May 1, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 3 Ridgewood Village council adopts disclosure protocol by John Koster The Ridgewood Village Council deleted one proposed item before adopting a protocol covering meetings that include one or two council members and members of the general public -- a subject of concern among council members and the public alike. The deleted item stated: “No release to the public or waiver of any communication that is a privileged attorneyclient communication is permitted without the affirmative unanimous vote of the village council at a duly convened closed session of the village council. The attorney-client privilege should be respected and should be waived only in extraordinary circumstances.” This item, originally part of the protocol, was dropped by unanimous consent after Councilman Thomas Riche and Village Attorney Matt Rogers raised concerns about it. The remainder of the protocol was adopted unanimously via resolution at a special public meeting convened during the council’s April 24 work session. Riche, the council’s ranking veteran and a former deputy mayor, said there was no precedent for demanding a unanimous vote on any council decision. “There’s a majority vote and there’s a super-majority vote,” Riche said during the hearing. “Certainly I would be okay with a super-majority vote, but not with a unanimous (continued on page 17) The Ridgewood Board of Education has hired a new school business administrator to replace Angelo De Simone, who will be leaving at the end of the present school year. Michael Falkowski will step in for De Simone on July 1 at a salary of $165,000. Falkowski holds a New Jersey Department of Education Standard Certificate as a school business administrator. He received his BS degree in mechanical engineering from Trustees hire new school business administrator Rutgers College of Engineering, and a master’s degree in business administration from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. He has been the school business administrator and board secretary for the West Essex Regional School District since 2010, and has been the district treasurer of school monies for both the West Caldwell public schools and the Roseland school district since 2012. Falkowski also has 14 years of experience in the private sector. In other personnel matters, the board approved the hiring of Lauren Rudman as a temporary leave of absence fourth grade teacher at the Willard School at a salary of $51,538 pro-rated at step 1, class one. She had previous served as one-on-one special education class aide at the Willard School at $16.16 per hour. J. KOSTER