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“Funny – this was suggested by the Aronsohn administration. “If you want to have your opinion heard, run for office”. Suggesting that only those on the dais get to air their point of view. Seems that Mr. Voigt subscribes to this idea as well. I don’t know Mr. Kim and I don’t always agree with him, but his opinions are generally well researched and presented in a civil way. Seems like we need more of that not less.”
Kim rarely ever finds the good in the town or in people, you never see him around town at the pride event, gun violence and awareness, daffodils festivities at van ness, seen at resturants, seen at any park or graydon. Does he volunteer anywhere? Not sure the motivation but it’s very disruptive. If he knows better, perhaps he should run for an open seat upfront, not preaching from the back seat.
Talk of Civility Masks the Truth: Capitulation
“Civility” can be a cloak used to mask an agenda of dominance. Agree with me, or give-in to my viewpoint, and you’re a nice, civil person. Disagree, and you’re either stupid or evil – and, either way, uncivil.
“Those who talk most about civility,” wrote Richard John Neuhaus in his landmark work, The Naked Public Square, “usually define it in terms of their accustomed way of doing things. ‘Their way of doing things means they continue to be in control. We mean to take over – nicely, if possible, but if that’s not possible, well, civility is not the highest of the virtues.
Well lets not forget what he and his running mates have done in the past with their attacks on fellow council members, employes and citizens and vote accordingly. Don’t be fooled by all this civility act. They are trying to smooth over their image so they get re elected and continue the BLOCK VOTE that they have enjoyed.
Readers feel the Mission of the “Civility Forums” is nothing more than Censorship and Control political speech of Village residents.
I have not been able to attend the the so-called Civility Forums initiated by Paul Aronsohn of Ridgewood. I am sure that most of us would like to have the volume lowered in public discourse. The irony is that much of the high volume public discourse is perpetrated by politicians, pundits, and the print and electronic news media. I agree with the blogger that it is elitist that elected officials, a lobbyist, and a newspaper publisher would use their position and power to imply that anonymous bloggers are in someway destructive to the democratic process. I should not have to remind the participants that history is riddled with people in power who have sought to control and re-write the public narrative to their satisfaction. Mr. Tedesco and Paul Aronsohn should read Robert’s Rules of Order to maintain orderly public meetings. Public opinion, free speech, and dissent are the domaine of all the people including those who choose to remain anonymous.
“Ed Koch once said ,”If you agree with me on 9 out of 12 issues, vote for me. If you agree with me on 12 out of 12 issues, see a psychiatrist.”
But not according to Stephen Borg, Publisher and President, North Jersey Media Group, who insisted that the whole problem is that since people have found their voice through social media they have come to so many different opinions civil discourse has fallen .Things were so much better when North Jersey Media had a monopoly on public discussion and could always dictate terms . Borg implied that elites like himself we the only ones qualified to make those decisions. Borg pointed out how this blog and its anonymous posters are the greatest enemy to not only American Democracy but to the dominance of North Jersey Media Group. While I was rather flattered that the Publisher and President, North Jersey Media Group thought this blog shook the very foundations of civil discourse and was viewed as the barbarians at the gate , I would suggest the far larger problem might be the totally bias, and slip shot reporting of his Media Empire. Borg set the tone for the evening which came down silencing critics and reasserting the elitist “we know better than you ” , so time to be quite .https://theridgewoodblog.net/civility-forum-moves-forward-to-squelch-public-dissent/ “
Yes, it does sound as if some Gruber-like sentiments about the general public were expressed at the most recent event of Mr. Aronsohn’s series of discussions designed to lay the groundwork for the Obama administration’s plans for naked and direct government censorship of the political speech of individual citizens.
The general public, as a whole, has and regularly displays, far more integrity than do, as a whole, the self-appointed elites in this country. That’s why the following sentiment has always rung so true:
“I would sooner be governed by the first two thousand names in the Boston telephone directory than by the two thousand members of the faculty of Harvard.”― William F. Buckley Jr., Happy Days Were Here Again: Reflections of a Libertarian Journalist
Hillary Clinton, pining for Aronsohn-style “civil discourse”…as if! Sounds suspiciously like Borg with her complaint about non-standard media sources.
Hillary Clinton Blames ‘Different Media’ For Dividing Country by Charlie Spiering/Breitbart , the Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton complained that “different media” are dividing the country, making it impossible for people to even have a conversation with each other.”
Mayor’s Witch Hunt Continues for ,”anonymous bloggers”
So who sent Councilmen Sedon’s job and anonymous email ?and which “community leader ” spams the Ridgewood blog with thousands of nasty messages daily using Anonymous IP providers ? Even issuing semi terrorist threats and attacking even student success stories?
