Landslide by the Numbers
by Marcia Ringel and Alan Seiden
YOU, THE PEOPLE, DID IT.
You came out in record numbers. With your votes you said, loudly and clearly: “No more grandstanding. No more bullying. No more manipulation. No more hypocrisy. No more special interests, outside influence, self-promotion. We are taking our village back.”
You said: “We want to see planning—not plotting. We want to see dreaming—not scheming.”
You said: “No more ‘deals.’ No more promises or pledges except to the community at large.”
You said: “No more ‘council majority’ for every vote. No more insults and contempt from the dais to fellow residents and to the populace who elected them. No more ignoring the impassioned pleas of hundreds of calm, well-spoken residents on issues of great importance to us.”
GOODBYE to all that.
Hello to three independent-thinking council members who will join our two continuing independent-thinking council members to cooperate and collaborate—not conspire and collude.
Hello to true, not lip-service, transparency and sunshine, with discussions held in public and decisions made afterward, not before—as Councilman Mike Sedon assured a cheering crowd at Village Hall last night after the results had been announced.
Welcome back, democracy.
Congratulations and thank you to the large number of people who worked to get out the vote and to everyone who voted. The grassroots groups finally attained unity and showed what our village is made of. We could not be denied.
This is a historic win for Ridgewood. We can now look to the future with hope.
“Unofficial” results (must be vetted by the county to become “official”), from highest to lowest number of votes received:
Ramon M. Hache: 3867 (67.87%)
Jeffrey Voigt: 3839 (67.37%)
Bernadette Coghlan-Walsh: 3611 (63.37%)
Janice M. Willett: 1803 (31.64%)
Evan Weitz: 1736 (30.47%)
Richard S. Brooks 1656 (29.06%)
Number of registered voters: 16,740
Number of votes cast: 5,698
Percentage of registered voters voting: 34.04%
In all 19 districts, the winning candidates had the most votes.
A district-by-district breakdown of election results, showing votes cast for each candidate, percentages, and totals, is available in a table posted on the village website:
https://www.ridgewoodnj.net/
For a more legible type size, click on the “plus” sign in the middle of the band across the top of the screen or use the tiny arrows to increase the percentage to 200%. To read the part of the table that no longer shows, hold your cursor on the “right arrow” at the bottom right of the screen.
A small map showing the borders of each voting district can be found on the 2016 village calendar: flip one page in from the back cover. We have asked Dylan Hansen, Director, Management Information System, Village of Ridgewood, to post the map on the village website for general and future reference. He said he would, probably today.
The polling place list, by district, below can be deceptive; for example, District 12, surrounding Travell School to the south and west, votes at the high school. Check the voting map for a better idea of who lives where.
District Polling place
1, 2, 3 Willard
4,7
5, 6, 10 Orchard
8, 11 Travell
9
12, 13 RHS
14
15, 16 BF
17, 18 Somerville
19
District 12 came out in force at 48% of registered voters there—a first? District 1 at 41% and District 15 at 40% displayed similarly impressive shows of strength.
Our new council members have a lot to do. They are eager to start.
They will be sworn in at noon on Friday, July 1, in the 4th-floor courtroom at Village Hall. At that time the current regime will officially end. The public is, as always, invited.
Onward.
Swimmingly,
Marcia Ringel and Alan Seiden
Co-Chairs, The Preserve Graydon Coalition, Inc., a nonprofit corporation
I was disappointed to see Facebook posts with suggestions for th council suggesting – again – that we turn Graydon into a suburban NJ cement pool.
You can swim at the YMCa, Paramus Pool, Upper Saddle River Swim Club, Glen Rock Pool, your neighbor’s pool.
We have one natural pool for the rest of us. Don’t try to take it away so that we can be just another jersey town all paved over.
Keep Graydon natural. The water is not clear (lakes are not clear) but it is clean. Don’t use your anecdotal evidence, look at the water readings.
I would be more worried about our clear, chlorinated drinking water.
Looking forward to top vote getter Mayor Hache’s reign. A repudiation of those who say Ridgewood cannot handle diversity. Advancing an agenda that is the clear will of the people.
