Residents File Lawsuit Against Ridgewood Regarding Alleged Parking Deck 'Propaganda'

RIDGEWOOD, N.J. — Six residents have filed a lawsuit against the village claiming officials used taxpayer dollars to create a public service announcement they said promotes the approval of a referendum pertaining to the Hudson Street parking deck.

Frances Gail McCarthy, Lorraine Reynolds, Saurabh Dani, Jacqueline Hone, Anne Lagrange Loving, and Ellen McNamara filed the lawsuit in Bergen County Superior Court Wednesday. The complaint was filed against the village, 20 anonymous “John Does,” and 20 “ABC Corporations.”

The suit was filed six days before a referendum question will go to residents. The question asks if officials should approve an ordinance bonding $11.5 million for the project.

The residents claim that the village “its mayor, its manager, and others, have placed political propaganda” on the village homepage “expressly advocating a "‘yes’ vote” on an $11.5 million bond referendum to finance the deck’s construction. The alleged propaganda is an 11-minute video and a “parking referendum guide.”

The plaintiff’s attorney, Flavio L. Komuves, Esq. cited case law from 1953 in the complaint stating that it is illegal “for a New Jersey public entity to spend public money that promotes the adoption or defeat of a referendum question, including advertising or advocacy directed to voters urging a "'yes' or 'no' vote” on a referendum.

Mayor Paul Aronsohn said in the video that it was created to be an “educational tool” for voters.

“We’re hoping that this video, along with all the other information we’ve provided you, will help educate and deal with some of the misinformation or misunderstandings that have gone on in terms of the size, in terms of the need, in terms of the rationale for building a parking deck in Ridgewood,” Aronsohn said in the video.

For months, village officials have worked on finalizing a plan for the much-needed downtown parking deck. 

 The Village Council originally approved bonding for the $11.5 million March 23, but another group of residents obtained enough signatures to pose a second referendum question to residents. Residents overwhelmingly approved a referendum in November to move forward with the project.

According to the lawsuit, several village officials and employees who appear in the video made an “ideological, political, and policy choice to urge voters to vote 'yes' in favor of the bond ordinance” June 21. They are, according to the complaint: Aronsohn, manager Roberta Sonenfeld, engineer Chris Rutishauser, Chief Financial Officer and Parking Utility Director Robert Rooney, Ken Schier, an architect the village hired, and Timothy Tracy, executive vice president of Desman Design Management, which is the village has contracted with to design the garage, all of whom appear in the video.

The parking referendum guide states that if residents “want a parking deck at Hudson Street, please vote ‘YES!’”

McCarthy said that officials are “very clearly urging residents to vote yes. They are using taxpayer dollars and the village website to garner votes, and that’s clearly illegal.”

The Village's Bond Counsel Matthew D. Jessup  said the lawsuit will be "defended vigorously."

"The village’s production of a video outlining the benefits of constructing the parking deck are an appropriate and proper use of public funds," Jessup said.

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