Tag: FAC

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Ridgewood Mayor puts an end to personal attacks during the pubic comment period

Village Council -Halaby

photo by Boyd Loving

May 4,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Mayor puts the hammer down on personal attacks during the pubic comment period . After a bitter attack by Rurik Halaby on the council praising former Mayor Paul Aronsohn and former Village manager Roberta Sonnefeld .Halaby called the council unprofessional amateurs at the same time praising the Financial Advisory Committee .Halaby questioned weather the FAC was invited into the village budget discussions.

Once the Ridgewood blog reminds you that in order for the Financial Advisory Committee to be an effective part of the Village governance the following criteria must be met:

Publish clear and realistic by-laws
Post agenda’s of all meetings
Post minutes of all meetings promptly
All members must sign Financial disclosure forms  
All members must sign NDA’s or non-disclosure forms

These are professional standards that are used and commonly accepted everywhere in the world.

In the real world this is how you run a financial decision body. It is also important to fill the committee with people who have some experience in finance, not failed or “wannabe” politicians who are promoting their own secret agenda.

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Reader says Nothing emanating from the Financial Advisory Committee can be assumed to be well intentioned

godzilla

Nothing emanating from the Financial Advisory Committee can be assumed to be well intentioned. Continued pressure to build a structure that not only is unneeded but also failed a binding referendum bears the whiff of Aronsohn’s dogged instructions to his minions. Let us never forget that his political career, even his bids for Ridgewood Council, has been financially supported by construction unions throughout the state; the apartments we may face downtown being closely allied with this. But that garage, which he may well have promised absolutely, still figures in his dreams, and he still has an eye on higher office. Maybe by age 50 he will finally realize that he will never go farther than local mayor (now hated), abandon his political aspirations, let us alone, and get a real job. May that day come soon. And may he move away, too.

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the Fly …always a buzz about parking in Ridgewood

fly-on-wall

….the fly has noticed that with every new suggestion for parking changes there is a concerted push to undermine the Mayors efforts .Who could believe that here in “turf town” that people suddenly are concerned with an empty strip of grass at the Ridgewood Train Station. Mind you years of neglect didn’t seem to make an impact. Every new suggestion is attacked by the same group that brought you “Garagezilla” an ill fitting monstrosity with its sole purpose was creating taxpayer funded parking so private developers didn’t have to. Recent events on Bogart and Cambridge suggest  a further attempt to undermine the Village council efforts ,with engineering over reach and a failure to communicate. The Financial Advisory Committee’s recent debacle  with their “alternative facts “garage report gave away the game proving unequivocally that the FAC is behind attempts to undermine Mayor Susan Knudsen as they were with previous Mayor Kieth Killion.

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Aronsohn Cronies Continue to Undermine New Village Council

Ridgewood 3 amigos

February 13,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood Nj, seems the attempts by the council to reconfigure parking have been met with new calls for “Garagezilla” .

In a recent NJ.com article on struggling downtowns Englewood was mentioned for having over 2000 parking spaces available, including a 345 space garage, many new, upscale downtown housing developments, and still stores are closing. The fact is the retail landscape has changed and it has nothing to do with the lack of parking or limited foot traffic/customer availability.

While in Ridgewood many allies of the former mayor Paul Aronsohn are using any attempt at incrementally adjusting parking allocations to promote a massive parking garage. Aronsohns supporters in the Ridgewood Financial Advisory Committee or FAC continue to use the eerily familiar tactics they used on Mayor Killion and Village Manager Ken Gabbert , blaming all cost increases on the new Village Council.

Remember the Financial Advisory Committee was created by the mayor Aronsohn solely as a breeding ground for future council members willing to live in his shadow. The fact remains that in order for the Financial Advisory Committee to be an effective part of the Village governance the following criteria must be met:

Publish clear and realistic by-laws
Post agenda’s of all meetings
Post minutes of all meetings promptly
All members must sign Financial disclosure forms  
All members must sign NDA’s or non-disclosure forms

These are professional standards that are used and commonly accepted everywhere in the world. If they are not met in Ridgewood the committee must be closed done otherwise the Village will continue to leave itself open to lawsuits.

There has been a noticeable increase repeat critical comments on the Ridgewood blog mirroring the same lines over and over. The same lines once used against Mayor Killion and Kenn Gabbert are now used against the current mayor and Village council.

