We voted out the last Gang..perhaps those new folks have crossed the magic river of unreality .You don’t build for peak use times..economics 101.let these terrific business go bond it themselves. Once privately bonded grant them a 30 year ground leased at below market rates,.different story now?.Police don’t patrol today.you think a rent a cop
will make this garage safe late at night..not a chance…useage goes into the can when it becomes a drug and homeless center..then the Car rental and urban blight stores open up 24 /7 for the new homeless..pretty picture
Of Potterville gone Bad..
Ridgewood NJ, Happy endings in Ridgewood after a missing 5-year old boy was safely located early Friday afternoon, 05/26. Ho-Ho-Kus PD personnel and a K9 handler from the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office were called to assist Ridgewood Police in the search. After having been missing for over one (1) hour, the child was located, seemingly unharmed, in the fenced rear yard of a nearby home. Ridgewood Police uniformed and plain clothes officers were observed interviewing several occupants of that home as part of an investigation into how the child got into the yard, and what he was doing while there.
Dear Mayor Knudsen, Deputy Mayor Sedon, Councilman Hache, and Councilwoman Walsh:
I was recently shown copies of email messages between Councilman Jeffrey Voigt and Alfred Doblin, editorial page editor of The Record, obtained from the Village by a fellow resident via the Open Public Records Act. I will not quote them here because I believe that you have all seen them.
Background: earlier this month I read an editorial by Mr. Doblin in which he urged Ridgewood’s Village Council to permit a rainbow flag to be flown on municipal property. I was disturbed by several aspects of the editorial and sent Mr. Doblin an email message providing my phone number and asking if we might talk about it. He called me and we spoke. At the end of our conversation, he invited me to write a letter to the editor repeating my views and said he would make sure it was published. Although I was very busy preparing for a trip, I took the time to write the letter, which after some editing by him was published the next day. At that time I had not yet read Councilman Voigt’s op-ed piece on the subject; I learned of its existence later. They were posted separately at northjersey.com but ran on the same page of the “hard copy” of the paper on May 10.
Contrary to Councilman Voigt’s suggestion via email to that very editor, Mayor Knudsen neither wrote the letter for me nor helped me to write it. This claim was uncalled-for, inaccurate, and insulting. I can still hardly believe the councilman thought it, much less expressed it.
The problem for the village and residents goes beyond defamation. At more than one council meeting, Councilman Voigt has displayed disruptive, distracting, erratic, and frankly infantile behavior on the dais. His facial expressions and body language have indicated extreme irritation with what was being said or voted upon. He has repeatedly refused to be silent when a point of order has been called. He has stood up and approached and loudly cursed at our Village Manager in the full view and hearing of all. i have often asked myself whether I was sitting in a municipal courtroom or the gym in a junior high. He has shown contempt for his fellow council members and the public, going so far as to sneer openly at the mayor while she was speaking and to name in a negative way residents who routinely make the effort to observe our elected officials, as numerous council members over the years have repeatedly implored residents to do. If only more residents had the time and interest to do the same! As thanks for our ongoing concern about municipal issues and sincere contributions toward enhancing our village’s quality of life, we became the victims of a councilman’s diatribes. Is it appropriate for us to be named on the public record in such a manner? I thought we deserved a medal, not a punch in the face.
Flailing even farther into cyberspace, Councilman Voigt has now posted on his Facebook page (www.facebook.com/jeffrey.voigt.3) the OPRA requests by four village residents for email messages that he had sent through the village server. These requests are posted without redaction, thus openly revealing those residents’ names, phone numbers, mailing addresses, and email addresses. Does our village attorney not find this questionable?
Precisely what Councilman Voigt has against the mayor, whom in his litany of email calumnies he ironically called “mean spirited,” is a mystery to me. Whatever his issues may be, surely elected officials need to check their fury at the door and to learn how to disagree courteously and rationally without sniping at each other in emails to the local press. If our deeply embattled federal Congress can get through the day without wringing each others’ necks, can’t the Ridgewood Village Council do the same? Yet as an observer of many council meetings, either in person or online, I have never seen the mayor respond to the councilman’s outbursts other than with a calm, quiet, professional demeanor.
At a recent council meeting, Councilman Voigt exhibited dismay upon discovering, as he should have known was legal under state law, that some of his email messages had been obtained via OPRA requests. Yet he dismissed the derogatory and disrespectful statements that he had made in those messages. In journalism, this is called “burying the lede.” Moreover, these disparaging observations were made not to just anyone, but to the editorial page editor of the major newspaper in the county, published by the same publisher as our town paper. As a professional journalist exercising her right of free speech at the suggestion of that editor, I was appalled to read the councilman’s comments about me, disparaging on their face and therefore mortifying, but on a professional note as well. Suppose I wanted to approach that editor or a colleague of his for a job–or even to submit another letter? I have now been characterized by a sitting council member as “the mayor’s attack dog.” There goes my credibility as a disinterested observer!
