Village of Ridgewood : So much for the “gift ordinance”
November 4th 2013
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ , Well that didn’t take long . Looks like the Village Council is taking David Bolger’s money. Perhaps the council is being forced to take the donation after the Christie ticket fiasco or perhaps it signals a new way of doing business for the Village .
COUNCIL WORKSHOP AGENDA November 6, 2013
See attached meeting agenda, specifically item 6. a. 10)
https://www.ridgewoodnj.net/agenda/November%206,%202013%20Village%20Council%20Work%20Session%20Agenda.htm
Ridgewood NJ , the Village has 2008 ordinance barring Ridgewood officials or board members from accepting donations or gifts for 90 days after final action has been taken on an application and there is also a ordinance the prohibits the use of village equipment by private entities.
Here is the Village’s ordinance regarding gifts.
Prohibition; conditions for Council acceptance of gifts.
Article I: Gifts to Village Council
[Adopted 8-13-2008 by Ord. No. 3132]
§ 127-1
Prohibition; conditions for Council acceptance of gifts.
A. Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
CONTRIBUTIONS, GIFTS AND OTHER DONATIONS
The free and voluntary presentation by any person to the Village Council of any sum of money or other item of value, the acceptance of which requires a resolution.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, joint venture, corporation, group, organization, association, government, governmental agency or any other entity, affiliate, subsidiary or related company of that entity.[Amended 12-8-2010 by Ord. No. 3273]
B. The Village Manager shall be authorized to establish rules and requirements for persons making, offering or presenting any contribution, gift and other donation to the Village, its agencies, departments, boards and/or employees, which rules shall require adoption by resolution by the Village Council to be effective. Said rules and requirements shall include, but are not limited to, the following:[Amended 12-8-2010 by Ord. No. 3273]
(1) Identification or determination of the value of said contribution, gift or other donation;
(2) Requirements for the reporting of the contribution, gift or other donation to Village Manager;
(3) Requirements for if and when Council approval is necessary for the acceptance of the contribution, gift or other donation by the Village.
C. Any person as defined in Subsection A above who wishes to make, offer or present a contribution, gift or other donation to the Village or its agencies, departments or boards must satisfy the rules and requirements as established by the Village Manager and adopted by resolution of the Village Council.[Amended 12-8-2010 by Ord. No. 3273]
D. Upon the acceptance of a gift, contribution or donation by the Village Council, the Village reserves the right to determine without qualification any process, conditions or other specifications on the gift and its utilization by the Village for the purpose for which said gift is intended and accepted.
see theses articles also
https://theridgewoodblog.net/reader-says-this-certainly-smells-like-a-violation-of-the-gift-ordinance-to-me/
https://theridgewoodblog.net/reader-says-violation-of-the-gift-ordinance-means-immediate-right-for-any-citizen-to-appeal-of-project/
People don’t understand what an underhanded, miserable bully he is. He wants his name plastered everywhere. No saint.
PJ – You missed an even more important item on this week’s Village Council meeting agenda. Perhaps the most important item.
And it is that the Aronsohn team will be proposing a move of the Village Council elections from May to November. They will do it under the guise of it being a money saver.
In reality, Aronsohn, Pucciarelli, and Hauck want the election moved to November in order to extend Aronsohn’s reign as Mayor, and to get The Valley Hospital project approved by the Council before any new members are elected (which could trigger a legal challenge).
No way, they will want to keep in May and feign non partisanship.
Aronsohn is just buying time till he runs for high office. This is the last time he will run for council. He has his sights on bigger things and we will be left paying the bill.
Well two years into mayor and he’s done nothing. No parking, no lower taxes, store vacancies mount and still Valley hospital looms.
Ah but the Ridgewood residents overwhelming vote for TEAM ARONSOHN.
He’s not running for council, Walsh and Richie’s terms are up. Council just votes for Mayor spot again. He doesn’t care about Ridgewood voters he got what he needed by being voted in the last time. Now his only focus is building up his resume to run for a rep spot. Hence, his big developer money he needs to support his next run.
The current Village Council is now poised to accept a gift worth $250K-$300K from the Bolger Foundation. The gift is construction of bathroom facilities and the addition of other amenities at the Lester Stable complex.
Mr. J. T. Bolger is a trustee of the Bolger Foundation and is also a principal of 240 Associates, Inc. which has an application for the development of high density housing on Chestnut Street pending before Ridgewood’s Planning Board.
Local ordinances 3132 and 3273 were adopted in 2008 and 2010 respectively to provide guidance with respect to the donation and official acceptance of gifts made to the Village of Ridgewood.
Here are the minutes from a Village Council discussion in July of 2008 that prompted creation of these 2 ordinances:
s. POLICY ON ACCEPTANCE OF GIFTS
Mr. Ten Hoeve said this item is an ordinance proposal to create a policy on the Village’s acceptance of gifts, which Councilwoman Zusy worked on with Mr. Rogers, Village Attorney. Mayor Pfund asked Councilwoman Zusy to review this item. Councilwoman Zusy stated that many residents in Ridgewood have spoken to her about how upset, angry, and concerned they are about the Council’s approval on April 29th, of David Bolger’s offer to renovate the Pease Building and then on April 30th, the Zoning Board issued him approval to build a self-storage facility. As she understands it, there was no knowledge of the Council of the Zoning Board’s agenda and no knowledge of the Zoning Board of the agenda of the Council, but it happened and the intention was to try to set something up in an ordinance such that this cannot happen again. It is something that Boyd Loving, resident of Ridgewood, brought to the Council’s attention several weeks ago and Mayor Pfund suggested that the Council might want to think about putting something in writing so there is a policy in place for the future. She stated that an ordinance was created, to establish a new section of the Village Code of the Village of Ridgewood, which adds a chapter entitled “Contributions, Gifts, or Other Donations”. This ordinance outlines that while someone has an application before any government entity in Ridgewood, there may not be any kind of offer of a gift that would have to be approved by the Village Council. At the same time, if someone proposes a gift that has to be approved by the Village Council, there cannot be at the same time, an application forthcoming for a period of 90 days. Mayor Pfund asked if everyone on the Council agrees. Councilman Killion stated he thinks it is a good idea. Councilman Mancuso and Aronsohn agreed. Mayor Pfund feels it is unfortunate that there can be actions that can be questioned and if this ordinance helps prevent those questions, than he feels it is a good thing.