“My friend went to park at one of the lots that require an app and was unable to download so couldn’t use the lot. She said the lot was mostly empty and also that there was a fee to use the app. I think the VC made these parking rules so complicated now people are just staying away. I’m not aware that merchants supported this plan. I think the new VC came in with ideas of how to “fix” parking and this is the result. I’m sure merchants would rather have seen a parking garage. Good luck. I stay out of downtown altogether now.”

To bad this poster forgot to mention the “parking app ” was the brainchild of the Aronsohn administration and  Former village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld.

“The poster does have a decent point about commuters getting screwed by the vocal, anti-development, municipal-election voting majority in Ridgewood who control the Council agenda. Commuters are too busy to care much despite the fact the Council screws them at every turn, i.e. $250 annual increase to $1000 for a commuter parking space which was moved further away from Ridgewood station after the pass was paid for last Dec. Thanks VoR!”

While complaints about the overpriced commuter parking seem valid blaming the current council for the insane property taxes is a recurrent theme,“So go on blaming Aronsohn for the continued inability of this Council to come up with a viable solution for the commuters who pay the bulk of property taxes in Ridgewood. As 12:43 noted, if Ridgewood is no longer attractive to commuters as a place to raise their families (due to high property taxes versus declining schools despite a $100mn annual BOE budget, etc) then property values fall. As potential revenue sources like Valley leave, those who remain will have to just pay more to cover for the excessively expensive contracts the Village and BOE have agreed to with the public sector unions we contract with. Commuters and taxpayers getting screwed, a declining CBD, and a school system that no longer ranks highly in the nation are all facts”

Again,not sure what the Village Council has to do with the Ridgewood Board of Education, and all the residents voting for constant tax increases ie full day kindergarten and turf fields?

Other comments ecco the same shots taken against Killion ,“What proposals does the new Counxil have James? Rebuild Schedler (no conflicts of interest there, right?). Raise taxes to pay the police even more (again no conflicts, wink, wink)? Are we still studying traffic flow? Where’s the Valley PILOT? What’s the plan to renew the CBD? Commuter parking? How do we replace the potential tax revenues from Valley? Do we need such big, expensive police & fire depts if Valley is leaving in 3 years? Even you know the Village is in decline James, while Summit, Tenafly, Scarsdale and Greenwich all see the increase in their property values outpace ours. Why is that?”

This comment is so full of misinformation it ended up in our spam folder.

It all gets summed over and over by the following comments , The poster does have a decent point about commuters getting screwed by the vocal, anti-development, municipal-election voting majority in Ridgewood who control the Council agenda. Commuters are too busy to care much despite the fact the Council screws them at every turn, i.e. $250 annual increase to $1000 for a commuter parking space which was moved further away from Ridgewood station after the pass was paid for last Dec. Thanks VoR!

Anotherwords if we built the garagezilla and massive high-density housing all problems would be solved …. right that’s the ticket oy vey.

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Financial Advisory Committee Must Meet Professional Standards

FAC committee Ridgewood

January 31,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, in order for the Financial Advisory Committee to be an effective part of the Village governance the following criteria have to be met:

Publish clear and realistic by-laws
Post agenda’s of all meetings
Post minutes of all meetings promptly
All members must sign Financial disclosure forms  
All members must sign NDA’s or non-disclosure forms

These are professional standards that are used and commonly accepted everywhere in the world.

In the real world this is how you run a financial decision body. You also attempt to fill the committee with people who have some experience in finance, not failed or “wannabe” politicians who are promoting their own secret agenda.

Unfortunately, until these criteria are met any Financial Advisory Committee or FAC decision should be viewed with maximum suspicion and nothing more that a joke, a joke that could get the Village involved in massive lawsuits.

