The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
CRAB has long outlived its usefulness and veered off into personal politics. This is hardly a group to objectively advise the council. Sometimes a group’s having been in existence for a long time is a reason to end it, not continue it blindly. There is no good reason now for Ridgewood and Glen Rock to be united in this one way and only this way. It’s dumb.
photos courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook Page
January 14,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The incident of the flipped car in Wilsey Square reflect the hazards predicted to arise from the Arohnson Council’s changes to our Village infrastructure.
Everyone knew the Wilsey sguare changes were a disaster waiting to happen: The bike lane, the wall, the intrusion of the wall into the square and, of course, the 42nd street neon sign falshing messages to already distracted drivers. The traffic back up each morning is horrific. Each day, pedestrians are at risk.
The Arohnson council was also warned of the consequences inherent in its decision to dump a private business into the middle of a public park and playground at Hillcrest park. Other examples abound.
But we haven’t seen anything yet. Pretty soon, the four massive Arohnson Council apartment projects will break ground and begin building at the same time. Dump trucks and construction vehicles will be barreling through our downtown and side streets day after day for the next year. And then, when the projects are completed and hundreds of new families move into our downtown, we will have somewhere between 300 and 900 cars going down our already overcrowded streets.
Its foolish to think those new families and current Village residents won’t be put at risk by these changes. Yet, what are we doing to prepare? What is the current council doing to anticipate and prevent more occurrences like the accident we just saw. Pointing fingers at the Arohnson council or at each other doesn’t help. Bad planning decisions have consequences. Yes, blame for the bad planning of the Arohnson council rightfully belong in its lap and on its conscience. However, the blame game doesn’t improve our safety. The current council needs to take affirmative steps now, or the results of its inaction will impinge on the safety of our Village citizens for years to come. It is not clear what it is doing to keep people safe. Moreover, it seems the current council may be headed in the wrong direction. If the current council goes through with a garagemahal in the middle of the new apartment complex, it will only exacerbate the problems by dumping another 200 cars on so into those same narrow, overcrowded streets.
Time for action now.
January 11,2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, in the what many residents describe as the ultimate irony Councilmen Jeff Voigt when to the defense of the CRAB or Community Relations Advisory Board in a letter to the editor .In Defending CRAB meetings in Ridgewood ( https://www.northjersey.com/story/opinion/readers/2018/01/09/letter-defending-crab-meetings-ridgewood/1017985001/ ) Councilmen Jeff Voigt attempted to lend his support to an organization and its leader that is not without controversy .
While I am not going to argue the merits of the organization , Voigt went on to complement its leader Jan Phillips , saying “Jan Philips has done over the years in making CRAB inclusive; as a vehicle for educating residents; and in pushing forward issues that make us consider what is right and wrong in how we treat others. We need more “Jans” in Ridgewood “., yea mean like calling residents “grandstanders ” in a Village Council meeting or dismissing Mayor Susan Knudsen by telling people Paul Aronsohn still runs this town? No we defiantly don’t need more “Jans” and of coarse attempting to bully the mayor and the Village council over the “gay pride” flag.
Voigt wasted no time going to the time honored track of attacking “anonymous posters” on the Ridgewood blog . Perhaps if he read posts more carefully and he would see that most of the “nasty” comments are from his and Paul Aronsohn’s supporters, and former members of the FAC . While I am not going to rattle off names at this time , a quick peek at some comments and they read surprisingly similar to things said on several Facebook group pages and of coarse said at Village Council meetings . I also seem to remember several incidents where the councilmen himself used some “nasty comments” , toward several residents ,several council members and the current mayor.
Sad but true I just watched the meeting from Nov 2015. What a farce.
Apparently this business had a start date set by the village before the village took any of the proper steps to place it at habernickle. except for the change of use which was done behind everyone’s back
Then the neighbors came to the meeting ( nov 2015) with NO time to prepare. 20-24 concerned tax payers spoke up and because of their intelligence and education in the matter ( that they got within 24 hours of their own personal research ) the town had to follow proper guidelines and the business WAS not allowed to open as scheduled. Fishy!! BuT no loss to the business the town let them use the stable!!! Nice favor Roberta! I wonder if she paid rent?
