>Ridgewood Chamber Guide features Valley Hospital Centerfold
Last week Village residents were subjected to one of the most insulting Valley propaganda to date! The Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce delivered, door to door, the newest version of the Chamber Guide featuring a centerfold considered “obscene” by many Ridgewoodians! The multi-media image mixing actual imagery with renderings, coupled with an incredibly misleading paragraph of text suggesting the proposed expansion is a fait accompli, should be offensive to any Villager especially members of our Village Council.
A word of caution to the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce: a huge majority of Ridgewood Residents, who actively shop downtown Ridgewood, are opposed to the massive expansion plan of Valley Hospital. For a time Valley engaged in a little PR scheme sending “scrubs” into the business district to give the illusion of a “presence” in our shops. That illusion quickly dissipated as most Valley “scrubs” are not Ridgewood Residents nor are they interested in supporting our Village Downtown.
While it is true the Chamber guide is paid for with advertising dollars, and Valley paid for the centerfold to advance their propaganda, page 16 only serves to exacerbate the matter since it seems Valley garnered more “face time” in the guide than any other entity. There is no distinction as to what is a paid advertisement nor a disclaimer that a Valley Hospital maintains a position on the Chamber Board of Directors.
Ridgewood Chamber President, Tom Hillman, should immediately issue a statement that Valley’s advertisement is exactly that and by no means should the centerfold ad be construed as an endorsement of the massive Valley expansion by the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce.