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Reader says Financial Advisory Committee is being used for the wrong purposes and conflicts of interest abound.

village Council election

A Financial Advisory Committee could have worked if established properly. Unfortunately, the reality is that it’s being used for the wrong purposes and conflicts of interest abound. Now that we have a CFO, which was not the case at the time, the committee should be disbanded. They and their leader Aronsohn are using it to beat a political horse, as intended. Their official voice needs to be silenced asap. They are not experts in this field. While financial disclosure agreements would be important if their (highly questionable) recommendations were to continue, which they should not, residents should not have to supply such things. QED, kill the committee. As for Mayor Knudsen’s so-called conflict of interest, what is this, Fox News, pounding away at untruths in the hope that they will become facts? Only Jim Griffiths thinks that where her parents live is an issue. So they live sort of near there–so what? Many, many residents who live in every corner of town agree that the opinion on the dispensation of Schedler of everyone who lives in that area deserves far more consideration than that of anyone who doesn’t. And they have been most gracious in accepting the idea of a small ballfield. If I lived there I would say NO to all of it.

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Time for Ridgewood’s Financial Advisory Committee to File Financial Disclosure as well as Non-Disclosure Agreements

CBD high density housing

January 28,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Pro Financial Advisory Committee (FAC) continue to spread unfounded rumors about Mayor Knudsen. While readers Are question are members of the Financial Advisory Committee getting more out if it than (questionable) personal glory, unacceptable power (much less under current than previous council, which invented the committee), and CV items for possible future election runs?
Perhaps financial disclosure, as well as non-disclosure agreements should be required for all committees along with bylaws,minutes and meeting agendas.

Financial Disclosures: Candidates running for committees (or any office in the Village) should be required to detail their financial holdings, debt and sources of income so that the public can identify any conflicts of interest they may have.

A Non-disclosure agreement (NDA), also known as a confidentiality agreement(CA), confidential disclosure agreement (CDA), proprietary information agreement(PIA), or secrecy agreement (SA), is a legal contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties.

Recent PRO FAC posters continue to post rumors and innuendo about Mayor Knudsen like they did on Mayor Killian and Kieth Gabbert .

Makes it easier to raise municipal taxes more than 2% a year when you don’t have financial advice. Note the last time we had a “CFO” the Village raise municipal taxes 4.8% a year to hand out retroactive pay hikes to friends and offer +4% annual wage increases to Police & Fire during the Great Recession when inflation was below 2%. Those mistakes might have been avoided if the then Council had good financial advice. Looks like we’re going to make the same mistakes again. At least we won’t need so much public safety now that Valley’s leaving.

The last time Ridgewood had a CFO municipal taxes rose 4.8% a year.

Mayor Knudsen and her cronies have finally driven Valley out of Ridgewood – the largest employer in the Village by a wide margin, and a neighborhood institution since 1951. We won’t need such a large police force and fire dept anymore.

This blog is just a Mouthpiece covering up Knudsen’s conflicts of interests and lies

Why doesn’t The Mayor recuse herself from discussions on Schedler? She’s conflicted given her dad lives across from the property and he donated to her campaign.

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The Priority of Ridgewood Committee By-Laws

Jeff Voigt Ridgewood Council
file photo by Boyd Loving , Councilman Voigt
January 27,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, It is a wonderful that the Village Council is going to be reviewing all the bylaws of the Committees and Boards, and is going to have a template for all of them to follow in the future.  It seems that some of these bodies of volunteer citizens have no written bylaws at all.  Some have very skimpy bylaws.  And some have bylaws that exceed the charge that is stated for the committee.  While these committees and boards provide a huge service, and their volunteer members work hard at their tasks, it is very important that their roles are clearly defined.  They are not elected officials, and they are not employees of the Village.  They are volunteer citizens who can provide input and ideas.  Period.

Two committees in particular need to be watched.  Both are chaired by citizens who ran (unsuccessfully) for Village Council last spring, with the full support of Aronsohn-Pucciarelli-Hauck-Sonenfeld.

The Financial Advisory Committee has somehow extended its bylaws to include more responsibility than it is supposed to have.  The chairman Evan Weitz wants to be included in the contract negotiations for the police and fire departments.  Seriously.  Can you even imagine that a committee of volunteers thinks they can be included in these negotiations?  It is not even legal.  And he is being egged on by Councilman Jeff Voigt, who sent an email to Evan Weitz recently asking him to come to the January 4, 2017 meeting and asking him to defend the FAC during public comments.  Evan Weitz has also requested access to information that is not available to the public via OPRA requests.  So glad that the Village Council is going to take a close look at the bylaws of this committee and reign them in.  This committee seemed like a good idea in the beginning, it made some useful recommendations about budget planning and other financial activities, but it is probably no longer needed.  Hopefully this committee can be eliminated altogether, as we now have a CFO who is highly competent.

