Reader hopes the next 2 years will be an open, honest dialog and a good working relationship on the Village council.
Al Puciarelli has recused himself from these hearings
Morgan Hurley resigned
Cyril Grant resigned
Trisha Connors resigned
The remaining 7 members will be voting on Tuesday, June 17th
Ridgewood council is suppose to have 2 members and therefor 2 votes on the planning board. Al Pucciarelli has correctly recused himself from the Valley hearings as well as the downtown hearings. This has left Ridgewood with only 1 elected representative from council for approximately 90% of the planning board meetings. When the council has it’s reorganization on July 1st, I sincerely hope Al Pucciarelli does the right thing and does not remain on the planning board. The residents of Ridgewood have been denied their representation for far too long. It’s time to have 2 members from council on the planning board that do not need to recuse themselves for the majority of the issues.
I also sincerely hope the remaining council members (Paul Aronsohn, Al Pucciarelli and Gwenn Hauck) will welcome the newly elected members with open arms, fresh minds, and a new beginning, and end the last 2 years of fighting on the council. It has been very disturbing to read and see the way the 5 of them treated each other. The best way to do this is to follow protocol and have the newly elected member with the most votes be sworn in as deputy mayor. This will show everyone their willingness to work with each other. The person with the most votes would be Susan Knudsen. If Ms Knudsen declines, it would then go to Mike Sedon. I hope the Village of Ridgewood can breathe a sigh of relief after the reorganization meeting on July 1st, knowing that the next 2 years will be an open, honest dialog and a good working relationship on the council.
Paul Aronsohn will not share the leadership.
Absolutely, it would be a great show of faith in the future if one of the two newly elected members could become the Deputy Mayor. This would clearly state that the THREE are open to working with the two new members.