Ridgewood Election Consolidation Effort Meets Deadline

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — Don't call it a comeback, but One Village, One Vote looks to be back on track.

The local group is seeking to consolidate Ridgewood's Board of Education elections, held annually in April, and Village Council elections, held biannually in May, to the date of the General Election in November.

After submitting 570 signatures to get the question on the ballot in July, the Village Clerk rejected the submission, citing insufficiencies. Last week, however, the group again submitted more than enough signatures, and looks to have the effort heading in the right direction.

"The law allowed us just ten days to fix the issues identified by the Clerk, collect new signatures, and resubmit," they wrote in an announcement.

"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."

To recap, the Village Clerk rejected the original petitions, citing two deficiencies:

• The full text of the proposed ordinance to change the elections timing must be on the signed petition forms.
• Every petition must be circulated directly by one of the Committee of Petitioners, and not gathered by someone else or downloaded directly from our website.

These deficiencies weren't entirely unexpected, the group said.

"Given the grassroots nature of our effort, these obstacles do sometimes arise; however, we received some great advice and fixed the identified defects," they said.

With these new signatures submitted, the group expects to hear back from the Clerk's office this week with good news.

For One Village One Vote, pushing for consolidated elections could solve two issues they believe are problematic: voter turnout and funding.

As a point of reference, the group cites the April 2019 election, in which voters cast ballots on the Ridgewood Public School budget.

Of the 18,262 registered voters, only 2,437 turned out for that election, or 14 percent of the electorate. The election, the group says, cost taxpayers $50,000.
"At best, this election was inefficient and at worst a thoughtless waste of Village resources and taxpayer money," they said.

The Village Council voted to move school board elections back to April in 2019, which allows voters to vote on the school district's budget.

According to a 2018 Patch report, 67 percent of villagers' tax bills go to the school district.

November elections in New Jersey don't require voter approval for school budgets, unless the proposed budget increases by more than 2 percent. In April, however, votes are cast on the budget regardless of increase.
Mayor Ramon Hache, at that 2018 meeting, said the decision was about right and wrong.

"It's not about making people happy. It's about what is right; 67 percent of tax dollars is not a small decision," Hache said. "The right and privilege to vote and the choice to vote, they are not the same. What empowers voters more is whether they choose to exercise it or not."

According to One Village, they don't have a consensus amongst community members, but their initiative has gotten people talking.

"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," they said.

Now, there's only one thing left to do.

"It is time to let the voters decide."