June 28,2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Councilmen Jeffrey Voigt up and left the June 25, 2018 Village Council meeting about five hours and 43 minutes after it began. He gathered up his jacket and departed the dais in the middle of testimony from one of the Ridgewood Water Company constituents. He said nothing to any of his Council colleagues, and offered no explanation for his unceremonious departure in the midst of this very important meeting. The person who was providing testimony at the time seemed befuddled, as this departure occurred when he was mid-sentence, and asked whether Mr. Voigt would be returning. Well, the meeting continued for two more hours, and Mr. Voigt never returned. Mind you, this is one of our elected officials who is supposed to be paying attention to important issues. The other four council members stayed on until the wee hours of Tuesday morning, in spite of having young children at home, jobs to get to, and myriad other responsibilities.
On June 27, the hearing was continued starting at 7:00 PM. Councilmen Voigt never showed up. Mr. Timothy E. Shanley , an elected official from Wyckoff, voiced his complete displeasure with Councilmen Voigt’s disrespect for the process. He further indicated his intention to object if Mr. Voigt wished to vote on Ordinances 3636 and 3637 regarding rates for Ridgewood Water customers, as Voigt completely missed out on two hours of important testimony. His planned objection proved unnecessary, as Councilmen Voigt was completely absent from the June 27 meeting, discussion, and votes.
Village Council Attorney Matthew Rogers indicated that Councilmen Voigt decided to leave the June 25 meeting because he knew he would not be able to attend the June 27 meeting at which the votes would be taken; why bother to stay any longer and listen to further testimony if you are not going to vote anyway?
The staff of The Ridgewood Blog is outraged by this latest rudeness from Councilmen Voigt. He chose to run for office, and as such he has an obligation to be informed. Even if he knew he could not attend on June 27, it is still his duty to be educated on all issues facing our governing body. It sure seems as if Voigt just wanted to distance himself from a difficult vote, so he can say later on “don’t blame me, I wasn’t there.”
Voigt has repeatedly and frequently demonstrated utter disrespect for the citizens of Ridgewood and their concerns, this just being the latest from this man who is a complete and total disappointment and failure as a Ridgewood Village Councilman.
If we are lucky he will never return
5 hours and 43 minutes into the meeting! ouch. you have to hand it to our local officials. it aint all kissing babies and sitting in the back of convertibles.
He’ll be back.
Funny how Voigt has time to shmooze with reporters and hang out in court in Hackensack a jillion times even though the judge tosses him out every time……. but he can’t stay for or even attend a meeting of importance. His priorities are so messed up.
It’s a good bet he’d be more diligent at this point in the office-holding cycle if he had the votes from among his colleagues on the council to be elected Village mayor.
The whole mayor thing is greatly overrated. There is no extra “power” in being mayor. All five council colleagues have the same vote. That said, Voigt will never ever get that honor because one must have respect of his or her colleagues to be voted in and Voigt has ZERO respect or credibility. He was a rising star until his true colors came blasting through, and we all found out what an evil nasty man he is.
I’m not defending Jeff’s action, I am complaining that it was necessary. “Ducks out early”? It was already after midnight. The Council as a whole should work on setting time limits and adhering to them. If something has to be delayed to the next meeting, delay it. I’m sure the same things could have been said in fewer hours if each representative would not continually repeat what each of the others had already said. If vendors, of any kind, were aware that their time had limits, they would find a way to say all they needed in a span of 3 hours. As long as they know they could talk all night if they wanted to, they will make no attempt to organize their statements to fit in a more concise time period.
This person is an arrogant idiot,the sooner he is gone the better.
As we used to say in the old days… this guy’s a real piece of work…
I like that title. He ducks out. He is a real mother-ducker
Skunk
Mayor Voigt……has a ring to it.
“That said, Voigt will never ever get that honor because one must have respect of his or her colleagues to be voted in and Voigt has ZERO respect or credibility.”
Mr. Voigt deliberately forewent the possibility of gaining credibility or the respect of his colleagues when, mere months after his mid-2016 election to office, he embarked upon an incredibly cynical campaign to destroy the personal and political reputations of the mayor and deputy mayor (most particularly those of the mayor).
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And yes, this mini-campaign of his was absolutely intended to be a stepping stone on the way to Mr. Voigt becoming mayor himself. It was clear to those with eyes to see as early as December 2016 that Mr. Voigt intended with his cantankerous behavior and insulting words to bring about the replacement of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor with two new Voight-dependent lackeys willing to combine their votes with his, and thereby eventually (i.e., right about now) elevate him to the office of mayor.
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That’s how one becomes mayor of Ridgewood without bothering to gain any credibility or the respect of one’s Village Council colleagues.
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Don’t fool yourself, 11:14am. Mr. Voigt’s plan could have worked. And it certainly would have, absent the disinfecting action of copious amounts of sunshine to which he was exposed from December 2016 onward, courtesy of his unimpressed neighbors and TheRidgewoodBlog.net.