Ridgewood NJ, in Glen Rock a OPRA lawsuit in 2018 ,”a Glen Rock resident named Timothy Larkin claimed he was “banned” from participating in a public dialogue on Councilman Skip Huisking’s Facebook page, which Huisking called an “official” page of Huisking’s, where the councilman conducts official government business.
On April 10, Larkin filed a lawsuit against the Borough of Glen Rock, and Borough Clerk Jackie Scalia, for denying an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request for access to the list of Facebook accounts blocked or removed by Glen Rock mayor Bruce Packer and all members of the Borough Council. The suit is focusing on the public Facebook pages maintained by the mayor and council members, and not their personal Facebook pages.
Ridgewood NJ, Councilmen Jeffrey Voigt up and left the June 25, 2018 Village Council meeting about five hours and 43 minutes after it began. He gathered up his jacket and departed the dais in the middle of testimony from one of the Ridgewood Water Company constituents. He said nothing to any of his Council colleagues, and offered no explanation for his unceremonious departure in the midst of this very important meeting. The person who was providing testimony at the time seemed befuddled, as this departure occurred when he was mid-sentence, and asked whether Mr. Voigt would be returning. Well, the meeting continued for two more hours, and Mr. Voigt never returned. Mind you, this is one of our elected officials who is supposed to be paying attention to important issues. The other four council members stayed on until the wee hours of Tuesday morning, in spite of having young children at home, jobs to get to, and myriad other responsibilities.
On June 27, the hearing was continued starting at 7:00 PM. Councilmen Voigt never showed up. Mr. Timothy E. Shanley , an elected official from Wyckoff, voiced his complete displeasure with Councilmen Voigt’s disrespect for the process. He further indicated his intention to object if Mr. Voigt wished to vote on Ordinances 3636 and 3637 regarding rates for Ridgewood Water customers, as Voigt completely missed out on two hours of important testimony. His planned objection proved unnecessary, as Councilmen Voigt was completely absent from the June 27 meeting, discussion, and votes.
Village Council Attorney Matthew Rogers indicated that Councilmen Voigt decided to leave the June 25 meeting because he knew he would not be able to attend the June 27 meeting at which the votes would be taken; why bother to stay any longer and listen to further testimony if you are not going to vote anyway?
The staff of The Ridgewood Blog is outraged by this latest rudeness from Councilmen Voigt. He chose to run for office, and as such he has an obligation to be informed. Even if he knew he could not attend on June 27, it is still his duty to be educated on all issues facing our governing body. It sure seems as if Voigt just wanted to distance himself from a difficult vote, so he can say later on “don’t blame me, I wasn’t there.”
Voigt has repeatedly and frequently demonstrated utter disrespect for the citizens of Ridgewood and their concerns, this just being the latest from this man who is a complete and total disappointment and failure as a Ridgewood Village Councilman.
Ridgewood NJ, In a recent biased article by Northjersey.com, formerly known as the Bergen Record , the “Record “once again attacked the Village of Ridgewood Mayor Susan Knudsen and the hiring of her sons on the Ridgewood police force .The article by Deena Yellin goes out of it way to quote dubious sources such as “Rurik Halaby” who has no standing on the issue what’s so ever and Councilman Jeff Voigt who resorts to name calling of residents from the dais and is more well know for his outburst at council meeting than any serious policy discussions .
The article reads ,”In Ridgewood, tempers flared over Mayor Susan Knudsen’s support of a 2014 ordinance that retained residency preferences in police and fire department hires. That ordinance allowed her sons to be bumped up ahead of other candidates, said Rurik Halaby, a longtime resident and banking executive.” Omitting the fact that Susan was not the mayor at that time and represented only one vote out of five .
The simple fact is “Ridgewood is a state of New Jersey Civil Service municipality,” ,meaning candidates are ranked based on standardized test results. The list exists and any one can access it . Not knowing her sons were on it is meaningless. In Ridgewood the village manager is the hiring authority for the village and is required to adhere to state hiring regulations. Council members are prohibited from any involvement.
