Judge a person by the company they keep. Aronsohn and the League of Women’s Voters President Anne Burton Walsh were hanging out together that day. Anne Burton Walsh…..not impressed with your choice of companion. Not at all.
Aronsohn is going to run for something else, which of course will give all of us the opportunity to vote against him and for sure to campaign against him. What the hell reason did he have to be at the event on Saturday? Come on, get real. He does not have little kids. He does not have a business in the CBD. He is not in the Ridgewood Guild or the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce. He does not believe in Santa. He is not an elected official. If he was there, and apparently he was, then it was to advance his own devious agenda.
Ridgewood NJ, We had the rare treat at last night’s council meeting , hearing from Rurik Halaby not once but twice in one evening. In opening comments he expressed dismay with all the legal fees this council is incurring (thank you Paul Aronsohn), the “secret” search for a new manager who will most likely be a friend of a current council member (as opposed to a friend of Paul Aronsohn ) and that too much is being done in closed session.
Cathy Quinn spoke in defense of maintaining the no parking on Pomander Walk. lo and behold she is an Episcopal minister at Gwenn Hauck’s church, St. Elizabeth in Ridgewood. Many remember that Gwenn pushed and pushed for the “no parking” zone on Pomander and now we know why.
Later in the evening, Mr Halaby was in fine form as he praised former mayor Paul Aronsohn for his lovely column in The Ridgewood News and then said that Susan should be doing the same as the “public” (the six people who still like Paul Aronsohn) is in the dark with this new council.
Thankfully, Anne Loving stepped up to the mic to say that Paul’s self-serving column gave little information and The Ridgewood News was doing a great job with weekly articles dedicated to the council meetings.
Rurik went on to make some muddled comments about a puppet council who in some ways was like or not like Donald Trump based on some notion of over regulation. He also blamed the recent vacancies on some of the boards and committees on the community’s dissatisfaction with the council ( not the removal of incompetent political hacks hired by Paul Aronsohn). Thankfully, his 5 minutes were up.
His wife, the acerbic Cynthia Halaby of daffodil fame, had admonished the council earlier for the condition of the trees and for making references to Summit, NJ in the Uber discussion when Summit is nothing like Ridgewood.
Mike Sedon gave a praise worthy report on the new Five Year Forestry Management Plan which will allow for numerous grant opportunities and training for village employees and Shade Tree Commission volunteers to address our dwindling stock.
The Uber discussion actually went quite well and it looks as though we will do a 6-month pilot program starting in January. A resolution is on the table for next week’s meeting and the village CFO will run some projections on expected revenues taking into consideration subsidies and the gain or loss of premium parking passes.
Ridgewood Guild president and town whiner, Tony Damiano spoke way too long on why isn’t he being informed on a regular basis about every project sanctioned by the village. Susan tried to address his concerns but he was too busy complaining to hear her.Perhaps the Ridgewood Guild needs better more informed leadership?
Boyd Loving once again was great addressing leaf issues with very good suggestions about how we should inform the landscapers of changes in our policies, Village regulation changes and pick up schedule . He also suggested a listing on the village website of the registered landscapers so that residents can make more informed choices , The registered list would also make enforcement easier.
First we have Roberta and the boys applying for a grant to rip up the brick and remove the walkway in the center of the park. Then we have installation of a tree illumination system, installation of conduit in trenches, installation of pathway lighting, installation of concealed electrical outlet boxes, installation of an audio system and other ancillary items buy the Conservatory all within the same month. I don’t believe in coincidences . Pay special attention to ( audio system and other ancillary items). I believe that one of the members of the Conservatory is a former Council person who tried to spearhead a campaign to put a gazebo in the center of the park.
