Readers voice concern over weakening of residency requirements
I think they are looking to hire more Hudson county partisan people to work in Ridgewood by ditching the residency rules.
The previous Village Manager is referred to as a “carpet bagger,” but yet this VC plans to do away with the residency requirement for all employees except police & fire? Do as we say and not as we do.
While other readers insist , ” We should be hiring for police & fire from the surrounding communities Paramus, Glen Rock, Midland Park, Waldwick and Ho-Ho-Kus, as well as Ridgewood. This would give the Village access to a wider pool of applicants and might stop us from hiring a majority of legacy candidates.”
The Mayor wrote in a PolitickerNJ Editorial on 03/04/11 , “my Party has largely stood on the sidelines as union workers were vilified and scapegoated. Silent and passive, many Democrats did nothing as others attacked the very people at the center of our Party. No defense. No counteroffensive. No nothing. During the past year’s great debate over worker’s rights and responsibilities, the Democrats – by and large – refused to show up.”
The Mayor received massive campaign contributions from unions :
Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers $10,000.00
United Auto Workers $6,500.00
Carpenters & Joiners Union $5,000.00
American Fedn of St/Cnty/Munic Employees $5,000.00
National Air Traffic Controllers Assn $5,000.00
Sheet Metal Workers Union $5,000.00
Laborers Union $3,500.00
AFL-CIO $2,661.00
American Federation of Teachers $2,500.00
Operating Engineers Local 825 $2,500.00
Plumbers/Pipefitters Union Local 475 $1,000.00
Service Employees International Union $1,000.00
Plumbers/Pipefitters Union Local 274 $1,000.00
Plumbers/Pipefitters Union Local 9 $500.00
A lot of election promise made and will be made. A lot of jobs to be filled.
Throw the Ball. Dunk hm.
The point is well taken that the effort to change the law could have its origin in partisan politics.
The locals-only hiring law does not apply to every available position that the village posts. It applies to most of them, though. But following the law with respect to applicable positions makes it very hard to ensure the position goes to a tried and true party loyalist, or to a friend or family thereof. This is particularly so in Ridgewood where residents are largely dedicated to (or at least reconciled to) our non-partisan form of government.
I did not know that there was a residency rule for most of these jobs. It is not a bad thing, as long as residency does mot turn into nepotism. It seems that the same families have an “in” in tje system.
The HS graduates over 400 kids a year. Some of them must be highly qualified.
Did all of those unions contribute to the mayoral campaign?
is this really surprising ?
Step Two, Part B…
All is going along acording to plan… as the residents sleep
“We are days away from fundamentally transforming Ridgewood”
Look it up. It might have been for fail election run against Garret but what money that wasn’t spent in that campaign stayed in his account . So left overs money could have been used in his municipal campaign. I suspect that you already knew that.
While your looking it up 2:17 you can see from our Mayor campaign contribution report that he took 2 donations from Mr Sarcino. You remember him he is the one the invited our governor to Ridgewood and then supplied the council with free tickets to the dinner. Now he is one of the developers that what to change the density in the cbd for his project on Maple Ave
Actually, I had no idea that he had so much union money
I did not like him and I did not vote for him.
Another great story from Chris Harris the Mayor Press Officer and report for the record. The Mayor could not have written it better well may he did.