After the September 16th Village Council meeting, everyone I spoke with said, “Well, it’s a done deal with the High Density Housing.” But then September 30th proved us different.
The point is, as Rocky Balboa once said, “It ain’t ’til it’s over.” To add to that: It’s only over if we don’t show up.
Tonight is probably the most important Village Council meeting in the history of Ridgewood. It is the night when it’s decided whether we live in a Village or a City.
No one can foresee the future, but one thing is for sure: coming tonight will send a strong message – not only to this outgoing Village Council majority, but also as a mandate to those who are running for election. Perhaps even more important is that we can say that we showed up when our Village needed us the most and did what we could to stop this madness.
Lastly, if it’s absolutely impossible for you to come, The link to the broadcast can be found here: https://livestream.com/accounts/18208820/events/4985052
(NOTE: this is an unofficial broadcast and can ONLY be viewed at the above link.)
Please share this link and forward this note to as many residents as you can.
Thank you for helping protect our most wonderful village. Hope to see you tonight.
Readers not happy with council response to unacceptable attacks of residents :
Seriously, someone argues it is ok to knock a camera out of a person’s hands? Yes, no one should shove a camera in someone else’s face. But that is not what happened here. (And if it did, someone should have called the Police earlier.) Condoning and urging violence between Villagers cannot be viewed simply as the ravings of a self-styled curmudgeon. It is what we would expect to hear from a fascist who seeks to undermine democracy. Sadly, the comment personifies the mire into which we have been led by members of our Council.
This just in from Big Al – clearly he is running on defense. We know that Albert hates Dana, we heard him threaten Dana a few weeks ago, then we saw him join in a middle-school-boys’ bashing of Dana in cahoots with Aronsohn and Bob Fuhrman. Albert may claim that he does not want to outlaw taping, but he sure as hell does What he hates more than anything is that all of his nasty, inappropriate outbursts have been caught on tape by the Village cameras (and by other peoples cameras) and replayed over and over and over. It makes it impossible for him to escape the truth about himself, that his temper is unmanageable and flares up often and publicly. So read what Albert is saying here:
·If the reference in this article to an ordinance “introduced” at the January 27 Village Council meeting is referring to a draft ordinance that I circulated for comment, that ordinance does not purport to prohibit or restrict video or audio recording at Council meetings. It would require that participants at meetings that are not otherwise being recorded, such as a meeting of the Arts Council, be informed that the meeting is being recorded.
Albert Pucciarell
Reader says Delzio was standing with his foot inside the legs of Dana’s tripod. He had his face in Dana’s face. He was twisting his neck and putting his face in front of the camera lens. Dana was silently standing there with his camera, as he is entitled to do by law. He did not rise to the provocation of this aggressor at all. The only thing he did was take out his cell phone AFTER Delizio started cell-phone-taping HIM. Delzio was 100% aggressor and Dana was 100% passive, quiet, and orderly. You did not see what happened, and your wife sure as heck did not because her eyes were glued onto Jim Griffiths’ event. So your commentary is less than meaningless. You constantly criticize the blog, but you are posting based on the skewed report that your friend Gwenn gave you – and remember, GWENN STATED THAT SHE DID NOT SEE ANYTHING and that NO ONE SAW ANYTHING. Consider your source. Have some warm milk and go to bed.
Ridgewood NJ , the Ridgewood blog once again is two steps ahead of the rest of the media . The Ted Cruz eligibility issue was first discussed in August 2013 on the Ridgewood blog following ,Mark Levin’s visit to Bookends for a book signing .
