April 21,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Yes the debate was pretty mundane. No big shockers. Voight, Walsh and Hache all said the Valley compromise is too big, and a 3% reduction is no compromise. They will work to have it come to a better conclusion.
Both Weitz and Brooks both defended their support of the Valley expansion as if reading from the same script: “You know, Valley Hospital is our neighbor, too.”
They all spoke about the current divisiveness in the council, and that they could work with anyone.
Voigt had a lot of knowledge about many of the topics being discussed. He will dig beyond the surface of all of the issues.
Walsh showed she has the experience and knowledge to jump right in. Hache was confident, intelligent, and thoughtful in his responses.
There was no mention of Brooks being married to Gail Price (lawyer for the planning board that guided them to
a yes for Valley, and a yes to tripling Ridgewood’s density)
Evan Weitz has only lived here a few years. When asked why he hasn’t been seen at any council meetings, his response was
basically, “The council meetings are late, I have young kids, I have a day job, I watch on TV after they go to bed.” He has not voted in a municipal election since he moved here.
On a side note many readers felt Brooks looks just like radio’s Don Imus .
Best parts of the night: Rurik Haliby was told to sit down by the moderator, and was not allowed to ask a question.
Paul Aronsohn was up to ask a question, when the moderator called time. He was not allowed to speak! The crowd broke out into applause!
