For those of you who feel we need a clean sweep, remember the only other candidates running are the ones who are allowing this absolute filth to be circulated. You can’t get a decent “clean sweep” for another 2 years, but PLEASE PLEASE don’t turn our village over to the candidates running in opposition to our current council members. This whole thing should show the town that we need qualified people to run and for us to work like mad to find suitable candidates who are willing to give up their life to run our town. In the meantime, vote for Susan and Michael. They may not have visibly done all you hoped for as most of their work is behind the scenes. BUT they have done nothing to hurt Ridgewood, while Aronson’s groupies brought in all the extra dwellings which will overwhelm our schools, create traffic problems, etc. Please don’t stay home because that will give the vote to Willet and Hardin who support these horrible letters as only the first thing in their further destruction of Ridgewood.
photo the correct “rainbow flag”, not the whites only one the flew at Van Neste Square
The fact that Ridgewood had no content-blind procedure in place prior to receiving the third party request to display their flag put us in a vulnerable condition that allowed for political mischief and sowed chaos, both of which are goals of practitioners of Critical Theory, and of Obama-inspired community activists who brazenly employ cynical Cloward/Piven strategies with a view toward overwhelming the normal apparatus of government. The fact that Ridgewood has not yet responded to this stimulus by devising and implementing a content-blind municipal procedure by which such third parties can obtain approval for their proposed displays reflects poorly on the members of our Village Council and on the Village Attorney. Can it be that they wish to remain vulnerable to such politically-motivated manipulation of our local system of government? If so, this is a serious problem of judgment, particularly since they should know by now how bad things can get for naive municipalities who innocently fail, or worse, stubbornly refuse to prepare themselves in advance to deal with such attacks when they come. And they will come.
I am gutted that all my heroic efforts to buy a house in Ridgewood are heading to waste. Affordable housing is never affordable and in the end when landlords are incapable of filling their units they will ask the courts to change laws in favor of section 8 and that’s the end of the town and start of the eternal sh!thole living. Speechless as to how powerless current residents are and nobody raises a voice about us. The whole NJ but especially Bergen County is the Fair Share Housing (FSH) playground. They can play with our lives as they wish.
I too was vocal against Valley but now I totally regret it. Valley would have been much better than what’s coming. I live near N Maple Valley property and I get chills down my spine when I picture what that area can become. Valley facilities would have been a miracle but now only God (FSH + Murphy) knows what it can turn into. Depressing.
So harwin and rabbi move to Ridgewood barely two years ago, run for Vilage counci, lies all over her website, smear a much respected mayor,stalk another resident, smear the Catholic church, disrespect residents and is using the temple to campaign. Wow. Did anyone wake willett.up today?
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Police report on April 10th, a North Maple Avenue resident reported he was harassed by a party over the phone after he contacted the business to discuss a scheduled appointment. The reporting party stated the manner in which the unidentified male spoke to him caused alarm and he requested documentation of the incident.
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Police report on April 16th, a North Murray Avenue resident responded to Ridgewood Police headquarters to report harassment in the past. The reporting party advised the accused sent approximately 50 emails in a two week period which were disturbing. The accused resides out of state and the local police were contacted to assist in the investigation. The Police spoke with the accused and the victim did not wish to sign criminal complaints at this time.
Ridgewood NJ, according to the Ridgewood Police , Patrol units responded to an East Ridgewood Avenue business on April 14th for a dispute in progress. Upon arrival the business owner reported a recently terminated employee returned to the business on this date, caused a disturbance and refused to leave the restaurant. The business owner also reported he received multiple threatening text messages from the former employee. The accused was advised not to return to the business and the business owner did not wish to pursue charges at this time. The accused then left without further incident and the incident was documented.
The Village Attorney’s client is the Village, not any elected councilmember. Nobody on the council should look to the Village Attorney for political support. The advice needs to be detailed, accurate and COMPLETE. Why he didn’t ward the council off of a one-off up-or-down vote on allowing a single third-party group to erect their flag on Village property for an entire month is a mystery. Elected officeholders considering the merits of that organization’s message or mission when deciding yes or no on such a proposed flag display is a municipal sin under well-known first amendment jurisprudence (as now applied to the several states). So sometimes our Village Attorney unaccountably drops the ball. The right way to handle this? Set up a simple content-blind procedure administered by the Village Manager, with no need or opportunity for grandstanding officeholders and third party petitioners to pollute Ridgewood’s political atmosphere with obscene virtue signaling at village council meetings.
