Ridgewood Village Council Meeting

March 23,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, as public comment broke up at tonight’s council meeting all but 3 Bogert Cambridge residents actually stayed for the public hearing . One resident who was most strenuously opposed to the parking ordinance on Bogert and Cambridge, approached the woman who has championed the ordinance as she was with her young children in the hallway, and began screaming obscenities in her face.

Mrs. McWilliams simply continued to try to dress her children to leave and the resident who identified herself at comment as Erin Taddei, began yelling that she was going to sue Mrs. McWilliams sprinkled with many many obscenities not often heard at a council meeting and not appropriate for children’s ears.

She needed to be physically restrained from approaching Mrs. McWilliams and she was physically dragged down the hallway by her husband as she continued to scream obscenities and threats of lawsuit at the mother, who simply walked away, and back in to the courtroom.

It has been reported that a police report has been made . This is not what we accept at meetings. If you are angry about a parking situation, have a discussion or lively debate. No one should resort to threats and obscenities. The woman could be bared from council meetings as she does not seem to understand the decorum required.

file photo by Boyd Loving

Groundhog Day, with apologies to Bill Murray
January 5,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, At the January 4 Village Council Work Session, members of the public who attended, and those who watched from the comfort of their homes, were treated to a real groundhog-day experience. You remember that movie, where the same thing happens over and over and over. And if you missed it, you can always watch it on youtube from the village website, watch it over and over and over.

For example:

1. Although he has known since November that Mayor Knudsen did not violate the Faulkner Act, Councilman Voigt went after her publicly AGAIN. He did it twice in December, and now he did it again. Three times he has publicly accused the Mayor of illegal action after knowing that she did not break any law. Three times. This time he spiced it up by having a member of the public “innocently” lob a question about the alleged violation…….which then enabled Councilman Voigt to read (yes read) a lengthy (very lengthy) sermon that he had typed and prepared for just this moment. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, Councilman Voigt did NOT address the question about how Mayor Knudsen allegedly broke the law (because she did NOT break any law). Instead he sang the praises of the Financial Advisory Committee and various members and all that they have accomplished. Matt Rogers explained that he had given a legal opinion that no law was broken, no violation of the Faulkner Act occurred…..and he clarified that Councilman Voigt knew this in November. Jeff flippantly said something along the lines of Matt Rogers’ legal opinion being exactly that, just an opinion. Come on Jeff, do you think if you keep throwing this lie around it will eventually stick? Guess what Jeff, it is bouncing back and sticking all over you. You look ridiculous. Worse than ridiculous, you look sneaky, nasty, and downright evil. Mayor Knudsen, meanwhile, was the essence of grace, calm, and civility.

2. Rurik Halaby went to the microphone and accused the Mayor of evicting Roberta Sonenfeld from office, suggested that she violated the Open Public Meetings Act, and that she should be investigated for this. Again……groundhog day……again it had to be explained to Mr. Halaby by Matt Rogers that no laws were broken, that in fact a letter of resignation was received, and the procedure for accepting the resignation was correct. Sigh . . . . .

3. And Mr. Halaby continues to call Mayor Knudsen “Mayor Kah-nudsen.” It has been explained to him that the “K” is silent, he knows it full well, but apparently he thinks it is clever to be disrespectful in such a manner. And he still loves his little catch phrases like “pandering to your base” and “vocalantis,” really, over and over and over.

———————————————————————————————-

A few new things happened, too. We learned that a motorcycle may be donated to our police force, a female firefighter’s hire will necessitate the construction of a women’s locker room at the firehouse, and Graydon Park annual passes will remain the same price (although day passes might go up). Bylaws for every board and committee will need to follow a standard format, will need to be synced with the resolution that created them in the first place, and will need to be approved by the Village Council. Some items that have the 1 and 2 recycle numbers can no longer be recycled – such as salad and bakery containers.

And we also learned that sometime last year Councilman Voigt asked a member of the public to have coffee. Over coffee, Mr. Voigt asked Mr. Saurabh Dani to come to a public meeting and ask specific questions so that Jeff could then have the entree to give scripted answers. Mr. Dani refused to play such an unethical game……but he spoke up about it tonight after witnessing the exact same scenario playing out between Jeff Voigt and Hans Lehmann. He also called for the resignation of Councilman Voigt.

We could hear someone shouting from the audience toward the end of the meeting, but not exactly what they were saying. He was shushed by the Mayor because he was out of order.

Wow, I wish I had gotten a babysitter tonight so I could have been there in person, but it was exciting enough from the comfort of my couch.

Were Free Dinners in Ridgewood Offered to supporters of Turf Field at Schedler?

Fireworks Erupt at Ridgewood Village Council Meeting Over Bogert and Cambridge Parking

Ridgewood Village Council Meeting : Groundhog Day