I’m writing about the upcoming garage election and specifically about something that has happened which now puts the whole process into question.
On June 9th, a ‘Vote yes’ video and other materials were posted on our Village website, along with an e-notice that was sent out by our Village Manager, which directed residents to this site. To use government funds to make such slanted materials and to post them on a government website goes beyond inappropriate.
NJ Fog, a government watch group, has filed a formal complaint against Mayor Aronsohn and Village Manager Sonenfeld, which can be viewed here.
It is imperative that every resident knows about the situation.
So, I am asking you to a) share this email with every resident that you know and b) contact the Ridgewood News at 201-612-5400 and ask for either Alexandra Hoey or Jaime Walters to request that this issue be given a front page article, which it deserves. Please call them this morning as they go to print shortly.
Thank you for doing your part to protect our Village.
Ridgewood NJ, Glen Rock Patch calls ethics complaint , “Gadfly Files Ethics Complaint Against Ridgewood Mayor, Manager” ( https://patch.com/new-jersey/ridgewood/gadfly-files-ethics-complaint-against-ridgewood-mayor-manager ) . Interesting choir of words , once again leading to the question why is the Patch always looking to protect Mayor Aronsohn ?
While the “Patch” came under heavy criticism for its coverage lapses during the Ridgewood Village Council election ,the above headline will do nothing but add fuel to the fire that the Patch continues to chose the Village Council Majority over Village of Ridgewood residents and taxpayers .
file photo by Boyd Loving
Following is a complaint filed with the New Jersey Libertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project with the Local Finance Board–the agency that enforces the Local Government Ethics Law.
June 13, 2016
Patricia Parkin McNamara
Local Finance Board
101 S Broad St – PO Box 803
Trenton, NJ 08625-0803
(via e-mail only to [email protected])
Dear Ms. McNamara:
We intend this e-mail to be our complaint against Paul Aronsohn, Mayor, and Roberta Sonenfeld, Manager, of the Village of Ridgewood (Bergen County).
In accordance with N.J.A.C. 5:35-1.1(b), following are the required elements of the complaint:
1. State the point of the Local Government Ethics Law alleged to be violated.
N.J.S.A. 40A:9-22.5(c), which prohibits a local government officers from “us[ing” or attempting to use his official position to secure unwarranted privileges or advantages for himself or others.”
2. State the name(s) and title(s) of the parties involved in the action and against whom the complaint is filed.
New Jersey Libertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project, John Paff (Project Chairman), Paul Aronsohn, (Ridgewood Mayor) and Roberta Sonenfeld (Ridgewood Manager).
3. Set forth in detail the pertinent facts surrounding the alleged violative action.
Mayor Aronsohn and Manager Sonenfeld appear in a video that exhorts citizens to vote “yes” on a June 21, 2016 referendum question which will, if passed, cause the issuance of $11,500,000 in bonds or notes to finance the cost of constructing a new parking deck.
Notwithstanding Mayor Aronsohn’s statement in the video that its purpose is to educate and inform the public about this issue, the video goes well beyond providing neutral facts. Rather, the video is clearly an advocacy piece intended to persuade Village residents to vote “yes” on the proposal. For example Mayor Aronsohn made the following statements at the noted times in the video:
00:20 “This is an opportunity for us to come out again as a community to show our support for our parking deck, something that most of us believe that we desperately need here in Ridgewood.”
01:43 “The reason we really need a parking deck is three-fold” followed by: a) “a real quality of life imperative,” b) anger over a lack of parking creates a “real public safety concern” and c) lack of parking imperils the “survival of our downtown.”
3:20 “For [the three reasons stated above] we really need a parking deck.”
10:37 “There’s going to be one question on the ballot that day: ‘Do you support this parking deck’ and I hope you vote ‘yes’ because it’s so important for our community.”
Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld also stated at 01:35 that “As the Village Manager, I realize it’s a parking crisis. Yes, a crisis. A crisis which will get worse if we do nothing about it.”
In Citizens to Protect Pub. Funds v. Board of Educ. of Parsippany-Troy Hills, 13 N.J. 172 (1953), then New Jersey Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. (who later became a Justice of the United State Supreme Court) ruled that school boards could use public funds to educate the voters on ballot initiatives provided that they didn’t cross the line into advocating for or against the measure.
The same principle applies in this case. While Mayor Aronsohn and Manager Sonenfeld may certainly inform and educate voters on the pros and cons of the parking deck proposal, they are not allowed to use public resources (e.g. the Village website) to persuade voters. Government officials’ use of public resources to persuade voters is unfair because referendum opponents do not have access to those resources and have to use private resources to distribute their message.