The Parks and Recreation Committee is chaired by Richard Brooks, who chastised the Village Council on January 25 for having the audacity to put Schedler and Graydon on the Worksession agenda.  Using language and tone of voice that was condescending and falsely authoritative, Mr. Brooks suggested that absolutely no recommendations or decisions about these two parks or any parks should be made EVER without running them by the PRC first.  Mr. Brooks needs to be reminded that his committee is advisory and has absolutely no authority.  He also made a point of announcing that the current and past Village Council liaisons to the PRC, Mr. Hache and Ms. Hauck, are lifelong residents of Ridgewood; he stated that having lifelong residents who grew up playing in the Ridgewood parks is an asset.  When is this elitism going to end?  Newer residents are often made to feel like second-class citizens, and this is dead wrong.  A new resident has just as many rights and his or her opinions are wholly as valuable as those of someone who has lived here for many years.

Although Councilman Voigt publicly characterized the proposed review of all Committee and Board bylaws as an utter and complete waste of time, the fact is that this task is both essential and urgent.  Volunteer committee members are the lifeblood of this community, but their responsibilities need to be clearly defined in order for everyone to be able to achieve the best outcomes.  And when disgruntled citizens such as Mr. Weitz and Mr. Brooks are put into positions where they can attempt to wield power that is not theirs to wield, we have a serious problem.

Mayor Knudsen stated last night that the reviews will begin in March, by which time all Council members will have provided relevant materials from the committees and boards on which they serve.  Looking forward to seeing the outcome of this major endeavor.
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Time to Shut Down the Financial Advisory Committee

Village Council election signs
January 27,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, is it only the Ridgewood blog that concerned a committee the FAC is peering into all town finances, without minutes, public meetings ,bylaws or agendas?
And while we welcome volunteers, the financial background of many on the committee seems a bit thin.
Do the residents of Ridgewood really want town finances discussed in this matter? By people who so clearly have their own agenda?
One reader said , “I was concerned over Richard Brooks statement about the importance of running”all things parks” through them. It indicated a level of importance that simply isn’t their role. I think this is one of the reasons the Mayor is focusing on bylaws for the village committees.”

Another was even more disturbed, “I agree big time. Richard Brooks was extraordinarily nasty and condescending in his tone and presentation. Excuse me, sir, but you are a volunteer (thank you, we appreciate it) but you are not an elected official (not even close, by the way, you were voted down by a huge margin, you were the lowest vote getter). So get off your high horse and stop telling the elected officials what they can and cannot do. They can discuss Schedler and Graydon and any other park they want to. Yes, they will listen to recommendations or suggestions from you and your committee (again, thank you for volunteering) but they are in charge and wild decide what they will and will not do.. Not you. Got it? Get it. Now sit the hell down.”

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Sounds like We Have Heard this All Before ….

village council meeting

I continue to believe that Mayor Knudsen, Deputy Mayor Sedon and Councilman Hache are decent, reasonable people who want to do what is right for the village. Here is my appeal to them.

Please do not assume that the few loudest and most frequent voices you hear from are representative of the entire village, irrespective of what they say.

I, and a lot of people I know, did not vote against the previous council and for the current one because we had much of a view on the Valley expansion, Graydon, Schedler, or the parking garage. Neither did we vote because of those loud voices. What we voted against was the dismissive attitude of those council members against residents.

Now I do not believe that those council members were very being dismissive on purpose. They did very much want to win elections. However, they kept hearing from a specific group that their actions were popular, and that those opposing their proposals were a vocal and disruptive minority.

Unfortunately, I get the sense that the new council has become beholden to a different coterie with its own agenda. That coterie is openly dismissive of regular residents in extremely caustic terms. It is as if we have traded the tzar for the politburo. Questioning actions of the new council is dismissed as the handiwork of the Aronson crew.

I urge you to work for the wider village, and not just those voices and their interests. For example, on this issue it appears that the lack of commuters and abundance of casual diners in the coterie has led to this disastrous decision. I urge you to reverse this decision and in future, think about the outcome for all residents based on wider feedback, and not just based on what you hear from a few.

