
Dear Village of Ridgewood Resident:
It is important for those voting in the upcoming election to consider who you are voting for as; the new council members will be determining the fate of our Village for years to come. The following video describes why. It has been my position all along that we need to develop the downtown of Ridgewood in a sensible and pragmatic way such that the character of our town is maintained; not only in its look and feel but in how many people we can reasonably accommodate – which in turn affects how we treat each other. Don’t get me wrong – I am for development. However, too much development will likely result in overcrowding in our downtown and; will create a different dynamic in our dealings with each other. The slate of Evan Weitz, Janice Willet and Richard Brooks will aggressively move forward with the policies of the current council majority. These policies benefit the few to the detriment of the many. Thus the bad policy making and mismanagement of Aronsohn, Pucciarelli, and Hauck will be perpetuated. If this is a concern of yours and you do not want our Village turned into something different – I would ask for your vote. My first priority is to ensure I do what is best for the entire Village and not for special interests.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jNtxT2R0SE&feature=youtu.be
Village Council Candidate Jeff Voigt
I thought the high density was a done deal. Am I wrong. Can we really convince Saraceno and company to go down to 20?
I mean the planning board considered this for years, and the council said yes.
I am a serious person who loves Ridgewood because it has the charm of a small town. I have lived here for forty years and deserve to be dealt with in an honest manner.
I do not want to vote for someone who implies that he or she can change the decisions on high density housing. The die has been cast, I am sorry to say.
The endorsement by the three reactionary alphabet organizations (CRR, CBR, and FOS) of Hache, Voight and Walsh makes the choice clear: Three candidates mired in the past, or three, (Brooks, Weitz, and Willett) who respect the past but enthusiastically, thoughtfully, and responsibly embrace the promise of the future. Now, I do not doubt the sincerity of Ramon and Bernie however wrong I think they are on many issues. My problem is with Jeff Voight who comes across as a genetic wonder, a cross between Robert Preston in The Music Man and Donald Trump. A very intelligent man who underestimates the intelligence of people around him. He embodies disingenuous and oleaginous.
I will be voting for Weitz, Willet and Brooks. Weitz and Willet have been on the Financial Advisory Committee and have impressive professional backgrounds. There is too much on the table for us to start with a completely new slate of candidates who want to start over and reinvent the wheel. Ridgewood may be a village, but it is a village with a substantial population of 25,000. Hard as some try, things can’t stay the same.
2:40pm – what has finacial advisory committee has done in last 2 years? Why was Weitz who has no financial background and no ridgewood community service background appointed as chair of financial advisory committee, while Willet had more experience and was already a vice chair?
Jeff Voigt has been on Zoning board for longer than Weitz has lived in the town. Bernie Walsh is not new, she has more experience on the council then Weitz and Willet combined on FAC.
9:08 it’s not yet cast. The current plans by Saraceno have very LIMITED number of parking spots. That’s why they want a huge garage funded by residents. Once the garage goes down in size, they will hopefully have to revise the plan to build more parking and less number of apartments.
Their plans are not yet approved by the zoning board.
@9:08, even IF that is a done deal there are other available areas of land. What is going to happen then? More 35UA apartments or what the next developer asks for? We need a comprehensive plan so every available plot of land does not become another big building. Will be easier and easier to seek sympathetic zoning once the big hospital, garage and 4 apartment buildings are in place. And make no mistake, the planning board is passing these massive changes NOT because they are best for Ridgewood but because the planning board has been STACKED with developer friendly appointments of the current council. Additionally, there is the Walnut street redevelopment zone with the potential for MORE. We need the right people on the planning and zoning boards to stagger this and make sure every code etc is followed and loophole closed. That is Voigt’s wheelhouse and I trust him completely.
@ 2:40, All of the candidates are bright and impressive and you are misleading when you speak of “things can’t stay the same”. I have not heard any of the candidates (and I have spoken with them all) be against development or moving forward. But, Voigt, Walsh and Hache favor planned development that is not haphazard but is resident (not developer) driven. Furthermore, the FAC was in itself a political appointing and not an elected position. Their perspective from being on the FAC is in my opinion actually a detriment…taxes and spending should always be appropriate but they lack the ability to see the forest from the trees. The best option is not ALWAYS the biggest yet the BIGGEST will almost always have efficiencies of scale..still doesn’t make it the best choice for our Village.
