Category Archives: Updates

Dear Ridgewood Community,

Last week, the Village Clerk rejected the One Village One Vote supplemental petition. She did so despite the fact that we corrected the purported deficiencies identified in our first submission and went on to submit 582 signatures (172 more signatures than required) in ten days in pandemic conditions exacerbated by a tropical storm and ensuing power outages. The clerk failed to provide a reason for her rejection, despite being legally obligated to do so. She stated that her reason would be given at the September 2nd Village Council meeting, three days after any changes to the November 2020 ballot must be submitted to the county.

After the clerk’s rejection, our committee explored our options, none of which were attractive. Essentially, given the August 31st deadline for ballot changes, we were presented with two choices. We could walk away or engage legal counsel. After much debate and discussion, we have filed for emergency relief and are requesting that the court place our question on the November 2020 ballot.

We do not take this step lightly. We began this journey as citizens believing that a citizen’s petition should be accessible and executable without legal counsel. Sadly, this has proven impossible and if we wish to achieve our initial mission (giving the Ridgewood electorate the opportunity to vote in November 2020 on the issue of election consolidation), seeking professional legal assistance is now necessary.

We are forever grateful to the Ridgewood Community for their thoughtful discussion on this topic.

Thank you Ridgewood and stay tuned!

Bob Fuhrman
Matthew Lindenberg
Stacey Loscalzo
Deborah Steinbaum
Siobhan Crann Winograd

Yesterday, August 18th, the Ridgewood Village Clerk notified us via email that our petition again was rejected. This occurred despite our rapid resubmission of a revised petition that addressed the Clerk’s stated reasons for her initial rejection. The clerk did not share reasons for the new rejection; rather, she stated that more information will be provided at the next Village Council meeting, September 2nd (still 2 weeks away). One of us visited her office in person today to obtain more information but was referred back to the email noted above.

Given that we resubmitted a petition that fully addressed the Clerk’s initial concerns, we are stumped. As Village residents who hope to improve the rate of civic participation here in Ridgewood, we deserve a courteous, complete, and timely explanation as to why our petition, signed by a substantial portion of the electorate, was rejected.

We have been advised that the Clerk’s office is not complying with the relevant state statute, that states “…if the petition be still insufficient, (s)he shall file his (her) certificate to that effect in his (her) office and notify the Committee of the Petitioners of his (her) findings….”

We will be meeting as a group to determine next steps. We are especially concerned that we have minimal time before ballots are finalized for the upcoming election, and hope to update you in the near future.

Finally, we would like to say a warm thank you to the Ridgewood community for all your support and help.

Bob Fuhrman
Matthew Lindenberg
Stacey Loscalzo
Deborah Steinbaum
Siobhan Crann Winograd

Dear Ridgewood Community,

Today, August 13, we submitted a “supplemental petition” to the Village Clerk to cure the defects she identified with our original submission. The law allowed us just ten days to fix the issues identified by the Clerk, collect new signatures, and resubmit. Thanks to tremendous support from the community we were able to meet this tight deadline. And we did so with 582 signatures from Ridgewood voters, once again well more than the 410 threshold needed to put the question to consolidate Ridgewood’s elections on the ballot in November as a binding initiative.

As a quick recap, our original petition submission was deemed by the Village Clerk to be “insufficient” for two reasons. First, the full text of our proposed ordinance to move the timing of the elections needed to be on the actual petition form each voter signed, rather than the more simplified summary we had included. Second, while use of an online form is acceptable under Governor Murphy’s Executive Order 132, the Clerk objected to how the form was shared on our web page and potentially by others in the community.

Given the grassroots nature of our effort, these obstacles do sometimes arise; however, we received some great advice and fixed the identified defects. We included the full text of the proposed ordinance on the amended petition form, and we ensured that only the five official petitioners personally circulated and collected the petition form. With these updates, the Village Clerk has five days to review, and then we expect her to certify that the petition is sufficient.

Most importantly, neighbors in the Village are really talking about the issue, sharing their perspectives, and listening to each other. We all care about our Village passionately. This initiative will make Ridgewood a better place to live by improving our democracy – increasing voter turnout, saving tens of thousands of dollars per year, and helping with school security. And while not everyone agrees with us, this much now seems clear: IT IS TIME TO LET THE VOTERS DECIDE. This is an important issue which merits conversation and a binding vote. We call upon the Village Clerk and Village Council to ensure this happens this November.

Thanks again for all of the support, and we’ll keep the community updated as we hear news.

With thanks,

Bob Fuhrman
Matthew Lindenberg
Stacey Loscalzo
Deborah Steinbaum
Siobhan Crann Winograd