This is for my Ridgewood friends. We vote for 2 council people on Tuesday, November 8th.
This election season reminds me of the election of 2012. People were blissfully unaware of what was to come. Residents were fooled by smooth talking candidates with lots of promises, and a hidden agenda. Ridgewood paid the price with years of fighting the overdevelopment applications that ensued.
Let’s prevent a repeat of that by re-electing Susan Knudsen, and electing James Van Goor.
I believe in actions, & that’s how I am voting.
Susan Knudsen-
Susan has been on the council for 8 years. There have been a lot of decisions made in 8 years, and I’m sure nobody will agree with all of them, But…Susan always has the best interest for the future of Ridgewood behind all her decisions.
Susan Knudsen and Michael Sedon found a way to put a parking garage on the existing Hudson St lot, when others said it was impossible, and that it would have to extend into Hudson St (making it narrower, and losing desirable street parking). The result is a reasonable size garage that does not narrow the street.
The high density housing units were approved by a previous council majority. Susan worked tirelessly with developers to mitigate the massive visual “in your face” effect. Susan worked with one developer along with United Way and Madeline House to relocate some units, and create much needed individual apartments & shared housing for the developmentally disabled. This is a first for this type of housing in Ridgewood, and is a wonderful addition to our housing inventory. The downtown developments would be significantly larger without Susan’s hard work.
Susan Knudsen was on the team when negotiating with FairShare Housing, regarding the Valley Hospital property. Should Valley ever sell their land, Susan helped to ensure that what developers could build, would be in keeping with the neighborhood, and that the Village would have a say in it.
When the school budget was voted down in 2020, Susan and a council colleague worked on the team with the BOE that helped identify a maintenance redundancy. They were able to cut $600K of overspending without impacting the delivery of any educational services. That cut of $600K lowered the budget in perpetuity. Our right to vote on the BOE budget has been taken away from us, largely due to one of the other candidates initiative to move the BOE elections to November, when it’s not possible to vote on the budget. People died for our right to vote. It should never be taken away.
Susan has helped hundreds and hundreds of residents over the years with various problems. I have never seen any councilperson put in as many hours, or work as hard as Susan does. She cares about everyone’s situation. It is a thankless position, that she goes above and beyond what anyone else would do.
Most recently, our Village engineer said the Kingsbridge Lane Bridge was not repairable, and had to be replaced at an approximate cost of $500K, and probably several years in the making. Susan requested an RFP be sent out to see what a structural engineer would suggest. By doing this, it was discovered that the footbridge is repairable, will cost about $200K, & can be done in the spring! The neighbors and users of this footbridge are very happy Susan took the time to investigate further.
James Van Goor-
I’ve been on the Planning Board with Jim for about 2 years. He is a very smart, calm & reasonable person. He takes everything in, & listens to all sides before expressing his thoughts.
Jim is a longtime Village resident, with 35 years on the Ridgewood Fire Dept, The last 12 years as chief. Jim retired last December, and wants to give back to the community that has helped him so much.
As Fire Chief, he worked on 12 budgets, and is very knowledgable about the workings of the municipal budget. He knows all the departments and their responsibilities. There will be no learning curve for Jim.
Jim believes we should have Hybrid council meetings, and will work to achieve that.
Jim also shares Mayor Knudsen’s determination to resist overdevelopment in Ridgewood. There are many development plans in several areas of Ridgewood, going on behind the scenes. The people that want these developments are helping the other 2 candidates. They are just waiting for this council election. If their candidates get elected, we will see a lot of changes on our boards and committees, and a lot of applications for development.
I know Susan Knudsen and Jim Van Goor will protect us.
The other 2 candidates have shown by their actions, that they are for big development.
The last time one of them ran, he signed a pledge stating he would build the big garage that went into the street, if he won. Thank goodness he didn’t win. The village council does not need another lawyer trying to further his career, by using Ridgewood as a stepping stone. We’ve seen too much of that.
Another candidate also supported that same garage, and supported the higher density version of the housing developments. She was behind the initiative that took away our right to vote on the school budget, and as an administrator of a local facebook page, has censored many people from contributing their views.
Please consider your vote carefully, and ask yourself what you want the future of Ridgewood to look like.
Thanks for your time.
Lorraine Reynolds
Councilwoman, Village of Ridgewood
Agree with every word. Those who are not paying attention and vote otherwise or not at all are likely to regret it later when they comprehend just how much more development can be squeezed out of our town. Let’s not put more vipers in our nest.
Vote for Van Goor and Knudsen.
Nobody cares what Lorraine Reynolds says.
Can’t wait to vote her out too!
Rude.