“Recent events are, however, very gratifying to me, as they tend to support the position I’ve had all along with respect to Cruz‘s foreign birth and resultant POTUS ineligibility. Moreover, Mark Levin’s daily response to all of this on his radio show has been an analytical train wreck, just as had his horribly oversized and nationally broadcast personal reaction to my related question to him at the Bookends booksigning event in August 2013 (which, as you know, I maintain constitutes actionable slander). Do you know?, the intellectual quality of the current analysis onCruz‘s predicament, as reflected in the news stories and opinion pieces about this issue and posted to FreeRepublic.com, and in the comments made on those stories and pieces by FR members who think the way I do, is really, really good! It has enabled me to sharpen my own thinking about the Constitutional term “natural-born citizen” in many important respects. It really is head and shoulders better than anything that was put out there about Obama during our 7-8 year national nightmare. This seems to suggest that the mainstream media embargo on this issue has finally been lifted, together with the widespread social taboo that can almost certainly be attributed to Obama’s skin color and the ridiculously large case of white man’s guilt he so clearly benefited from and continues to cultivate and exploit to this day. This is just one more signal service performed for our benefit by Candidate Trump. Cruz himself also deserves credit for not going ballistic or demagoguing the issue as Obama and his supporters did and have done so consistently (and effectively).”
Radio Talk Show Host Mark Levin Continues to Comment on interaction he had at Bookends over “natural-born Citizen.
Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood blog is the lone independent voice of headline news in North Jersey . While much larger competitors have
come and gone the Ridgewood blog has persevered with your help. The Ridgewood blog is a unique social experiment were readers have the ability to create and determine what news matters most to them. With your support the blog has been mindbogglingly successful and its because of reader participation that has made it so .It is a unique interaction experiment in community dialogue .
We appreciate and are grateful for all the contributions made by readers and from the suggestion of several readers would like to
extend readers an opportunity to become patrons . The patron program is open to all . For as little as $25 you can become a patron .Patrons
will be listed d on the side bar or like always chose to remain anonymous. Contributions of $250 or more receive a special gift ,which
will be sent out in January . Every little bit helps , from contributions to content.
The response to our recent email was very gratifying !
or if you prefer checks can be sent James Foytlin PO Box 227 Ridgewood NJ 07451
The funds will be used to offset IT services which have been a bit
staggering the last couple of years .
Founders Day : the History of the Ridgewood blog
the History of the Ridgewood blog
Monday, October 26, 2009
The Ridgewood blog ( https://theridgewoodblog.blogspot.com/ ) was founded in March of 2006 by James J Foytlin aka PJ Blogger .[1] Mr.
Foytlin was born and raised in Ridgewood ,New Jersey and is a graduate of Ridgewood High School .[2] [3]
After many years living in New York City[4] Mr Foytlin returned to Ridgewood after a divorce and the tragic events of 9/11 . Once he
settled in he noticed a lack of sufficient news coverage of local events . One day a friend from Brazil[5] showed him her home town on
the internet and to Mr. Foytlin’s great surprise when he tried to reciprocate he was utterly dismayed at the absolute lack of coverage
of his home town. After all Ridgewood is only 18 miles from midtown Manhattan[6] the media capital of world and there was not a single
picture of Ridgewood to be found . How could this be? Ridgewood is a picturesque upper middle class village of around 25,000 located in
Bergen county in northern New Jersey[7] . Founded by Dutch settlers before it became an English colony[8] . The town or village as its
called is steeped in rich history and tradition .Known for a large amount of Victorian era housing , a quality school system and a family
friendly atmosphere.
Though busy getting reacquainted with his home town the fact that the Village of Ridgewood was so under represented on the internet
continued to disturb Mr. Foytlin. Mr. Foytlin had been writing news letters for his job in financial services since the mid 1990’s . The
popular flip, off beat investment strategy news letters had become email blasts with the advent of readily accessible internet.[9] By
2004 the email blasts were converted into blog format for the One Small Voice blog ( https://onesmallvoice.blogspot.com/ ). [10]
Around that time the Village of Ridgewood had finally completed it’s much anticipated and long delayed renovation of the Village hall which
has been flooded out due to Hurricane Floyd.[11] The renovation was marred by huge cost over runs and lengthy delays. In 2005 it opened
with great fan fare , was once again flooded with the very first rain . Mr. Foytlin was more shocked by the abject lack of responsibilitytaken by elected officials than the fact that the $9 million dollar renovation had to some extent been a failure . That was the breaking
point and Mr. Foytlin had had enough so he decided to give , citizen journalism a go and created the Ridgewood blog in March of 2006. [12]
The birth of PJ Blogger .By this time Blogging its seems had become quite the rage and mainstream news anchors such as Dan Rather had
questioned the validity of information from non professionals sitting around in their Pajama’s blogging.[13] Mr. Foytlin not a fan of Dan
Rather or any of the mainstream media decided to blog under the name PJ Blogger as a play on words and to plant himself firmly in the camp
of the new digital media.
