Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood blog has uncovered an email going around from a resident named Cornelie Ladd regarding the retention of the Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld , It seems the Brooks, Willlett, and Weitz is already conceding defeat and are making one last desperate plea to maintain the mayors ie..developers power grip on the Village of Ridgewood . The May 10 election is about candidates and the candidates vision for future direction of Ridgewood .
Dear neighbors, friends, and friends of neighbors,Without wishing to interrupt dinner / game / bath time, it’s time to find a moment to contemplate the electoral landscape ahead of the impending municipal elections next Tuesday, May 10th.
As many among us are probably aware, although elections for Village Council in Ridgewood are non-partisan by tradition and by nature, it is becoming increasingly apparent that, not unlike our national politics, this year’s elections have become polarized to a rather exponential degree.
As a consequence, although typically individual candidates are running for individual seats, this year’s candidates have coagulated into two slates of three: Brooks, Willlett, and Weitz versus Hache, Voigt, and Walsh.
I am writing to urge you to consider that, beyond the hot-button issues, there is only one slate, the one of Brooks, Weitz, and Willis, that will offer steady support to the excellent work of our Village Manager, Roberta Sonenfeld. If you value the labors of a responsive, responsible and accountable Village Manager, I ask that you support her by voting Brooks, Weitz, and Willis. You will find the positions of Brooks, Weitz, and WIllis articulated on Ridgewood2020.com.
According to the grapevine (which never lies … !) the other slate will seek to replace the Village Manager.
If, after having done your due diligence, you find that you subscribe to the views of this message, please share the gist of it among your friends and neighbors (and encourage them to go to the polls!).
Thank you for your consideration,
with best wishes for a vibrant Ridgewood,
Cornelie Ladd
Village Council Candidate Ramon Hache Responds
Hi All,
Thank you for sharing this. I did see the Mayor’s letter to the editor. Based on the email from your neighbor, it seems that Mayor Aronsohn is now pushing this idea through residents as well. There really is no basis. Neither Jeff, Bernie nor I have ever gone on the record to say that we have any plans of replacing the Village Manager. I have now attended a few “coffees” with Bernie and Jeff, including the one on Wednesday night (coincidentally next door to Ms. Sonenfeld’s home) and there was no mention by us of Ms. Sonenfeld in a negative light.I will share my personal view. I have an enormous amount of respect for the position of Village Manager. It is a very demanding job. The Village Manager is under constant scrutiny while dealing with a wide range of issues on a daily basis. I see the Village Manager as a direct extension of the Council. If I am elected, I plan on sitting down with key Village employees, including the Village Manager, to evaluate them in their current role. This is no different than what a new CEO would do at a company in the private sector. As with the way I have always treated my employees, I plan on conducting a fair and objective review. It is incumbent upon the Council to ensure that key positions in our Village, paid for by your tax dollars, are filled with the most competent and qualified people available to us. I do not know Ms. Sonenfeld personally. I think for any candidate to make a determination regarding her retention, whether pro or against, is extremely premature at this time. That would not be fair to either the Village Manager nor residents.
Unfortunately, this ugly rumor seems to stem from some political angle. Unfounded rumors such as this one only add to the divisiveness in our community. It is very unfortunate. Thank you for sharing your concern. I will certainly pass it along to Jeff and Bernie for their views since I cannot speak on their behalf. I would be more than happy to speak to your neighbor and answer any of her questions. Thank you also for your continued support.
Best
Ramon
201-960-4977
Hey Ray,
I support you along with voight and bernie. Do the village a favor and hire a manager that plays the role of manager and not politician. We elect you to serve that purpose and in return we expect a professional staff with government experience to run the day to day operations.
I have not enjoyed this experiment and wish to move in a new direction.
Ramon, Thank you for clarifying this. That email circulating is ridiculous. I have never heard you guys say you would get rid of Roberta. It is way too early to discuss that. Let’s get you elected on Tuesday, and sworn in on July 1, and then our town can move forward with reasonable government and wise decisions about staffing and everything else.
It is really telling that Weitz Willett and Brooks are stating they will keep her on no matter what. So they already think they are in office? Well, let’s see how it goes on Tuesday. It would be a tragedy if the three of them get elected.
HACHE WALSH VOIGT
Wish this picture was a video. Then all could see bobble-headed-berta with her head going up and down like a chicken in a yard of corn.
Hache however is clearly saying that Berta is gone and she should be. GET OUT and BRING PEOPLE OUT to vote on Tuesday. This vote is probably the most critical one in Ridgewood’s history. If people show out in force Voigt, Hache and Walsh will have a landslide victory. Another complacency like 4 yrs ago and we can say goodbye to Ridgewood as we know it.
