The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
file photo by Boyd Loving
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Fire Chief Van Goor divulged some interesting information to combat the rash of misinformation circulating in the mainstream and over social media about the per diem EMT issue . The Chief in an EMT FAQ rattled off a litany of Firefighter qualifications , who responds to emergency medical calls and yes, the modifications have already been tested in February 2021 when no per diem EMT’s were available .
“It was Paul, Al , Gwen and later Roberta. They forced the high density ordinances and were pushing an even larger garage on Hudson. The current structure is a compromise. I hate it too but was around for the big fight and attended the meetings.”
file photo by Boyd Loving
Many changes during my 28 years as a neighbor of the Habernickel Horse Farm. The once bucolic setting transformed into a chaotic mix of nonstop Health barn business activities and recreation programs. Hillcrest Road is a mess and wildlife is disappearing.Fear of retaliation keeps neighbors quiet.
Stacy Antine stalks the neighbors. She takes photos of them walking their dogs in the park and she instructs her employees to do the same. She has a timeline in a few of them and they are NOT afraid to share it or speak out. This business destroyed a park and the owner made it personal and took neighbors to court. Ramon was aware of this situation and now as Mayor is promoting it. What a disappointment .
Be careful in that park. Antine keeps a list of all who enter even-neighborhood kids with backpacks what out. Unless you pay to go you get written up It is NO longer a friendly neighborhood park thanks to healthbarn and the village for still allowing it.
I heard that Antine was accusing neighbors of being racist, and now that I remember those hearings was back when Aronsohn and Sonenfeld ruled the dais that was the case then. People who spoke up against using a public park for a private enterprise were accused of not wanting children from Newark to come to lily white Ridgewood. Whenever the racism card is put down on the table all bets are off. She is despicable.
the neighbors are willing to let everyone know what Stacy Antine owner of healthbarn did to them in their own neighborhood where they must pay a ton of taxes to live Ramon should be ashamed to promote this business after the owner pulled a stunt like the one she did. Everyone should know and be aware that the village is choosing to support a business over the quality of life of tax payers
I seriously do not believe that our present council members are in it for the non- existent money that they have pouring in for their votes. They are actually forfeiting time that could possibly be used to earn money instead. I’m afraid I can only say that about this council as prior ones had too many commercial supporters and buddies to really know what was going on.
…..the fly has heard that a not so new face , new face was introduced to Ridgewood Politics. At a recent gathering hosted by the Siobhan Winograd and the Halaby’s at Upper Ridgewood Tennis Club, the new face of the toxic trio was resident Alexandra Harwin. Harwin has the support of the “toxic trio” or the “3 amigos” known as Gwen Hauk , Paul Aronsohn and Albert Pucciarelli. This is the first time anyone has seen Albert Pucciarelli since the three were driven from office .Others in attendance were rumored council candidate Paul ” the wall “Vagianos . Who’s own candidacy is a bit controversial given the current social environment. Former Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld was also in attendance .Local observers have called the “3 amigo” endorsement the “kiss of death “. Noticeably absent was Councilmen Jeff Voigt who’s antics on the dais have endeared him to many local town folk.
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.
December 12,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood Blog
Ridgewood NJ, In a letter to the editor : A lack of civility in Ridgewood https://www.northjersey.com/story/opinion/readers/2017/12/12/letter-lack-civility-ridgewood/944073001/, former council candidate Evan Weitz sticks up for ethically challenged former Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn , and former breath of fresh air Village Manager Roberta Sonnefeld .
Wietz like may New Jersey politicians supports the philosophy that the rules are only for the little people and politicians and their flunkies are always above reproach ,they are here for self promotion, self aggrandizement and personal gain at your expense .
The boiler plate letter is almost believable except that it defends a group of people and their supporters who called residents “terrorist” , “grandstanders” , physically attacking legal petitioners in the central business district , mocked people who lived on the far east side of Ridgewood, hosted efforts to silence dissent , attacked businesses that didn’t go along with their schemes and egregious mishandled almost ever public forum they held.