Innovations by the Ridgewood blog to citizen journalism.
“The Fly” is a column on the Ridgewood blog the originates from the expression ,”I’d like to be a fly on the wall “ . The idea is that
every citizen has both a unique perspective and experience and these two factors can be used to gather news and opinions about local
issues. Originally only of handful of people in town participated but with time the Ridgewood blog can now count on 20–40 semi regular
contributors. These post are both anonymous and signed and are largely opinion as well a breaking news.[14]
The Ridgewood blog brings a free market lassie fare point of view to local issues . Mr. Foytlin aka PJ Blogger has stated that for local
issues there are only two kinds of people ;the ones who say spend what every you want because I will not be around to pay the bill and the
second group which are more focused on the ,”be careful this is my money your spending” . The Ridgewood blog is dedicated to the
interplay of there two groups.[15]
[1][12] the Ridgewood blog website https://theridgewoodblog.blogspot.com/
[2] Birth Certificate born in Valley Hospital , Ridgewood 04/09/1962
[3] Ridgewood High School Class 1980
[4] 444 East 86th street ,530 East 72nd
[5] Monica Rocha
[6] Mapquest
[7] United States 2000 Census, the village population was 24,936.
[8] https://www.americantowns.com/nj/ridgewood/organization/village-of-ridgewood
[9] Fahnestock & Co. now Oppenheimer & Co.
[10] https://onesmallvoice.blogspot.com/
[11] https://www.ridgewoodlibrary.org/localhistory/lh_vh_pease.htm
[13] https://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110005611
[14] [15] James J Foytlin
Record Number of Consumers Are Aware of Small Business Saturday®, Almost two-thirds (65%) plan to spend at least $100
Small Business Saturday is November 28th
77 percent of U.S. consumers are planning to ‘Shop Small®’ this holiday season
November 27,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, As small business owners across the nation gear up for Small Business Saturday, a record number of shoppers are making plans to support their favorite local businesses. According to the fourth-annual Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey, released today by the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) and American Express, supporting local small businesses continues to be a priority for shoppers nationwide.
“We’re immensely proud to be a founding partner of Small Business Saturday, and it is gratifying to see how it has become the movement that it is today.”
Small Business Saturday was created by American Express in 2010 as a response to small business owners’ most pressing need: getting more customers. Held on the Saturday following Thanksgiving, Small Business Saturday helps rally communities to support local businesses. As Small Business Saturday enters its sixth year, 55 percent of U.S. consumers report they are aware of the day – the highest figure yet recorded – and even more encouraging, 83 percent say Small Business Saturday inspires them to Shop Small all year long.
“Small Business Saturday is a major part of the holiday shopping tradition, and has become a celebration of the local small business owners that we call friends, neighbors and family,” said Janey Whiteside, Senior Vice President and General Manager of American Express OPEN. “We’re immensely proud to be a founding partner of Small Business Saturday, and it is gratifying to see how it has become the movement that it is today.”
“Small Business Saturday has grown every year and it’s been a big boost to Main Street America,” said NFIB CEO and President Dan Danner. “We are very proud to partner with American Express once again this year to promote an event that connects American consumers with their hometown businesses.”