While anonymity of blog posters took a hit as expected some pointed out that even on facebook were you know who everyone is the comments can be even nastier . A resident put it down to a type of “keyboard bravado.”
https://theridgewoodblog.net/it-all-comes-down-to-keyboard-bravado/
And of coarse who could forget Yik Yak attack on RHS , Yik Yak is called the “most dangerous app I’ve ever seen ” https://theridgewoodblog.net/psychiatrists-view-yik-yak-is-most-dangerous-app-ive-ever-seen/ Again nothing to do with the Ridgewood blog .
Now for some interesting facts :
Notice these social networks offer few options for anonymous functions and also notice Facebook (no anonymous functions) is a major source of cyber bullying clearly uncivil behavior .
CyberBullying and Social Networks
Facebook: of all youths polled, 75% of them use facebook and 54% of those experienced cyberbullying.
Youtube: of all youths polled, 66% use Youtube and of that number, 21% of that percentage experienced cyberbullying.
Twitter: of all youths polled, 43% use Twitter and 28% of them experience cyberbullying.
Ask.fm: of all youths polled, 36% use Ask.fm and 26% of them experienced cyberbullying.
Instagram: of all youths polled, 24% use instagram and 24 of those experienced cyberbullying.
Tumblr: of all youths polled, 24% use it and 22% of those experienced cyberbullying.
Myspace: of all youths polled 4% use it and of that,89% experienced cyberbullying.
Another Survey done by legal experts Slater and Gordon and the Anti-Bullying Alliance, reveals that over half of children and young people in England (55.2%) accept cyber-bullying as part of everyday life.
67% of children would turn to their parents if they were bullied online. However, 40% of parents do not know how to respond if their child is cyber-bullied or how to set up filters on computers, tablets and mobile phones that could protect their children.
49% of parents say that the amount of opportunities their child has to access the internet leaves them struggling to monitor online behaviour, with 51% saying this also makes them afraid for their child.
69% of teachers and 40% of young people said that more should be taught about cyber-bullying and online safety through the national curriculum. However, 43% of teachers said their school did not currently teach anything about cyberbullying and online safety. More than 30%of teachers said they didn’t have adequate knowledge to match the online behaviors of their pupils, with 44% saying they didn’t know how to respond to cyber-bullying.
https://nobullying.com/cyberbullying-bullying-statistics-2014-finally/
Civility in Public Discourse – Tonight Tuesday, February 24th @ 7:30PM
The Village of Ridgewood will host a panel discussion on “Civility in Public Discourse” on Tuesday, February 24 at 7:30pm at the Ridgewood Public Library.
Panelists will include Lynne Algrant, Councilwoman, Englewood; Stephen Borg, Publisher / President, North Jersey Media Group; Jacqueline Luthcke, Captain, Ridgewood Police Department; Robert Sommer, Public Affairs Executive / Jersey City Official; James Tedesco, Bergen County Executive.
The facilitator for the discussion will be David Fine, Rabbi, Temple Israel. “This panel discussion will provide a good opportunity to take our conversation about civility to the next level,” explained Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn. “These community leaders each offer an important perspective, and we are fortunate to have this chance to engage them in such a meaningful way.”
Civility in Public Discourse – Tuesday, February 24th at 7:30PM
The Village of Ridgewood will host a panel discussion on “Civility in Public Discourse” on Tuesday, February 24 at 7:30pm at the Ridgewood Public Library.
Panelists will include Lynne Algrant, Councilwoman, Englewood; Stephen Borg, Publisher / President, North Jersey Media Group; Jacqueline Luthcke, Captain, Ridgewood Police Department; Robert Sommer, Public Affairs Executive / Jersey City Official; James Tedesco, Bergen County Executive.
The facilitator for the discussion will be David Fine, Rabbi, Temple Israel. “This panel discussion will provide a good opportunity to take our conversation about civility to the next level,” explained Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn. “These community leaders each offer an important perspective, and we are fortunate to have this chance to engage them in such a meaningful way.” The event will be open to the public. WHAT: Panel Discussion on Civility in Public Discourse WHEN: Tuesday, February 24 7:30p to 9:00p WHERE: Ridgewood Public Library 125 North Maple Avenue, WHO: Panelists Lynne Algrant, Councilwoman, Englewood Stephen Borg, Publisher / President, North Jersey Media Group Jacqueline Luthcke, Captain, Ridgewood Police Department Robert Sommer, Public Affairs Executive / Jersey City Official James Tedesco, Bergen County Executive Facilitator David Fine, Rabbi, Temple Israel HOW: Remarks by panelists, followed by questions / answers.
Civility in Public Discourse :This is truly getting ridiculous!
This party has to be broken up!
What’s next? Will the Village Council eventually vote to make it illegal to go so far as to raise one’s eyebrow in response to misbehavior by public officials? Does anyone remember the Alien and Sedition Acts of the late 1790’s which made it illegal to publicly criticize the government? We don’t need a quasi-public civility panel composed in large part of non-residents to impose via subtle (or not-so-subtle) social intimidation tactics what was so clearly unconstitutional for the government to impose via the criminal code.