Previous mayor was dead set on having horrible “concerts” and other noise wreck the peace of downtown. Is this supposed to attract apartment renters/buyers? It’s a park, not Madison Square Garden. Installation of audio systems in parks should not be happening. Thank goodness the current council refused to sign the grant application (worked on, as usual, by manager’s assistant Janet Fricke, whose tenure should end before the next manager arrives) for ugly concrete (replacing the donor-named bricks, which were going to be moved to some area in a corner or something) and a stage or fountain in the center–it’s nice having NOTHING in the center–that was thrust under their noses by the previous village manager with an urgent plea to sign because the deadline was (of course) nigh–an old village manager trick, and not only by her. Collusion by the Village Engineer, who must be replaced, was major. Get those people out of there. Cronin is no better in plotting and planning ways to wreck the place and doing lots of work before the council even knows about it. Council must remain highly vigilant about these unnecessary projects intended (even now) to make Aronsohn’s construction-union supporters happy, and quash them at the earliest opportunity.
Town must stop accepting gifts of things that we don’t want or need. “Conservancy” is a joke. People cynically join groups with a name that sounds good but represents the opposite of what they have in mind. It’s depressing. REAC’s first report was to say that synthetic turf was great, etc. “Parks, Recreation, and Conservation Board”–as long as it’s sports. I give up on all of them.
Essential to understand that everything proposed and pushed for under the Aronsohn regime, including his years on the council before becoming mayor, and no doubt before he ran in the first place shortly after moving here, was a Lego block in his long game to power. All along he was advised by paid marketing professionals who cared nothing for the populace but were paid to further one person’s career (sound like the Bridgegate trials?).The connections, machinations, and deals could fill a book. It’s left to us to disentangle what happened and to rescind and nullify any progress made in that direction, because it never corresponded with what was best for our village.
the concern is that the lot slopes from one side to the other and that when developers like these start building they can play games with the grade from which the building is measured. By measuring from the high point of the property, they can get away with more building.
The problem here is that just as they were being chased out of office, Aronson & Co. passed laws allowing for these multi-unit, multi-family complexes to be built throughout Ridgewood. We are all struggling with the legacy of these laws. This site, for instance, could potentially add a few hundred cars, students, etc to our budget. It is only one of several sites already in the works. Undoubtedly other land speculators and profiteers are lining up to try and build more. Saurabh and others are doing their best to try and either prevent the monstrosity from moving forward or keep it as curtailed s possible.
You should go to the planning board meetings where these projects are being discussed. See if there is anything you can do to prevent the damage that is about to happen. First and foremost you can write your council people and the planning board members to use the means available to them to undo these monstrosities before they are built.
Reader explains, “Actually, its not a petition but a formal motion asking the planning board to take action and correct the problems caused by the prior planning board. Those problems included conflicts of interest by board members and dramatic mistakes in the planning board hearings. In short, it is apparent that the residents of Ridgewood were denied due process because of transgressions. The new planning board has the opportunity to make amends.
The motion is not “in support” of the RCRD’s lawsuit. That lawsuit is independent and it seeks to undo the Aronson ordinance allowing multi-family housing.
In any event, while the motion is not a petition, any interested party can join in the request to the Board by signing on to a copy of the motion paper.”
Reader says , “You know when Keith Killion lost by just 6 votes to that dimwit Gwenn Hauck, he exited with great grace and dignity. These three who were unelectable in any possible was are going out with absolutely no grace and no dignity. They are all so pissed off that their three replacement candidates were trounced and that their garage to save the world was voted into oblivion. Sore losers hardly describes their behavior. They should take a lesson from Keith, and other very fine council people who left office, and be classy about it.” Definition of sore loser
: a person who becomes very upset or angry when he or she loses a game, contest, etc.
I don’t remember Tony, Rurik, et al trashing Paul/Al/Gwenn during their tenure. Sore losers just throwing mud. And yes, Tony is petty because no one chose him to be part of ANOTHER team. If I remember correctly, he couldn’t play nice with the COC so he left to start the guild. Never thought that him as president of the guild would be a lifetime gig.