Additional findings from the Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey include:
80% of consumers are willing to pay slightly more for an item if it is purchased from a small, independently-owned retailer as opposed to online or at a large retailer On average, consumers are planning to do 35% of their holiday shopping at small businesses 45% of consumers who expect to shop on the day plan to spend more on Small Business Saturday this year than they spent last year Almost two-thirds (64%) of consumers who plan to shop on Small Business Saturday are motivated by the contributions that small businesses make to their community
Community Involvement Grows; Additional Activities Provide Shopping Experiences Throughout the Day
Part of what helps make Small Business Saturday a success is the Small Business Saturday Coalition, which helps rally communities to Shop Small on November 28th. The Coalition was created in 2011 and is led by Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP). The Coalition is comprised of national, state and local associations that help coordinate Shop Small activities with merchants, consumers and small business owners.
Another important group that drives Small Business Saturday activities is Neighborhood Champions, which is comprised of small businesses, business associations, local Chambers of Commerce, and other community organizers. To date, more than 3,500 Neighborhood Champions – an increase of 26 percent from 2,786 in 2014 – have signed up to plan local community activities leading up to and on the day.
the staff of the Ridgewood blogRidgewood NJ, the Ridgewood blog has spent the last couple of months talking to merchants, residents, readers, and insiders in order to get to get a full picture of the parking problems the Village faces. We boiled down the responses to the simplest terms.
Employee parking : At 930 am Chestnut street is full of parked cars , none of the stores are open so one can only assume employees are parking in all the spots,
Ken Smith Employee parking : Most feel $80 bucks a month seems a bit stiff for restaurant and retain workers .
Meter parking enforcement hours : Merchants felt their customers were paying for parking while restaurant guests were not . Some suggested longer meter hours , say till 9 pm with a reduction in parking rates as a way to better spread out the pain.
Valet Parking :Many merchants felt about all the Valet parking only added to the parking problems taking even more spots away from potential customers as well as the general disrespectful attitude or the employees or the Valet Parking companies.
Parking App: Many felt the over 55 set would be resistant , and almost everyone felt it eliminated the quick in and out shoppers by making parking to much work as well as the App made parking even more expensive.
Garage Location : While many merchants liked the idea of a garage they also voiced concerns about the location and the anticipated traffic tie ups when parkers enter and exit.
Garage : NJT Commuters from other towns would take the spots and add nothing to the local economy except more congestion.
Taxpayers : Almost everyone asked why aren’t developers , NJT, merchants and restaurants contributing to paying for parking , they are ones benefiting.
Parking fees : Many felt Ridgewood was pricing itself out ,with fees being to high .
I have always maintained the Blog represents, to a great extent, the filthy, stinking, underbelly of Ridgewood and you are Exhibit A, 3:28 pm. Plus you are a coward to boot making these awful accusations hiding behind Anonymous. You should be ashamed of yourself, if shame is something you know anything about. What a great day it will be if James is forced to release the identity of his commentators. What fun it will be seeing awful people like you scurrying into your rat holes.
Exhibit A, 3:28 pm. : Rurik you are absolutely pitiful with your schoolboy crush on Ms. Hauck. All your big words and pompous posturing do not conceal the fact that you are basically drooling over her and hanging on her every word. Please try to get past the fact that she gives full-frontal hugs to every senior citizen man she meets, yourself included. Please try to focus on the issues, and the issue here is that Ms. Hauck is completely incompetent as well as disrespectful. She attacks anyone who gets in her way. She is as nasty as Maleficent. . She reads, yes READS, most of her comments when she is at meetings. It seems that someone is sending texts or emails to her because if you watch her on the USTREAM you will see that she is reading rather than speaking extemporaneously. And….on the few occasions when she does say something unscripted, it is rambling and nonsensical. James quoted her exactly from her own email, one that she either wrote herself or someone wrote for her. How in the world can you criticize James for this? Take a cold shower, Rurik, you will feel better after your hormones calm down.
