Ridgewood NJ, It is a wonderful that the Village Council is going to be reviewing all the bylaws of the Committees and Boards, and is going to have a template for all of them to follow in the future. It seems that some of these bodies of volunteer citizens have no written bylaws at all. Some have very skimpy bylaws. And some have bylaws that exceed the charge that is stated for the committee. While these committees and boards provide a huge service, and their volunteer members work hard at their tasks, it is very important that their roles are clearly defined. They are not elected officials, and they are not employees of the Village. They are volunteer citizens who can provide input and ideas. Period.
Two committees in particular need to be watched. Both are chaired by citizens who ran (unsuccessfully) for Village Council last spring, with the full support of Aronsohn-Pucciarelli-Hauck-
The Financial Advisory Committee has somehow extended its bylaws to include more responsibility than it is supposed to have. The chairman Evan Weitz wants to be included in the contract negotiations for the police and fire departments. Seriously. Can you even imagine that a committee of volunteers thinks they can be included in these negotiations? It is not even legal. And he is being egged on by Councilman Jeff Voigt, who sent an email to Evan Weitz recently asking him to come to the January 4, 2017 meeting and asking him to defend the FAC during public comments. Evan Weitz has also requested access to information that is not available to the public via OPRA requests. So glad that the Village Council is going to take a close look at the bylaws of this committee and reign them in. This committee seemed like a good idea in the beginning, it made some useful recommendations about budget planning and other financial activities, but it is probably no longer needed. Hopefully this committee can be eliminated altogether, as we now have a CFO who is highly competent.
The Parks and Recreation Committee is chaired by Richard Brooks, who chastised the Village Council on January 25 for having the audacity to put Schedler and Graydon on the Worksession agenda. Using language and tone of voice that was condescending and falsely authoritative, Mr. Brooks suggested that absolutely no recommendations or decisions about these two parks or any parks should be made EVER without running them by the PRC first. Mr. Brooks needs to be reminded that his committee is advisory and has absolutely no authority. He also made a point of announcing that the current and past Village Council liaisons to the PRC, Mr. Hache and Ms. Hauck, are lifelong residents of Ridgewood; he stated that having lifelong residents who grew up playing in the Ridgewood parks is an asset. When is this elitism going to end? Newer residents are often made to feel like second-class citizens, and this is dead wrong. A new resident has just as many rights and his or her opinions are wholly as valuable as those of someone who has lived here for many years.
Although Councilman Voigt publicly characterized the proposed review of all Committee and Board bylaws as an utter and complete waste of time, the fact is that this task is both essential and urgent. Volunteer committee members are the lifeblood of this community, but their responsibilities need to be clearly defined in order for everyone to be able to achieve the best outcomes. And when disgruntled citizens such as Mr. Weitz and Mr. Brooks are put into positions where they can attempt to wield power that is not theirs to wield, we have a serious problem.