Interestingly, one point to which Councilman Voigt strongly objected was my statement in the letter, picked up by The Record as its headline, that I believed the council had always intended to do the right thing. How could I know that?, he demanded. But wait—my letter was supportive of the entire council, including him. A major reason I had contacted Mr. Doblin in the first place and then written the letter at his suggestion was to support our council, whom I felt Mr. Doblin’s editorial had unfairly maligned. Was it wrong to state that I believed in my village council’s goodwill? What’s the problem here?
Further evidence of poor judgment at best and malfeasance at worst is that Councilman Voigt chose as his mechanism for defaming me and others a public server supported by our tax dollars. To read these words written by a sitting council member for whose election we had spent considerable time volunteering last year, including through the Preserve Graydon Coalition’s email list, was particularly disheartening. I am perplexed and disappointed that he felt compelled to state these things and find it unforgivable that he felt free to dismiss my views in writing and to compromise my credibility—to a fellow journalist, no less.
Councilman Voigt’s communications also cast false and inexplicable aspersions on the character of our mayor. Perhaps there is some incomprehensible vendetta, but if so, it would be more appropriately handled privately rather than before the cameras and the public eye. The councilman continues to embarrass himself and to make a spectacle of himself. One is forced to infer that he may be unable to control his behavior. That is a serious problem for an elected official.
These events, some of which have been widely circulated on social media and elsewhere and are likely to continue to be, have created a serious trust issue for our village. This town has witnessed more than its share of sniping, anger, and infighting on the dais. We were relieved to have put it behind us with the last council election, but “it’s baaack” with (literally) a vengeance. The situation must not be permitted to continue or intensify for the three years, one month, and six days (but who’s counting?) remaining in Councilman Voigt’s four-year term lest we descend into irredeemable vituperation and chaos.
Have you, our elected council members, conferred with our village attorney to learn what formal reprimands or sanctions might be leveled against Councilman Voigt by village ordinance, by the Faulkner form of government, by Robert’s Rules of Order, by legal precedent, by ethical codes in general, or by other precepts and means? Can four members of a five-member village council request or demand the resignation of the fifth? If so, please consider taking that course to restore decorum and public trust in our council chamber.
An apology would not “cut it,” considering that a previous apology for discourteous behavior during council meetings has been followed by even more histrionic performances. Councilman Voigt’s swift replacement would be ideal. If that is not possible, a strong public reprimand by the village attorney to calm the populace and mandated psychological counseling and perhaps medication to calm the councilman are warranted.
At the May 24, 2017 council meeting I mentioned I would be posting the OPRA requests of my emails that Mayor Knudsen and her supporters have filed with the Village Clerk. At the May 10, 2017 council meeting, Mayor Knudsen mentioned in reading the emails she had obtained to the public, that they were deeply disturbing and hurtful. The emails she is referring to are my correspondence with Alfred Doblin, an editor of the Bergen Record from May . I do agree with the Mayor that they are deeply disturbing in that they demonstrate the lengths the Mayor will go to denigrate others. As far as them being hurtful, I believe the comments made in the emails are factual and are borne out in the recent actions by the Mayor regarding the flying of the gay pride flag. I will let you decide if they are either/both deeply disturbing and hurtful. Moving forward, each of the OPRA requests from the Mayor’s supporters will be posted on my facebook page as I receive them from the Village Hall clerk. The purpose of doing so is to ensure you as residents are informed, have the facts, and none of this is editorialized on as happened on May 10 and May 24th by the Mayor.
Ridgewood NJ, at Wednesday night meeting the Financial Advisory Committee (FAC) presented a review of the fees. This is to be a context for fee reviews in various departments . This blog has never been a friend of the FAC , but we are a fan of stream lining fees, eliminating out dated fees and fees that cost more to collect than the Village earns .
The focus of the FAC report was three major issues :
majority of fees are outdated sample fees were below comparable towns Village can improve the bottom line , some fee cost more to collect than they take in
The FAC presentation focused on , process enhancement , review of the fees that matter , cost recovery , regulate activities , market approach compare to neighboring towns
The FAC report suggested to eliminate fees that are gratuitous or inconsequential and create a process to update or review fees.
According to the FAC most fees were set in the 90’s . Often the cost of collection out weights fees themselves . Some fees could also be paid on line like the garage sale fee
There are over 600 line items of various fees , the FAC just looked at the fees that the Village Council can do something about ,the FAC focused on significant fees that matter.