Do we really want the newly-elected Bergen County Executive telling us how to express ourselves in Ridgewood? This was a mistake for Mr. Tedesco to intrude on Ridgewood’s strictly local concerns. Tedesco should withdraw from the scheduled appearance immediately unless, of course, he plans to break out into a full-throated defense of the God-given free-speech rights held so dear by self-respecting Ridgewood residents (much to the chagrin of Mayor Aronsohn, who by now must be fed up with us “bitter clingers”).
Make no mistake, the North Jersey Media Group would like nothing more than to turn back the clock to a time when letters to the editor (never anonymous) and speaking at the public microphone (never anonymous) at public meetings were the only timely and reliable ways to get one’s point across to the wider public when attempting to register discontent as a resident or taxpayer with the activities (or unaccountable lack of activity) of local government. Anonymous commenting on local blogs, demonstrably on the increase both in terms of frequency and political effectiveness, is so clearly anathema to traditional news outlets (such as print newspapers) straining to prop up the remnants of the political power structure built up so carefully over time by the progressive elite. Accordingly, we in Ridgewood should not put up with people who live outside the Village seeking to impose their free-speech restriction ideas on us, whether they were invited to do so by our mayor, or not.
The steady march of technology, and the irrepressible desire of Americans to speak their minds freely and without fear of disproportionate political or personal retribution, is making things more and more difficult for progressive House Organs like the Record of Bergen County and The Ridgewood News to control the terms of political debate. And that, as Martha Stewart would say, “is a good thing!”
Civility in Public Discourse – Tuesday, February 24th
The Village of Ridgewood will host a panel discussion on “Civility in Public Discourse” on Tuesday, February 24 at 7:30pm at the Ridgewood Public Library.
Panelists will include Lynne Algrant, Councilwoman, Englewood; Stephen Borg, Publisher / President, North Jersey Media Group; Jacqueline Luthcke, Captain, Ridgewood Police Department; Robert Sommer, Public Affairs Executive / Jersey City Official; James Tedesco, Bergen County Executive.
The facilitator for the discussion will be David Fine, Rabbi, Temple Israel. “This panel discussion will provide a good opportunity to take our conversation about civility to the next level,” explained Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn. “These community leaders each offer an important perspective, and we are fortunate to have this chance to engage them in such a meaningful way.” The event will be open to the public. WHAT: Panel Discussion on Civility in Public Discourse WHEN: Tuesday, February 24 7:30p to 9:00p WHERE: Ridgewood Public Library 125 North Maple Avenue, WHO: Panelists Lynne Algrant, Councilwoman, Englewood Stephen Borg, Publisher / President, North Jersey Media Group Jacqueline Luthcke, Captain, Ridgewood Police Department Robert Sommer, Public Affairs Executive / Jersey City Official James Tedesco, Bergen County Executive Facilitator David Fine, Rabbi, Temple Israel HOW: Remarks by panelists, followed by questions / answers.
Councilman Pucciarelli attacks Marcia Ringel for merely exercising her civil right to speak
November 21,2014
Marcia Ringel
On July 21, 2014, after Councilman Pucciarelli had raked me over the coals (and before he did more of it) for my comments on the way the election of mayor and deputy mayor had been arranged with the help of Skype, the mayor took over. In one of his comments he used phrasing identical to what is in his email message posted here.
I was startled, considering that I hadn’t used profanity, approached the dais, even raised my voice–merely exercised my civil right to speak. Haul in the clergy to teach us how to behave? It sounded canned. Five months later, we see that it was.
Next Monday night’s meeting has clearly been in the works since at least early summer. Those words were on the tip of his tongue in July.
[about 16 minutes in:] https://www.ustream.tv/recorded/49862179
Is the intention to use the clergy’s comments as an excuse for rewriting ordinances on public deportment at meetings? Is it appropriate in the first place to introduce clergy to discussions of public issues in such a setting? No.
Should this not be a real public meeting with appropriate public notice–not a private meeting in which the names of attendees are checked in advance? What is happening here? These sort-of-private, sort-of-public meetings on important topics that legally squeak through because fewer than three council members are present are an insult to residents and to the rules of governance. All council members SHOULD be present to hear such things if they are heard at all.
At a council meeting on July 21, 2013, after the Village had refused to buy a Mobi-Chair for Graydon after years of empty talk about making Graydon handicap accessible, I suggested from the podium that the mayor resign, with an apology, from Access for All. I said I could see an invisible “H” on the wall behind the dais, and it stood for Hypocrisy.
[about 10 minutes in:] https://www.ustream.tv/recorded/36140109
That H is getting bigger.