Rurik:
I do love your diatribes. However, you as well as your cronies (Aronsohn, Purciarrelli, Hauck, Willet, Wietz, Brooks) are out for the interests of the few to the detriments of the Village. It saddens me that you think this way. We need to plan for what our Village will become – either a park and ride (your preference) or; remain true to our traditions – a Village (my preference). As I stated previously, I sincerely hope the electorate on May 10th state loud and clear : “fool me twice, shame on you” to the poor planning and mismanagement of the past council majority.
Jeff
Gail Price wrote a sad commentary on Facebook. Her husband is running for office and she believes that he is being libeled. No doubt that she loves her husband but they are not cut out for politics.
Brooks has gone on the record as being for the “council knows best” garage. He has to live with that public statement writted by a PR firm, and MANY disagree with him. Like Vaggianos he will not win. I am sorry to se that they talked him in to running for office. He is being used. Nice guy, coach. And leave it at that.
I trust Hache implicitly , not Jeff Voigt. If you listen to Jeff Voigt , like the story he told about meeting with Valley bosses, it means nothing, durign League debate. He said he wants another garage at Walnut St. Can we afford it?
Hache said he would make an effort to talk to Valley, but offers no guarantees. Jeff tells long entertaining stories that mean nothing, and did SAY AT LEAGUE DEBATE that he would try to make current high density numbers smaller. That is impossible , and that is not telling the truth. There is almost nothing more left in the CBD to plan for. And after the four lots get built up, and a garage is built, the CBD is ruined. Jeff voted for the garage, he said he didn’t know what was happening. That is not the kind of council person I want. I knew what was happening , I saw the illustrations of the garage at Pucciarrelli’s meeting with architects, where the public was invited. I saw the illustrations of the garage, around town and the Citizens for a Better Ridgewood said to vote no. Where was Jeff. He is not honest. He is on the zoning board and wants to run for council and had no idea about the garage. And now is making all kinds of promises. Give me a break. I am old and have lived in town for forty years. He may be a nice person and good neighbor, but I don’t trust him on the council, sorry.
So Jeff said at League debate he wants another garage at Walnut st. I hate garages ; A small one is enough for me.
So that is Jeff’s plan for the town. Another garage. Is Jeff going to vote for Weitz and Brooks and Willet. They would agree with him.
Why doesn’t Saraceno run for office and stop putting up straw men?
He knows that no one would vote for him.
Weitz? Who the hell would vote for him? He does not go to council meetings because he works, has kids, and the meetings go on too long. He is too busy to even bother to vote. He has absolutely no interest in this job other than the fact that Aronsohn asked him to run. Weitz will get the fewest votes of all. He does not even deserve one vote.
Willet? Are you for real? Who would vote for her? She will allow all the building to proceed as large as possible, she will let Valley expand to the curb line and to the clouds. And she is busy looking for a man, per her announcement that her husband moved to Florida and left her here. Nope, she gets no vote.
Brooks? Oh my god, another total loser. He neglects to mention that his WIFE is the planning board attorney, no mention during the entire nepotism discussion this past week. Can you say LIAR? He claims that civility is so important, yet he posts all kinds of nasty comments on facebook. All he can talk about is Ridgewood 2020. he coined a little slogan and repeats it ad nauseum. Worthless. NO VOTE.
VOIGT – HACHE – WALSH is the way to go. They are smart and involved. They are independent thinkers. They want to improve Ridgewood without ruining it. They are not in the pockets of developers. They will end the bloc-voting that we have been subjected to for four years. Oh my gosh, the sun will shine again in Ridgewood.
VOIGT HACHE WALSH
It’s a landslide… the new 3 amigos have the anonymous endorsement… must be 15 or 16 votes!!
you seem to forgot the last election anonymous pushed Susan and Mike to landslide victories
The FAC is not an automatic step to the council. They are not miracle workers.