The FAC mentioned that fees a remarkable lack on uniformity , comparing against Redbank, Monclair and Summitt . Council is looking for comparisons with more local town.
Ridgewood NJ, instead of rushing out today to get stuck in traffic on the Parkway and Turnpike start your weekend off by cheering on the Ridgewood Girls Lacrosse team today at 4pm at RHS stadium.
Fans the Ridgewood Girls Lacrosse need your support! Please come cheer on the girls today at our state game @ 4:00 vs Morristown at RHS stadium! State bracket info, check out our website @ www.ridgewoodgirlslax.com.
This is for the Lacrosse – 2017 NJSIAA North 1, Group 4 Tournament!
If you are not up to speed the Ridgewood Girls Lacrosse is 13 time Bergen County Champions . 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016 Group 4 Champions 2010 and 2011 New Jersey State Tournament of Champions.
At the May 24, 2017 council meeting I mentioned I would be posting the OPRA requests of my emails that Mayor Knudsen and her supporters have filed with the Village Clerk. At the May 10, 2017 council meeting, Mayor Knudsen mentioned in reading the emails she had obtained to the public, that they were deeply disturbing and hurtful. The emails she is referring to are my correspondence with Alfred Doblin, an editor of the Bergen Record from May . I do agree with the Mayor that they are deeply disturbing in that they demonstrate the lengths the Mayor will go to denigrate others. As far as them being hurtful, I believe the comments made in the emails are factual and are borne out in the recent actions by the Mayor regarding the flying of the gay pride flag. I will let you decide if they are either/both deeply disturbing and hurtful. Moving forward, each of the OPRA requests from the Mayor’s supporters will be posted on my facebook page as I receive them from the Village Hall clerk. The purpose of doing so is to ensure you as residents are informed, have the facts, and none of this is editorialized on as happened on May 10 and May 24th by the Mayor.
Voight and his stooges are dead wrong. House and property were deemed historical years ago. House is on the NJ Historical Preservation list. All you have to do is read. Everything is recorded and archived; look it up. “Mayor’s Father Act” is slanderous statement and a bunch of BS. The Mayor as well as any other public official have the fiduciary obligation to historically preserve American History…its called ETHICS. Stop bullying Mayor Knudsen. When the previous Council majority and Roberta Sonenfeld wanted to turn it into a sports complex, for the RBSA, it was approximately 10 million dollars (all taxpayer’s dollars). That was absurd! Thank God that FRAUD was stopped.
This Village has to wake up to the math. A $9mm garage that increases parking by 140 spaces cost about $64,000 per space. If one were to assume that every one of those incremental spaces (because incremental space is what we are paying for) was filled 256 day per year, (360 less weekends), it would take about 10 years at $25 per space per day just to cover the $9mm construction cost. This is a wild ass assumption in its own right. A few other items to think about- i) we can’t build outdoor bathrooms without going over budget so that $9mm figure is a wish, ii) the math mentioned above does not take into consideration financing, operating and capital costs and iii) the Village should not underestimate the external costs associated with increased traffic in an already congested business district. I would guess that when those costs are realistically added in, this project will create significant deficits that would be funded by the tax payers. Hey, let’s go for it assuming we all know how much the pretty building will cost us and who really benefits from another white elephant.
I feel horribly sad that this stupidity was not put behind us as many believed would happen after the referendum. True, the referendum applied to a specific bond and a specific price, but as others point out here, we’re approaching that dollar figure anyway. HORRORS, especially at this moment in the village’s fiscal history. A garage was never meant to be at that location until the Aronsohn crew began pounding it into our heads. Building it is a big mistake that will be recognized soon, when the money has been spent and that little corner destroyed.Smaller is better, but merely reconfiguring and resurfacing the lot would be even better and cost relatively nothing. I believe this council is allowing itself to be swayed by the squeakiest wheels in town, many with much to gain, financially or politically, from the construction of this monstrosity and others. Those council members who still have a conscience and common sense will deeply regret their decision. Like an engaged person who can’t face admitting that love is gone and dreads the upcoming marriage but can’t disappoint their parents and friends or justify losing the money already spent, we will apparently go through with this, only to rue it later. It will be too late to get a divorce before the first anniversary, as can happen in such cases. Such an edifice in that spot will be ugly and overbearing at any price and in any style…it will cast shadows over a nice sunny area with outdoor tables…it will increase traffic that is already near-lethal. And it will cost us dearly when dollars are badly needed in the municipality for other things.
