Ridgewood has obviously been using the water department as a favorable placement for all their patronage appointments. Unfortunately, none of their patronage appointments know the first thing about managing a water utility. We set ourselves up for a justified suit, and when we lose we scurry rapidly to find someone who hopefully has a brain. If the council actually thinks that not only are the other towns going to happily withdraw their suits and may even be forced to pay more because “Sorry, we made yet another mistake.” I have a bridge I can sell you. Council members don’t run on their expertise. As a result, the Village should hire people who do have the expertise. And that is a major failing. The idea that the town can save money by letting unqualified people without the proper backgrounds and ability run things has cost us a fortune in the past. It’s time to put a stop to it before it costs us fortunes in the future. (Saving the Schedler house is an example. Very little, if any, of that house is original and fixing all it’s deficits would be a financial nightmare .)
