the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, highlights (and low lights) from the Village Council Meeting of June 14:
1. Outgoing police Chief Jacqueline Luthcke was honored with a proclamation. Everyone on the Council praised her. Councilwoman Winograd mentioned that it spoke so well of Luthcke that she had been chosen years ago by her peers to be the Chief. Apparently Winograd has no idea how the Police Chief is selected. It is not a popularity contest. Winograd loves to brag that she deals in facts. Well she got this all wrong.
2. The Gold Star Families Monument was approved (the plan, not the price). Bob Paoli gave a shout-out to former Mayor Susan Knudsen, who was on the committee and worked hard on it from the start. He also praised Councilwoman Lorraine Reynolds, who supported the monument from the start. Everyone remembers last fall when Vagianos and Perron stalled and stalled to the point of ridiculousness so that the plan could be put in place once Knudsen was off the dais. Such petty people they are. Well, at least the monument is finally moving forward. Does everyone remember that Vagianos grand-standed and pledged a big amount to the project last fall? Wondering if that offer still stands.
3. It was announced that the YMCA (and its new Director Ramon Hache) is now partnering with the Pedestrian Plaza effective immediately. It is now called the YMCA Pedestrian Plaza. Wondering if the YMCA is donating to the expenses. Wondering if the taxpayers are donating to the expenses.
4. It seemed for awhile that this was a Board of Education meeting because Winograd and Vagianos went on and on and ON about various school teams and how well they had been playing. Hey, we are all happy that the student athletes are doing so well – but why is this taking up so much bandwidth in a Village Council meeting? Cottage Place meetings are on Mondays.
5. Vagianos RECUSED from voting on the significant sewage discharge ordinance because HE OWNS A BUSINESS in the downtown that is affected by this. Such a show of fake ethics – come on, he votes on EVERYTHING in the CBD from parking rates to loading zones to dining corrals and the pedestrian plaza. Of course all of those directly affect his restaurant’s success – so he wants to vote on those. But then he should go ahead and vote on the sewage ordinance. No one is fooled when he pretends to be taking the high road. Vagianos only knows one road, and it sure ain’t the high road. One of his favorite words is DISINGENUOUS. It actually describes him personally.
6. The soon-to-be Village Manager was present, and was introduced. His hiring was approved 4 – 1. Councilwoman Reynolds voted no – while clarifying that she has nothing against the new guy, and is hopeful that he will do a great job, she at the same time feels that it is hugely irresponsible to hire someone new when Heather Mailander does a great job at a lower salary. But, we know that Vagianos, Weitz, Winograd, and Perron all conspired WITHOUT REYNOLDS to get rid of Mailander. Then they went on to say that they will be feting Mailander at a future meeting. So they have fired her, and next they will praise her. You cannot make this stuff up.
7. A concerned citizen spoke for the UMPTEENTH time about the dangerous conditions on East Saddle River Road where the Kingsbridge Lane bridge is out of service. And for the UMPTEENTH time her sincere pleas for relief fell on deaf ears.
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Winograd is a complete dolt. A total embarrassment to RHS alumni.
Police Chief is appointed by Village Manager, not by vote of police officers. Siobhan strikes again with misinformation.
In addition to Winograd’s blunder, Vagianos also misspoke when he referenced remembering when “. . . this Council was sworn in.” The entire Council was not sworn in at the same time. Never happened Paul.
Yet another foo-pah – they insulted RIdgewood’s entire African American community by not mentioning the upcoming Juneteenth holiday(s). We will surely remember their insensitivity for this.
Is the village closed for June for the holiday.
No. Village offices will remain open. No changes to sanitation pick up schedules either. Holiday parking rules in effect. Use of power tools prohibited.
Commercial use
Also landscaping equipment. NO SUCH NOISE allowed on Monday except by home owner personally. Call police if it happens. Ordinance on the books lists this as an official holiday.
As landscapers will ignore
Right, and then you call the police, who will come and send them on their way.
2024 rhs graduation is scheduled for June 19th which is a federal holiday. insensitive?
Blockhead-insensitive. Why not July 4?
Juneteenth holiday. Wtf
It’s the 22nd not the 19th
2024 grad is the 19th
BOE changed the date last mtg
NO
And who is the mysterious “teenager”referenced during the meeting as having obtained counseling from Police Chief Luthcke following an unspecified incident involving law enforcement? Any relation to a current member of the Village Council? Was taxpayer owned property damaged during the incident? If so, were taxpayers ever reimbursed for those damages? Hmm.
How does Winograd establish a shade tree sub committee without proper notification and open requests to join. She sets up these offbeat committees, does no one question her. Residents are letting this vc go rouge. YMCA pedestrian plaza, please give me a break. All so crooked
How much is the YMCA paying for naming rights?
Nothing !!!
Rumor is they are collecting the monies from the businesses to participate….
This is turning into “mall” envy, becoming a carnival to draw outsiders , calling it a “pedestrian Plaza”” . Competition for the Garden State Plaza -what that’s turning into.
Get rid of bounce houses rides in CBD memorial park, remove the decorative colorful paint on the streets, gaudy.
Ridiculous to have dining tables in the closed off streets it’s absurb.
Turning Ridgewood into a clowns circus .
