If Sonenfeld were still Village Manager today (i.e., hadn’t resigned yet) this would have been good cause for the new Mayor to demand her resignation. And yes, any village employee below Sonenfeld who assisted in the production of this video should now be investigated, and at least be counseled and subjected to some kind of censure or discipline, unless the facts reveal that they participated against their will because Sonenfeld or Aronsohn pressured them somehow or threatened their job. This is a serious situation involving municipal corruption in open defiance of the non-partisan form of government to which Village residents are entitled pursuant to the Faulkner Act. Village management needs to act promptly to ensure that nobody employed by the Village tries to do or even thinks about doing anything like this ever again.
Thank you, Ridgewood
When I first joined the Council in 2008, the world was a different place. George Bush was President. Jon Corzine was Governor. Wall Street had not yet crashed. The Village Council had just adopted a 7% tax increase.
Taken together, my time on the governing body has been many things – busy, exciting, demanding, rewarding, frustrating, etc — but most of all, it has been an honor and a privilege.
I say that because I genuinely love Ridgewood. I genuinely love so many things about our community. The look. The feel. The history. The promise. The way of life. The people.
That is why I have worked so hard … have attended so many events … have met with so many residents … have sat thru so many long, sometimes challenging meetings. And that is why I have appreciated (almost) every moment of my 8 years on the Council, including the last four as Mayor.
Clearly, there are numerous people I would like to thank – people whose partnership I have appreciated and whose leadership I have valued – but in the interest of time and space, let me just acknowledge a few of the extraordinary groups of people with whom I have been fortunate to work.
This is the people you thankfor the 3 Amigos
Ridgewood News
By Joseph Cramer
Ridgewood residents unsatisfied with the current state of village government have formed a group with the goal of ushering in a leadership change, setting their sights on spring elections.
The group – calling themselves Citizens for a Better Ridgewood – organized formally on Monday night at Blend, cementing specific grievances with recent Village Council decisions and perceived infrastructural neglect, as well as formalizing both short-term and long-term goals. About 20 residents and local business owners attended the organizational meeting.
“Many residents are very concerned about the recent decisions that have been made by our mayor and Village Council and would like to get more of our neighbors and local business owners involved,” said resident Ed Feldsott, one of the primary organizers of the group.
Group members came to a consensus that the root of their grievances was the recent decision-making process by and around top village administration and leadership, something they believe is “out of touch” with residents.
“Sometimes what’s right for the village may be something that I wouldn’t agree with, but the fact of the matter is it’s hard to defend a lot of the things that have happened, that they haven’t been doing or have been doing, that have been absolutely wrong for the village,” said resident and former Fire Chief Jim Bombace, another of the group’s organizers. “That’s how we got to the point where we’re at now.”
While Monday night’s meeting represented the first formal gathering of the initial group members, residents had been in contact with each other in recent weeks, having heard each other’s concerns at council meetings and in the media.
“I saw that I wasn’t the only one who thought things weren’t going well for the village,” Bombace said. He said he realized there must be other discontented residents, and began to reach out to them.
Attendees discussed and outlined several main issues with management of the village, many of them stemming from issues that have faced the council in the past six months.
They criticized the council and administration for what they said was “fiscal irresponsibility” and being “out of touch with the private sector,” citing the recent 12 percent raise to Village Manager Ken Gabbert’s salary and implementation and subsequent increase of incentive bonuses for top village management and non-union staff in the midst of a recession.
“At a time when residents are taking pay cuts, taking bonus slashes and watching their benefits … we need leaders who lead by example,” Feldsott said.
Another grievance discussed was what the group saw as a “dangerous infrastructural situation,” pointing to the large number of leaf and branch debris still on village roads, which many cited as a dangerous situation for pedestrians and drivers. Street and recycling crews have been inundated with branch and brush cleanup since the October snowstorm brought down large branches village-wide.
“The services are not what they used to be,” Bombace said.
Additional concerns aired at the meeting included rising taxes despite falling home values; alleged non-response to resident emails; and what the group saw as a slow permit process for potential new businesses.
Feldsott said the group’s primary goal was to have “accountable, responsible government.”
“We need more people to take ownership of the situation,” he said.
The group’s grievances reflect issues that have faced the council and village administration in recent months.
Incentive bonuses, which eliminate automatic raises for top village management and non-union staff (with the exception of the village manager and police chief) in favor of pay increases based on performance evaluations, were approved by the council in July and brought up again in November, when the council voted to increase them. The ordinances passed on each occasion with a 4-1 vote, with Councilman Paul Aronsohn objecting.
Other council members defended the bonuses, arguing it encouraged merit-based rewards rather than automatic ones.
Council members – again with the exception of Aronsohn – defended Gabbert’s raise on the basis of performance, citing the difficult financial situation he inherited when he assumed the village manager position in November 2009.
“After being here six months, I’ve seen what Dr. Gabbert has done both in terms of how he does it and in terms of the numbers, and I’ve seen this village move in a better fiscal direction than how it’s been going for quite some time,” Councilman Stephen Wellinghorst said in August, at the meeting when the raise was approved.
