Ridgewood June 19, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 7 Jacques Harlow honored by village council by John Koster The Ridgewood Village Council honored Jacques Harlow last week. The former councilman will be departing from Ridgewood to make a new home in Vermont. Harlow had last appeared before the council the previous week. At that appearance, he described the miscarriage his wife suffered at a local bank and the loss of his unborn son many years ago. Harlow said the trip to Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Paterson, where his family physician had referred him because Valley Hospital was then rather small, had probably killed his unborn son and left his wife unable to conceive more children. Harlow’s speech left many damp eyes among those in the packed audience. He urged that Valley Hospital be strongly supported as a state-of-the art hospital. The second part of Harlow’s recent speech was a defense of his friend and former colleague, Councilman Thomas Riche, who had already been defended by many people in the audience and denounced by two others because he sold and installed a telephone system when he was a member of the council, in violation of the policy against council members or employees contracting with the village. The seated council, including Mayor Paul Aronsohn, had voted to approve the contract with Extel of North Haledon, Riche’s meeting on May 22. The majority of people in the audience applauded Harlow’s defense of Riche. Many of them agreed that in principle, council members and employees should not contract with the village, but members of the audience disagreed with not allowing Riche the option of a closed session. Riche agreed never to do business with Ridgewood again and some people also said the council owed him an apology for the way the questioning was handled. Harlow served two full four-year terms on the Ridgewood Village Council with a space in between. The last term on the council ended in 2008, when he was not reelected. He has also served on the zoning board, the library board, and Partners in Pride. (continued on page 9) Jacques Harlow electronics company, with the approval of Village Attorney Matt Rogers, but the three members of the council who often vote in a bloc, including Aronsohn, had questioned Riche about an additional $8,000 bill at a