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The progress Ridgewood folks are back at it! Under the name say YES to the Ridgewood Parking garage Facebook page

progress ridgewood

January 9,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, The progress Ridgewood folks are back at it! Under the name say YES to the Ridgewood Parking garage Facebook page. A boosted Facebook page nonetheless!! Playing on the irritation residents feel at the new parking changes. And blocking anyone from seeing the page who have any opposing viewpoint.
Even if the new parking has some kinks that need to be worked out, this council has been more than open to resident input- at least 4 of them have. Its embarrassing that the same cast of characters (albeit a small, tiny little cast, in stature and in numbers) need to jump on any available topic to try to create divisiveness.
Its amazing any group who claims to want to PROGRESS the town, wants to do so by creating animosity.
Can’t people just solve their problems by coming to the council or reaching out and having a conversation? Now that we have a council who are willing to do that and do that transparently?? These people must have just gotten used to doing business this way. Sad. Another side effect of the Aronsohn era.
Anyway, here’s the post.

YES for Ridgewood Parking
Yesterday at 10:17pm ·

Friday January 6th, 12:00 noon. Driving into the Ridgewood Central Business District for a quick lunch. No spots. Circled a 3 block radius multiple times. 2 aggressive drivers cut me off to take open spots. Okay… be patient, no need for road rage. Drove around a larger circle of blocks. No spots. Well, one but it was a 15 minute spot which is no good for lunch. Thought about parking in a bank lot (as a customer). 10 minutes more driving around. Starting to think about going somewhere else, HoHoKus, Glen Rock, Paramus, but want to patronize a particular Ridgewood business. Total time circling and looking for a spot was 25 minutes. Parked 3 blocks away at the Hudson lot. Only one open spot. Feeling lucky. Then, I noticed the meter posts had stickers on them saying parking was for diners and shoppers only. Hmmm. Never noticed that. Then, over the weekend, a number of Ridgewood residents made FaceBook posts about their discontent as tax paying commuters, who went from an already outrageous $750 parking permit to a $1,000 permit and with fewer spots. Not cool. Sounds like our Village Council is addressing a parking shortage by reducing demand through price gouging. That’s not a solution, and quite frankly, it’s not working. Commuters who pay $1,000 need to park by 6:30 am or they can’t find a spot. So we just screwed commuters. And, even with the added spots for shoppers and diners, you still end up driving around at peak times for 20-30 minutes to find a spot. Some commuters have resorted to parking in HoHoKus where the cost to park is cheaper (for now). None of this is a solution to Ridgewood’s decades long parking shortage. And when the Ken Smith and Brogan properties are developed (and despite all the delay tactics they will be developed), those spots will be gone, further exacerbating our parking problem. Our current Village Council ran on a platform based largely on solving our parking dilemma, yet they killed the Hudson garage plans and their recent solutions have been a slap in the face for Ridgewood commuters. Please take a moment to write the Village Council in support of a better solution. Please attend the Village Council meeting this Wednesday January 11th to speak up about your discontent. We need more residents to get involved. https://www.ridgewoodnj.net/village-government.

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RIDGEWOOD FINANCIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

village-hall-theridgewoodblog

January 8,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ ,the clearly stated responsibilities of the Financial Advisory Committee (FAC) , yet are we the only ones who see no evidence that the FAC is meeting its responsibilities?

  1. The Committee shall assist the Village Council by marshaling and channeling its expertise and insight to complement the judgment of the Village Council and Village management with respect to financial matters.
  1. The Committee shall identify both short- and long-term financial challenges. As potential issues are raised, the Committee shall study selected issue(s) at its own initiative and at the request of the Village Council and recommend solutions/potential actions to the Village Council

 

FINANCIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Resolutions:
13-88
14-171

Members:

        NAME                                     TERM EXPIRES

Charles DiMarco                               6/30/17

Alex Kisilevich                                    6/30/17

Brian Lahey                                        6/30/17

Evan Weitz – Chair                           6/30/18

Rei Shinozuka                                    6/30/18

John Cavanaugh                                  6/30/19

David Hough                                      6/30/19

Robert Kotch                                      6/30/19

Councilman Jeff Voigt is the Council liaison

MISSION AND BY-LAWS

Establishment:

A new committee known as the “Financial Advisory Committee” was created by the Village Council of the Village of Ridgewood on April 24, 2013, by Resolution No. 13-88.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The Committee is hereby charged with the following duties and responsibilities:

