How many thieves like Ridgewood's Rica work for us?

An old home at 509 Engle St. in Englewood, purchased by Kesher Community Synagogue of Tenafly & Englewood in 2003, is now at the center of a construction project to add a 19,000-square foot building with a sanctuary, offices and classrooms, part of which is in Tenafly, above and below.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

 As a resident of a small city once known derisively as "Zisaville," I howled with laughter on Tuesday afternoon when I saw a story on North Jersey.com about Ridgewood's infamous parking-revenue thief.

Now, The Record reports, an audit has revealed that nearly $850,000 in parking-meter quarters walked out of Ridgewood's coin room, including the $460,000 former village employee Thomas Rica admitted to stealing (A-1).

Rica is an example of how New Jersey's antiquated home-rule system of government is filled with employees who range from the highly skilled and competent to the inept and dishonest.

Residents and taxpayers of Hackensack still are seething the city lost $1 million-plus, because an employee failed to bill the Board of Education for a high school resource officer.

How many employees like Rica are working in North Jersey towns, trying to figure out ways to screw residents?

In recent years a strong NIMBY movement has arisen in wealthy Ridgewood, where some residents have opposed expansion of The Valley Hospital.

And now, some are saying Not In My Backyard to a plan to build more apartments downtown.

Meanwhile, no one was watching as nearly $850,000 in parking revenue walked out the door. 

The main headline at the top of Page 1 is really lame, because Rica's case has been out of the news since March:

Tally of missing quarters piles up

  

And it's not the "tally" that piles up, but the "missing quarters."

More "me" from Kelly

Columnist Mike Kelly can't even wait until the continuation page to tell readers he interviewed onetime Bergen County Democratic Party chief Joseph Ferriero in a Route 4 diner nearly seven years ago (A-1).

Ferriero, who is facing a federal racketeering trial, "stirred his coffee and smiled," Kelly says in his first paragraph.

The failed columnist could have used the first paragraph to describe Ferriero's "dictatorial political machine," "patronage jobs" and "pay-to-play contracts with campaign donors" (5th paragraph).

Or, that in 2008, when the interview was conducted, Ferriero tried to justify his actions as the head of the 1,100-member organization.

Brian Williams

Also on Page 1 today is the six-month suspension without pay imposed on Brian Williams, who is being punished for "an exaggerated tale of combat" (a lie) on the "NBC Nightly News."

The Record, meanwhile, still has not corrected Staff Writer John Cichowski's bald-faced fabrication in a Jan. 25 Road Warrior column on the safety of Route 4 bridges.

Cichowski's column today is about the dangers of cellphone texting and talking while driving (L-1).

But readers would do well to look at the story on early-onset Alzheimer's disease for a possible explanation of why Cichowski has committed literally hundreds of errors in the so-called commuting column (BL-1).

Unfortunately, readers won't find any explanation for why everyone from Vice President/General Counsel Jennifer A. Borg to Editor Marty Gottlieb to Production Editor Liz Houlton continue to defend Cichowski's wildly exaggerated columns, his dangerous advice to drivers and his flawed reporting on state statutes. 

Many of the errors and distortions have been brought to their attention by a retired engineer who set up the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers, and sends them detailed e-mails.

Road Warrior Bloopers at The Record