Whatever, the bottom line is the council had NO intention of following proper protocol of a green acre public park until it was pointed out to them by residents. They still didn’t want to but they had no choice since the state was involved. We still are NOT sure how it all happened behind closed doors but I will tell you aside from the garage meeting this was one of the best meetings to watch…shows how the public was harreassed and completely disregarded by Paul, Gwen,Albert and Roberta Sad but true!
Actually I think Roberta Sonenfeld told a neighbor that NO dogs were allowed in Habernickle YET they are…crazy she didn’t even know her own rules!! But let’s throw a business in there!!
file photo by Boyd Loving
Bottom line is if this business was placed in a green acres park by past council and VM without following the proper procedures it is time for present council and VM to make the proper adjustments to the lease
If the lease was written in favor of the business without the tax payers rights being considered it is time for VM to make the proper adjustments
The fact that a business was placed in a residental neighborhood WITHOUT a trial period is absurd!! And the fact that it has been there for 21/2 years and the council and VM get endless complaints about the neighbors quality of life AND these have been ignored needs to be looked into too!
file photo by Boyd Loving
What needs to be explored is #1 what does this business do for Ridgewood besides pay a below market rent?
What benefits are there for Ridgewood to place a business in a park? To have changed the use of a home and whole residential area?
Why are certain folk supporting this to the extreme of embarrassing themselves?
And most importantly how much is this business costing the town of Ridgewood to be here?
And lastly if the business was down the street in waldwick would Ridgewood lose out on anything besides the under market rent?
Any class she does for the town or Ridgewood she gets paid,so why do we tax payers have to give up a park and a rental property?
Aronohn was there for eight years and left a mess. knudsen had me at 3066 repealed and we should never forget the garagezilla, huge multifamily apartments, 94’high Valley expansion, the clear cutting of public lands, healthvarn giveaway, the uncivil aronsohn puccciareli hauck sonenfeld bunch.
Some mess to clean up and good job .
The present council is worse than the previous. The past council was open about how they wanted to destroy everything about the town that made it unique and charming. This council is devious and destructive. Watch them tear away at the islands around the train station next. And dig deep because parking meters will demand your coin from 8 a.m to 9 p.m. to fund an ugly , muggers paradise parking garage. I can just read the headlines now. Train riders robbed, injured, late at night coming home from NYC on train and getting their car from top floor of expensive garage. Expensive garage will have garbage strewn around and taxpayers will have to pay for the clean every day. Meanwhile the employee parking lot at Cottage Place is always empty, only a few cars parked there. What wonderful planning by the council. THE PAST COUNCIL KEPT TAXES DOWN. Not with this stupid council. Remember , never say never, I thought I would never vote for Aronsohn and gang, but I will next time. At least I will know what I am getting. Disappointment is too painful.
Jan Phillips really has balls. Oldest trick in the book, try to divert attention from the FACTS by claiming that facts are not involved. Aronsohn and Sonenfeld were found GUILTY of misusing public funds. This was not Ridgewood residents who determined their guilt. It was a group of seven independent people who have nothing to do with Ridgewood and everything to do with open, honest government. Open, honest government is something that Aronsohn, Sonenfeld, and their defenders know nothing about.
December 22,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the ethically challenged former Ridgewood Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld attempted once again to interject herself in village affairs in a letter to the editor exclaiming ,” I must admit that I’ve been stunned as well by the misinformation, changing stories and fluctuating revenue numbers coming from Village Hall. It would be laughable if it wasn’t all so disturbing and costly to us Ridgewood taxpayers.” https://www.northjersey.com/story/opinion/readers/2017/12/20/letter-ridgewoods-handling-parkmobile-situation-puzzling-and-disturbing/968874001/ . This is not the first time a contract arranged by the former Village manager that has generated controversy and not been viewed as being in the best interest of the Village of Ridgewood .
