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Village Council Elections: I hope Aronsohn is NOT re-elected. I used to be for him
hope Aronsohn is NOT re-elected. I used to be for him, but after studying and reviewing a lot he has said and done, I no longer support him. I based my change in position not on what went on the other night alone, but on looking at many other things during his current term of service.
But I very much favor repealing those H Zone amendments and have said so many times before, including on this blog.
There must be a way to do that without endless lawsuits and legal wrangling. Why can’t the PB simply conclude that its predecessor members made a mistake in approving the amendments in the first place?
It should be easy to demonstrate grounds for that, since when the very same experts were queried by the VC, a lot of impt. new information sure came to light.
So why can’t the current PB simply cite that as proof its predecessor board did not get the full info as to the impact on the Village, and then decide based on those grounds that it should rescind the Amendments the previous Board passed?
Keith and several others were NOT on the PB that adopted those amendments, by the way. Tom Riche was however.
I don’t know the legal ramifications or procedures. I do know though that often what seems common sense and simple logic does not always work like that within the legal system, which can impose all kinds of other hurdles to something that ought to be relatively simple.
And by the way, I am not against Valley expanding or modernizing though I am against it’s current plan. With another plan that’s more modest, I might support that — depends on the details.
Maybe Aronsohn says he’s for rescinding the amendments because he knows there’s some legal problem with doing that? After all, he’s on the VC and has been privy to any internal discussions they’ve had about all this– along with the Vill Attorney etc.
So if he knows there’s a reason it can’t be done legally… but it’s popular in some circles to have that position — well, that seems like vintage Aronsohn to me based on looking at how he’s handled other things during his time in office.
Given his new endorsement of Hauck, who clearly supports Valley’s current plan, that sure gets me thinking… otherwise why would he say he’s opposed to Valley’s plan –yet endorse others for the VC who clearly have the exact opposite view and have said so?
I’ve lost any real trust in Paul after doing a lot of homework and I’m sad to say I feel his agenda is not really Ridgewood– it’s him — and only him.
Could an attorney -or maybe one of our highly paid Village officials pls tell the rest of us what exactly ARE the impediments legally to the current PB rescinding those amendments? Why can’t it work (for instance) like poster #4 above describes?
Funny how things change. I was never an Aronsohn supporter but the more time has gone on the more it has become apparent he is the only one on the current Council who understands how out of control the cost structure of Village employees including health and retirement benefits are and that if something is not done real soon we are all going to be priced right out of Ridgewood. (Actually we’ll all be stuck here because it will be impossible to sell our houses when taxes double over the next few years just to keep up with promises already built into our union contracts.
Killion is too close to those involved to make any tough decisions, he got his (and deserved it) and is incapable of understanding how drastically things have changed in the private sector and how bad things are going to get real soon. I think it is time for some changes and with a couple of new Council members it will be possible to remove Gabbert who has time and time again proved to be an arrogant detached manager who knows how to game the system and has yet to have anyone call him on anything.
Think about it for a second he initially proposed a 7.5% tax increase!!!!! He quickly reduced that to 4.5% (Does anyone else smell “Used Car salesman” bait and switch here?) Are any of you expecting a 4.5% increase in your salary this year? Combine a 4.5% increase with last years 6+% increase and your taxes have now gone up 11% in two years. Continue that for the next 5 to 10 years and tell me where you are at.
I know Valley is the hot button topic but we’ve got much bigger issues than Valley. If we don’t get our fiscal situation under control we’ll be begging Valley to expand just so someone can buy a good chunk of all the houses that will be for sale.
Really then what happened the last 4 years ? ,
Did you know that after the storm the damage cost the Village a 4% tax increase right off the bat?
how was Aronsohn on the $9 million Village Hall renovation, the $400,000 toilet, all the phony ADA BS like the elevators to ‘no where ” at the train station ?
…hummm perhaps what you mean Aronsohn is a pro union big government Democrat who promises everything to everyone and will deliver nothing but higher taxes
I will take Aronsohn any time over Killion.
No longer supporting aronsohn. His desire to be mayor far outweighs anything else. He has made issues of nothing over and over just to grandstand and point fingers but he could have easily used his email list to generate a public showing against the raise before it was voted on. Why wasn’t he screaming before and why didn’t he take this to the public before the vote happened? He wanted the raise to happen so he could use it to divide the village just to be mayor. only fools will fall for this. Aronsohn has lost my respect and my vote.
Aronsohn is sleaze personified. No way do we need him on the council any more. Killion is THE CANDIDATE.
In answer to the last paragraph of the original post, to me the answer has always seemed simple. The Village council can instruct our Village attorneys opposing the lawsuit brought by Concerned Citizens to drop the Village’s opposition to the lawsuit. I think that would allow the Court to enter an order rescinding the Hospital amendment. It would save us all a lot of attorney fees.
#6 are you an attorney? Hope everyone is reading your post since it makes most sense. BTW Valley is still a defendant in the suit. How would that work?
For #6- I’m the original poster and I agree with you, I think you were my ref to “#4” in orig. post before the moderator moved the post. You made a very good point.
I tried to find NJ law on this (in Title 40 section 55D which talks about Planning Boards) but I couldn’t find anything there about reversing or rescinding decisions made by a Planning Board. Did I look in the wrong places?
I also can’t believe there is no way that elected government can override an appointed board, but I couldn’t find much of anything there — though I’m no lawyer.
If there is no way that can be made to happen, then it’s hardly a fair process for taxpayers and residents, since it would mean appointed Boards have absolute power yet the public has no direct say in appointing the Board. Hard to believe that could be how it works- I must be missing something- but what? Anyone know?
Seems pretty “banana republic” to me if that’s the case!
Can I apply for the Tequila Commissioner job please?
Lastly, if that indeed is true, that would make Mr. Aronsohn’s public call for the PB to rescind the amendments just another political posturing exercise wouldn’t it?