“Senator Bob Menendez has never seen a tax he didn’t want to hike.”
April 19,2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
UNION COUNTY NJ, Tax day is yet another reminder of the immense tax burden placed on hard-working New Jerseyans. For years, tax-and-spend politicians like Senator Bob Menendez have voted to increase taxes—including taxes on Social Security and Medicaid—with little regard for the already overtaxed citizens of New Jersey.
“In his 25 ineffective years in Washington, Senator Bob Menendez has never seen a tax he didn’t want to hike—voting over 90 times to increase taxes. New Jersey is 50 out 50—dead last—in money we get back from Washington as a percentage of tax dollars we send there, and tax day is just another unfortunate reminder to millions of hard-working New Jerseyans that Bob Menendez has failed to stand up for them,” said Hugin Communications Director Megan Piwowar.
“For too long, New Jerseyans have been underrepresented in Washington and overtaxed here at home, and we’re confident that on November 6th New Jersey voters will say enough is enough to Bob Menendez’s tax hikes by supporting former Marine and business leader Bob Hugin, a senator they can be proud of.”
Bob Hugin, a Marine Corps Veteran and business leader who has created thousands of New Jersey jobs, is seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate to challenge incumbent Democrat Senator Bob Menendez.
SENATOR MENENDEZ HAS VOTED TO INCREASE TAXES OVER 90 TIMES SINCE BEING ELECTED TO CONGRESS.
SENATOR MENENDEZ HAS VOTED TO INCREASE TAXES ON THE MIDDLE CLASS, ON WORKING FAMILIES, AND ON SOCIAL SECURITY RECIPIENTS.
SENATOR MENENDEZ HAS VOTED TO INCREASE TAXES ON SMALL BUSINESSES AND ON SELF-EMPLOYED INDIVIDUALS.
UNDER SENATOR MENENDEZ’S WATCH, NEW JERSEY RANKS 50 OUT OF 50—DEAD LAST—IN MONEY SENT TO WASHINGTON THAT COMES BACK TO THE STATE.
MENENDEZ VOTED TO RAISE TAXES OVER 90 TIMES WHILE REPRESENTING NEW JERSEY IN CONGRESS.
Voted to raise taxes on Medicare and Social Security recipients – 05/27/1993
Voted to raise the gas tax and delay cost of living adjustments for the military – 08/05/1993
Voted against Social Security tax relief and a child tax credit for working families – 04/05/1995
Voted against a child tax credit and against $31 billion in tax relief for college students – 06/26/1997
Voted against gas tax decreases and giving New Jersey more control over infrastructure funds – 04/01/1998
Voted against tax relief for self-employed individuals, for farmers, and for married couples – 09/26/1998
Voted against $778.5 billion in tax relief and protecting Social Security revenues from other uses – 03/25/1999
Voted against $792 billion in tax relief, against increasing Education Savings Account limits, and allowing self-employed individuals to deduct health insurance premiums – 07/22/1999
Voted against $792 billion in tax relief for individuals and families – 08/05/1999
Voted against $182 billion in tax relief for married couples – 02/10/2000
Voted against $46 billion in tax relief and allowing self-employed individuals to deduct the cost of their health insurance – 03/09/2000
Voted to increase Social Security taxes – 07/27/2000
Voted against middle class tax relief – 03/08/2001
Voted against tax relief for married families with children – 03/29/2001
Voted against $958 billion in tax relief – 05/16/2001
Voted against $1.35 trillion in tax relief – 05/26/2001
Voted against $159 billion in tax relief for individuals and small businesses – 10/24/2001
Voted against tax relief for individuals and small business, extending unemployment benefits for workers, and providing a refundable tax credit to purchase health insurance – 12/20/2001
Voted against tax relief and extending unemployment benefits for workers – 02/14/2002
Voted against making individual tax relief permanent – 04/18/2002
Voted against $350 billion in tax relief, an increase in the child tax credit, and $20 billion in new Medicaid funding – 05/23/2003
Voted against extending middle class tax relief for individuals and working families – 5/11/2006
Voted to raise taxes on small businesses – 12/24/09
Voted against payroll tax cuts for hard-working New Jerseyans – 12/01/2011