Residents have no control over anything this VC does except not to vote them in again when the term expires, which couldn’t be soon enough. There is a great deal of hypocrisy going rampant with the VC majority voting block. They don’t waver but they do what is popular and not what is right. They are playing monopoly with tax payer monies and don’t give a hoot about what anyone has to say. Public comments generally go unanswered 9 out of 10 times, unless they need to be on the record saying something.
Any news on Schedler ?
Not last night
Maybe the Bee Man can truck on over to Schedler to put together an assessment for the council since they apparently listen and admire his efforts. He can see the various wildlife, the beautiful trees, etc. and then make a giant No Plow sign to save them.
Or Bee guy could put all of his honey pots over at Schedler, surely the council would give him the permits. By the way, where are his bee hives?
YMCA Pedestrian Plaza because Ramon will play ball.
I’m surprised village is not closed for this holiday, wow because we have a lot of African-Americans working for the village. You would think so it’s the right thing to do amazing.
BFD the village employees already get every possible holiday off.
If they want another day off switch it with a current one
#6 – Mailander’s misconduct is always swept under the rug.
so are the misdeeds of the majority block of the council. She was no angel but either are they and people voted for them.
Nothing on Schedler. But a man was complaining about tree massacre
Is the bee guy running for office? He is getting a lot of stroking from the dais. Wondering if they want him to run. He’s a nice guy. But is he being corrupted?
WE get free Honey
It is astounding to me that the beekeeper is celebrated across many meetings and gets constant kudos for his efforts to keep the pollinators in business, because after all, that is what keeps our ecosystems humming and healthy, however people who participated in No Mow May got fined if there sign wasn’t front and center on their lawns. Additionally, why it is okay to potentially level acres of trees along Route 17 at Schedler? There are ecosystems there too, animals galore, the trees actually create a barrier for that neighborhood from pollutants, noise, etc. also why then would we vote on putting a turf field to further damage the well water and groundwater of those residents. We can celebrate bees but then completely destroy a neighborhood. Makes zero sense.
Where is Mr. Beeman on cutting down all of those trees at Schedler. Probably doesn’t want to rock the boat by stepping up with an opinion. I have heard he is likely being pumped up to run for an elected office, just sayin.
The bees are pissed off but too small to reach the microphone.
American flags up and down Godwin. Luv it. Lets keep them up after the 4th of July parade.
Municipal taxes raised 4.9% this year and they need a new Village Manager? The majority block has been trying to get rid of Heather all along. This is going to cost additional dollars that Ridgewood doesn’t have, essentially $165K additional monies out of the operating budget, plus medical benefits, etc. This is taxpayer money. It is a political appointment, clear as day!
Scary that the worst VC member in the history of like ever, Evan Weitz, one of the good ole majority block members of this council, said there will be a lot more said about Heather in the coming days. is this ominous or a good thing. Considering how not transparent that this council is about basically anything, including the words “and” and “the”, we won’t know until we read it in the paper. Essentially this is how we find out anything.
She’s worked for over 30 yrs for VOR and always been dedicated.
2 kids hit by cars as a result of the footbridge not being available and the resident said that money is allocated to a property to make it into a parking lot for half a million. I think Ridgewood needs to get their priorities in order.
So the new Village Manager plans to be finished with his workday at 5 PM and then will have time to go watch a baseball game? I want this job.
Apparently bees are important and trees are not, unless the shade tree committee plants them next to their designer garbage cans.
“Heather Mailander does a great job at a lower salary”
WAIT A SECOND!!!
Heather earns about $210,000 annually (not including her PENSION, which costs the taxpayers massively). See here: https://govsalaries.com/mailander-heather-a-139082807
Just how much MORE are we paying the “new guy”? These salaries and pensions are out of control!!
new Village Manager = Political Appointment, according to one VC member. I agree, it is quite obvious that she has been under political scrutiny by at least one VC member and potentially more. However, they said she is a good “clerk”. Should be interesting to see what this new guy brings to the table. Many will speculate, but only time and his actions will tell the true story. Maybe he is aligning himself politically to run for Mayor.
We hope this new manager is taking notes, he can find out a lot information on this blog. We think it will be extremely helpful.
Any truth to the rumor that the new manager is divorced with 2 children, 44 years old, and in a relationship with a 25 year old woman? Living in a multi family building owned by the girlfriend’s family?
who cares??? passing judgement on a divorced dad – nice.
YOU care.
I’m calling my driveway a Plaza but the “Y” refuses to subsidize it. Maybe if I served greasy gyros and bad fries.
Any word on who’s going to be the new police chief in town.?????????
Forest Lyons.
Who cares about his personal life? Let him worry about the village. That’s the problem everyone’s up, everybody’s ass. Let’s mind our own business. Let him worry about getting rid of all the Hypocrites. Not on a Sunday,
Sometimes be careful what you wish for, that’s OK to take for a year and then retire
I hope the new manager is going to show his face at all the departments. We would like him to make his rounds, especially early in the morning when the crews start their day. He needs to know what the hell is going on. We cannot have department starting all different times. We have a department that the crew is waiting for the foreman to show up to work, sometimes they’re standing around for 45 minutes . That’s ridiculous.
There are systemic issues that this new Village Manager should be addressing. People should give him a chance and see if he really meant what he said, was that he was tuned into to what was going on in Ridgewood and wanted to work with residents. Since the Council doesn’t, we need someone to.
This is going to be interesting. This guy is stepping into some shit storm. Right from the top all the way down to the bottom. You better buy a lot of aspirin and some balls too. And some liquor to . The hole is system screwed up.