The article goes on to say “Shortly after Knudsen’s vote, she helped swear her children in.” Shortly after was 2017 her vote was 2014 , 3 years is shortly after ??? ,not in the New York Metro area.
A state ethics panel recently rejected a complaint against Knudsen, saying it was a Civil Service matter, end of story and is not dependent on Don Delzio , or Rurik Halaby point of view.
The article failed to mention that former Mayor Paul Aronsohn and his side kick former Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld were found guilty of ethics violations. The article also failed to mention the phone call to Mike Sedon employer ,the former Manager interfering with a lawful petition drive and the former manager hiring her friends and giving a preferential commercial lease to friend of hers as well as making a mess of the park mobil deal.
The article did quote Village Attorney Matt Rogers “There are standards used,” said Ridgewood Borough(Village not Borough) Attorney Matt Rogers. “The mayor can participate in discussions of the department budgets, but cannot participate in discussions pertaining to her sons’ raises. She had nothing to do with their hiring.”
Then the article goes totally off the rails once again attacking the Village Police Department and it personnel , “But questions linger. Councilman Jeff Voigt wondered how a fire chief or police chief would be able to properly supervise the mayor’s kids, even if she is not directly involved in overseeing the department. It raises thorny issues, he said. And again letting Voigt make fallacious assertions , “That puts them in an uncomfortable situation,” he said. “They [the kids] may even get preferential treatment.”
No Councilmen what makes people uncomfortable , is see you throw away you political career siding with a bunch of failed ethically challenged losers.
Ridgewood NJ, councilmen Jeff Voigt making the rounds to former Village managers house Roberta Sonenfeld for a coffee with Alexandra Harwin .He was one of five people who attended .
Voight is a disaster and meets with residents privately to bash knudsen, Sedon and Hache. He orchestrates public comment and asked me to come to the microphone and accuse Knudsen of doing something illegal. Not only did I refuse I told Knudsen everything voigt said. He is a nasty liar.
Very true that Jeff meets with tax payers privately. He has tried to have meetings with myself and my husband. We found it odd
Let’s look at what Jeff Voigt run his campaign on. He misled us with all his fancy signs & quotes. What a liar….. people voted for him & what he told us be wanted to do for the Village. Such a big disappointment for the residents & for the residents who thought he shared the same views.
Voigt attempted to mislead and misrepresent what happened in court to trick us residents . He went to Facebook and posted that he was found innocent. Wrong. Voigt was not found innocent the case was dismissed, according to the article, because of lack of evidence. Lack of evidence doesn’t equate to not guilty and it doesn’t mean innocent . Voight did what he did and he’s responsible. Instead of apologizing went straight to Facebook to continue bullying and intimidating the same residents. Then voigt added more resident names to his hate list.
Voights bullying and intimidation is intended to stop residents from participating in government. Anyone is at risk for the same retaliation by Voight for disagreeing with him.. It would be terrible for all of us to lose residents who are engaged because of voights bullying.
Voigt has embarrassed himself and embarrassed the Village. In trying to misrepresent a dismissal he’s proven he can’t be trusted.
Ridgewood NJ, Councilmen Voigt continues his attack of Village residents over the weekend with more posts on who is making legal OPRA requests .Voigt and his cronies on the Financial Advisory Committee clearly prefer to operate in a vale of secrecy .
While this is clearly an attempt to pressure residents , from exercising their legal rights and limit and restrict public access to information in the Village .
Councilmen Voigt continues to attempt to squash OPRA requests by pushing the idea of a vast Mayoral conspiracy against him. However years of running this blog would suggest that sunlight is still the best political sanitizer.
So what is OPRA:
SECTION 1 – OPRA DEFINED What is the Open Public Records Act (OPRA)? OPRA is the State statute that replaces the old “Right to Know Law” which governs thepublic’s access to government records in New Jersey. The law is compiled in the statutes as N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq.