Reader said, “Nice to see that ya’ll are finally taking your head out of your asses and realize that you have been getting screwed for years. And James, stop with the Union City crap. It’s getting old. We don’t need “massive upgrades” to anything. Do we need extra capacity to bring the town into the future? Sure. But your doomsday predictions because a few developers understand what the towns future residents want is classic of the Ridgewood NIMBY attitude that keeps anything from moving around here. Including how the municipal govt. works. You want change or will you continue to bitch and moan anytime anyone takes action. We can’t move forward if you insist on remaining in the past.”
Best for you to take your head out of the sand ,
Ridgewood as a nice place to live was virtually destroyed by the prior council or the 3 Amigos. The push to turn Ridgewood into Union city , with high density housing creates a need for massive upgrades of the Village infrastructure . This will take a decade , water, sewer, traffic, schools ,police , fire and so on all need massive taxpayer funded upgrades thanks to the actions of the 3 amigos and Roberta . The Villages ability to increase revenue has also been curtailed by giveaway contracts and bad leases . So no one with any sense will stop blaming the Paul Aronsohn , Gween and Uncle Albert as well as their side kick flunky Roberta
Roberta is, was and will always be Paul Aronsohn’s puppet. This move is part of a much larger scheme to discredit Susan Knudsen. Why? Because they are gearing up for the next election. The dark side has to win the two opening spots so they can regain the voting block. Jeff Voight is holding their third spot. Salivating for 2018. They have a lot of shady agendas waiting to push through.
Very important not to assume they are truly gone. They still have much skin in the game and want more. Every person appointed to a committee/board/etc. as a future source of information/votes should be dismissed, as should every preexisting staff member drawn to their questionable glow and continuing to feed them information and work on their behalf (grants for construction, etc.). Every committee or other group created solely to further Aronsohn’s post council career should be eliminated pronto, starting with the super-bogus Financial Advisory Committee.
file photo by Boyd Loving
Knudsen and Sedon went through Hades for two years with the Three Amigos insulting them at every turn. They do not deserve this kind of treatment from Voigt. It really must grate on them. If you think about it, that must be the desired result — to demoralize them, wear them out, and persuade them not to run for re-election. They are certainly under no obligation to run again but Ridgewood would be very fortunate if they were to do so. We need as many people like them as we can get in elected office. The amount of destructive energy the Three Amigos mustered and expended on a regular basis while in office was prodigious. They were constantly conniving and dissimulating, spewing their duplicitous rhetoric like possessed Energizer Bunnies. How good officeholders can justify dealing with that kind of stuff without resigning on the spot is a mystery but we are lucky here in Ridgewood.
December 11,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, it has been pointed out by some readers that unless the published list of Ridgewood Library Trustees is incorrectly stated on their website listing the ex-mayor and one of his appointees on the Library Board as the current mayor .
Last time we checked there was a new mayor in the Village of Ridgewood , and she seemed eminently qualified to represent the residents of the Village.
Removing the Ex-mayor and his appointee and adding the current mayor with her appointee would help restore the public’s confidence as to the direction of the Library . The continued association with the ex-mayor only leads one to conclude for many residents that something nefarious is going on.
Ridgewood Library Board of Trustees
Gail Campbell
President
Arlene Sarappo
Vice President
Daniel Cummings
Treasurer
Christine Driscoll
Secretary
Jean Cleary
Member
Janis Fuhrman
Member
John Saraceno
Member
Paul Aronsohn
Mayor of Ridgewood
Albert Pucciarelli
Mayor’s Delegate
Dr. Daniel Fishbein
Superintendent
Linda Diorio
Superintendent’s Delegate
Ex Officio
Paul McCarthy
Friends
Betsy Giordano
Foundation
Nancy Greene
Library Director
Meetings are held in the Library’s Administration Conference Room, 3rd Floor
125 N. Maple Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
Meetings will be held monthly on the 4th Tuesdays of each Month at 7:30 PM
(exceptions are marked with an *)
Upcoming 2017 Meeting Dates:
January 24
Februrary 28
March 28
April 25
May 23
June 27
July 25
August *no meeting
September 26
October 24
November 28
December: TBD
Board meetings are open to the public
Well this is off subject but I do not know where else to post it. The Ridgewood News today has a great article about the high density housing fight. A lawsuit indicates that Pucciarelli should have recused way earlier than he did. When asked by the reporter to comment Mr. Pucciarelli declined. Love it. Mr. Big talker who could not shut up ever when he was on the dais now has his mouth shut. Have a crappy weekend Big Al the Developers Pal.
