Ridgewood January 23, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 3 Village council stalls on pair of salary ordinances by John Koster Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronson proposed to unanimous approval that the adoption hearing on the village’s managerial and non-union salary ordinances be continued until Feb. 13 so all sides could talk over their differences before voting. “We have a broken salary structure. It needs to be fixed,” Mayor Aronsohn said last week without disagreement from his running mates, Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli and Councilwoman Gwen Hauck, or from Council Members Thomas Riche and Bernadette Walsh. Everyone concurred that the ordinances as slated for adoption last week were not ready, and Aronsohn recommended further review. The council’s decision came hard on the heels of the Tiger Team Report, a 42page volunteer-generated projection of Ridgewood’s financial future, which indicated that mandatory pension costs and other costs outside the school budget could virtually double the taxes on a Ridgewood house over the next decade. The report suggests that Ridgewood employees receive too many sick days and other builtin costs. Aronsohn said he and the council had not yet had time to examine the Tiger Team Report in detail, but they obviously took it very seriously, as did the members of the public at the meeting. “I read the report and it is fantastic,” said resident Anne Loving. “I can’t believe we were able to get it at no cost. I sincerely hope that some, if not all, of the recommendations can be implemented because the report is scary.” The ordinance for non-union employees would have mandated a zero percent salary increase for 2012 and for 2013, while the ordinance for “certain nonunion employees” -- elsewhere referred to as the management salary ordinance - would have allowed for a zero increase, but would have permitted an incentive increase of up to 1.9 percent for exemplary performance. Pucciarelli said he had some problems with the concept that the 1.9 percent exemplary increases could become accepted across the board. He said he wanted to make sure the raises went only to the best workers, not those merely deemed adequate. “For me, it’s very important that the council and future councils to keep an eye on salaries,” Puciarelli said. Walsh said she hoped the absence of raises in the next year would not discourage the best quality employees from seeking jobs in Ridgewood. She supported the incentive increases, saying, “It really does reward the worker who goes above and beyond.” “I like the idea of the incentive plan,” said Riche. “My objection to the bulk of the ordinance is that the village manager has been excluded and targeted not to par- Two separate shoplifting suspects were apprehended by the Ridgewood police with the help of store employees on Jan. 11. At 2 p.m. on that date, Patrolmen Patrick Elwood and Paul Dinice responded to a call from Whole Foods, where store security had spotted a 50-year-old Wyckoff woman who was removing tags from an item and concealing that item. She was arrested and charged with shoplifting. At 5:22 that day, Patrolman John Chuck and Captain Jacqueline Luthcke responded Police file shoplifting charges to a different call from Whole Foods’ store security and observed a 57-year-old Paramus man leaving the store with a cart full of items he never paid for. He was arrested and charged with shoplifting. Both individuals face hearings in municipal court. On Jan. 9, a Glen Rock resident reported that she had left her cell phone on the counter in a business and when she returned, the phone was not there. The matter is under investigation by the Ridgewood Detective Bureau. ticipate. I feel this fails the fairness test.” Riche was deputy mayor under former Mayor Keith Killion, who missed reelection by eight votes last year after he stood on his record of approving a 12 percent raise for Village Manager Ken Gabbert. Killion asserted that Gabbert’s negotiating skills had saved Ridgewood hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses, but others questioned Gabbert’s raise at a time when 34 village employees were being laid off. Resident Roger Wiegand asked about the salaries for the police chief and captain, who are not members of the police union. He also asked why qualified police or fire officers would want to step outside union protection for what was effectively a $500 raise. Aronsohn and Puciarelli cited public service and prestige as reasons for the acceptance of non-union status in return for comparatively small pay incentives. The ordinance would establish a salary of $190,000 for the police chief, $180,000 for the police captain, and $185,000 for the fire chief. “I might add that the whole overtime (continued on page 14)