So this is why we gave this guy a $20,000 raise. So he could be somewhere else and then refuse to tell Village residence where he was.

I think we would all have been upset if our mayor Killion hadn't been visible during the emergency. So why wouldn't Upper Saddle River residents feel the same way if their mayor wasn't visible. After all, Mr. Gabbert's political priorities are with USR, not Ridgewood.

So our Village Manager does not know where he was five days ago and cannot remember if he attended EOM meetings? Fair enough that he wasn't physically present but still did his job but how difficult is it to give a reasonable and respectful response to Mr. Arohnson? And how does one teleconference when most phone lines and cell towers were down?

Perhaps, the Village Manager was attending to his responsibilties at Upper Saddle River. Is he still the Mayor there?

Shame on Ken Gabbert.

I'm with Aronsohn on this one. The least Gabbert could have done is just show up. Unless he was out of town this is pretty much inexcusable.

Wearing of too many hats and master of none, don't you think?

The video of the exchange between Arohnsohn and Gabber on anothe blog site is pretty interesting and eye-opening. Our Village Manager does seem to have a wee bit of an attitude. I think Aronsohn asked some questions that need answers and I am glad he did.

Leadership requires planning, dialogue and faith in your staff. If a CEO has to micromanage then either he's got the wrong people delegated with responsibility or he's not the right person for the job.

Most town managers are hired to manage, not to hold the hands of the staff. The politicians who hired Mr. Gabbert obviously understood that concept. They're the the ones you want to see around town. They're the eyes and ears of the public and are responsible to assert they have the right man on the job. Where was Councilman Aronsohn during the storm? Ridgewood survived because Mr. Gabbert had the right people, the right team, doing their jobs.

Department heads were the ones that had the right people on the job before Gabbert arrived and will continue after he leaves. The sooner the better.

Local Ridgewood Views Blog posted an excellent Video that should remind readers as to what actually happened. The Mayor of Upper Saddle River had a problem answering. .

Should the well-paid manager of a well-heeled community i.e. Ridgewood be also serving as Mayor of another community at the same time? Life is about choice. Perhaps Mr. Gabbert should choose his paid 'day job' over his volunteer job. His excuses and amnesia seem very lame at best.

Bernadette, the information you sought for (?) years is on the first page of the Blog. In addition, there is a contact e-mail address. Susan Roxbury and Andrew are the editors. They have always been polite and helpful. and, provide balance to Ridgewood activity news reports.

There is no excuse!
Gabbert must Go!!!!!!!
I publicly call for Mr Gabbert's resignation!!
That is his responsibility as Village Manager and his refusal shows his ignorance and sense of entitlent he feels he is entitled to!
This IS NOT OVER Mr. Gabbert!! You have slapped every resident in the Village in the face and must be replaced without any delay or explanation!

Bernadette, Those are their real names and the e-mail address is accurate at the Ridgewood Views Blog. I suggest you post a suggested topic page and ask them to publish it on their Blog. They are under no obligation to do so, I'm sure you understand? It's almost like mail to Village Council members being blocked by orders of the Village Manager, as mine are. Perhaps, you can clear that problem up first? Thanks. Dom

Nobody has heard the whole story. Before making accusations and threats, why not wait to learn what happened? Short fuses based on no information won't help anything. We've had enough emergencies around here!

Im pleased that Mr Aronson questoned the Village Mgr on his absences. He gets a big enough paycheck that he should have been present in ourthat state of emergency.Accountability is lacking too often. Don't understand why Mr Richie is creating excuses but it seems to be his norm.

Paul A. was polite when he asked the question. He and all of us deserved an answer. If there was a legitimate personal reason for not attending Mr Gabbert could have said so and offered to share it privately with the council. It is all about respect and Mr. Gabbert should apologize and answer the question unless there was a personal issue.

PeteM, you don't interrogate an employee in public. Could you imagine any government department head being attacked in that way and then not coming back with a lawsuit. It's a closed meeting discussion. A Board of Directors wouldn't question a CEO's performance at a stockholder meeting. Mr. Gabbert reacted correctly.

KC, based on your assessment, corporate CEOs are unnecessary because most large entities have enough good department heads to run their establishments too. Except that their efficiencies work best when coordinated by a good manager who can delegate and assert accountability.

Don't you just love small town politics? All that testosterone and ego juices flowing. So many cooks with opinions based on emotions. How much has your "manager" saved taxpayers in his management of all Ridgewood's pieces? Has he generated any efficiencies? The only real question is whether the village successfully dealt with the storm. I don't know because I don't live in Ridgewood but I luv reading these local dialogues. :-)

you don't interrogate an employee in public. PeterM sez. Hello. Guess you don't watch Congressional hearings. It is done all the time. And the question was a simple one. Was Ken at emergency meetings or wasn't he.

I don't remember is not an acceptable answer unless he has a health problem.

Also, Ken promised a written response but has so far not supplied it. That is grounds for dismissal.

This is not about where our Village Manager was. (I think, if he wasn't away, he should have been at those meetings.) This is about his refusal to answer a simple question. He doesn't remember? Come on. That is insulting to the VC and all village residents. Since when is it an interrogation to ask if someone was at a meeting? If he had simply answered, we wouldn't even be having this conversation. What if the Chief of Police or Fire Chief had given the same answer to the VC? Would we be reading here that they had a plan in place, so "I don't remember where I was but I'll write you a letter." is a perfectly acceptable response? (Mark- you'd be a good person to answer that question.)

James- was the village manager available to answer your questions over the weekend? There were an awful lot of people getting their info from you, so I'd say an open line of communication with you (and others) would be an important part of the VM's responsibilities.

We just want the flooding to stop in Ridgewood for all residents who live by the HoHoKus Brook. Whatever that takes in the yearly maintenance budget, do it. It would have been more productive to add the extra money to maintaining the brook than giving out raises at this time. We need yearly maintenance to our HoHoKus Brook and bridges. As a result, the Village will be spending even more money making repairs. Try and distribute money where the money is needing, in maintenance and repair of the HoHoKus Brook and the neighborhering bridges. Let's stop the floods and freeze the raises.

The Village Council as a body supervises the Village Manager. The Village Council should query the manager if that is what is needed which it appears it is. That said, Councilman Aronsohn took it upon himself to initiate an investigation which was politics pure and simple. Let the re-election campaign begin! Ron Verdicchio

Paul A. Spoke his mind, the other ones are afraid to step up. Unfortunately no one backed Paul up. The mayor and the rest of council are out there bad mouthing Gabbert on daily basis. But when it come to confronting them about it, they back down. They have no problem speaking bad about Gabbert behind him. So if anything Paul is not afraid to stand up for his town and speak his mind. I don't know the men, but i do know, he felt what he did is right. The others one don't have a set balls to do it. So cheers for Paul , for looking out for your community.

If the others bad mouth Gabbert, why did they vote to give him a $20k raise?