Their volunteer service is appreciated the same as all the other men and women who volunteer in the schools, sports programs and village committees.
We were not a town on the verge of bankruptcy that was saves by the FAC. They are a partisan group with an inflated sense of worth.
James and Paul who is this anonymous
James… I think Susan and Mike did it in their own right so I don’t think the blog put them over the top … Mike must have gone thru 3 pairs of shoes pounding the pavement door to door… he really worked hard at the run… which has been to the town’s benefit…
same voting block but bigger this time
@8:16. You are wrong on Voigt. All I can tell you is that hache, Voigt and Walsh are the only way to go. Many people favor two smaller garages to spread out parking, I believe he was one. If you believe the things you wrote about wanting appropriate size and scale in town the only people to vote for are Walsh Voigt and hache. The other three were directly chosen by the three amigos and will go even further in the lush to overdevelop.
CBR did not take an official position on the garage aside from encouraging residents to get involved, attend meetings and become informed before voting.
Jeff, your response is proof positive of the phony you are, putting words that are untrue in people’s mouths. You may end fooling the electorate once, but believe me you will not be able to fool them again. Rurik
To Anonymous 4/23, 8:16pm
Feel free to call me about your comments. FYI, am already meeting with one of the developers to discuss ways in which their development can be made smaller. Secondly, I believe your comments as to no more planning needed in the downtown are misguided. Again happy to discuss with you our need for parking and where it might go, as well as future commercial and housing developments that make sense. As well, the only candidate who has met with Valley has been me.. It was a very fruitful conversation with the CEO. She left the door open to me for future conversations on this issue.
Jeff
201-251-8204(w)
To Anonymous 4/23, 8:16pm
Feel free to call me about your comments. FYI, am already meeting with one of the developers to discuss ways in which their development can be made smaller. Secondly, I believe your comments as to no more planning needed in the downtown are misguided. Again happy to discuss with you our need for parking and where it might go, as well as future commercial and housing developments that make sense. As well, the only candidate who has met with Valley has been me. It was a very fruitful conversation with the CEO. She left the door open to me for future conversations on this issue.
Jeff
201-251-8204(w)
Rurik Halaby – can you please increase your post frequency? You are great, we need you to post 20-30 a day here and on facebook.
Rurik:
I do admire your tenacity. However, I have real concerns over your misguided vision for the future of Ridgewood. You and I need to have a beer one of these days.
Jeff
Regarding the multi-family housing, no one should assume it is a done deal. There are a lot of details to be worked out. Citizens have 45 days to file a lawsuit to stop the nonsense, and I believe that is going to happen.
But even if this round of projects goes through, we need to stop the next round before our schools and admnistrative services are completely over taxed. Did you hear Willits at the debate – – she welcomes the housing projects because she thinks we need more students in our schools. She is completely out of touch. How does the Wiletts Weitz Brooks coalition intend to pay for the new classrooms, new teachers, new services for all these new families that they want to move into town? Oh, that’s right, their plan is to have the rest of us pay.
Don’t be fooled again – – Vote for Voigt, Walsh, Hache. Say yes to progress, say yes to moving into the future and say no to four more years of backroom deals designed for the benefit of the few.
REPEAT POST AS THE EARLIER ONE GOT ERASED BY MISTAKE:
Jeff, let’s have a beer after the election is over. If you win, a most unlikely scenario, it will be to congratulate you. If you lose, it will be to thank you for running, and as a consolation prize. Consolation Prize, as in First Prize, One Week in Philadelphia, Second Price, Two weeks. We will also invite the worst newsman in America, one Leon Trotsky, I mean James. He needs to meet me to thank me for all the traffic my posts attract, you know from the Braying Mob. To make sure not too much blood is spilled, we will also invite Paul Smith to umpire. He and I disagree on more issues than we agree on, but I respect his integrity. It will be the Thrilla in Manila.
Jeff please stop responding to Rurik. You have been giving this guy more respect than he deserves.
He received his dues on the LWV night. Now let him stay alone. Please please please do not engage with him. He does NOT deserve your respect.
Rurik:
You are on! However I am working like the dickens to win this.
Jeff