The facts are actually very simple and the Sonenfeld letter is filled with misinformation and fails to mention two key items:
1. The Resolution that the Council signed in February of 2015 stated a 2-year contract. She signed a 35 month contract.
2. The Resolution that the Council signed in February of 2015 stated NO FEES. She signed a contract with fees.
Arohnson is enough of a politician to have seen the gathering winds of suburban change and the undercurrent of discord that was building up. Then, he exploited. He used fear of change to create an appealing political message averring managed growth based on shared values. Once he had his triumpherate in place, however, he then set about reoraganizing things according to his own myoptic view. As he was fond of saying, he wanted to remodel Ridgewood in the pattern of the Brunswicks. Developers, hospital administrators, restaurant owners and others drove pick up trucks through his naivete, arrogance, stupidity and, yes, greed, and we taxpayers are left with the mess and the tax burden.
But, its wrong to blame this one target (no matter how blameworth it is ). The truth is we all bear responsibility for having allowed the exploitation to take place. And now the question is what are we really doing to undo what was done and put us back on track.
Well, the previous council and their committees got everything they wanted. That is the reality.
Multi family housing, parking garage, athletic filed at Schedler and to boot a bonus prize for hard work…. tearing away the lovely islands at the train station and putting in a narrow pathway and calling it just as attractive. Aronsohn and his gang must be laughing hard at that one while they sip their champagne. They got an unexpected reward!! Even they would never have suggested tearing away that lovely greenery. Clunk heads , the current council, clunk heads.
or maybe no….
well we do not have a parking garage and we might not ever. The proposed field at Schedler is way smaller than Don Delzio and his denizens proposed. The train station parking lot re-furb will be way WAY better than a gargantuan garage.
Aronsohn and his gang are meeting with lawyers and spending lots of money trying to figure out how to save the remains of their reputations from ethics charges, charges of lying about parking-app contracts, etc. Not a lot of champagne flowing there.
This town is about as good as it gets when it comes to attracting these chancers and crooks to our political process.
1. It’s wealthy
2. It’s mostly disconnected from the goings-on being that many of the adults work long Wall St hours and the wealthy wives are far too preoccupied with lunches and social activities.
3. It’s a very transient population. People move in so that their kids go through the schools – then move on.
4. The majority are Democrat and have a macro view of Democrat politics, having no clue as to the small town crookery that exists in local politics.
file photo by Boyd Loving
December 16,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The Village Council voted to terminate its contract with Parkmobile this week, after it was discovered that the Village had incurred huge service fees with the parking app they have used since 2015.
The Fee issue was first raised publicly during an October meeting when CFO Robert Rooney told the council that the parking utility loses about 30 cents on the dollar every time the smartphone app is used. He said that since signing its contract with Parkmobile in February 2015, the village has paid $140,000 in service fees to the company.
Resolution 15-52 , the resolutions granting ParkMobile a 2 year contract ,clearly states that the Village will incur no additional service fees or contract fees .
Most of the blame has fallen on Roberta Sonenfeld who was the Village Manager, although she thought she was an elected official. The fact is she should never EVER have signed that contract when she was only authorized by resolution to sign a contract with NO ADDITIONAL FEES.
Reader stated , “that She bragged about her business prowess and being a Six Sigma expert. Based on her acrimonious, arrogant and ignorant behavior, she proved to be a Five Phi Failure!”
Hahaha, read the Ridgewood News today that Ms. Sonenfeld says (and I quote)….
“The misinformation currently circulating about the Parkmobile contract is curious at best. No Village money goes to Parkmobile.” So speaks Ms. Roberta Sonenfeld.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is one of the many reasons why Ms. Sonenfeld was poison to our Village. Yes, Roberta, Village money DOES got to Parkmobile. Did you even read the contract you signed in March of 2015? Fifteen cents on each transaction goes to Parkmobile. So does 3% of the total transaction paid by the user (which includes the 35 cent fee the user pays, so Parkmobile collects twice). It has amounted to a TON of money over the past 2+ years.
Shaking my head. She really thinks that by stating outright lies it will somehow make them come true.
