file photo by Boyd Loving
I’m against the single super sized garage and how the Council plans to fund it through the County. However I understand why developers and the Chamber are in favor of it – they stand to profit from it’s construction and/or operation. Much as I disagree with them I at least understand their motives. What I can’t fathom however is that our Council majority seems so set in its ways on THIS design and THIS way of funding it. Why? Do they think that this is really the best solution for Ridgewood? It seems more like they have a bone to pick with their Council mates.
The Council’s job is to say to the developers and the Chamber that yes, we understand you’d like to make more money but this is not the best solution for the Village. It isn’t. What they’ve actually done is side with the developers to use all of their collective authority to ram this plan though as quickly as possible. Again, why? The Council majority is treating the results of a NON BINDING referendum as an electoral mandate when the only question they posed to us in the fall was essentially “do you think we need more parking?”. E-mails I received from the Mayor said that the design was not final (apparently it was) and made no mention of financing the project through the County. Just when I thought my intelligence couldn’t be any more insulted by these 3.
And to those that say that we could bond the garage through the Village if only Mr. Sedon and Mrs. Knudsen would agree with the developers, I’d say that Mr. Sedon and Mrs. Knudsen are the only 2 on the Council actually doing their job. They, like many of us, feel that while we need a parking solution, there are better ways to go about it. And the rush to get this done now in the face of growing doubt and opposition only raises questions about the Council majority’s motives.