We assert that Mayor Aronsohn and Manager Sonenfeld violated N.J.S.A. 40A:9-22.5(c), because they used or attempted to use their official positions to create and appear in a video which is intended to secure an electoral advantage for proponents of the public question and impose an electoral disadvantage upon the proposal’s opponents.
4. Indicate whether the complaint concerns the complainant in any way and what, if any, relationship the complainant has to the subject of the complaint.
Complainant has no interest in or relationship to this complaint greater than any other citizen or organization who wishes for all government officers and employees to comply fully with the Local Government Ethics Law.
5. Indicate any other action previously taken in an attempt to resolve the issue and indicate whether the issue is the subject of pending litigation elsewhere.
No other action has been taken previously in an attempt to resolve this issue and this issue is not the subject of any pending litigation.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. I ask that you please acknowledge your receipt of this complaint within 30 days.
Sincerely,
/s/ John Paff, Chairman
New Jersey Libertarian Party’s
Open Government Advocacy Project
Speaking for only myself, I agree about the improper use of the town website to promote a yes vote, especially since the Village Council is not in agreement and since, as you state, no info is given about the project or the alternatives. It is clearly a political use of public resources. Sending this type of political message via email using the village alert system or via regular mail on village letterhead or at public expense would also be wrong.
This seems unethical to me. It may also improperly interfere with a fair election. As to what can be done, I’m not sure, short of the dissenting Council members demanding the website post be taken down. This raises the question about what the process is for review and approval before anything is posted to the village website. Perhaps the Village attorney should be notified of the incident and can direct the webmaster to take down the post. Perhaps you should copy the State Local Finance Board (which reviews ethics complaints) and ELEC (Re the election faux pas).
Just throwing some thoughts out there, and maybe others copied can add more. NJFOG administrators are copied as well as a few other board members who may be knowledgeable about this matter.
Here’s one other thought, if you have no luck. My understanding is that elected council members have equal access to a town’s public information officer and may issue press releases via that route. Perhaps the dissenting council members can utilize that route to get their own message out. Of course, they would have to be careful to provide information and alternatives rather than to just say ‘Vote this way or that’.
Ridgewood NJ, from the “take back Ridgewood ” Facebook page , “Mayor Aronsohn is spreading the word that the current council will not make any decisions on the garage in his last 9 days in the office, and June 21st vote will be for funding / bond only.
We ask if the newly elected council is going to make a decision on final size of the garage and other parking solutions, why is he so desperate for the bonding in his last 9 days? Why commit 11.5 Million dollars and start paying interest on it, if the new council may come up with a smaller option that may require less money? What’s his hidden agenda behind the rush to issue the bond?
Vote NO on June 21st. Not to the garage, but to Paul Arohnson, Gwenn Hauck and Albert Pucciarelli railroading the process on their way out. If you voted for responsible government, in other words, Jeffrey Voigt, Bernadette Walsh, and Ramon M Hache, you know to vote NO now. Let our new VC take the reigns!”
Ridgewood is where it is because our Council has been governing for the benefit of the few and not for the benefit of the many. The tax payers have been fed a steady diet of “take it or leave it”, oversized initiatives with no option to compromise. Why? Because the Council majority has been answering to Valley and the developer special interest groups. If Valley Hospital could have moved off of its completely unreasonable expansion plan 10 years ago, they’d be finished with their construction by now and we’d have a more modern hospital. Whose fault is that? Same goes for the CBD – not a single person who thinks 35 units per acre is too dense has ever advocated for vacant car dealerships. That is the rhetoric of the now-vanquished Ron Simoncini and his “Truth About Ridgewood.” The recent election has shown that two thirds of the electorate favor more moderate development projects. It’s time to undo what the last Council has put in place and start over. Smaller hospital, smaller garage, smaller apartments.
Ridgewood NJ, Why is the Mayor and his 3 Candidates fighting so hard to keep the Village Manager. Why are they getting so involved with this when the entire council Majority is not running for reelection. . Reminds me of the following definition :
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks” is a quotation from the 1599/ 1600 play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. It has been used as a figure of speech, in various phrasings, to describe someone’s too frequent and vehement attempts to convince others of some matter of which the opposite is true, thereby making themselves appear defensive, and insincere.
In rhetorical terms, the phrase can be thought of as indicating an unintentional apophasis—where the speaker who “protests too much” in favor of some assertion puts into others’ minds the idea that the assertion is false, something that they may not have considered before.
