information on a daily basis. If the blog wasn’t on line, it would be the number one seller and Ridgewood. most of us get more information on a daily basis from the blog than anyone else, they actually trust the blog more than anyone else. Even if 25% is mishmash but that’s OK because it’s the same in any newspaper. Right. Well, we just like to say thank you to PJ and the staff. Like always a wonderful job. oh yes, don’t forget all the top officials, the press, top management, employees, residence, and surrounding towns do read the blog, they may not admit it, but they do, some even going to the dark closet’ Hey whatever floats your boat.
Can we still eat at the Greek dump on the sidewalk?
Long live the BLOG
Remember, a new broom always pushes clean. Do you know what they should rotate every employee on sanitation recycling & yard waste . Will get everybody in into shape. Can you imagine if they sent everybody for fit for duty test? 25% will fail, And a good majority of them are foreman.
Didn’t Knudsen unilaterally fire the Manager without even a council meeting? That was political retribution.
Next time to get rid of the directors. They are all burnt. We need fresh new blood from the outside. We don’t care what anyone says. The village went backwards in the past few years why because lack of experience, and know how. Young and immature and inexperience individuals what a joke. Embarrassing, it shows go to the right lock. Your eyeballs will not lie to you. And of course village old well. They’re professional liars.