file photo by Boyd Loving
July 21,2015
by: Anne LaGrange Loving
Ridgewood NJ, Some of us are having trouble understanding what appear to be a contradiction in the actions and statements of Mayor Aronsohn, Deputy Mayor Pucciarelli, and Councilwoman Hauck. For the record, I pointed this out twice at public meetings (which did not result in an explanation of the discrepancy), and recently wrote to each of them for clarification (none replied).
In January of 2014, all three of them seemed pretty adamant that they did not want to violate the Village Code by hiring anyone into a position that did not exist (in that case, it was police officer positions in excess of the stated limit). Quotes from the Minutes of the 01/29/2014 meeting include the following:
Mayor Aronsohn pointed out that the most important question to be answered is whether the Village is now in violation of what is permitted by the ordinance as far as police hires are concerned. Mayor Aronsohn commented that the concerns are twofold: one is that the Village would not be in compliance with its own law, leading to the question of how to remedy that situation;
Councilwoman Hauck sees the current problem as an administrative problem and how it would appear if the ordinance were changed to facilitate an administrative error. She suggested that it might be better to wait until the next round of Police Academy candidates graduate, and hire new police officers in July. That would avoid being in violation of Village Code. Councilwoman Hauck said she feels uneasy about amending the current ordinance in order to bring people in prematurely.
Councilman Pucciarelli said that….for him, the issue is law enforcement, and the Village must obey its own laws.
How, then, do these statements fit in with their more recent actions regarding the hiring of a Human Resources Director (or Confidential Secretary, Senior Personnel Assistant, Senior Human Resources Professional or whatever the job title turned out to be) prior to the creation of this position and its official inclusion in the Village Code? It seemed that in January of 2014 they were determined to follow the letter of the law, whereas in the this situation they decided it was acceptable to completely disregard the Village Code, and then re-write it after doing so.
Certainly the creation of an HR position was not an emergency, and due process could have been followed to first create the position and have it officially entered into the Village Code, and then to advertise the job and hire the appropriate person. Our elected officials are put into office with a clear expectation that they will uphold the laws of our Village, in addition to their other duties. It strikes me that in the case of this Human Resources position, they openly disregarded their own law, even when such was being pointed out to them by Councilman Sedon, Councilwoman Knudsen, and various members of the public. No matter how badly they wanted a Human Resources person, the end does not justify the means. We have a set of laws and procedures, and we expect our elected officials to follow them.
Until the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Councilwoman Hauck clearly state why they acted one way in one instance, and quite the opposite in this instance, we taxpayers will be left feeling very uneasy.
Do you really expect a clear answer from any of the three stooges?
9:01 – Well, in some cases elected officials actually do answer questions that are asked of them. In some cases transparency in government and responsiveness to citizens are valued as a true goal. But you are so right, with these three we have come to expect smoke, mirrors, duplicity, dishonesty, posturing and nastiness. Sickening.
Great shot of the happy trio, yucking in up without any cares in the world. Hard to recognize Albert and Gwenn, however, without the blue glow of their iphones lighing their faces.
Anne, why are you so hell bent on trying to get the state to fine or sue Ridgewood? You want your taxes to go to fines and legal fees? This is pure uninformed and moronic behavior based on personal grudges held against three of the Council. Stop trying to speak for the rest of us. It’s great you control Sue and Mike. But give the Council and the VM a break, they do not deserve your vitriol.
snore
would be great if Councilman Sedon, Councilwoman Knudsen, and various members of the public like Anne would actually focus on the bigger issues at hand like challenging Valley’s “not-for-profit” status based on the Morristown precedent (+$4mm potential annual property tax revenues), and trying to make sure that business owners in the CBD will contribute to the cost of building and maintaining the parking garage. The HR role will make Village hiring & firing more efficient, and will improve how Village departments are staffed. If you cannot understand why the organizational design was changed, ask Roberta to explain it to you. If you cannot understand the budget process, again ask Roberta or a member of the FAC to explain it to you instead of coming across as a rank amateur all of the time.
Shoot the messenger still seems to be the preferred way of dealing with screw ups.
8:21 Sounds like Albert running on defense. Oldest game in the book, divert attention from your own wrongdoings by blaming a sensible voice. Sounds like the trio is getting desperate. Let’s now blame the citizens.
8:28 Can you read? Maybe a first grader can teach you how. This letter was about following correct government procedure. It was not about budgeting or efficiency. In fact, nothing is said pro or against an HR manager. These three seem completely unable to follow procedure, aka obeying the laws of the town.