Whether or not mountains were moved with the council today I fear the mountains that will be built and collapse with Harwin who is supported by Aronsohn
The last 2 years were spent undoing a lot of damage left behind by Sonenfeld and the other 3. Now let’s give them the next 4 years to move forward and show us what they can do and promised to do
I would much prefer this option to the other…mud slinging is no way to run a campaign. If nothing else it showed poor judgement and a flawed character. So when I went into this with an open mind it was quickly tainted by the type of campaign Harwin chose to run with.
It was all too familiar. Mean spirited and uninformed
After observing early smear tactics I expected a preparatory scorched-earth policy to be followed by “and now see why we are better.” But all they did was to repeat a few false accusations in different media. Demonstrating relevant experience (civil rights attorney job is not relevant) or even superior character (hah!) was the next logical step after an unfortunate opening salvo, but it never happened and clearly won’t/can’t. Besmirching one’s opponents is not enough in itself. Challengers must also demonstrate why they would do a better job. If anything, these tactics, besides warning anyone with eyes and ears that the Aronsohn “hold no prisoners” philosophy had been applied with a vengeance, have turned people off in a big way. /We are not indifferent to, but frankly alarmed by, the possibility of handing over the village’s daily oversight to people who behave in this way and should clearly know better. Election night is often dreaded because of what it might bring, and sometimes has, but this time (as before) the landslide that will tell that crew to give up and, if possible, get out will be a tremendous relief.
While there is no law to my knowledge that sets out a minimum time that a candidate for Council needs to have lived in town, Ms. Harwin is a perfect example of someone who has just not lived here long enough to be considered qualified. From an issues standpoint, she did not experience the battle that Valley waged on the Village or the Village Hall construction fiasco. While she incorrectly blames the current Mayor and Deputy Mayor for our unsustainable tax increases, she didn’t even live here when the real problem started. Her very short tenure as a resident really shows through in her lack of familiarity with the issues. She didn’t live through the personal agenda driven rancor that the previous Council majority spewed for 4 year nor did she see how those agendas were voted down in the last election by a two thirds to one third majority. Funny that she talks about how we need change while campaigning on a platform that was in place for four years and was so roundly rejected just two years ago. Of course how can she be expected to know these things because she’s so new to town. I would suggest that she go to a couple of Council meetings before trying to sit on the dais. Sit in on a budget meeting or two as well. Mike Sedon, for example sat in on every Council and budget meeting for years before he ran. Our current Mayor is a long time resident who served on several committees before running for Council herself. All of Ms. Harwin’s mud slinging and misrepresentation of the truth aside, she’s just not nearly experienced enough to take on the job that she seeks.
Remember another person who joined the council after living here for a very short time? Initials P.A.
It’s a good idea to institute a minimum residency requirement to run for council.
These are great points that 11:49 has made.
The sitting Mayor’s supporters are so panicked about competition from someone that’s only been in town a week and a half that they want to outlaw that competition? The Mayor’s accomplishments should tell a compelling story. I guess they all see that they don’t.
have another drink….
8:27 – “Panicked”? Hardly. Ms Harwin is an inexperienced political wannabe backed by a political has been. We’ll be fine without her.
What accomplishments are we most proud of the mayor. Tangible
OK, one of our present councils inabilities is the lack of printed information on what they have actually done. (quite a lot, actually, all unknown). The glaring presence of the Health Barn and the continued pressure for a garage without finding out current residents’ feelings on its construction both present the lack of informed information from the council. Many of our residents never wanted a garage. They would have been happy with two decks in different parts of town if they actually need anything–and it has not been proven that we do. One thing we do need is a system of organization in the building Department that will be able to inform Yogurt shop #2 that yogurt shop #1 has already applied for a building permit and would be less than one block from you. Yes, it would leave a building unoccupied but might actually prevent 2 buildings being unoccupied in a year when the leases were up. One might have made it, no way could 2 survive. This is true of any type of business that wants to open in Ridgewood. We seem to prefer having both the stores or whatever go bankrupt instead of telling the second applicant there is an identical applicant a few doors from where he wants to build. This is not truly a council problem, but it might really help businesses survive in our town.
someone was screeching on facebook about the “real story of all the progress on the master plan”. a lot of words to say: 1-they included money in the budget and 2-some people had one meeting eight months ago about it and bragged about it by posting a picture. i think the mayor is going to win, but let not pretend that she actually got something done. honesty on that would be refreshing.
you need to pay far more attention to whats been going on