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Ridgewood honors longtime dispatcher Jack Tengos and proclaims January 2025 Radon Action Month
Summary
Council presented a proclamation thanking Jack Tengos for 30 years at Northwest Bergen Central Dispatch and read a radon-action proclamation urging residents to test homes in January 2025; Tengos spoke about the responsibilities of dispatch work.
At its Dec. 11 meeting the Ridgewood Village Council presented a proclamation recognizing Jack Tengos for 30 years of service to emergency communications and also proclaimed January 2025 as Radon Action Month.
Mayor and council read a signed proclamation that documented Tengos' long tenure with Northwest Bergen Central Dispatch (NWBCD), including early emergency medical service work, assisting at the World Trade Center site in 1993, his role during the 9/11 response at the George Washington Bridge, and leadership roles culminating with deputy director responsibilities. The proclamation credited Tengos with helping the NWBCD achieve national accreditation and acknowledged his work founding youth emergency-service training programs.
Tengos accepted the honor and described dispatch work as "an incredible responsibility" and "a tremendous honor," saying phone operators do not always get closure but provide critical crisis support. The council posed for a photograph after the presentation.
Later in the meeting a councilmember read a proclamation designating January 2025 as Radon Action Month, citing the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency campaigns and urging residents to test homes for radon and remediate elevated levels. The proclamation said radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer and asserted testing and mitigation can be done at relatively low cost to homeowners.
Why it matters
Recognitions like the Tengos proclamation publicly honor long-serving emergency staff and underscore the role of communications in local public safety. The radon proclamation is an educational policy action to prompt residents to test homes; it references state and federal public-health campaigns.
What the council did next
No formal action was required beyond the proclamations; the council moved on to public comment and later business.
Source
Proclamation text and Tengos' remarks were read aloud and recorded in the Dec. 11 council meeting transcript and are the basis for this summary.