To be fair, PSEG has been a pain in the azz this summer. That said, Rurik is stirring the pot and is coming across as the latest village troll. TD is a triple sore loser with the garage being voted down, the 3 amigos no longer on the council and now, he can’t play “historian”. All very petty.
Fool us once…Let them just go away. They will never return despite them still hanging around? Chamber of Commerce etc. Sore Loserman ran and lost and they eventually went away. So will these 3. The new Council is awesome and out of the ordinary issues will be attributed to those 3….so we will overcome. They are already off to a great start repealing Pfundwood! Can we get rid of that Gyro Wall next? Tell the sidewalk Nazi he may be next after the wall fall…wasn’t he responsible for the $750,000 coin guy? People have to be held responsible. Thank you 1st amendment…
Aronsohn’s recent op ed piece in The Record and Pucciarelli’s letter to the editor in The Ridgewood News suggest that their plan is to lob hand grenades into the Knudsen administration’s agenda with the hopes of inflicting casualties of some sort. SORE LOSERS.
Clearly, he is the sorest of the sore losers. The two websites, his and Gwenn’s, are pitiful testaments to their longing for a return to power. Good riddance to bad rubbish, the both of them.
He is just an angry sore loser.He needs a hobby.
Clearly, the sore losers are now out in force trying their best to disrespect (got that Gwenn?) those who were able to successfully bring their 4 year reign of terror to an end.
What a bunch of sore losers. Where were all of you when the dirt bag mayor, nit wit Gwenn, fatso Roberta, and full of himself Albert thought nothing of calling Susan every derogatory name in the book? You’re a bunch of losers who just can’t let it go
Ridgewood NJ, according to Rurik Halaby, the following is an email sent to Tony Damiano, owner of Mango Jam and President of The Ridgewood Guild in response to a letter written by Tony to the Mayor re the PSE&G project:
Dear Tony,
I can’t express how disappointed I am with your email. First, PSEG work schedules are not controlled by Village Council and I, along with council colleagues, have taken the concerns of the business community very seriously. Personally, I began working on this tirelessly since 7:00am Thursday morning and have not stopped. The (former)Village Manager was involved in, and is responsible for, any decisions made in May or June and up until the date of her resignation. l was not included or apprised of those discussions or decisions. It’s unfortunate any time working on resolving this has been interrupted by this antagonistic and angry email.
Your assertion that I am “micro-managing” anything is shameful and regrettable. Five council members selected the members of the CBDAC. Furthermore, your suggestion that you could have been a “great asset” to the Central Business District Advisory Committee is undermined by the tone and content of your email. I have great confidence in Councilman Hache and this wonderful group of CBDAC committee members.
Council members Hache, Voigt and Walsh along with Deputy Mayor Sedon, myself and Village Staff have worked diligently to support for our business community. Your email is gratuitous and offensive.
I will continue my efforts to resolve the PSEG matter and am in the process of scheduling a meeting with them. I hope we can move on from this and will keep you informed of any progress.
-Susan
Mayor Susan Knudsen
Councilwoman
Rurik Halaby added on Facebook , “I could not believe the insulting, sarcastic, and disdainful tone and nature of this letter. Tony deserves better. He is a passionate man who is totally dedicated to making Ridgewood a better place for all of us, particularly the CBD.
Ms. Knudsen swore to uphold the U.S. Constitution. The first amendment guarantees Tony’s right to express himself. As importantly, it guarantees his right “to petition the Government for redress of grievances.”
If Mayor Aronshohn had written such a letter the Vocalantis would have hung him in effigy.
Ms. Knudsen, you owe Tony an apology!”
Yes Rurik we all know how much Paul Aronsohn loved PSE&G.
I don’t think this council has gone far enough to come to grips with the damage done by the prior council majority and what needs to be done to right that damage. No one wants to beat a dead horse. But we need to acknowledge the damage that was done in order to move on and in order to prevent the revisionists from painting the wrong picture. Pure and simple, the Aronsohn regime was riddled with bad decisions and actions. Let’s identify them, correct the problems and then move forward. But it does us no good to stick our head in the sand out of some misguided sense of gentility.