file photo by Boyd Loving
Roberta was a time bomb waiting to explode left behind by the Aronsohn conglomerate. Good she’s gone. She sealed her own coffin by submitting a nasty letter of resignation, and then behaving badly immediately following its submission. No supervisor in their right mind would have let her stay on. Mr. Pucciarelli wrote in her defense only because he’s one of those who hired her. He’s only trying to save his own face.
The outgoing (gone) Village Manager, the right thing to do is tell the counsel that you think they’d be better served by someone else, and that you’d be happy to stay on and enable a smooth transition to the new Manager. If she was asked to leave anyway, then at least she looks professional. Instead, she took a figurative dump on her boss’ desks, then started emailing around the office to tell people about it. So she was escorted from the building! Think about it. How else is that scenario going to play out? How high in the corporate world could she have risen, really? I’m genuinely curious.
Albert Pucciarelli letter was just plain ridiculous.
Let’s talk reality, not nonsense:
Show me a leader/manager who would allow any employee who submitted a letter of resignation in which he/she expressed his/her utter dissatisfaction (in writing) with working conditions, and also plainly acknowledged (in writing) a complete disagreement with management’s philosophies, to continue his/her employment with complete access to the employer’s computer network, telephone system, accounting data, and confidential personnel files, and I will show you a leader/manager who is a big a-hole.
Susan Knudsen did the right thing by forcing that condescending bitch with the fat ass out of her office and out of the building.
Good riddance to bad rubbish!
file photo by Boyd Loving
From the July 2015 Ridgewood Library Board of Trustees Meeting
A couple of library board trustees said they want to move ahead with the original plan, which called only for the renovation of the library, and add in the construction of a performing arts center next to the library and village hall. This would turn the library and its surrounding area into the cultural hub the members are seeking.
The cost of the library renovations alone is estimated at around $5 million, according to Ralph Rosenberg, who was responsible for the renovations 20 years ago. Rosenberg has agreed to advise the trustees throughout the process as “owner’s representative.”
The estimated cost of the renovations, including the hypothetical performing arts center, is unknown.
(Community News | At the Library | Ridgewood Inside NorthJersey.com)
See any common threads here?
Board of Trustees Ridgewood Library
John Johansen, President 12/31/2015
Elisa R. Legg, Vice President
Arlene Sarappo, Secretary 12/31/2018
Gail Campbell, Treasurer
Christine Driscoll 12/31/2018
John Saraceno 12/31/2017
Janis Fuhrman 12/31/2018
Paul Aronsohn, Mayor
Albert Pucciarelli, Mayor’s Delegate
Dr. Daniel Fishbein, Superintendent of Schools
Linda Diorio, Superintendent’s Delegate
Don’t we have auditoriums in EVERY school which can be rented for a very reasonable price. Why do we need a performing arts center? Not to mention that the property is in a flood zone.
Yes, the National Elks organization appears to have been “gotten to”, at least indirectly, by a cabal of local supporters of the idea of building a performing arts center where the Elk’s Lodge now stands. The Local Elk’s club membership is probably reeling at the treatment they have been receiving from their national – level hierarchy. The tax status of the property on which the Elk’s Lodge now sits appears to have also been the subject of hijinks or skullduggery of some sort. Its valuation was dropped by more than half, if memory serves, with no apparent explanation for the change, which sounds like a setup.