  1. The Committee shall assist the Village Council by marshaling and channeling its expertise and insight to complement the judgment of the Village Council and Village management with respect to financial matters.
  1. The Committee shall identify both short- and long-term financial challenges. As potential issues are raised, the Committee shall study selected issue(s) at its own initiative and at the request of the Village Council and recommend solutions/potential actions to the Village Council.
  1. The Committee shall have ongoing responsibility for the following:
    1. Analyze and evaluate the annual Village budget process (expense and capital) and the resultant budget, to advise the Village Council in their decision-making process to ensure that necessary revenues are raised in an equitable manner and that taxes are spent effectively and efficiently.
    2. Review the quarterly financial reports and the current year’s revenue and expenditure projections.
    3. Advise on the development and implementation of effective financial reporting policies and procedures for the Village Council and Village management that build upon and retain the public’s faith and trust in the Village’s policies and procedures.
    4. Assist in the review and improvement of organizational structures and recurring contracts arrangements, including collective bargaining agreements, with due regard for applicable legal requirements governing civil service, procurement and labor relations.
    5. Provide an annual report to the Council.
  1. The Committee may also perform the following:
    1. Study critical issues and perform independent research to formulate and develop thoughtful and well-developed recommendations on strategies and opportunities.
    2. Provide a forum for community education and discussion concerning the financial condition of the Village and various alternatives for improvement.

Meetings:

The Committee shall meet once per month and/or on an as-needed basis. Decisions shall be made by consensus and if necessary, by majority vote. The minutes for regular monthly meetings shall be kept, transcribed, and made available to the Village and Council and such other Village officials as the Village Manager shall direct. Public comment will be requested at the beginning of a meeting and will be capped at 3 minutes per person; public comment will not exceed 15 minutes. The Committee may also hold closed working sessions as needed.

Composition and Terms:

The Committee shall comprise up to nine (9) regular members of the public appointed by the Village Council, a liaison from the Village Council, and a liaison from the Department of Finance of the Village at the discretion of the Council and the Village Manager. The public members of the Committee shall be appointed on July 1 of each calendar year and serve for a term of three (3) years, with the exception of the initial Committee appointed as of July 1, 2013, with three members appointed for a term of three (3) years, two members appointed for a term of two (2) years, and two members appointed for a term of one (1) year.

If a public member resigns, the Village Council shall appoint a replacement as

soon as possible to serve out the remainder of his/her term. The Financial Advisory Committee, through the Village Council liaison, will provide input into this process.

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Reader says Councilman Voigt Wednesday’s support, from members of the last council’s entourage, to keep the FAC intact sends nothing but mistrust and red flags

Jeff Voigt Ridgewood

Jeff… In your prepared statement Wednesday you stated the residents had a problem trusting the past council but shouldn’t with you because your motives are to work hard for the village. You state that the residents have a right to know if something doesn’t seem right, in your opinion you felt the Mayor’s insertion in your committee was a violation and worthy of public debate.

Cut the shit! I’m not sure why you don’t like her but I know you don’t. You have to work with her for the sake of THE VILLAGE (remember?) and your angry behavior towards her is not rational and makes you look unstable. Your actions have broken resident’s trust in you because you have demonstrated such a vile response that appears to be very personal and certainly should not be for public display. This FAC episode seemed to be your “gotcha” you were looking for to go after her. You were legally advised there was no merit in your claims. Wednesday’s support, from members of the last council’s entourage, to keep the FAC intact sends nothing but mistrust and red flags. It seems clear to me you orchestrated this pony show – a page from the last council’s playbook – we DON’T trust you or the FAC now.

You have demonstrated nothing to gain resident’s trust by your actions and angry attacks. My advice to you would be to suck it up and offer an apology, publicly, to the mayor and the other council members and redirect your energy to fulfilling your campaign promises of working for the residents for the betterment of the village. Put your personal feelings aside. Stop conspiring, plotting and playing politics, we are all to savvy to put up with this BS. Figure out how to cooperate with your council members, respectfully, and stop the divisive, petulant behavior.

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Ridgewood Village Council Meeting : Groundhog Day

Jeff Voigt Ridgewood Council
file photo by Boyd Loving
Groundhog Day, with apologies to Bill Murray
January 5,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, At the January 4 Village Council Work Session, members of the public who attended, and those who watched from the comfort of their homes, were treated to a real groundhog-day experience.  You remember that movie, where the same thing happens over and over and over.  And if you missed it, you can always watch it on youtube from the village website, watch it over and over and over.