Roberta continued to work there because she had to put in some time to build a case to then be able to sue the village. She resigned, in writing, as of Sept 6th, yet all her supporters (Weitz, Pucciarell, Halaby) are assisting in building her case with terms and fake outrage on how she was pushed out, mushandled, ‘unjustly removed’, “abrupt firing’, ‘offer to resign’. This has been the plan all along since they lost the election. Another sleazy move by the ‘wrong side’.
Her dislike for some some council members was displayed in public. Her disagreement with the vision of the new council was public.
I was surprised that she did not resign the day after the election. Why would she continue to work there? The “contentious” environment was of her making.
The fact that it was reported in the Record that she sited a “contentious” environment is enough reason for her to be removed. No professional resigns with a letter accusing anger in her environment. Of course the thought would be she might steal confidential files or even worse…,,,,
I think Roberta wanted to be escorted out. Who knows she may have feared losing control. Knudsen performed the right, safe, professional action.
Roberta was a time bomb waiting to explode left behind by the Aronsohn conglomerate. Good she’s gone. She sealed her own coffin by submitting a nasty letter of resignation, and then behaving badly immediately following its submission. No supervisor in their right mind would have let her stay on. Mr. Pucciarelli wrote in her defense only because he’s one of those who hired her. He’s only trying to save his own face.
The outgoing (gone) Village Manager, the right thing to do is tell the counsel that you think they’d be better served by someone else, and that you’d be happy to stay on and enable a smooth transition to the new Manager. If she was asked to leave anyway, then at least she looks professional. Instead, she took a figurative dump on her boss’ desks, then started emailing around the office to tell people about it. So she was escorted from the building! Think about it. How else is that scenario going to play out? How high in the corporate world could she have risen, really? I’m genuinely curious.
Albert Pucciarelli letter was just plain ridiculous.
Let’s talk reality, not nonsense:
Show me a leader/manager who would allow any employee who submitted a letter of resignation in which he/she expressed his/her utter dissatisfaction (in writing) with working conditions, and also plainly acknowledged (in writing) a complete disagreement with management’s philosophies, to continue his/her employment with complete access to the employer’s computer network, telephone system, accounting data, and confidential personnel files, and I will show you a leader/manager who is a big a-hole.
Susan Knudsen did the right thing by forcing that condescending bitch with the fat ass out of her office and out of the building.
What’s really concerning is that these supporters of Roberta, et al is their acceptance of government that proclaims transparency yet goes to great lengths to lie and trick residents. Regardless if you really want a garage or high density apartments, tolerating the lies, deception and trickery makes you compliant. Actually, many of these supporters went to great lengths to assist Roberta, Paul, etc. because they wanted to ‘win’ the garage issue, etc. These supporters are no better, and their display of loyalty to the dishonest, lack of integrity regime that is gone is pretty pathetic. Thank goodness the majority of people are not like these supporters. Good prevails.
I was just at Van Neste,12:30 on Friday, a veritable slice of heaven, with people on benches quietly eating what looked like bagged lunches., some people just sitting and looking, walkers along the path, some dressed as workers, others as exercisers. Super peaceful and beautiful and calm, with even a working bubbler, water fountain, that is all that is needed in the way of water. Ni big fountain, please. And please, no fences on Walnut. Why make it ugly. Does Vanianos and company envision alcohol fueled parties with loud metallica noise-muzac, going late into night, Does the village manager and company envision alcohol fueled events at Van Neste and drunken people falling off the edge. That makes me very angry. The field stone wall around the park on Walnut is all that is needed. Get rid of Roberta and her cronies already. Let those who love Ridgewood RULE.