So Mayor Knudesen is going to keep Roberta??? HAHAHHAHA
It is clear that Ramon rises above the closed minded views of those supporting Brooks, Willett and Weitz. My only concern at this time is the Valley expansion and Ramon along with Bernie and Jeff will most certainly get my vote on Tuesday. I have no problems with Roberta. I think she has done an excellent job in getting this town in line. Her communication skills are better than we have ever had. Those not willing to play by the rules(think leaf removal) should be fined. They make our town look like crap when their leaves are left out for weeks because they can’t follow a simple schedule. Let’s get back to working TOGETHER to make Ridgewood even better. Make your voice be heard on Tuesday!
well explained Ramon. you have my vote.
Why is the Mayor and his 3 Candidates fighting so hard to keep the VM? Why are they getting so involved with this when for one The Mayor is a lame duck and other have not been elected . Reminds me of the following definition “The lady doth protest too much, methinks” is a quotation from the 1599/ 1600 play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. It has been used as a figure of speech, in various phrasings, to describe someone’s too frequent and vehement attempts to convince others of some matter of which the opposite is true, thereby making themselves appear defensive, and insincere.
In rhetorical terms, the phrase can be thought of as indicating an unintentional apophasis—where the speaker who “protests too much” in favor of some assertion puts into others’ minds the idea that the assertion is false, something that they may not have considered before.
The Village Manager has no contact and serves at the pleasure of the Council. If the 3 amigos wanted to keeper he so bad thern maybe they should have run for re election.
She can get a job as dishwasher when Aronsohn wins his next elective office, which will be when heck freezes over.
… breath of putrid rancid air
I do not understand why the outgoing mayor is so worried about her. Very strange. He wanted to bring this up at the League of Women Voters forum. Does she hold the key to some big puzzle at village hall. The DiPucci Code? Maybe a good audit is needed.
I think that when the council changes hands Roberta will calm down and just do her job. Stay out of the spotlight and not fight with residents.
She may bery well quit. who knows.
Who the heck os Cornile Ladd?
Ramon:
Thank you for your reply to this. I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment and believe in treating people (whoever they are) fairly, honestly, openly, and with respect. This is how I have conducted my business dealings with people and will continue to do so. I firmly believe employees of our Village should be evaluated on how they perform in their job and; most especially in meeting the objectives set for them – that ultimately benefit our Village.
Jeff Voigt
Candidate for Village Council
I absolutely agree Mr Voigt. The new council should institute a written monthly evaluation of the manager to insure that the goals that been set by the council were meet. If the goals have not been meet then the VM should be informed of the deficiencies and submit their plan to improve. The VM in turn should institutes the same written monthly evaluation for their management team. Gone are the days that management raises are based on their supervisor stating ” There doing a good job” When done right written evaluation lessen any lawsuits if a employee who is substandard or is not following direction is terminated. Under the Faulkner Act the Manger is in charge of the day to day running of the Village but the council has a fiduciary responsibility to insure that the taxpayers money is spent appropriately to include not only contracts for union personnel but for management also.
To follow up below is a simple form
Company Name
Employee Performance Review
Employee Information
Employee Name Employee ID
Job Title Date
Department Manager
Review Period
Ratings
1 = Poor 2 = Fair 3 = Satisfactory 4 = Good 5 = Excellent
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ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
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By signing this form, you confirm that you have discussed this review in detail with your supervisor. Signing this form does not necessarily indicate that you agree with this evaluation.
Employee Signature Date
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Just saw a full page ad for Roberta. WTF?
She is not running for office, if it were an elected position I would not vote for her.
Why is she so important to the developers? Someone needs to get in there and find out why they need her there.
Can she inhibit the progress of the new council? She NEVER should have been involved in politics and this is the worst. I thought that she would calm down when Susan Knudson becomes mayor. Now I don’t think that they can trust her.
Roberta has to go.
Ramon is for negotiating with Valley per his flyer that I got in the mail today! So now there are only 2 people we can count on to litigate with Valley? What a snake. He said he would litigate in the debate and now in the flyer he says negotiate. NEVER NEGOTIATE. FiGHT to the SUpreme Court!
There is something so weird about Aronsohn supporting keeping her, and those families who paid for that ad. As Tom Richie used to say, THIS DOES NOT PASS THE SMELL TEST. Something fishy about it all. Can’t wait until the three morons and Roberta are all gone.
Litigate, negotiate whatever….better than settling which is 100% what the other 3 would do!! If you think Valley would be too big as proposed the only vote is for Voigt, Hache and Walsh!!
Negotiate, but do so from a position of strength, which should include pointing to the Sword of Damocles which is hanging over the head of Valley Hospital’s business plan, i.e., being forced to pay it’s fair share of municipal taxes, just like Morristown’s hospital had to do.
Aronsohn is indirecting asking all 6 to sign a pledge to keep her, because she knows the dark secrets. If she is replaced with a new manager, the fraud will come out.