Regarding leaf pick-up, Gabbert said in an e-mail Tuesday that “quantities of debris are many times the typical” for this season. According to the village website, the village has collected more than 38,000 cubic yards so far, “over double our normal leaf volume to date,” he said.
Village officials posted a revised street clean-up schedule on the village website on Monday, outlining the time frames during which the four areas of the village would see leaf removal. According to a recent email from Gabbert to a resident, crews are expected to get through the entire village by Dec. 19. He also noted that the village has utilized “outside contractors in addition to nearly a thousand hours of overtime for staff” to address debris removal.
Responding to the group’s allegations of inadequate response to resident outreach, Gabbert said he and other village officials are aware of the concerns.
“The staff and I seek to follow up on every resident concern, both the routine issues and those in the aftermath of a record breaking storm event,” he said. “We do receive emails; however, most are via phone.”
Residents discussed next steps for the organization, including appointment of officers and representatives as well as short-term and long-term efforts. Among tasks approved by the majority were a recruitment process whereby each attendee would attempt to bring a friend or neighbor to a Village Council meeting to show support, and a letter writing campaign. The immediate goal was to see a leadership change in July.
“I think by getting the word out that we need to change the council, we can achieve our goal of maybe getting new people on the council and a new village manager,” Bombace said, adding that it remained important to make present concerns known to the existing council.
Aronsohn was invited to the meeting by organizers, and attended in a listening capacity.
“My main reason for being here is I want to hear what’s on your mind,” he said to the group.
Killion said neither he nor his fellow council members, with the exception of Aronsohn, were asked to attend the meeting. Still, he said he welcomed the opposition.
“That’s what makes the United States the greatest country in the world,” he said.
A majority of the attendees agreed to attend Wednesday’s Village Council meeting to formally announce their presence in the village. Resident Craig Hueneke volunteered as spokesperson for the group going forward. Organizers encouraged all in attendance to bring a neighbor or friend to increase the number in support of their initial presentation to the council.
“The more people we have, the louder our voice,” Bombace said.
The article posted by 8:23am reveals the blueprint by which a single member of the Village Council can go rogue, self-promote up the ying-yang, gin up an astroturf campaign of flunkies, toadies, shills, bootlickers and lackies posing as disinterested residents, and vault himself into majority power and the mayoralty by getting two new blatant yes-men elected to the council to replace his exosting colleagues who barely knew what hit them. Is a current member of the VC trying to pull off the same stunt? …time will tell.
This is what happens when you elect a (floundering, failed) career politician with an agenda that prioritizes personal political goals above the good of the town.
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Is it any wonder that we are in the mess that we are currently in?
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Another gem from Paul.
When I first joined the Council in 2008, my predecessors had just adopted a budget that raised municipal taxes by almost 7 percent. That seems excessive by today’s standards, but back then, large tax increases were “business as usual” for Ridgewood and many other New Jersey municipalities.
Regardless, a few years ago, we got serious about the way we do government. Through a series of changes in both people and policies, we have successfully changed course. Two years of no tax increases. A government-wide emphasis on “customer” service. Increased transparency in everything we do – from televised budget hearings to a user-friendly municipal website to council members who made it their priority to meet with residents practically anytime, anywhere, to discuss any issue.
We also took the controversial step of hiring a Village Manager with no prior government experience – a long-time resident who brought to the job a solid background in private sector management and a deep-seated passion for the town in which she lives. (Incidentally, I believe this was the best and most important decision made by the Council in recent years.)
Taken together, we have effectively changed the way we do government … for the better.
Paul’s writing on his new village manager.
Next week’s election is important. That goes without saying. There are many big issues facing the next Council – from parking to housing to overall planning.
However, the biggest issue facing the next Council will concern the management of our community. Specifically, who will be the Village Manager?
In fact, it is arguably the most important decision taken by any Council. In our form of government, the Village Manager is hired by the Council and is effectively the town’s Chief Executive Officer, responsible for everything from the development of the budget to the day-to-day management and operations of our community.
And for me, hiring Roberta Sonenfeld in 2014 was not only the most important decision taken by the Council; it was the best one, too.
Under her leadership, Village government has changed for the better. Lower taxes. Better services. More communication. And a renewed emphasis on customer service.
Granted, she has not done it all alone. Her leadership team – with its mix of long-serving professionals and new hires – has helped her to change the way we do government. Now, if you call the Building Department, the phone gets answered. Now, if you look out your window in late February, you don’t see Christmas trees still lying on the curb.
Granted, too, there is still more that needs to get done, but I can assure you that no one knows this better and no one cares about this more than Roberta. In fact, call her any morning (as I do) at 7am, and I can assure you that she is already working on it.
Two weeks ago, at the League of Women Voters’ candidate forum, I had planned to ask the following question – “If elected, will you keep Roberta Sonenfeld on as Village Manager,” Time ran out, and I never had the chance to pose the question. But before time runs out on this election, I urge you all to ask the candidates that question.
Again, “who” will be our Village Manager is the most important question in this year’s election.
Not looking forward to the May 2018 council election AT ALL.
He wrote about all his plans almost ever week in the Ridgewood News and his web site. Why did so many resident just let the 3 Amigos get away with it?