The Village Manager has no contact and serves at the pleasure of the Council. If the 3 amigos wanted to keep her so bad then maybe they should have run for re election.
In the Village Hall it was observed Roberta proudly displaying the full page advertisement that appears on page A-11 (about retaining her) of Fridays Ridgewood News to staff members gathered in the waiting area outside of her office.
How inappropriate was it of her to conduct a forced discussion about politics with her people who report to her.
By the way, that ad was paid for by the following families:
Richard & Carla Fels, 227 Sunset
Michael & Amy Greenstone, 122 Sunset
Sommer (first names & address unknown)
Taylor (first names & address unknown)
Peter & Allison Von Halle, 48 Clinton
…the fly has learned that after the “Get Acquainted Luncheon at Village Hall”, Mayor Aronsohn went off the rails yelling campaigner Dana Glazer outside the event . Attendees say the mayor, went from pleasantly serving lunch a little while earlier, to being belligerent like he was a completely different person. While the Village event was suppose to be a non partisan affair , all three of the Council majority were in attendance , till council person Susan Knudsen arrived and the deputy mayor quickly departed . It does seem the mayors attempts to politicize the meeting were foiled …
Reader says ,Without the blog there is political retribution. Several residents have been TARGETED with tickets, summonses, investigations, and more because they spoke out at meetings or on facebook. On the blog you can speak your piece without fear of retaliation from Aronsohn-Pucciarelli-Hauck-Sonenfeld. Of course they try like hell to guess who the anonymous posters are, but they are never sure. And of course the four of them post often, and we can always identify them.
Since so many have felt the sting of political retribution perhaps its time to share the pain ?
Reader says , “I’m boycotting our central business district over these stupid signs and the chamber of commerce.village is a mess and I refuse to support them any longer”
Since so many have been targeted ,some think its time to target back by Boycotting “Its Greek to Me” . While some readers think “Boycotting Its Greek to Me won’t do anyone any good. It won’t change the minds of people, it won’t stop Paul from living his everyday life. That is beyond childish. If you want to speak up and say something go to the village hall meetings, ask questions, get involved. And PLEASE make your OWN decisions. Stop listening to articles that don’t have the best interest for the reader nor the actual people involved.”
while others say, ” Boycotting the Greek place is easy for the simple reason that the food is certainly nothing to write home about, As for the rest of the CBD, more than 50% of the time it looks like it’s already being boycotted, so you probably won’t even see much of a difference if people did. But moving a few homeless folks into the garage should help with that issue.
Wake up, Ridgewood ! These clowns, just like those at Valley, are nothing more than opportunists trying to capitalize on fulfilling their business fantasies at the expense of an entire town. The very least one could do is get out there and vote against people who are going out of their way to wreck the great things Ridgewood has going for it.”
Others say “No boycotting just don’t go, period. Let the council know that you are not going to spend your money in a town where your concerns are not being addressed.The out of town people will have to subsidize the CBD.
No signs, no formal making a scene. Just stop going. And let the council know through e-mails why and how you feel.
Money always talks.”
Ridgewood NJ, Driving down Linwood this morning and I was able to pick out the mayor’s house because it was the only house on the street with Brooks, Willett, and Weitz signs out.
Funny how he was able to make the determination to support the three candidates that will continue the destruction of the town.
The lack of judgment is astounding but par for the course.
Ridgewood Nj, Council Candidate Jeff Voigt reflects on the League of Women Voters Candidates . Jeff told the Ridgewood blog ,”Night It was great to see so many residents turn up for the debate. It really shows how concerned and involved we all are in our Village on where we are headed. Secondly, the questions posed by the LWV provided to us and; as well those asked and not revealed were spot on – they hit all the key issues. It was a great opportunity for us to state our positions and how we think about these issues.”
Jeff went on ,”I would personally say hats off to both Bernie Walsh and Ramon Hache – they both did a really nice job.They would represent the interests of our Village well. If all three of us were elected, we would think about issues independently and critically and; come up with solutions that were best for the Village. As well we would complement Susan Knudsen and Mike Sedon on the council.”
Summing up evening Jeff said ,” I found it almost fitting that at the end of the night Mayor Paul Aronsohn was not allowed to ask a question – almost as if this current Council majority was being silenced. I know this was not intentional by the moderator, but it sent a rather strong message to the audience and those listening – that it is time for our Village to move on. This also means our moving on from the policies and ways of doing business that have existed and; unfortunately would be replicated if Evan Weitz, Janice Willet, and Richard Brooks replaced them (and who are all actively supported by Paul Aronsohn).”
