the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, does the Village of Ridgewood selectively disclose information for their own sake rather than to help their citizens?
This recent Village Manger post shows the crux of the issue. One social media thread, two opposing levels of transparency.
First resident is met with deflection and sent on a fishing expedition. Second resident, when the narrative fits, no OPRA request or process is required. Why is that?
Transparency should not to be used selectively or as a tool.
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Whistleblower Guy making $300K to take pictures. Disgraceful.
Such bs. If the town/boe just took care of the fields ..there are more than enough. Also have maroons soccer play in other towns. From the MSC website: We are a non-profit organization committed to developing soccer players in northern New Jersey, including Ridgewood, Glen Rock, Waldwick, Ho-Ho-Kus, Paramus, Fair Lawn, Hawthorne and other communities in Bergen & Passaic County, NJ. Plenty of towns they support that can host this program.
It is all about field envy, they only want to play in Ridgewood. Going to other towns is apparently too inconvenient and they would rather complain instead of explore all of their options. As many have said before, these organizations should but the available space on Route 17 where the old Stop & Shop is. Huge space and you could have multiple fields shared between all of the organizations.
It looks like both RBSA and Maroons Soccer both should be rotating fields throughout other towns but then complain and demand that more fields be created in Ridgewood. These organizations should but the giant lot at the end of East Ridgewood Avenue. They can knock down all of the buildings and put together a sports stadium of their wildest imagination. Should be an easy solution. They could probably build many fields over there and it is down the road from Ridgewood. Also other towns could rent space there to help defray expenditures. They could have this done by next spring. problems solved. you’re welcome.
Which giant lot?
This is so true, but it doesn’t fit the narrative and field envy is real
I disagree. The response to each seem entirely reasonable and even.
I disagree. His reply to DEP question has a snarky tone and is inappropriate. The first and last sentence are suffice. Everything else was ego and off topic.
Reasonable and even, that is truly amusing and sad at the same time! It is like studying for the test after the fact. Wanting the field is one thing, justifying its existence in a vacuum is another. If the numbers are truly “staggering” then a focus on safety should be a priority so that people feel safe.
Thanks for clearing that up Keith
RBSA also has players from other areas, not just RW. FROM THE RBSA Website: Ridgewood Baseball and Softball Association! We are a thriving community organization dedicated to fostering the love of baseball and softball in Ridgewood and its surrounding areas.
Please post those numbers when you get them.
will the numbers include residents from other towns outside of Ridgewood. Are travel team numbers being included in this? when was the last time a field study was performed to collect the data. seems very confusing and conflated by those wanting the fields for reasons other than for the children of this village to play on.
Haha, they won’t because it is all a farce! Fix the fields you have, stop using turf near a known flood zone, remediate your issues like normal municipal leaders and finally, Do you darn job!
This Manager has an inner conflict with wanting to be a politician but actually being a public servant. A bad one at that.
Post of the Day !
He was a politician and was an actual mayor of a town. But that probably pays bupkiss so beiing a Village Manager where you can get paid $300K and run around town doing photo ops and spending time on social media (allegedly) is the most plum job you can get.
The Jekyll & Hyde response is so blatant. What a boob!
Looks like asking about the soil investigation triggered him. Good job! Keep digging.
Village Manager again presenting an argument that is not logically valid or sound and fails to address the issue in question.
Clearly, the pushback and deflection (with the second request) is because that information exposes mismanagement and highlights questionable activity.
Person asks for a copy of “THE PLAN” and Village Manger snaps back about the end results of testing. Totally missing the mark but maybe he was caught at a bad time.
I saw the original post. The second response is classic mansplaining- the explanation of something by a man, typically to a woman, in a manner regarded as condescending or patronizing.
Parents have been complaining for a long time that the existing fields that do not flood are not being properly maintained. One sports parent called in to even say that the boys fields were being maintained better than the ones for the girls sports, so what makes anyone think that the Schedler property, once developed is going to be any different. Look at the berm for example. The village relied on a contract they had with a vendor who planted them to replace them for free and when that didn’t happen, they tried legal action. How about watering them? I am not convinced that the maintenance of the property will be anything stellar based on Ridgewood’s track record with the fields they already have.
Framing information in this packet to look like a Board of Education solution is extremely misleading. Keith looks like he is talking about one property being a solution for all of the problems with fields. Very deceptive. The reality is unfortunately as many sports parents have communicated many times existing fields are not being properly maintained and scheduling has been difficult. If Keith is okay with putting misleading information on a State application, then it is his reputation and he will not be able to blow a whistle at this if he is complicit.
He’s a snake in the grass, his true colors will come out!!
Build the field at Schedler and gteed parents will complain how far they have to travel and the noise from 17 is too loud. U might as well play in another town .its closer and not on a highway.
If you had 50 fields in Ridgewood, the sports parent would still find something to complain about. Some money making sports groups, not sure which, apparently sucking up field play time. Is anything done about that. If people are bogarting the fields and no one else can use them, then that is a different issue altogether and much conversation about this happened. Is anything donw to address the real issues? Keith is new but thinks he knows everything now after being here for 6 months.
RBSA mission statement (RBSA Statement Of Philosophy):
The Ridgewood Baseball & Softball Association’s (RBSA) website says ” We provide Spring and Summer recreational programs as well as advanced, competitive travel programs in the Spring, Summer and Fall”. This is not exclusive to Ridgewood only. Therefore if other fields in other towns needs to be utilized to accomodate this organization with children from other towns, then how can they demand field space be made available to them in Ridgewood. Same thing with Maroons soccer who states on their site: The Maroons Soccer Club, based in Ridgewood, NJ, is a competitive youth travel soccer club. We are a non-profit organization committed to developing soccer players in northern New Jersey, including Ridgewood, Glen Rock, Waldwick, Ho-Ho-Kus, Paramus, Fair Lawn, Hawthorne and other communities in Bergen & Passaic County, NJ.
When the Village manager states that the numbers of children who need additional fields is “staggering” does this include both RBSA and Maroons Soccer and therefore supporting sports with children outside of Ridgewood.
This might be the primary reason that the numbers are inflated.
It’s funny and sad when the manager posts an “update” on FB and it is the same 3-4 people who thank him so much about the great job. Even cleaning of the HHK brook from decaying trees etc. was done after many residents called for it while it should be a proactive high priority task.
Oh, and by the way we’ve only had 2-3 snow events this winter and now the potholes are showing everywhere. It shows the QA/QC this town applies to routine maintenance .
Yes, deer, I couldn’t agree with you more. What this village does do a good job of is suppressing information when it fits the narrative. Once council person might call this cherry picking, that is a fun fact. Then this mayor and council encourage these numb nuts to get up to support their narrative and to tell them how impressed they are with transparancy coming out of the village.
The existing fields are terribly underutilized. Honestly, when driving around the village, how often are games being played? This is a scheduling and planning problem, NOT a lack of facilities. It is just the truth, and politicians should be made to JUSTIFY why we need new fields when existing ones are nearly always empty.