In accordance with the Open Public Records Act, Village offices, officials and departments have to make available public records through formal requests. Requests may be submitted in writing by submitting a “records request form” by completing the online form below.
According to the Citizen’s Guide to the Open Public Records Act – State of New Jersey ; OPRA provides overriding public policies in the legislative findings (N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1) which must be considered during the handling of all OPRA requests for access to government records. Those public policies are:
Government records must be readily accessible for inspection, copying, or examination by its citizens, with certain exceptions, for the protection of the public interest.
Any limitations on the right of access to government records must be interpreted in favor of the public’s right of access.
A public agency has a responsibility and an obligation to protect a citizen’s personal information that is in the possession of a public agency when disclosure of that information would violate the citizen’s reasonable expectation of privacy.”
In fact, in Burnett v. County of Bergen, 198 N.J. 408 (2009), the Court held without ambiguity, that the privacy provision “is neither a preface nor a preamble.” Rather, “the very language expressed in the privacy clause reveals its substantive nature; it does not offer reasons why OPRA was adopted, as preambles typically do; instead, it focuses on the law’s implementation.” “Specifically, it imposes an obligation on public agencies to protect against disclosure of personal information which would run contrary to reasonable privacy interests.”
If you want to exercise your legal right to access records under the Open Public Records Act this is how you do it in Ridgewood :
How to Request Government Records?
1. All government records are subject to public access under the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”), unless specifically exempt.
2. A request for access to a government record under OPRA must be in writing, hand-delivered, mailed, transmitted electronically, or otherwise conveyed to the appropriate custodian. N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5.g. The seven (7) business day response time does not commence until the records custodian receives the request form. If you submit the request form to any other officer or employee of the Village of Ridgewood, that officer or employee must either forward the request to the appropriate custodian, or direct you to the appropriate custodian. N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5.h.
3. Requestors may submit requests anonymously. If you elect not to provide a name, address, or telephone number, or other means of contact, the custodian is not required to respond until you reappear before the custodian seeking a response to the original request.
4. The fees for duplication of a government record in printed form are listed on the front of this form. We will notify you of any special service charges or other additional charges authorized by State law or regulation before processing your request. Payment shall be made by cash, check or money order payable to the Village of Ridgewood.
5. You may be charged a 50% or other deposit when a request for copies exceeds $25. The Village of Ridgewood custodian will contact you and advise you of any deposit requirements. You agree to pay the balance due upon delivery of the records. Anonymous requests in excess of $5.00 require a deposit of 100% of estimated fees.
6. Under OPRA, a custodian must deny access to a person who has been convicted of an indictable offense in New Jersey, any other state, or the United States, and who is seeking government records containing personal information pertaining to the person’s victim or the victim’s family. This includes anonymous requests for said information.
7. By law, the Village of Ridgewood must notify you that it grants or denies a request for access to government records within seven (7) business days after the agency custodian of records receives the request. If the record requested is not currently available or is in storage, the custodian will advise you within seven (7) business days after receipt of the request when the record can be made available and the estimated cost for reproduction.
8. You may be denied access to a government record if your request would substantially disrupt agency operations and the custodian is unable to reach a reasonable solution with you.
9. If the Village of Ridgewood is unable to comply with your request for access to a government record, the custodian will indicate the reasons for denial on the request form or other written correspondence and send you a signed and dated copy.
10. Except as otherwise provided by law or by agreement with the requester, if the agency custodian of records fails to respond to you within seven (7) business days of receiving a request, the failure to respond is a deemed denial of your request.
11. If your request for access to a government record has been denied or unfilled within the seven (7) business days required by law, you have a right to challenge the decision by the Village of Ridgewood to deny access. At your option, you may either institute a proceeding in the Superior Court of New Jersey or file a complaint with the Government Records Council (“GRC”) by completing the Denial of Access Complaint Form. You may contact the GRC by toll-free telephone at 866-850-0511, by mail at PO Box 819, Trenton, NJ, 08625, by e-mail at grc@dca.state.nj.us, or at their web site at www.state.nj.us/grc. The Council can also answer other questions about the law. All questions regarding complaints filed in Superior Court should be directed to the Court Clerk in your County.
