The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
the staff of The Ridgewood Blog
Ridgewood NJ, the councilwomen should have just provided the Village Manager’s name and contact information. In Ridgewood’s form of government, it is unlawful for elected officials to deal directly with municipal employees?
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, according to multiple sources Woodland Park Mayor Keith Kazmark will resign next month to become the new village manager of Ridgewood. Kazmark previously served as Elmwood Park clerk and administrator and as the administrator in Parsippany. In addition to his current mayoral duties, Kazmark serves as the administrator in Woodland Park.
the staff of The Ridgewood Blog
Ridgewood NJ, when we first noticed this Closed Session item printed on last Wednesday’s Village Council meeting agenda, we thought nothing of it. Just some minor housekeeping we thought.
Continue reading Is the “Normal” Ridgewood Village Council’s honeymoon over already?
If Sonenfeld were still Village Manager today (i.e., hadn’t resigned yet) this would have been good cause for the new Mayor to demand her resignation. And yes, any village employee below Sonenfeld who assisted in the production of this video should now be investigated, and at least be counseled and subjected to some kind of censure or discipline, unless the facts reveal that they participated against their will because Sonenfeld or Aronsohn pressured them somehow or threatened their job. This is a serious situation involving municipal corruption in open defiance of the non-partisan form of government to which Village residents are entitled pursuant to the Faulkner Act. Village management needs to act promptly to ensure that nobody employed by the Village tries to do or even thinks about doing anything like this ever again.
April 1, 2016
STATEMENT FROM PETITIONERS
Dear Village Council of Ridgewood-
From our attorneys regarding the referendum petition to repeal Ordinance #3521:
“We are confident that the bond counsel is wrong. Bond ordinances are NOT controlled by the Faulkner Act or Walsh Act
or any other general act that gives NJ residents the right of referendum. The right to repeal a bond is a right shared by ALL
New Jersey residents under the Local Home Rule Act, not just Faulkner Act towns.”
New Jersey Statutes Annotated. N.J.S.A. 40A:49-10 reads as follows:“Any proposition submitted to the voters of any municipality under the provisions of section 40:49-9 or of section 40:49-27 of this title shall be voted upon at the next general election held in
If a special election is called, and $40-45,000.00 of municipal funds are used, that will be a choice that the Council alone makes, and for which
the Council alone will be held accountable.
Thank you.
Gail McCarthy & Lorraine Reynolds
March 1st 2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ , correct me if I am wrong is this not a violation of the Faulkner Act, the Village of Ridgewood was established as a non partisan town . Why is the mayor promoting partisan politics?
The Optional Municipal Charter Law or Faulkner Act (N.J.S.A. § 40:69A-1, et seq.) provides New Jersey municipalities with a variety of models of local government. This legislation is called the Faulkner Act in honor of the late Bayard H. Faulkner, former mayor of Montclair, New Jersey and chairman of the Commission on Municipal Government.
The Faulkner Act offers four basic plans (mayor–council, council–manager, small municipality, and mayor–council–administrator) and two procedures by which the voters of a municipality can adopt one of these plans. The Act provides many choices for communities with a preference for a strong executive and professional management of municipal affairs. Twenty-one percent of the municipalities in New Jersey, including the six most populous cities (Newark, Jersey City, Camden, Trenton, Paterson and Elizabeth) all govern under the provisions of the Faulkner Act. More than half of all New Jersey residents reside in municipalities with Faulkner Act charters. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faulkner_Act )
Ridgewood is governed within the Faulkner Act (formally known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law) under Council-Manager plan B, as implemented on July 1, 1970, by direct petition.[46] Under this form, the governing body consists of five council members who are responsible to hire and oversee a professional Village Manager who has full executive power for all departments. The government consists of five council members, with all positions elected at-large in nonpartisan elections to serve four-year terms on a staggered basis, with either two or three seats coming up for election in even-numbered years on the second Tuesday in May. At a reorganization meeting held on July 1 after newly elected council members take office, the council chooses a mayor and deputy mayor from among its members, with the mayor presiding over Council meetings, but without any executive authority.[6] The Village Council appoints a Village Manager to oversee the day to day operations of the Village, to handle personnel, citizen inquiries and complaints, and to handle the administrative duties of the Village. The Village Council passes local laws, makes appointments to various Boards and Committees, and awards various contracts for purchases of goods and services used by the Village. They also review, amend, and adopt the annual budget for the Village prepared by the Village Manager and Chief Financial Officer. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridgewood,_New_Jersey )
COUNTY COMMITTEE PETITIONS AVAILABLE
Petitions for County Committee are available in the Village Clerk’s Office. County Committee members represent their political party in each voting district, and they vote at the convention for the County Officials. There are two County Committee members for the Democratic party and two County Committee members for the Republican party from each voting district, one male and one female. The candidates running for County Committee must run to represent the voting district in which they reside. The petitions must be signed by voters in the same voting district and be of the same political party as the candidates. County Committee members are voted on in the Primary Election. The deadline to submit completed County Committee petitions to the Village Clerk’s Office is April 4, 2016 at 4:00 P.M. (https://www.ridgewoodnj.net/news/672-county-committee-petitions-available )
So, based on the diligent detective work by Councilwoman Knudsen, we learn that the current hiring scheme provides that Ridgewood-based applicants are to be preferred when all of the top candidates are equally qualified. This sounds reasonable. Accordingly, the burden of persuasion on whether or not to change the law should be on those who are in favor of a change.
Up until now the proponents of change have been saying that according to the current hiring scheme, the Village has not been permitted to hire better qualified candidates who live outside of Ridgewood if at least one local applicant is deemed at least minimally qualified. Now we learn that was not true. In fact, it does not take an enormous leap of faith to conclude that we were being LIED TO.
It turns out the Village has only lacked the ability to hire candidates of the SAME qualifications who live outside of Ridgewood. In other words, they have lacked the ability to discriminate against (politically undesireable?) Ridgewood residents who have the same qualifications as the best (properly politically aligned?) candidates who live outside of Ridgewood.
Why should we change the law to facilitate such a hiring practice?
One wonders if the proposed change to the law is contemplated as part of a larger plan to politicize our system of local government, which by virtue of the Faulkner Act is supposed to be completely non-partisan.
Ah yes…politics. This has been the common denominator from day one when it comes to the behavior of the Three Amigos. Why should we expect these old dogs to learn new tricks when they continue to get such great mileage out of the old ones?
Reader says the “Civility Roundtable” is clearly contrary to the Faulkner Act
Ridgewood residents who value our non-partisan form of government should take a dim view of the “Civility Roundtable” series of quasi-public meetings, at which the innocuous good of ‘getting along’ is the stated goal (i.e., for ‘public consumption’), bu the true goal is for the three Amigos, and particularly our illustrious Mayor, to politicize everything they can get their hands on. As this is clearly contrary to the Faulkner Act, Ridgewood residents should resist these developments on principle, vigorously and without heed to the baldfaced denials and public obloqy that will inevitably be thrown their way.
Enjoy your free speech rights while they last, people. The Obama/Reid/Pelosi/Ayers/Clinton/Cloward/Piven/Alinsky/Aronsohn bell tolls for thee!
Reader says Responsibility of Village Governance lies with the Village Council
