By Joseph Cramer
Ridgewood residents unsatisfied with the current state of village government have formed a group with the goal of ushering in a leadership change, setting their sights on spring elections.
“Many residents are very concerned about the recent decisions that have been made by our mayor and Village Council and would like to get more of our neighbors and local business owners involved,” said resident Ed Feldsott, one of the primary organizers of the group.
Group members came to a consensus that the root of their grievances was the recent decision-making process by and around top village administration and leadership, something they believe is “out of touch” with residents.
“Sometimes what’s right for the village may be something that I wouldn’t agree with, but the fact of the matter is it’s hard to defend a lot of the things that have happened, that they haven’t been doing or have been doing, that have been absolutely wrong for the village,” said resident and former Fire Chief Jim Bombace, another of the group’s organizers. “That’s how we got to the point where we’re at now.”
While Monday night’s meeting represented the first formal gathering of the initial group members, residents had been in contact with each other in recent weeks, having heard each other’s concerns at council meetings and in the media.
“I saw that I wasn’t the only one who thought things weren’t going well for the village,” Bombace said. He said he realized there must be other discontented residents, and began to reach out to them.
Attendees discussed and outlined several main issues with management of the village, many of them stemming from issues that have faced the council in the past six months.
They criticized the council and administration for what they said was “fiscal irresponsibility” and being “out of touch with the private sector,” citing the recent 12 percent raise to Village Manager Ken Gabbert’s salary and implementation and subsequent increase of incentive bonuses for top village management and non-union staff in the midst of a recession.
“At a time when residents are taking pay cuts, taking bonus slashes and watching their benefits … we need leaders who lead by example,” Feldsott said.
Another grievance discussed was what the group saw as a “dangerous infrastructural situation,” pointing to the large number of leaf and branch debris still on village roads, which many cited as a dangerous situation for pedestrians and drivers. Street and recycling crews have been inundated with branch and brush cleanup since the October snowstorm brought down large branches village-wide.
“The services are not what they used to be,” Bombace said.
Additional concerns aired at the meeting included rising taxes despite falling home values; alleged non-response to resident emails; and what the group saw as a slow permit process for potential new businesses.
Feldsott said the group’s primary goal was to have “accountable, responsible government.”
“We need more people to take ownership of the situation,” he said.
The group’s grievances reflect issues that have faced the council and village administration in recent months.
Incentive bonuses, which eliminate automatic raises for top village management and non-union staff (with the exception of the village manager and police chief) in favor of pay increases based on performance evaluations, were approved by the council in July and brought up again in November, when the council voted to increase them. The ordinances passed on each occasion with a 4-1 vote, with Councilman Paul Aronsohn objecting.
Other council members defended the bonuses, arguing it encouraged merit-based rewards rather than automatic ones.
Council members – again with the exception of Aronsohn – defended Gabbert’s raise on the basis of performance, citing the difficult financial situation he inherited when he assumed the village manager position in November 2009.
“After being here six months, I’ve seen what Dr. Gabbert has done both in terms of how he does it and in terms of the numbers, and I’ve seen this village move in a better fiscal direction than how it’s been going for quite some time,” Councilman Stephen Wellinghorst said in August, at the meeting when the raise was approved.
Regarding leaf pick-up, Gabbert said in an e-mail Tuesday that “quantities of debris are many times the typical” for this season. According to the village website, the village has collected more than 38,000 cubic yards so far, “over double our normal leaf volume to date,” he said.
Village officials posted a revised street clean-up schedule on the village website on Monday, outlining the time frames during which the four areas of the village would see leaf removal. According to a recent email from Gabbert to a resident, crews are expected to get through the entire village by Dec. 19. He also noted that the village has utilized “outside contractors in addition to nearly a thousand hours of overtime for staff” to address debris removal.
Responding to the group’s allegations of inadequate response to resident outreach, Gabbert said he and other village officials are aware of the concerns.
“The staff and I seek to follow up on every resident concern, both the routine issues and those in the aftermath of a record breaking storm event,” he said. “We do receive emails; however, most are via phone.”
Residents discussed next steps for the organization, including appointment of officers and representatives as well as short-term and long-term efforts. Among tasks approved by the majority were a recruitment process whereby each attendee would attempt to bring a friend or neighbor to a Village Council meeting to show support, and a letter writing campaign. The immediate goal was to see a leadership change in July.
“I think by getting the word out that we need to change the council, we can achieve our goal of maybe getting new people on the council and a new village manager,” Bombace said, adding that it remained important to make present concerns known to the existing council.
Aronsohn was invited to the meeting by organizers, and attended in a listening capacity.
“My main reason for being here is I want to hear what’s on your mind,” he said to the group.
Killion said neither he nor his fellow council members, with the exception of Aronsohn, were asked to attend the meeting. Still, he said he welcomed the opposition.
“That’s what makes the United States the greatest country in the world,” he said.
A majority of the attendees agreed to attend Wednesday’s Village Council meeting to formally announce their presence in the village. Resident Craig Hueneke volunteered as spokesperson for the group going forward. Organizers encouraged all in attendance to bring a neighbor or friend to increase the number in support of their initial presentation to the council.
“The more people we have, the louder our voice,” Bombace said.
E-mail: cramer@northjersey.com
