Landslide by the Numbers
by Marcia Ringel and Alan Seiden
YOU, THE PEOPLE, DID IT.
You came out in record numbers. With your votes you said, loudly and clearly: “No more grandstanding. No more bullying. No more manipulation. No more hypocrisy. No more special interests, outside influence, self-promotion. We are taking our village back.”
You said: “We want to see planning—not plotting. We want to see dreaming—not scheming.”
You said: “No more ‘deals.’ No more promises or pledges except to the community at large.”
You said: “No more ‘council majority’ for every vote. No more insults and contempt from the dais to fellow residents and to the populace who elected them. No more ignoring the impassioned pleas of hundreds of calm, well-spoken residents on issues of great importance to us.”
GOODBYE to all that.
Hello to three independent-thinking council members who will join our two continuing independent-thinking council members to cooperate and collaborate—not conspire and collude.
Hello to true, not lip-service, transparency and sunshine, with discussions held in public and decisions made afterward, not before—as Councilman Mike Sedon assured a cheering crowd at Village Hall last night after the results had been announced.
Welcome back, democracy.
Congratulations and thank you to the large number of people who worked to get out the vote and to everyone who voted. The grassroots groups finally attained unity and showed what our village is made of. We could not be denied.
This is a historic win for Ridgewood. We can now look to the future with hope.
“Unofficial” results (must be vetted by the county to become “official”), from highest to lowest number of votes received:
Ramon M. Hache: 3867 (67.87%)
Jeffrey Voigt: 3839 (67.37%)
Bernadette Coghlan-Walsh: 3611 (63.37%)
Janice M. Willett: 1803 (31.64%)
Evan Weitz: 1736 (30.47%)
Richard S. Brooks 1656 (29.06%)
Number of registered voters: 16,740
Number of votes cast: 5,698
Percentage of registered voters voting: 34.04%
In all 19 districts, the winning candidates had the most votes.
A district-by-district breakdown of election results, showing votes cast for each candidate, percentages, and totals, is available in a table posted on the village website:
https://www.ridgewoodnj.net/
For a more legible type size, click on the “plus” sign in the middle of the band across the top of the screen or use the tiny arrows to increase the percentage to 200%. To read the part of the table that no longer shows, hold your cursor on the “right arrow” at the bottom right of the screen.
A small map showing the borders of each voting district can be found on the 2016 village calendar: flip one page in from the back cover. We have asked Dylan Hansen, Director, Management Information System, Village of Ridgewood, to post the map on the village website for general and future reference. He said he would, probably today.
The polling place list, by district, below can be deceptive; for example, District 12, surrounding Travell School to the south and west, votes at the high school. Check the voting map for a better idea of who lives where.
District Polling place
1, 2, 3 Willard
4,7
5, 6, 10 Orchard
8, 11 Travell
9
12, 13 RHS
14
15, 16 BF
17, 18 Somerville
19
District 12 came out in force at 48% of registered voters there—a first? District 1 at 41% and District 15 at 40% displayed similarly impressive shows of strength.
Our new council members have a lot to do. They are eager to start.
They will be sworn in at noon on Friday, July 1, in the 4th-floor courtroom at Village Hall. At that time the current regime will officially end. The public is, as always, invited.
Onward.
Swimmingly,
Marcia Ringel and Alan Seiden
Co-Chairs, The Preserve Graydon Coalition, Inc., a nonprofit corporation
