>Ridgewood village manager explains snowstorm absences
Thursday November 10, 2011, 3:13 PM
BY KELLY EBBELS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News
On Wednesday, Village Manager Ken Gabbert presented his report on the late October snowstorm to the Village Council, and included information on his whereabouts during the five meetings of the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) that weekend, three of which he had missed.
There were some “communication difficulties,” including poor communication between himself and the OEM director, Brad Mason, Gabbert said; he was not informed of two OEM meetings on Saturday, despite being present in the building for some of that time, and received notice of a 9 a.m. Sunday meeting about one-half hour beforehand – not enough notice for him to arrive in time. He attended a later meeting on Sunday afternoon and one on Monday.
Gabbert said he was at Village Hall for more than four hours Saturday morning.
“I think we had some glitches… we’re still talking through that,” he said of the communication between himself and Mason, though adding, “It’s not as big an issue as one might think.”
