April 20.2018
the staff of the Ridgewood bllog
Ridgewood NJ, Gov. Phil Murphy today announced the appointment of former Ridgewood Mayor and ethically challenged Paul Aronsohn to head up the newly created Office of the Ombudsman for Individuals with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities and Their Families, serving as the administration’s lead advocate and ally for New Jersey residents in need of critical services ranging from early childhood through adulthood.
Arosohn’s tenure as mayor was marred by ethics scandals, acrimony from the dais, insane over development of the central business district, suicide bike lanes , dangerous ,over budget and ill-advised ramps at Graydon Pool ,bad Village business decisions and fermenting a hostile environment, impinging on the quality of life in the Village of Ridgewood. Many residents consider his tenure an all time low in the history of the Village of Ridgewood.
The Office of the Ombudsman, which is in, but not of, the Department of the Treasury, was created by law in January, granting the governor appointment authority.
As the ombudsman, Aronsohn will organize and direct the work of the office with duties that include:
Serving as a source of information for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities and their families and interested members of the public, to help them better understand state and federal laws and regulations;
Coordinating with the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, to provide information and support on navigating and understanding the process for obtaining services from the state Division of Children’s System of Care and the Division of Developmental Disabilities, including information on transitioning between the two programs;
Providing information and communication strategies to individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities and their families for resolving disagreements with various state agencies, as well as education on the available options for resolving such disputes;
Working with service recipients, families and the departments to facilitate the provision of services and supports;
Identifying common concerns for individuals and their families, and making recommendations to the Division of Children’s System of Care and the Division of Developmental Disabilities or the Department of Children and Families and the Department of Human Services; and
To assist the Division of Children’s System of Care and the Division of Developmental Disabilities in creating public information programs designed to inform individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities, their families, and the public about the role of the ombudsman.
Under law, the ombudsman is also required to issue a written report annually to the commissioners of both the Department of Human Services and the Department of Children and Families, as well as the governor and the legislature.
That’s actually funny. He’s going to help people to “better understand state and federal laws and regulations” when he’s already been convicted of having no regard for them. Wondering if his puppet candidate Mrs. Harwin follows the news.
good. will he move away from Ridgewood now?
Poor people with disabilities. Hope he’s better with them than he was for Ridgewood.
I feel poorly for this group of people who clearly could use capable help. You would hope he would have the moral fiber to reject a position on which so many people depend, but, then again, he’s never exhibited nobility or a sense of selflessness in the past.
Dirty dirty dirty.
And he was parading around that poor woman from town. Promising her housing on the new developments.
Let’s all wait for how slimy he makes this process. There’s no end to how dirty he can make even the most well intentioned things.
Now we know that Murphy is horrible.
Oh, James. I’m sure this appointment is killing you. Paul actually moved on to greener pastures while you still spew on your pathetic “blog”. I cannot stop laughing at you.
After co-opting the disabled community for countless personal photo ops, he betrayed them by making sure not to include any of the special-needs housing he had promised. The developers would have made less money (boo hoo); probably there was never any intention of doing it. It took Mayor Knudsen to get that done. No senior housing, either, even though that was a big selling point to the Planning Board by his pals the developers.
Almost two years ago in an op-ed piece in the Star-Ledger our new state disabilities guru proclaimed the need for the state to create the job he now has. How long has this been in the works? Murphy knew he was running a long time ago. Looks like a setup to me.
https://www.paularonsohn.com/news_articles/new-jersey-needs-a-disability-czar
Anybody who still thinks he is sincere about helping the disabled community just wants to believe it. Understandable, but untrue. Will we now see lots of new housing hither and thither by the statewide construction unions who have supported his political campaigns from the start? And then we can pay for it. Yes, it’s needed. One just wonders whether the prices will be jacked up, etc.
Pathetic! As they say… Birds of a feather…. Perfect together! I was thinkging about voting for mrs. Harwin, however, if she was anyway connected to Aronsohn, She will not get my vote, nor anyone else connected with Aronsohn, who sold ridgewood out to developers. Wake up ridgewood. Wake up NJ!
finally… can it be… is this his ticket out of our lives?
…a group of people who can’t afford to be let down. Sadly, letting people down is Paul’s strength.
Mr. Ackerman at 1:19: Paul Aronsohn was present at Alexandra Harwin’s campaign launch party at the tennis club earlier this year and has literally sat by her side at campaign coffees to answer residents’ questions for her because she is clueless and seems to have no interest in learning. Her lawn signs are on his lawn. Wake up is right. If you have friends who remain “on the fence” or think “she seems nice” or “are looking for a change,” please wake THEM up and make sure they vote to re-elect Susan Knudsen and Mike Sedon on May 8. We must not elect either of his picks, but vote them out as we did two years ago and two years before that, or we are dead meat. If you would like to display lawn signs, write to LawnSignRequest@gmail.com with your address in the subject line and they will be installed in your front yard promptly. Campaign donations are accepted here: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?token=TMPptiaL04c_BNzBSSVCYf-Li62j7ki58wr3_izbi6bzy5Xs-oGutvAxEyPwopXSB1v6YW&country.x=US&locale.x=US
Well this is a good thing for the people who have a disability they will get the support they need . Now Local towns need to learn the laws.
is that a joke , I get it its 420 today
Why is it a joke. This is Great news for people who need assistance. If anyone thinks otherwise they got their head up their ass.
This is actually true:
Anonymous April 20, 2018 at 1:08 pm
After co-opting the disabled community for countless personal photo ops, he betrayed them by making sure not to include any of the special-needs housing he had promised. The developers would have made less money (boo hoo); probably there was never any intention of doing it. It took Mayor Knudsen to get that done. No senior housing, either, even though that was a big selling point to the Planning Board by his pals the developers.
The current VC and planning board are allowing tons of residential development that is just wrong don’t let them fool you all
How much are we paying this new guru?
8:57 Agree that this is no joke but our former Mayor, IMHO, the best person for the job. Get someone who has real experience with this population. I work with disabled adults on a daily basis, in the trenches, trying to enrich their lives. Many colleagues have years of experience with this population and requisite degrees that would actually lead to an improvement in housing and opportunities for the differently abled (not that they would be interested in politics other than voting!). Look at Allendale – model housing and perfectly situated. Aronson is a career politician who was way too cozy with developers and their attorneys. This appointment is a huge disappointment and just wrong. As always the most vulnerable among us get the shaft.
you mean like the over budget slippery ADA ramp at Graydon .? or the suicide bike lane?
Whoops, meant to say, IMHO, Aronson is not the best guy for the job in my comment above. So sorry beautiful Ridgewood is being overdeveloped – not the place I know and loved much longer.
Who knows maybe he will do a great job with this, but The ones who have family members that have a disability do have rights and that’s what this is about informing individuals in local counties and towns that they’re are laws protecting families workers and so on.
This is a good thing.
Dear Mr Anonymous email dated April 20, 2018 at 5:15 pm,
Thank you for your information regarding Mrs. Harwick. Anyone associated with Mr. Aronsohn is no one that should be holding public office. However, both Mrs. Knutsen and Mr. Sedon did not do enough to protect us from the antics of Aronsohn/developers. A public campaign could have been initiated by them to stop the sell out by Aronsohn, et.el to the developers which will now adversely change the face of Ridgewood forever.
In addition, mrs.Knutsen seems to put her personal interest before that of Ridgewood. Can’t we, the residents of Ridgewood find suitable, ethical individuals to represent Ridgewood? So sad for all of us..
Well who passed it not jus him alone. Right.
All of you assholes voted for these 2 scumbags and now your liberal asses are crying…talk about pathetic.