Ridgewood NJ, Both drivers involved in a collision at the intersection of East Glen Avenue and East Saddle River Road, Ridgewood on Thursday afternoon, 05/25, were transported by separate ambulances to The Valley Hospital with non life threatening injuries. Ridgewood Polie, Fire, and EMS units responded. FD personnel attended to a crash related fluid spill. The two (2) wrecked SUVs were removed by tow trucks.
Ridgewood NJ, Microsoft account security alert its a scam DO NOT CLICK ON ANYTHING ! Microsoft account team <[email protected]> 6:56 PM (21 minutes ago)
to me Microsoft account Security alert We think that someone else might have accessed the Microsoft account ja*****. When this happens, we require you to verify your identity with a security challenge and then change your password the next time you sign in. If someone else has access to your account, they have your password and might be trying to access your personal information or send junk email. If you haven’t already recovered your account, we can help you do it now. Recover account Learn how to make your account more secure. Thanks, The Microsoft account team
Ridgewood NJ, The Women Gardeners of Ridgewood have been around since 1914 ,over 100 years . They are one of those low profile organizations that makes Ridgewood such a unique place .
At Wednesdays Village Council Meeting the ladies offered at their own expense to renovate a room at Habernickel Park to use as their reference library for Gardening and to share this resource with the Village.
The Women Gardeners of Ridgewood
A Proud History
By Roberta Svarre
In 2005, The Women Gardeners of Ridgewood (also referred to as, “The Women Gardeners” or “the Club”) celebrated its 80th year of operation. The organization owes its name to the fact that a “Garden Club of Ridgewood” was organized in 1914, but its membership was restricted to men. Resentment at this exclusion motivated a group of dedicated women to form “The Women Gardeners of Ridgewood” under the leadership of Mrs. C.W. Stockton in 1925. The club had twenty members and was a charter member of The Garden Club of New Jersey when it was organized. No record of the men’s club remains.
During the Depression years of 1932-33, The Women Gardeners of Ridgewood was unable to pay dues to the state organization and instead became part of the Garden Department of the Women’s Club of Ridgewood. That relationship continued until 1945, when membership in The Garden Club of New Jersey was reinstated.
Some of the longest continuing members of The Women Gardeners of Ridgewood remember serving as joint Hospitality Chairmen. Since the club met in member’s homes, part of the position included hauling borrowed chairs from Van Emburgh’s Funeral Home to the home of the meeting hostess and back.
The Club has a long tradition of community service. For many years members would travel to the Veteran’s Hospital in East Orange, where they would decorate the day rooms and chapel and make tray arrangements.
That tradition continues on the local level today. The Women Gardeners designed and maintain the plantings at the Ridgewood Public Library and provides weekly flower arrangements for the library lobby. The Club designed the garden for the Share house for elderly residents on Prospect Street and supported the garden at the Children’s Services and Family Counseling building.
The Women Gardeners of Ridgewood also provides tray favors for Meals on Wheels during the holiday season and makes centerpieces for the fundraising activities of various local charities. The Club has participated in the showhouse at Skylands Manor, considered an exhibition opportunity for area garden clubs.
The Club is proud of its most recent addition, a Junior Program, “Green Kids” which was started September 2007. Designed for children Grades 3 through 6, this program meets monthly to explore and discover nature, science, gardening, art, birding, weather, recycling, environment and our senses.
As part of its public education efforts, The Women Gardeners present semi-annual Garden Education Day featuring major speakers, workshops and/or boutiques.
The activities of the club are supported by a semi-annual garden tour called “SECRET GARDENS OF RIDGEWOOD.” Begun as part of Ridgewood’s centennial celebration in 1994, Secret Gardens of Ridgewood has become one of New Jersey’s premier garden tours, with visitors coming from all over the metropolitan region. More than 800 visitors toured the gardens in 2008.
Ridgewood NJ, Enjoy music under the stars on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the summer. It’s all absolutely free.
The kick off is Thursday, June 2, 2016 ,Tunes in June RHS Bands. 58 Years of free summer entertainment under the stars. Please bring a chair or blanket. Please do not cross over the field if a game is in process. Rain site: Benjamin Franklin Middle School, N. Van Dien Ave. at Glen Ave. June 2nd rain site- Campus Ctr. Ridgewood H.S. on E. Ridgewood Ave. Taped rain site info (June-August) 201-444-1776 after 7 pm.
Ridgewood NJ, you do not have to leave town to enjoy the summer . Join Ridgewood Parks and Recreation for summer camps that are fun, informative, creative, educational and challenging. Find all program and registration details in the links below.
Don’t hesitate to contact the Recreation Office if you have any questions or if special accomodations are needed – 201-670-5560, weekdays 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.