First of all why is Christopher Rutishause e-Mailing plans for the park to Bill Gilsenan? Why is Gilsenan getting involved in the park? Im tired of all the so called Demigod running this Village. Paul Vagianos, John Saraceno Ed Sullivan, Tom Hillman and now Bill Gilsenan. Their names were not on the Village ballot for council. This council has to watch very closely what goes on because there has always been a small group self proclaimed Demigod who try to run this town from behind the scenes. Simply voting out the 3 Amigos is not going to stop this because its Systemic.
VM, Assistant to the VM, HR, Village Engineer, Superintendent of Parks and Rec. and the above named are running this town not the new council. Poster just need to reflect back to some of the fiascos that have happen in the last 4 years to find the common thread. Wise up new Village Council and get a grip on this. Don’t let them distract you while they plan or plot.
The first election was presumably simply for a parking garage. Many of us voted “yes” because we do need a garage. When Aronson and crew decided that we voters “really meant” to vote “yes” on that monstrosity that he wanted, a second vote was held. On that we voted “No” because it was supposed to be “Did we want to bond money for ‘A’ garage” but Aronson inserted the amount for the largest garage that he wanted. He also set the vote on the earliest possible date, while he was still in office so he could presumably still break the ground for his dream. And yes, our new Council members did say they wanted a garage but not “that” garage. So, to me, what the voters wanted was still a garage, but not something of that size. And they wanted the new Council to handle the details with input from the residents of Ridgewood.
file photo by Boyd Loving
We voted against the monster garage.People were duped into voting for the monster garage in November. We were reassured that we were voting for A garage, not any specific design.
Then some hard working residents started a petition drive against the monster garage. No one ever said that they were against building a garage. They just want the right size in the right location.
Council members who were elected said that they would look into a redesign/relocation. No one running said that they were against a garage. There will be a garage.
file photo by Boyd Loving
One current council member admitted publicly during the campaign in the spring that he had been among those bamboozled by lies and omissions about the garage (he did not put it quite that way) and voted yes in the November referendum. He was among many. Had a true depiction and description been made available, including the fact that the thing was going to Occupy Hudson Street, and if it had been explained, as was the case, that a “yes” vote was not for a concept, but for the largest drawing–formally “approved,” by mayoral fiat, by the Historic Preservation Commission’s relatively new chair (appointed by the then-mayor), without checking with the members, and by the mayor’s personally created and hand-picked Financial Advisory Committee–how many residents would have agreed to it? Only those with something to gain, those who pay no attention, and those whose finger slipped in the voting booth. I think the “yes” votes would have amounted to about 150, including mistakes.
While not necessarily improper, administrators and board members might be forced to choose between what’s best for the hospital and what’s best for their private interests.
By
ANDREA FULLER and
MELANIE EVANS
Aug. 21, 2016 12:31 p.m. ET
Nonprofit hospitals have extensive business ties that can pose conflicts of interests for their administrators and board members, a Wall Street Journal analysis of newly released Internal Revenue Service data shows.
While having relationships with companies doing business with a nonprofit hospital isn’t necessarily improper—as long as the deals are disclosed and at market rate—administrators and board members sometimes may be forced to choose between what’s best for the hospital and what’s best for their private interests.
“Just because something is legal doesn’t mean that it’s appropriate,” said James Orlikoff,a Chicago-based hospital governance consultant. “You run the real risk of violating the public trust.”
Warning: Undefined array key "sfsi_riaIcon_order" in /home/eagle1522/public_html/theridgewoodblog.net/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-social-media-icons/libs/controllers/sfsi_frontpopUp.php on line 165
Warning: Undefined array key "sfsi_inhaIcon_order" in /home/eagle1522/public_html/theridgewoodblog.net/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-social-media-icons/libs/controllers/sfsi_frontpopUp.php on line 166
Warning: Undefined array key "sfsi_mastodonIcon_order" in /home/eagle1522/public_html/theridgewoodblog.net/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-social-media-icons/libs/controllers/sfsi_frontpopUp.php on line 177