Below, I’m reposting from the It Takes a Ridgewood Village page my book and verse take down off the false conflict claims that Harwin and Willett supporters are making against the Mayor. In this post, I was commenting on the false allegations made in The Record by a certain villager (whose name I’ve deleted). The false claim was that Mayor took a vote in 2014 that aided her sons’ job prospects. The problem isn’t just that this one person said this stuff, it’s that the The Record was given prior knowledge that these allegations were false, yet felt free to print them anyway. Worse, Harwin and Willett supporters keep making these false claims and you hear nothing from Harwin and Willett. Here’s the post (slightly edited): “First, Record staff writer Deena Yellin attributes to you the claim that the 2014 ordinance “allowed her sons (i.e., Ms. Knudsen’s sons), to be bumped up ahead of other candidates.” (to be clear, those quotations are around Ms. Yellin’s words, but she attributes that claim to you). For reasons that are obvious to anyone who cares to review the ordinance in question, that claim is entirely inaccurate. For one, the ordinance, which is Ordinance No. 3429, adopted August 13, 2014, amended the residency requirements ONLY for NON-emergency personnel (such as clerks and administrators), and left rules pertaining to Ridgewood police and fire residency untouched. That is because only NJ Statute (NJSA 40A:14-123 ) establishes the residency requirement for police and fire, and only the NJ Civil Service Commission may prepare the eligibility lists for police and fire. These laws have been in place for decades, and no Village ordinance may deviate from NJ Civil Service Commission rules, because the Civil Service Commission has pre-emptive control over the entire methodology and process for Civil Service hiring in municipalities such as Ridgewood. Thus, it was literally IMPOSSIBLE for Ordinance No. 3429 to have any impact on the eligibility or ranking of any police or fire candidate, let alone “bump” one candidate over another. Ordinance No. 3429 amended NOTHING regarding police and fire hiring. Thus, the assertion that then Council Member Knudsen aided her sons’ careers by her 2014 vote, which assertion Deena Yellin clearly attributes to you, is 100% inaccurate. Second, regarding Ms. Knudsen and her sons, you are quoted as saying, “She never disclosed that they were on the list for jobs with the police and fire department.That’s a terrible conflict of interest.” This too is verifiably, 100% inaccurate. How so? On May 6, 2014, more than two months BEFORE Ordinance No. 3429 was first discussed at the July 9, 2014 Council work session, your good friend and then Village Manager Roberta Sonnenfeld received the May 5, 2014 email from Beth Kanellis of the Classification & Personnel Management, Certification Unit of the NJ Civil Service Commission, which email attached the certified list of eligible candidates for Ridgewood Police Officer. That list was prepared by and certified by the Civil Service Commission, and it included the names of Ms. Knudsen’s sons who were applying to be Village Police Officers. To be 100% clear, Village Clerk Mailander was the direct recipient of the May 5 email from the Civil Service Commission, but she forwarded it to Ms. Sonnenfeld on May 6. Thereafter, as the minutes of the July 9 Council session show, Ms. Sonnenfeld did NOT sit silently at that meeting, but clearly ADVOCATED FOR Ordinance No. 3429, as it appears that Ordinance No. 3429 was her brainchild. Unless you believe that Ms. Sonnenfeld conspired with Ms. Knudsen (and with Heather Mailander) to keep Ms. Knudsen’s sons’ eligibility a secret, your allegation of non-disclosure is 100% inaccurate. Just as importantly, regarding your other allegation that Council Member Knudsen had “a terrible conflict of interest”, as I have already explained, Ordinance No. 3429 did not amend the residency requirement pertaining to police and fire. Ms. Knudsen could have voted “yes” or “no” on Ordinance No. 3429, and neither vote would have any effect on her sons’ potential hiring as Village Police Officers. Thus, your conflict allegation is also 100% inaccurate.”
It seem today a resident of Walthrey Ave who is helping on Mike and Susan campaign spotted a truck outside their home with a male taking picture of his house and campaign signs. When approached the truck left the scene. The resident recorded the license plate and made a police report. The resident then spotted the truck with that license plate park in Ms. Alexandra Harwin driveway. The plate was traced back to Harwin’s husband Rabbi Noah Fabricant .
