Village of Ridewood - THE RIDGEWOOD BLOG.

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Editors Note : several erroneous statements in this letter must be addressed , italics is mine
PJ Blogger Founder of the Ridgewood blog and King of the Anonymous bloggers
to the editor:

While watching the council meeting last Wednesday, I was appalled by the rancor and allegations of harassment.

Our councilmen and councilwomen donate an inordinate amount of time and energy for the betterment of Ridgewood. There is a growing tendency on the part of our citizens to vilify some of our council because of disagreement with their positions on public policy and local law. This has got to stop.

Actually it is three members of the council who continue to attack and vilify the opposition ,

Anonymous blogging is an especially onerous method of this, seeing that a forum already exists at every council meeting by going to the podium and stating your name and address. Criticize the ideas if you must, or add constructive ideas regarding the dialogue or issue at hand, but do it openly and expose your views to public debate.

This is a perfect example of the previous statement , you are responsible for your own behavior , poor manners and an ill temper are no ones fault but your own

During the heated discussion of the residency requirement, it has come to light that one of the two dissenters on the council has a personal stake in the eventual outcome that was not previously made known. I find that there are few coincidences in life, and it appears that the catalyst for one of the dissenting votes bears this out. If you have three sons on the current village list with aspirations to pursue careers with the police force, a dissenting vote on this issue of civilian hires can be seriously construed as another dissenting vote down the road on uniformed employees, and a potential conflict of interest.

To our knowledge Public safety employee hiring was not effected by the “residency ” rule change making the hole conflict issue specious.

Regarding this question of residency preference, Deputy Mayor Pucciarelli summarized it best in voting against continuing the preference: The people of Ridgewood are best served by hiring the most qualified candidate for village jobs, whether they are residents of Ridgewood or not. The village does not need to fill civil service positions as a way of providing work for residents which could become a recipe for patronage and nepotism.

No one would argue that hiring the best for the Village , but it seems the change in the law will open the floodgates for importing more partisan hacks in in attempt to destroy the Village ie welcome to Hudson County .

Glenn F. Jorgensen

Ridgewood

To the Editor:

When Thomas Yotka, Ridgewood’s newly appointed building department director and construction code official, proposed numerous (and in some cases significant) increases in permit fees at the March 11 Village Council public meeting, Councilwoman Susan Knudsen requested more data to justify the proposed changes. Although Mr. Yotka had cited only three other municipalities’ fees in his report, Councilwoman Knudsen had compared the proposed fees with those of several others and found some inconsistencies.

Two weeks later, at the March 25 Village Council work session, Mr. Yotka provided additional details to Village Council members. It seems, from the discussion, that the permit fee increases proposed by Mr. Yotka may be in line with those in many surrounding municipalities, although the final discussion and official council vote on fee changes have not yet taken place.

This was a fine example of transparency in government, and we have Councilwoman Knudsen to thank for it. All of us who have obtained permits for home improvements know how expensive these are, and how they can add up rapidly if a large project is undertaken. Thanks to the diligence of Councilwoman Knudsen, if our fees do increase, we can at least feel reassured that the charges will reflect current standards.

Sadly, this positive occurrence was immediately marred by uncivil, condescending remarks from Councilwoman Gwenn Hauck and Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli. They made it clear that Councilwoman Knudsen’s request for this additional data had not, in their opinions, been necessary and had required Mr. Yotka to expend excessive, exhaustive and unnecessary effort. Furthermore, when Councilwoman Knudsen stated, politely, that she did not appreciate a gratuitous swipe by the deputy mayor, he replied nastily and sarcastically. Councilwoman Knudsen, to her great credit, maintained a calm, professional demeanor.

In February 2013, Mayor Paul Aronsohn apologized for similar behavior on the part of the Village Council, saying that the public deserves a working council, not a fighting council. There have been other such outbursts in the last couple of years and now here we are yet again. Mayor Aronsohn speaks of civility often, and insists that public discourse must be polite. As chair of the March 25 meeting, he could have interrupted the nasty comments, and apologized to Councilwoman Knudsen and the public for these counterproductive interruptions to an important discussion. Moreover, why didn’t Councilwoman Hauck and Deputy Mayor Pucciarelli behave respectfully in the first place? The remarks by Councilwoman Hauck and Deputy Mayor Pucciarelli, coupled with the silence of Mayor Aronsohn, exemplify incivility.

My greatest annual expense is my property taxes, as it is in many Ridgewood households. I appreciate when our elected officials are cautious, thoughtful, and informed of the facts before spending tax revenues or increasing our fees. Collegial, productive discussions about village business cannot occur when Village Council members are disrespectful and quarrelsome. Over two years ago, the mayor said that we deserve better, but sadly it seems that we are still not getting what we deserve.

Anne LaGrange Loving

Ridgewood

On council’s vote on residency hiring

Ridgewood still deserves better