file photo Boyd Loving
SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015, 11:51 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Village professionals are undertaking an arduous review of Ridgewood’s entire code book and the ordinances it contains.
The intent of the project is to review each chapter, article and ordinance in the code book to determine its relevancy. Ordinances deemed to be out of date will be presented to the council for a review and discussion of any possible amendments.
Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld said at the Sept. 16 council meeting that the final product would be an up-to-date code that is consistent with current and best practices to avoid having to amend ordinances as issues reveal themselves.
“It has always been in this spirit that we have done that, and not as a ‘gotcha’ moment,” Sonenfeld said. “But that does cause some discomfort and I am aware of that.”
An example is the ordinance that was recently discussed by the council involving hiring employees at a higher pay rate than the lowest end of the salary range on a case-by-case basis. As Sonenfeld and Village Attorney Matthew Rogers were discussing the idea of reviewing the entire code book, it became apparent that holding off on introducing such a change would be a better way to go.
The ordinance would have been introduced this month, but Sonenfeld had it pulled from the agenda in order to review the entire Civil Service section of the code book as part of the project.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-plans-major-update-of-code-book-1.1421758
Robertas letter to the editor last week: “..when we find an issue or a problem or an ordinance that is outdated, we don’t ignore it – we fix it.”
CORRECTION: when we find an issue or a problem or an ordinance that is outdated, WE IGNORE IT, do whatever the hell we want, and then when Knudsen, Sedon, or a member of the public pints this out we decide to fix it after the fact.
Roberta has done this multiple times in she short train wreck of a tenure with us.
I wonder how much this complete overhaul will cost? I can see some very large bills from outside counsel coming as I don’t expect any of our in-house legal beagles to be up to the task.
Past bad acts are still past bad acts on behalf of the village manager and council. This does not absolve them from their sins.
Yes, S. Frapz, you are correct! Roberta thinks she is the queen and can do whatever she wants. And Albert reaffirms what a great HIRE she was at every opportunity. It is unlawful. They must be held accountable.
Declan – from the article
“In order to complete the project without an astronomical cost to the village, it was announced by Sonenfeld last week that Rogers would be doing the work free of charge.
“The cost for this would be significant,” said the attorney. “I just felt it was something that should be done, needs to be done and I wanted to get it done. The only way to do it was to donate the time.”
If you believe that 12:51 then I have a bridge to sell you.
Even though it’s probably important to update the code, I shudder at who is doing it. They know nothing–any of them–including and especially Rogers. And I do not trust their motivations whatsoever. With any luck they’ll be too busy to do very much, and then the project can continue after the next council has replaced Rogers and Sonenfeld.
6:26 Is right on the money!
Right 6:26 I do not trust them and I don’t want them touching the Village codes.
Uhhhh, you don’t want ordinance 3066 repealed 6:26? There are also lots of useless codes that end up costing taxpayer dollars that only benefit public safety pay checks and total comp, that’s why 7:48 doesn’t want anyone touching Village codes
Hey 6:59 again with public safety. Show us something in the code book that address pay check and comp. for public safety ? You must be, one of Field Marshall Roberta’s suck ups.
How much OT and excessive cost for Village taxpayers by adhering to the book on every Village code 7:59? Class II officers is one example. Why can’t we hire “specials” to do extra-duty work? If our regular officers have so much extra time to do extra duty work, why do they ring up such large OT bills every year? It’s just one excuse after another from 7:59 and 6:26… “we can’t change this and we can’t do that”… and just how often are Village codes and state mandates cited as the reason why “we can’t change this and we can’t do that”? You boys are talking your own book, that’s why you don’t want Village Code changed. An update might shine the light of day on some of the tricks you boys have been running.
6:26 is right on the money, as in doing everything possible to take the money from taxpayers
Extra duty work does not cost the taxpayers on cent. All cost are paid by the contractors. What else do you have?