No 7:52, I can’t swim at Paramus’ or Glen Rock’s pool. Unlike Graydon, they don’t need to open the register to out of towners, because there is plenty of demand in their respective communities. I am already a member of the Y, but their free swimming hours are so restrictive it’s a joke. Besides, it’s indoors. I don’t want to have to go to the USR swim club just because you people have an obsession with swimming in avian feces. And finally, Graydon is NOT a lake. It is too small to be remotely called a lake. It is a pond, pr even a large puddle that sits empty until we artificially fill it up. If we “keep Graydon natural”, you wouldn’t be able to swim there at all, and you wouldn’t want to anyway. So please find a new slogan. “Keep Graydon Natural” is hypocritical. It’s not natural now.
Here’s one alternative.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-11/can-this-real-estate-gimmick-save-the-world?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link
Paramus takes out of towners so do most pools in Bergen County https://www.paramusborough.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=891&Itemid=158
8:12 am – We can’t have a mayor whose name we can’t pronounce.
bigot much?
34% of registered voters coming out means 66% of the village does’t give a rat’s ass about what happens. Pretty sad.
it still mean more people think the mayor sucks
7:52.
I take issue with a couple of things regarding Graydon.
What is it exactly? Is it a pool, a “plake” (made up word btw), lake, pond, natural spring, bathing beach? What?
The water quality (as posted at Graydon) meets NJ State standards for a “pond/bathing beach”, NOT a pool. Why not just call it “Graydon Pond”. I know what you’re gong to say, “what difference does it make”? To me, it goes beyond semantics. When I think of a “lake/pond”, I think a sandy/muddy bottom body of water that’s decidedly a “swim at your our risk” kind of place. When I think of a pool, I think of clear water and life guards that can see swimmers who go under and don’t come back up. I have a pool in my back yard and I can easily spot a chipmunk at the bottom from 60′ away in 8′ of water. I bet you couldn’t spot a Rhino at the bottom of Graydon in the deep end. That’s a big problem – a problem that’s being ignored/dismissed by the “Keep Graydon Natural” group. As you mentioned, the water isn’t clear. Some days it’s better then others, but in general its no where near clear enough to easily spot a swimmer that’s in trouble and gone under. We saw the tragic results of this about 6 years ago. With the town opening up Graydon to all comers to try and make it financially sound, I fear we’re inviting another tragedy.
Graydon looks ok during the summer months, but is a complete and total eye sore the other 9 months of the year when its drained. Whoever designed the cinderblock and chain link “aerators” couldn’t have made them more ugly if they tried. Couldn’t the town figure out a way to hide those better? There’s nothing “natural” about those puppies. A row a hedges along Linwood would be welcome… Who wants to sit in the sand 25′ from a busy road with trucks/cars passing by over your shoulder? Again, traffic and sunbathing are not the most “natural combination”.
Graydon could be so much better then it is now without turing it into a concrete bottom pool. I hope the “Keep it natural” group can admit that there are problems and work to find solutions instead of just burying their heads in the sand.
9.01.
I totally agree. I was ecstatic about the results but this low turnout is really pathetic. 66% of voters do not give a damn about their local government which affects their lives much more than federal gov. I bet for federal elections the turnout will be much higher. And I don’t like the fact that many vocal supporters keep saying “residents showed up in full force”. At 34% is a minority, not even near a full force. With this kind of showing developers will keep on knocking as they know there’s not a whole lot resistance from residents base.
Let’s hope for the best.
Haven’t tried Graydon yet as I am new to the village. It looks nice as a natural park/pond but according to what I hear about water quality I wouldn’t want to swim there. In addition since I hear that the pool is open to out of towners I decided not to buy passes. I agree about the cinder blocks and the aerators, very ugly. It is a pity that a village the size of Ridgewood doesn’t have a real clear water outdoor pool.
what did you hear about the water ??????????
Something has to be done with the weeds on the outside of the fence and under it. The only time it looks any good is for 1 or 2 days after the grass/weeds has been cut.
9:03AM – if we increase rentals – that 66% will increase to even more. Rental units are transitional by definition and the village’s master plan should NOT be encouraging them. We should be encouraging residents who will call it a home for several years.
8:12AM – whoever you are – if you are trying to cause conflict within the newly elected council by posting the message multiple times in day – you can kiss your own butt. All 5 council members (effective July 1) are in this to “serve”. These ‘tricks’ won’t work to divide them.
The deeply disappointed trolls are back in force. Ignore.
Sorry 5:54, what exactly is your issue with the post at 8:12?
8:54- That is worth looking into. Good post.
10:13 AM screams “Troll.”