Ridgewood Nj , Happy Mothers day to all the moms . before the all the flowers , chocolate and brunch ;Mother’s Day as it’s known today in the United States dates back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It started in 1868 to allow mothers of Union and Confederate soldiers to get together .
Here re five interesting facts about “Mothers day” :
1. Mother’s Day probably started as a way for mourning women to honor fallen soldiers. “Mother’s Friendship Day” was organized in 1868 to allow mothers of Union and Confederate soldiers to get together.
2. The earliest iterations of Mother’s Day in the U.S. were organized for several reasons, but celebrating mothers wasn’t among them. U.S. women’s groups in the late 1800s came together in West Virginia to tackle everything from infant mortality to disease and milk contamination. In 1870, a composer by the name of Julia Ward Howe issued a “Mother’s Day Proclamation,” urging women to become politically active and to promote peace following the U.S. Civil War, according to National Geographic.
3. The official holiday’s founder Anna Jarvis boycotted the holiday. Jarvis, a native of West Virginia, organized the first Mother’s Day celebration at a church in Grafton, West Virginia, in 1908 in memory of her own mother, who died three years earlier. She successfully campaigned to have the day adopted nationally, but by the time of her death in 1948, Jarvis had spent most of her personal wealth fighting the holiday she helped conceive. She apparently found the commercialization of Mother’s Day deplorable and sued groups that used the name “Mother’s Day” name to promote consumerism. She even lobbied the government to remove it from the U.S.’ official calendar.
4. Jarvis never married and was childless. In many ways, Jarvis’ unwavering devotion to preserving what she thought was the true origin of the holiday was more about her ego than anything else. “Everything she signed was Anna Jarvis, Founder of Mother’s Day. It was who she was,” historian Katharine Antolini, author of “Memorializing Motherhood: Anna Jarvis and the Struggle for Control of Mother’s Day,” told National Geographic.
5. The carnation was the original Mother’s Day flower. Some groups sold carnations every year to fundraise for their causes, something Jarvis vehemently opposed.
The Ridgewood blog was founded in March of 2006 by James J Foytlin aka PJ Blogger . Mr. Foytlin was born and raised in Ridgewood ,New Jersey and is a graduate of Ridgewood High School .
Ridgewood NJ, – Oct. 26, 2009 – RIDGEWOOD, N.J. — The Ridgewood blog ( https://theridgewoodblog.blogspot.com/ ) was founded in March of 2006 by James J Foytlin aka PJ Blogger .[1] Mr. Foytlin was born and raised in Ridgewood ,New Jersey and is a graduate of Ridgewood High School .[2] [3]
After many years living in New York City[4] Mr Foytlin returned to Ridgewood after a divorce and the tragic events of 9/11 . Once he settled in he noticed a lack of sufficient news coverage of local events . One day a friend from Brazil[5] showed him her home town on the internet and to Mr. Foytlin’s great surprise when he tried to reciprocate he was utterly dismayed at the absolute lake coverage of his home town. After all Ridgewood is only 18 miles from midtown Manhattan[6] the media capitol of world and there was not a single picture of Ridgewood to be found . How could this be? Ridgewood is a picturesque upper middle class village of around 25,000 located in Bergen county in northern New Jersey[7] . Founded by Dutch settlers before it became an English colony[8] . The town or village as its called is steeped in rich history and tradition .Known for a large amount of Victorian era housing , a quality school system and a family friendly atmosphere.