Hi James – here is a reader says story for you. Please take it if you find it interesting. I was surprised to find this fact and thought the voters should know:
Was Evan Weitz planted in Ridgewood by special interest groups?
It is a widely known speculation that our current mayor was sent to Ridgewood to bring Hudson County politics to Ridgewood. He ran for the office as soon as he moved to Ridgewood and has strategically placed the right people in different committees over the years to get the job done for developers and politicians. Rumors are that he is already renovating his house and preparing to move out once his task is done.
We looked at the council candidates for 2016. All but one are long term residents. Something VERY interesting came up for Evan Weitz. He moved to the village in late 2012 and in 2015 he was appointed to Financial Advisory Committee and made it’s CHAIR by resolution 15-301. We DID NOT find any other committee or volunteering experience from Evan before his role in Financial Advisory Committee and when he was made the chair, Janice Willet was Vice Chair of the committee already. She wasn’t promoted to the CHAIR of the committee and instead he was brought in and made the chairman. He has no prior experience with municipal financing in other towns or any experience with how Ridgewood works and our village’s finances or resident needs. He has not served in any other committee. Evan is an attorney by trade and has no experience or degree in Finance. This was evident with his answers in council meeting when he was cross examined.
So the reader asks what is the rationale for bringing a new comer to Financial Advisory Committee and bring him as the chair. Who brought him in? Who are his backers? This is he representing there? Is he being planted to complete some work that PA could not complete?
Ridgewood NJ, Perhaps some residents Leaving the village hall Couldn’t help but notice the mayors car had some pretty distinctive campaign information strategically placed in the rear window.
Please take these events serious only a few votes in 2012 launched the Village into this disastrous mess.
2012 Ridgewood Election Results
Albert J. Pucciarelli – 2078
Keith Killion – 1711
Rissell R Forenza – 817
Paul Aronsohn – 2479
Mary Jane Shinozuka – 1484
Gwenn H Hauck – 1727
Final voting registration for the May 10th Municipal Election is April 19th. To register to vote, individuals may register in the Village Clerk’s office from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM or in the Ridgewood Library Lobby on April 19th from 4:30 PM to 9:00 PM.
Well, it’s not our government, so it’s on us to Take Back Ridegwood!! Go Monday night to the Valley meeting. Sign the garage petition, talk to your neighbors and friends!! We have a choice we can roll over and do nothing, or get vocal, participate and give it all we got! I know it’s not easy… Exhausting, irritating but we are near a positive change…. The election. Stay strong people, we are near the end of a long and terrible reign.
REGISTER TO VOTE IN THE MUNICIPAL ELECTION
Final voting registration for the May 10th Municipal Election is April 19th. To register to vote, individuals may register in the Village Clerk’s office from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM or in the Ridgewood Library Lobby on April 19th from 4:30 PM to 9:00 PM.
Ridgewood NJ, At a recent council meeting pets of Mayor Aronsohn used foul language, laughter, and un-Civility. Mayor Aronsohn the so called champion of civility showed his true colors proving once again the whole ‘civility ” issues was nothing more than an attempt to silence dissent. Why it feels like Jersey City already in the new Ridgewood .
I am interested to know why you neither stopped nor even reprimanded a speaker at the March 23 Village Council meeting who referred to some members of the public as “fornicators.” The use of this pejorative certainly would not fit in with anyone’s definition of “civility in public discourse,” and as the self-proclaimed champion of such civility it is shocking that you allowed this speaker to continue. This is particularly surprising since you reprimanded me a couple of weeks ago for laughing, yes laughing, during a meeting. I look forward to hearing your explanation as to why foul language is acceptable and laughter is reprimand-worthy in a meeting of which you are the chair.
Anne LaGrange Loving
Mr. Aronsohn, when the first speaker at last night’s long council meeting, recent and questionable recipient of a good citizen award, began to pontificate about people he disagreed with, his voice growing louder, and going so far as to call those who had distributed a flier about the garage some time ago “fornicators”–to audible gasps from the crowd–why didn’t you stop him?
Is cursing at one’s fellow residents not uncivil? Did this not begin the proceedings on a very low note? Is it not your responsibility to keep council meetings cordial?
You have not hesitated to chastise other residents for doing far less. Had someone on “the other side” said anything remotely like this, that person would surely have been reprimanded and possibly ejected from the room–appropriately.