12. Information provided on this form may be subject to disclosure under the Open Public Records Act.
Let’s not blame four great elected officials for the folly and bull of Jeff Voigt. The article doesn’t make sense and Vogt does seem paranoid. If the Mayor filed an opra for doublin emails then why would she suddenly have to work in concert with anyone to file an opra. Doesn’t make sense to me. Is the mayor limited to only one Opra in a year? Why would Vogt feel intimidated because of emails on a public server? He is supposed to be doing village business. Does this mean he’s doing village business with Alfred Dublin or the record? Ifso, exactly what village business is he doing with them? It sounds like Vogt is trying to suppress public records or maybe he’s just a fool. In either case he’s not serving Ridgewood residents. If voigt has a lgbt brother why didn’t he say so in a public meeting? Instead he writes in a letter to editor?
Seriously?
Voigt is a terrrible disappointment. As one who had a coffee for him at my house and I donated $$ to his campaign, I really thought he was the real deal, honest, forthright, and independent. Was I ever wrong. He has a terrible temper, which he cannot even control on the dais. Aronsohn was able to keep his temper under control in public but would go wild in private. Hauck and Pucciarelli, like Voigt, would go off in public whenever the felt wronged. A temper is not a character flaw, but it becomes one when a public official interrupts meetings with his tantrums and then goes after the ever-pleasant Heather Mailander. Moving on from his temper, we have his vindictiveness. For reasons that I do not understand, Voigt despises our mayor. I mean he hates her guts. For a period of time he refused to call her Mayor Knudsen, such a grown-up that he is (not). This level of animosity is not helpful to anyone in town. Then you have his dishonesty and underhandedness. He lied at the meeting on Wednesday, as plain as day, said he never saw an email from susan and then got pissed off when it was revealed that he forwarded it to the editor of the newspaper. Someone said he is entitled to write a letter, and I for sure agree with this. But his letter contained a major error about whether the flag could fly on any town property, when it was clearly stated by Mr. Rogers that it could fly in Van Neste. And then there is his out and out stupidity. thinking that he could write all sorts of slanderous things on company email and keep them private. DUH. And instead of being mad at himself for doing this, he gets mad at Susan and Heather for revealing them and then starts blaming everyone in sight.
Every time he seems to have calmed down, he comes out with another Aronsohn-like outrage. Dissing his fellow council members in public before the issue was even decided was pretty low and only makes him look bad.
Known and unknown detractors and calumniators of our mayor are diligent, working toward her political reduction and the resurrection of the Aronsohn faction. There is a level of sophistication in their machinations that our Village has never before seen or experienced. In some ways this speaks well of ordinary citizens in Ridgewood, in that the big guns of political warfare are now being rolled out to try to disarm and discourage them, and yet our non-political municipal heritage is not really yielding to the pressure. Most towns get caught unawares, leading to easy takeovers by the democratic machine. The reader who posted this is quite astute. Voight is undoubtedly recruiting like-minded candidates to run, win, and serve with him for at least a two-year period as a new majority that would marginalize Councilpersons Coughlin-Walsh and Hache much like the present Mayor and Deputy Mayor suffered at the hands of former Mayor Aronsohn and his cronies. Their treatment was atrocious and they are due a debt of gratitude for persisting and waiting for the dawn the way they did.
Ridgewood NJ, The Eagle is the highest recognition that Scouting offers to Scouts. It is earned through the advancement program, and only a small percentage of boys who begin in Scouting receive this honor. The wearer of the Eagle award is the epitome ofScouting’s best efforts and beliefs.
Eagle Scout Court of Honor , Mayor Kundsen said , ” Always a privilege to be part of this wonderful event! Congratulations Alex and Dan!” In the photo above the Mayor is pictured with Councilmen Voigt .