Though busy getting reacquainted with his home town the fact that the Village of Ridgewood was so under represented on the internet continued to disturb Mr. Foytlin. Mr. Foytlin had been writing news letters for his job in financial services since the mid 1990’s . The popular flip, off beat investment strategy news letters had become email blasts with the advent of readily accessible internet.[9] By 2004 the email blasts were converted into blog format for the One Small Voice blog (https://onesmallvoice.blogspot.com/ ). [10]
Around that time the Village of Ridgewood had finally completed it’s much anticipated and long delayed renovation of the Village hall which has been flooded out due to Hurricane Floyd.[11] The renovation was marred by huge cost over runs and lengthy delays. In 2005 it opened with great fan fare , was once again flooded with the very first rain . Mr. Foytlin was more shocked by the abject lack of responsibility taken by elected officials than the fact that the $9 million dollar renovation had to some extent been a failure . That was the breaking point and Mr. Foytlin had had enough so he decided to give , citizen journalism a go and created the Ridgewood blog in March of 2006. [12]
The birth of PJ Blogger .By this time Blogging its seems had become quite the rage and mainstream news anchors such as Dan Rather had questioned the validity of information from non professionals sitting around in their Pajama’s blogging.[13] Mr. Foytlin not a fan of Dan Rather or any of the mainstream media decided to blog under the name PJ Blogger as a play on words and to plant himself firmly in the camp of the new digital media.
Innovations by the Ridgewood blog to citizen journalism.
“The Fly” is a column on the Ridgewood blog the originates from the expression ,”I’d like to be a fly on the wall “ . The idea is that every citizen has both a unique perspective and experience and these two factors can be used to gather news and opinions about local issues. Originally only of handful of people in town participated but with time the Ridgewood blog can now count on 20–40 semi regular contributors. These post are both anonymous and signed and are largely opinion as well a breaking news.[14]
The Ridgewood blog brings a free market lassie fare point of view to local issues . Mr. Foytlin aka PJ Blogger has stated that for local issues there are only two kinds of people ;the ones who say spend what every you want because I will not be around to pay the bill and the second group which are more focused on the ,”be careful this is my money your spending” . The Ridgewood blog is dedicated to the interplay of there two groups.[15]
[1][12] the Ridgewood blog website https://theridgewoodblog.blogspot.com/
[2] Birth Certificate born in Valley Hospital , Ridgewood 04/09/1962
[3] Ridgewood High School Class 1980
[4] 444 East 86th street ,530 East 72nd
[5] Monica Rocha
[6] Mapquest
[7] United States 2000 Census, the village population was 24,936.
[8] https://www.americantowns.com/nj/ridgewood/organization/vi…
[9] Fahnestock & Co. now Oppenheimer & Co.
[10] https://onesmallvoice.blogspot.com/
[11] https://www.ridgewoodlibrary.org/localhistory/lh_vh_pease.htm
[13] https://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110005611
[14] [15] James J Foytlin
Reader says Please keep growing TRB.com, PJ! We need it here in Ridgewood, now more than ever.
Yes, thank you PJ, and please bear in mind that if for whatever reason you stop providing this local service, not only will the sheer quantity of local public discourse immediately plummet, but its tenor and quality will also take a big hit. This is so in no small part because others whose personal political stock in trade appears to be in gratuitous humiliation and vilification of well-meaning colleagues and private citizens will be emboldened to increase the frequency and scale of their misbehavior.
With all the difficulties you can’t avoid, and must therefore endure, as a modern digital publisher of smallish size, you deserve to be recognized for your inspiring creativity, civic-mindedness, and clear devotion to essential Western values such as freedom of conscience, speech and association, virtuous self-government based on sound morality and a decent respect for the interests of one’s neighbors, and a healthy American skepticism when it comes to the stated, implied, or hidden motivations of elected and appointive government actors at all levels.
Local officeholders and policymakers, and municipal managers, employees, appointees, board members and volunteers know, or at least should know, that when it comes down to brass tacks, TRB.com exists purely for the long-term benefit of the Village, its citizens, its taxpayers, and other residents. Any solicited or unsolicited criticism that comes their way from these parts or at public meetings is meant not for the sake of negativity or to drag anyone down, but to further the best interests of the village as they are perceived in good faith by your very neighbors. Because this fact may not be readily apparent when current issues are being hotly discussed, or when commenters insist on exercising their right (within reason) to remain anonymous, it should not go unmentioned for very long, and it ought to be called to mind by all local actors on a regular basis so that as few people as possible end up with their respective noses out of joint when the dust settles. (How’s that for a public civility strategy, Mr. Mayor?)
