Councilwoman Knudsen - THE RIDGEWOOD BLOG.

Posted on March 12, 2016 March 12, 2016

Historic Preservation Chairman Teams Up With Mayor to Silence Councilwomen

file photo by Boyd Loving

March 11,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, The Historic Preservation Chairman, Vince Parillo, asked if any members of the HPC had any comments. When Councilwoman Susan Knudsen commented,Vince Parillo then asked, do any voting members have any comments?, thereby ignoring Councilwoman Knudsen’s comments. When it was time to vote, Councilwoman Knudsen explained her vote, the Mayor questioned the audience whether Councilwoman can vote, and the HPC Chairman Vince Parillo replied that her vote doesn’t count.

Basically Mayor Aronsohn and HPC Chairman Vince Parillo had teamed up to discredit Councilwoman Knudsen and make her presence irrelevant in the meeting.

Tony Damiano, a store owner and also President of The Ridgewood Guild, is a newly appointed HPC member. He sent a letter because he could not attend. In his letter he mentioned he is approving “Plan D” because this design fits the lot, which is not correct, as he well knows as he attends Village Council meetings at which this fact has been clearly discussed.

Jim Shimmel voted on the design while he should have recused himself because he owns a building next door to the proposed garage.

In the meeting it was also discovered that the resolution passed on January 27th for design D requires two lanes for traffic on Hudson Street but design D only provides one lane.

Lastly, a resident asked the architects why the archways of the garage, which are supposed to be 11.5 feet high, look smaller than the entrance door of The Village Green restaurant, which is probably six feet eight; the architects could not explain this apparent inaccuracy

Posted on April 11, 2015 April 11, 2015

Reader says Councilwoman Knudsen actions are an attempt to get to the bottom of this sordid affair

file photo by Boyd Loving

Councilwoman Knudsen, if she really sits and thinks about it, will realize that she has the municipal equivalent of Legislative Privilege to shield her from negative repercussions from the actions she took in an attempt to get to the bottom of this sordid affair, and the public statements she made in attempting to articulate her impressions of the apparent suspicious misfeasance and unaccountable nonfeasance of many of those with whom she shares the local governmental stage. We should all pray for her that she not buckle or crumple under the combined weight of all the unfair attacks lodged against her in response to her probing questions (and they really do seem to be rolling out the big guns). If Ms. Knudsen backs off now the precedent will have been set and this set of circumstances will be repeated as necessary and ad nauseum until legitimate political opposition by the minority becomes a lost art in Ridgewood. On the other hand, if instead she stands her ground (as she absolutely should, since she has done absolutely nothing wrong, and so much that is so sweetly right) and manages to carry her point to its logical conclusion, we will be blessed with a shining, Patton-like example of courage which we can then use as a touchstone during future disputes with the sulphurous political element that has unfortunately surfaced in Ridgewood (and those disputes will come…).

BTW, there is no way a contracted labor attorney can go toe-to-toe with an elected member of the Village Council, regardless of the pure truth of the matter, when there the criticisms made against the former party has such a clear basis in publicly-confirmable fact.

Posted on March 16, 2015 June 27, 2021

Reader says Councilwoman Knudsen is entitled to exercise her own judgment

Reader says Councilwoman Knudsen is entitled to exercise her own judgment

The decision to “recuse” by an elected official is one that is arrived at: 1) by that elected official (i.e., nobody gives an order that another must follow); 2) on a case-by-case basis (i.e., no categorical prohibitions to participation, or recusal “precedent” based on past practice (read: Killion); 3) as a result of a fact-based analysis (i.e.., the details matter and must be considered); 4) in accordance with a pre-determined standard (no making it up as we go along); 5) considering whether the appearance of a conflict would bring scandal even if no actual conflict exists or is likely to arise; but also 6) being careful not to recuse too readily (i.e., not necessarily at the drop of a hat, or in response to the first ‘hint’ of a conflict) lest the electorate be improperly and improvidently deprived of the thoughtful services of their chosen representative (i.e., this is no mere ‘employee’ of the Village).

Councilwoman Knudsen is entitled to exercise her own judgment on this issue, free from either unsolicited heavy-handed advice (pre-recusal) or uncivil and hypocritical scorn (after declining to recuse, if that’s what she decides) from any of her Village Council colleagues.