April 4, 2015 Last updated: Saturday, April 4, 2015, 1:21 AM
By CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
The Record
RIDGEWOOD — A councilwoman is urging that a vote to revise a residency rule for hiring new employees should be indefinitely postponed.
Councilwoman Susan Knudsen wants the council’s Wednesday vote on the amendment deferred “so we make sure that we get this right” and to dispel “fundamental misunderstandings about the proposed change.”
Knudsen opposed the change during public talks last month.
The council voted in August to update its residency ordinance for civilian hires with a tier system, which the state has since determined is not permitted.
The system, which officials claim was developed to attract the best qualified candidates, was approved by the entire council.
It would have given preference for village openings to Bergen County military veterans, followed by all county residents, then residents of contiguous counties and lastly, all other state residents.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-urged-to-table-vote-on-hiring-rule-1.1302733
Looks like Mr. Harris didn’t even have the courtesy, nor did he take the time, to contact Councilwoman Knudsen for her side of the story. The Record’s local news coverage is getting to be as big of a joke as the Village Council is.
he is the Mayors Press Secretary lol
Plain english the Record and Mr. Borg might as well be bought off by our phony mayor.
There he is Chris Harris the Mayor Press Secretary / Record Reporter writing another article for the Mayor. I was wondering what was taking him so long
The video speaks for itself. Susan was calm, gracious and well prepared even when under attack. Unfortunately, the three other councilpersons, Ridgewood staff and the contracted labor attorneys looked like third rate goons who got back into a corner; what an utter disgrace. What was Susan asking for that was so terrible . . . that the Village do some fact finding before making a decision? Makes me wonder how poorly the Village has been run the past few years, decades, etc.
A system that gives preference based on geography or anything else clearly does not emphasize finding the best candidates. It’s finding the best candidates within each of those categories. Sounds discriminatory.
So, based on the diligent detective work by Councilwoman Knudsen, we learn that the current hiring scheme provides that Ridgewood-based applicants are to be preferred when all of the top candidates are equally qualified. This sounds reasonable. Accordingly, the burden of persuasion on whether or not to change the law should be on those who are in favor of a change.
Up until now the proponents of change have been saying that according to the current hiring scheme, the Village has not been permitted to hire better qualified candidates who live outside of Ridgewood if at least one local applicant is deemed at least minimally qualified. Now we learn that was not true. In fact, it does not take an enormous leap of faith to conclude that we were being LIED TO.
It turns out the Village has only lacked the ability to hire candidates of the SAME qualifications who live outside of Ridgewood. In other words, they have lacked the ability to discriminate against (politically undesireable?) Ridgewood residents who have the same qualifications as the best (properly politically aligned?) candidates who live outside of Ridgewood.
Why should we change the law to facilitate such a hiring practice?
One wonders if the proposed change to the law is contemplated as part of a larger plan to politicize our system of local government, which by virtue of the Faulkner Act is supposed to be completely non-partisan.
Ah yes…politics. This has been the common denominator from day one when it comes to the behavior of the Three Amigos. Why should we expect these old dogs to learn new tricks when they continue to get such great mileage out of the old ones?
The state has a NJ first policy for hiring. Most states have residence requirements. Former members of the armed services are also given preference.
On a local level the towns do the same thing.
Some call it a “preference” while 9:01 sees discrimination.
11:20 – yes, exactly. Thank you for taking the time to summarize what was said. There is preference ONLY when candidates are equally qualified. Residency DOES NOT preclude Ridgewood from hiring the most qualified candidate.
Regardless of what the law might become, the fact is that these mo-mo’s are not willing to hire anyone now under the current law. That is outrageous. Holding off on hiring until they can change the law. Sounds like a massive lawsuit to me.
Does anyone thinks it’s a coincidence the human resource and village manager are both from Bergen leads and this residency requirement is being changed when the hr person isn’t from ridgewood. Old friends from the bergeb county program . Ridgewood owes a debt of gratitude to councilwoman knudsen for standing up for ridgewood residents when aronsohn, pucc and hack don’t care about the people they represent. What’s wrong there’s no one from ridgewood to fill these jobs. Anyone watching the meeting wouldn’t think this article is even about Wednesday meeting.
Who are they waiting to hire? What position is opening?
The article by Harris is a disgrace since the councilwoman made it clear it’s all about civilian titles. Looks like Paulie’s lackey is willing to do anything for aronsohn and we should all be sickened by it. It Harris wants to be a real reporter he should have the decency to be honest in his reporting. The change has nothing to do with the police or fire department. I don’t know much about all of this but is seems everyone on council agreed the change was to civilian titles and mailander agreed. No disputed knudsnes statement it was about civilian jobs. The inferences aronsohn makes are despicable Harris wants to be part of this lie he should be ashamed of himself and he should be fired.
We’ve seen lots of nepotism in the village and now we are seeing sonenfelds cronyism. Sonenfeld should be fired because she said doesn’t understand the basics of the job she was hired to do.
Yes, 4:43, any qualified non-police, non-fire Ridgewood-residing applicant whose application has not yet been the subject of a formal rejection should sue the Village in equity in superior court based on a theory of unconscionable and arbitrary delay, and demand to be processed forthwith for hiring before the Three Amigos and their like-minded friends in Ridgewood management ram through their favored change in the hiring law.
Is someone upset because they didn’t get a job? Hmmmm ? Why can we only hire cops and fire from Ridgewood? What’s wrong with better qualified candidates form Paramus, Glenrock, Midland Park, Waldwick, and Ho Ho Kus ? These kids all just leave after a few years anyway but still serve Ridgewood residents. Seems like its just to keep jobs for the favored sons of local Poobahs.
8:22 why don’t you go to the next meting and ask your friends ( The 3 Amigos) that question or just e-mail them. When they tell you please post the answer
12:00 the State determined that this tiered system is not permitted so I don’t think they are advocating its practice. I don’t know that anything you’ve said is actually a fact.
Well 12:00 better check that.
New Jersey values the contributions that our veterans have made, and continue to make, for our country’s freedom and for other nations around the world. As such, New Jersey’s merit system provides absolute veterans preference in employee selection. This means that qualified veterans are placed at the top of an open competitive employment list ahead of non-veterans regardless of their scores. Disabled veterans and veterans are placed on promotional lists according to their scores, but they have preference over non-veterans when a disabled veteran or veteran is at the top of a certification of the list to an appointing authority.