Please keep growing TRB.com, PJ! We need it here in Ridgewood, now more than ever.
Thank you so much for all your loyalty and emails , it has been brought to our attention that some comments have been lost in the last couple of days . Please be advised that comments have been lost do to all the site up dates and are not I repeat not a result of any “Hacking” activity or the Mayors new civility policies
If you dont see your comment please repost !
thank you again and sorry for the inconvenience
James aka PJ Blogger and the the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Dear Readers after suffering a major “HACK” attack last week the Ridgewood Blog is under going a very major up grade to its servers .
After finishing our first phase of blog redesign we are also continuing a long term project for better indexing the 80,000 plus older posts making them easier to search . This includes a more usable streamlined set of categories as well as a simpler tagging system .
The second major project we are currently working on is fixing the 3000 or so broken , non working or inaccurate links . When finished this will give blog users faster access to blog posts and a more robust feel for surfers.
thanks for your patients , the blog should return to service sometime today ,
James aka PJ Blogger
www.theridgewoodblog.net
onlyonesmallvoice@gmail.com
Anonymous Blogger says Civility you can start with :WHO SENT THE ANONYMOUS EMAIL TO COUNCILMAN SEDON’S EMPLOYER??????
Many people are intimidated from speaking up using their own name. They fear retribution and so they stay silent. And why would they fear retribution? – because it happens all the time. You complain about (this is a random example) garbage collection, and suddenly your garbage bags are breaking open in your driveway. You read such stories all the time. A parent fears complaining about his child’s teacher because the child may be made to suffer in the classroom. Yes, it happens. You complain that your mother’s caregiver in the nursing home is being rough with her, and then you get sick with worry that the caregiver will be angry about the reprimand and God-forbid somehow take it out on your mother. Years ago I reprimanded a paper boy (back when The Record came later in the day and was delivered by local teens) for taunting my elderly dog who was sitting on the porch. The very next day I had a flat tire, and a line of nails was seen in my driveway. The police officer who came to take the report asked if anyone in the house had been in a recent dispute with anyone. The officer was almost saying “well, what did you expect.” We learn early that complaining out loud can be disastrous.
Then along comes the internet, and we now have a chance to state our opinions loudly and clearly without fear of retribution. This is a huge benefit to the average Joe and Jane who have a right to an opinion but a fear of stating it. LONG LIVE THE BLOG !!!!! In terms of our own elected officials, we know they read this Blog every day and we know they act upon some of the comments. Or sometimes they react to some of the comments. But it does get their attention. It is a wonderful thing. As a regular reader of, and anonymous poster on, this Blog, it is glaringly apparent that some of the anonymous posts come from mission control. The language, the defensive tone….. at times you know exactly who from the Village Council is posting. They cannot have it both ways – they want to eliminate anonymity when they practice it themselves. Seriously.
Moreover, when you go in person with your face in plain sight and make a comment at the Village Council meetings, you might get severely reprimanded. Heck, they even reprimand their own elected colleagues, village employees, and the chief of police. This council in particular has been hideous with their behavior at times, just embarrassing, and in fact The Record has published a couple of articles and editorials chastising their inappropriate behavior. The put a timer on when someone steps up to the microphone and you are not allowed to ask any direct questions of any person and the speaker is often met with a “thank you for your comments” sort of response which accomplishes nothing. One person I know told me she was watching on TV (which many of us do) and got so mad that she jumped in the car to go speak her mind, but then she got afraid and slunk back home instead of going in to the meeting. Of course she was afraid. Who would want to chance being publicly humiliated?
All of this makes it all the more disingenuous that THIS mayor is trying to pose as a civility in public discourse guru. A leopard cannot change its spots. We see right through these elaborate smoke and mirrors.
And yes……WHO SENT THE ANONYMOUS EMAIL TO COUNCILMAN SEDON’S EMPLOYER?????? Care to step forward and identify yourself?
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