July 15,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, This won’t mean much to new council attendees many long time Village Hall watchers all recall how Tom Riche was treated by Paul, Gwenn and Albert regarding his firm and accusing him of overcharging the village during an emergency situation when the phones were out of order at the Fire House.
It was handled so badly and it was terrible to watch. Funny thing but last year Roberta hired Extel Communications back for a job as it was the lowest bid and the most experienced firm. At the first council meeting of the new council , Extel was hired for several jobs in the water department and Roberta praised Extel on many levels and it was by far the best option for the village.
All we could think of was how personal and vindictive the3 amigos were in wanting to hurt Tom even at he expense of what was good for the village. Everyone who knows Tom knew that he loved Ridgewood and helped in so many ways through his own personal actions and those of his company
Let’s collectively agree to change their moniker from the 3 Amigos to the 3 Dirtbags. The way they treated Tom Riche was reprehensible and inexcusable.
None, I repeat, NONE of the accusations made by the former “Council majority” stuck. Every bad word they uttered about anyone turned out to be lies. What a bunch of shitheads.
I think Extel has always done an excellent job for the town. Tom Riche has bent over backwards to help the town out in emergencies. The 3 Amigos treated him horribly. I’m glad the three amigos are gone.
Yes, they were the three dirtbags, and the trail of dirt is getting swept up.
The Village asked for his company’s help. He came through for them when no one else could or would in response to the FIRE DEPARTMENT having NO PHONES. The Village approved all the paperwork, bills, etc. and had full knowledge of what was going on. To later discuss it publicly in a shady way that misled anyone into thinking it was anything other than that was unconscionable.
who’s the guy in the seersucker suit?
matlock
Jane, are you saying it’s okay for a Council member to violate both Village code and the NJ state local government ethics law? A serving council member should not conduct business with the Municipality they serve. Period. Suggesting there were no other sources for phones is laughable.
Dear 3:45PM, On the night in question there was no other source for phones. There was a storm and we were in a state of emergency and the phones were out at the Fire House. Mr. Riche was called in by village officials and had been conducting business with the town for many years. If this was in violation of an ordinance, it should have been handled in closed session and the innuendos and accusations that occurred during the public meeting by our mayorwere in violation of Mr. Riche’s rights by law.
Jane, you don’t seem to have the correct information. The way the contract was set up, I.e. Toshiba phones, there was an existing requirement that could be matched only by a few suppliers. Ridgewood, and it’s taxpayers – who fund the budgets for Public Safety, Ridgewood Water and Northwest Bergen Central Dispatch – as a result were unable to benefit from a greater range of options to meet our communication needs. It’s an old trick to set up a favored contractor. The requirements had to be changed, because the way it had been set up, the requirements were pointing toward only one supplier, it’s great Extel is a supplier to the Village, so long as its owner doesn’t sit on the Council or Planning Board while they’re contracting with Ridgewood. That was a conflict of interest, plain and simple.
3:45 pm
I’m not saying a thing about the code or the ethics law – I haven’t read them. My comment was that the all the powers-that-be OK’d the work. No one objected when it was happening. So were THEY – i.e. the FD, Village Hall, the Council – saying it’s okay for a Council member to violate both Village code and the NJ state local government ethics law? If so and if the rules were misinterpreted or broken, then they ALL misinterpreted or broke them. It must have been OK enough because everyone at RFD and Village Hall was OK with it at the time and satisfied that Riche recused himself from voting on it. To twist it after the fact, in public, and to make it to look questionable and in such a way as to suggest that everyone didn’t know what had been agreed upon, was a shady thing to do.
The details are obviously in the minutes of that meeting, but as I remember it he had a contract with the municipality when he was not a councilman. When the phone problem happened, the fire department called him because finding a service provider is limited to businesses that hold specific state service contracts and they couldn’t get anyone else or at least anyone else as quickly. So when you are talking about the fire department for 25,000 people needing phone service, wouldn’t waiting around indefinitely to find a different state-contracted provider be what seems “laughable”? Whether or not the law calls for it to be done that way is a completely separate issue from implying some kind of deceitful behavior.
Way to go,Jane!!
Remember, these are the same 3 dirtbags who accused former Police Chief John Ward of violating a local ordinance (the BC Prosecutor’s Office cleared the Chief of any wrong doing), allowed the Village’s former labor attorney to defile the reputation of Susan Knudsen during an open public meeting, claimed that Bernie Walsh tried to fix a parking ticket (all she did was to have a conversation with the then Chief of Police about the supervision of parking enforcement agents), and called Bernie Walsh a liar in public after Ms. Walsh stated that she’d observed Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld and former Mayor Paul Aronsohn shouting at then Councilwoman Susan Knudsen in a hallway at Village Hall (which did happen).
As I stated previously, every single bit of trash they talked was bullshit. The biggest bunch of dirtbags ever.
Aronsohn, Pucciarelli, and Hauck went after Tom Riche publicly and aggressively and in the most disgusting meeting I have ever seen. Matt Rogers told them to manage this in closed session but they wanted to have a public flogging so they went against the recommendations of our village attorney and they were like the bullies in Lord of the Flies that night. Riche did NOTHING underhanded. Everything he did for the Village was above board and with the full knowledge of the Village Officials. They treated Riche like a criminal and it was just a taste of the things to come from the three dirtbags. They went on to do the same to Bernadette Walsh, John Ward, Heather Mailander, and others. They should have been taken out in handcuffs the three of them. Their names and their faces should never hang in village hall. They were a plague, the three of them, and their toxic germs are still scattered around town. Never mind sweeping them out the door….we need to completely sanitize everything and everyone that ever had contact with them.
the old crew snuck a lot of shit under the rug, they are all in bed with the manager.
The massive participation in Extel provides a wealth of data giving unique insights into trends and thinking as well as the way the industry is working and changing. In addition, Steve Kelly and the team are collecting detailed opinions from clients and senior contacts in all three industry sectors year-round. Steve is a leading authority on investment industry opinion and a valued source of independent advice to corporates and professional bodies throughout Europe.