What is going on in this town? Are resident that support Mike and Susan being record on some list for some future action against them? This kind of tactic comes right out of Paul Aronsohn playbook.
The photos were taken in an attempt to embarrass the homeowner, who is a prominent member of the Bergen County Democratic Organization, because he has lawn signs up in support of Susan, who is a registered Republican. Guess who was recently elected to serve on the Bergen County Democratic Committe, none other than Paul Aronsohn.
I’m writing out of deep concern regarding this upcoming Village Council election on May 8th and hope that you can share this note with other residents so that they understand what is really happening here.
The level of lies, slander and libelous talk coming from the campaign against Mayor Knudsen and Councilman Sedon has reached a dangerous pitch and we now find ourselves on the precipice of landing right back in the same bad state of government that Ridgewood had fallen into two years ago.
Make no mistake. The former mayor and those behind him are behind these two opposing candidates; and should either one be elected, we are going to be facing yet another four years of fighting tooth and nail to protect our village against further inappropriate high-density developments and other massive projects that will reshape Ridgewood into a place that we will no longer recognize.
Mayor Knudsen and Councilman Sedon have worked tirelessly to fix the damage incurred by the previous village council majority and former village manager. They repealed Ordinance 3066, which had previously permitted inappropriate development, including the Valley Expansion, to gain traction. Mayor Knudsen mitigated the level of high-density that had been approved by her predecessor and both Mayor Knudsen and Councilman Sedon are working hard to create a new Master Plan that will pave the way for more reasonable development while maintaining the feel of the Ridgewood that we all know and love.
So, I am asking for your help in sharing this note. Send it to everyone in town you know. It is imperative that we make sure everyone in Ridgewood understands what is really afoot and act accordingly.
Ridgewood NJ, HUGE multi-family garage sale on Saturday April 21 The Kubikowski/Conway Confirmation Group from Our Lady of Mount Carmel is having a sale from 9am-3pm at 533 Wyndemere Ave in Ridgewood. (Rain date is Sunday April 22). All proceeds of the sale benefit Social Service Association of Ridgewood. More than 20 families have gathered items for this sale. There will be something for everyone, from sporting goods, toys, games and baby items, to furniture, household items and clothing, including brand new unused items. Please stop by and help support a good cause! This group has already collected well over 1000 grocery items and stocked the shelves!
Village Council Special Public Meeting AGENDA VILLAGE COUNCIL SPECIAL PUBLIC MEETING SYDNEY V. STOLDT, JR. COURT ROOM APRIL 18, 2018 7:00 P.M.
1. Call to Order
Statement of Compliance with the Open Public Meeting ActMAYOR: “Adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by a posting on the bulletin board in Village hall, by mail to the Ridgewood News, The Record, and by submission to all persons entitled to same as provided by law of a schedule including the date and time of this meeting.”
Roll Call – Village Clerk
Flag Salute and Moment of Silence5. Mayor’s Comments6. Public Comments (Not to exceed 3 minutes per person, 40 minutes in total)7. ORDINANCES – CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARINGa. Ordinance #3636 – Re-establish Water Rates and Fees – 2010-2017b. Ordinance #3637 – Amend Water Rates and Fees – 20188. Public Comments (Not to exceed 5 minutes per person) 9. Adjournment
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Police Department is pleased to announce the 5th annual Chief Michael Feeney, Jr. Police Academy scheduled from Friday June 22nd through Friday June 29th 2018, at Benjamin Franklin Middle School. The Academy is open to Ridgewood residents entering 5th 6th and 7th grades in the fall of 2018.
Last year’s academy featured demonstrations from The Ridgewood Police Department, Bergen County Sheriff’s Department K-9 and Bomb Squad, Police Motorcycles, Ridgewood Emergency Services, FBI, Ridgewood Fire Department, State Police Helicopter landing, Tactical driving, as well as demonstrations from various other agencies. A field trip to the Bergen County Law and Public Safety Complex in Mahwah is also scheduled.
Applications will be available online in community pass.
For more information contact Lt.Glenn Ender [email protected]