For example:

1. Although he has known since November that Mayor Knudsen did not violate the Faulkner Act, Councilman Voigt went after her publicly AGAIN.  He did it twice in December, and now he did it again.  Three times he has publicly accused the Mayor of illegal action after knowing that she did not break any law.  Three times.  This time he spiced it up by having a member of the public “innocently” lob a question about the alleged violation…….which then enabled Councilman Voigt to read (yes read) a lengthy (very lengthy) sermon that he had typed and prepared for just this moment.  Interestingly, but not surprisingly, Councilman Voigt did NOT address the question about how Mayor Knudsen allegedly broke the law (because she did NOT break any law).  Instead he sang the praises of the Financial Advisory Committee and various members and all that they have accomplished. Matt Rogers explained that he had given a legal opinion that no law was broken, no violation of the Faulkner Act occurred…..and he clarified that Councilman Voigt knew this in November.  Jeff flippantly said something along the lines of Matt Rogers’ legal opinion being exactly that, just an opinion.  Come on Jeff, do you think if you keep throwing this lie around it will eventually stick?   Guess what Jeff, it is bouncing back and sticking all over you.  You look ridiculous.  Worse than ridiculous, you look sneaky, nasty, and downright evil.  Mayor Knudsen, meanwhile, was the essence of grace, calm, and civility.

2. Rurik Halaby went to the microphone and accused the Mayor of evicting Roberta Sonenfeld from office, suggested that she violated the Open Public Meetings Act, and that she should be investigated for this.  Again……groundhog day……again it had to be explained to Mr. Halaby  by Matt Rogers that no laws were broken, that in fact a letter of resignation was received, and the procedure for accepting the resignation was correct.  Sigh . . . . .

3. And Mr. Halaby continues to call Mayor Knudsen “Mayor Kah-nudsen.”  It has been explained to him that the “K” is silent, he knows it full well, but apparently he thinks it is clever to be disrespectful in such a manner.  And he still loves his little catch phrases like “pandering to your base” and “vocalantis,” really, over and over and over.

———————————————————————————————-

A few new things happened, too.  We learned that a motorcycle may be donated to our police force, a female firefighter’s hire will necessitate the construction of a women’s locker room at the firehouse, and Graydon Park annual passes will remain the same price (although day passes might go up).  Bylaws for every board and committee will need to follow a standard format, will need to be synced with the resolution that created them in the first place, and will need to be approved by the Village Council.  Some items that have the 1 and 2 recycle numbers can no longer be recycled – such as salad and bakery containers.

And we also learned that sometime last year Councilman Voigt asked a member of the public to have coffee.  Over coffee, Mr. Voigt asked Mr. Saurabh Dani to come to a public meeting and ask specific questions so that Jeff could then have the entree to give scripted answers.  Mr. Dani refused to play such an unethical game……but he spoke up about it tonight after witnessing the exact same scenario playing out between Jeff Voigt and Hans Lehmann.  He also called for the resignation of Councilman Voigt.

We could hear someone shouting from the audience toward the end of the meeting, but not exactly what they were saying.  He was shushed by the Mayor because he was out of order.
Wow, I wish I had gotten a babysitter tonight so I could have been there in person, but it was exciting enough from the comfort of my couch.
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Reader says Ridgewood Councilman Voigt has not said anything by mistake or accident

Jeff Voigt Ridgewood Council

Gave the guy a break. For that matter I gave him money and gave him a coffee and gave him my vote. Told all my friends to vote for him. And then he comes out of the gate shooting from the hip, interrupting Susan, trying to commandeer the meetings. He was terrible from the git-go. Many people tried to make him calm down. Many people. Via emails and phone calls and over coffee. He promised to cool his rhetoric but he did not. He has gotten worse and worse. It is blindingly clear that he hats Susan’s guts. That is his prerogative, but the question is WHY? He has repeatedly gone after her in a totally unprofessional manner using words best saved for the locker room, not the council chambers. He has not said anything by mistake or accident. He has attacked her repeatedly and often and now he has accused her of breaking the law. I am so sorry I supported this guy. He is absolutely insane.