James - THE RIDGEWOOD BLOG. - Page 2669 of 3751

Posted on March 17, 2016March 17, 2016 by James — 11 Comments

Reader says Ridgewood garage process has been pushed through in such a deceitful manner from the start

photo by Saurabh Dani

This garage process has been pushed through in such a deceitful manner from the start.

Lie #1 – Tell Father Ron in July the town plans to build a deck on the lot.
Lie #2 – tell voters the garage will be self-funding
Lie #3 – tell voters that nothing has been decided with respect to the design or size. You are just voting whether you want a deck at the Hudson street lot.
Lie #4 – hide the fact that the intended garage is 23 feet beyond property line, 12 feet into Hudson street
Lie #5 – bury Maser report that shows actual encroachment, claim it was in draft form and it didn’t need to be shared with all council members, only share with those that can keep the secret
Lie #6 – vote for option A, then tell the public that the “discussion” that was promised with respect to size and design just happened. Residents… You didn’t think we really meant that did you?
Lie #7 – when residents realize in late December the true extent of the garage the council majority VOTED on, they come to plead and beg to change this monstrosity. They are told “it’s too bad if you didn’t realize before the vote what you were voting on”.
Lie #8 – told residents that they were going back to the drawing board to pull garage back onto the lot. New design still does not fit on the lot.
Lie #9 – Council run a design meeting with the HPC before the vote but doesn’t clarify to the members that the garage is sitting 12 feet in the street. They write a letter to support garage not realizing they were lied to regarding intended garage being built 12 feet in street.
Lie #10 – architect renderings for option D, not accurately depicting true mass or height of garage or width of street.
Lie #11 – 1 lane of traffic with option D, not 2 as stated in resolution.
Lie #12 – mayor publicly calls residents liars during collection of signatures for a petition. Says they are lying about how much garage will cost if they choose to continue with financing through BCIA. Truth…it could costs thousands over 25 years.

I’m sure I missed a few. We deserve better government. You can turn a blind eye to the way this process has occurred, because you want a garage so badly, but you shouldn’t.

Posted on March 17, 2016March 17, 2016 by James — 11 Comments

High Density Housing in Ridgewood and it Impact of Special Needs Students

March 17,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewodoo Nj, Aaccoring to readers ,Ridgewood is absolutely a magnet for parents with special needs children. We have great services.

I know a family that planned to move to a mega house in Saddle River. Their elementary school daughter was diagnosed, they looked around, and decided to stay.

Please read the key studies here on costs of students, special needs children have a different set of costs to support an excellent education. It is a fact and it is great we excel at it in our schools. As these reports show, one special needs student can tip the funding scales for an entire school. You have to plan for that as a village in all your housing studies. You can’t fail that child and family by not planning for it, and to plan for it you have to talk about it.

https://www.ridgewoodnj.net/project-full/441-proposed-master-plan-amendment-to-permit-high-density-multifamily-housing-around-the-cbd

What makes Ridgewood different with respect to educating special need children is that we cover so much more, financially, than other districts. Fairlawn school district, as well as others, do not cover all the costs of ot, physical therapy, speech, etc. in a lot of cases, those costs are passed onto the families. To ignore the financial impact to the taxpayer when contemplating growing our population could potentially diminish these wonderful benefits to special need children currently living here. Cuts will be made in our schools when the school population grows. With a 2% cap, cuts will be necessary. It is a fact that families rent their homes in their towns, and find a rental here to take advantage of our school benefits. Our family is grateful for the wonderful services our children receive, including our special need child.

Posted on March 17, 2016March 17, 2016 by James — 12 Comments

Is Full day Kindergarten Right for Ridgewood ?

March 17,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Fishbein presented a recommendation to the Board on bringing full-day Kindergarten to Ridgewood. His proposal is to fund a full-day program through a tax increase approved by voters this November in a second question.

While is seems an obvious great deal for parents , shifting costs away from baby sitters , the NJEA more teachers , the Ridgewood blog has yet to hear a definitive answer on how this is going to help the kids?

A study from Chloe R. Gibbs at the University of Virginia holds some preliminary good news for proponents of full-day kindergarten.

“Though many of the most important implications of the study won’t be clear until the students studied are much older, the first-of-its-kind randomized trial of full-day kindergarten shows sizable learning advantages for full-day students at the end of the kindergarten year.” https://www.edcentral.org/fullday-k-research/

While in the past the longer day seems to have far greater impact in districts in lower social economic standing than Ridgewood .

Same study ,”As a result, any difference in the groups’ outcomes may be due to full-day kindergarten or may be caused by other differences in their lives outside the classroom — such as disparities in access to learning opportunities and academic support at home — typically associated with living in poverty.” https://www.edcentral.org/fullday-k-research/

Residents have till now expressed concerns over costs , and what some parents have characterized as the “loss of childhood” . While others have felt it necessary given this era of overuse of standardized tests , but many are just not sold on the notion that longer hours equal better education .

Posted on March 17, 2016March 16, 2016 by James — 20 Comments

‘Black Spring’ for Ridgewood. Pitchforks, anyone?

March 16,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Thanks to Valley Hospital’s major donor and Ridgewood lawsuit and mediation member Councilwoman Hauck, the tsunami of inappropriate developments in Ridgewood has just intensified tenfold. This could become ‘Black Spring’ for Ridgewood. Pitchforks, anyone?

Valley Mediation – “reduced” from 995,000 square feet of building to 961,000 square feet, reducing by 34000 sq feet. They also forgot to mention there will be a 5 story 200,000 + sq feet parking garage on the corner of Van Dien and Linwood!.
Guess who represented us (Ridgewood) in this mediation? Final public hearings before this plan goes in effect on 3/30, 3/31, 4/4, 4/5 and 4/7.

Yet again another major decision to break made before the elections!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzFkcEPIAIk

Posted on March 17, 2016March 16, 2016 by James — 2 Comments

We choose the nominee, not the voters: Senior GOP official

Matthew J. Belvedere | @Matt_Belvedere

Political parties, not voters, choose their presidential nominees, a Republican convention rules member told CNBC, a day after GOP front-runner Donald Trump rolled up more big primary victories.

“The media has created the perception that the voters choose the nomination. That’s the conflict here,” Curly Haugland, an unbound GOP delegate from North Dakota, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday. He even questioned why primaries and caucuses are held.

Haugland is one of 112 Republican delegates who are not required to cast their support for any one candidate because their states and territories don’t hold primaries or caucuses.

Even with Trump’s huge projected delegate haul in four state primaries Tuesday, the odds are increasing the billionaire businessman may not ultimately get the 1,237 delegates needed to claim the GOP nomination before the convention.

https://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/16/we-choose-the-nominee-not-the-voters-senior-gop-official.html

Posted on March 16, 2016March 16, 2016 by James — 1 Comment

The Ridgewood High School Advanced Latin Academic Team won the Northern Regional championship

March 16.2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, The RHS Advanced Latin Academic Team won the Northern Regional championship competition at Princeton on March 15 and will advance to State finals against the Central and Southern regions in April. RHS racked up 935 out of a possible 1200 points, the highest score seen by the club advisor Catherine Venturini in her 16 years of coaching in New Jersey. The superb players and their areas of expertise were: Peter Psathas, Team Captain: Latin grammar, syntax and vocabulary; James Psathas, Greco-Roman history; Charlotte Kahan, Greco-Roman civilization; Anthony Tokarz, Greco-Roman literature; and Sophie Simpson, Greco-Roman mythology. Team support was provided by Poyani Bavishi and Desiree Bottigliero.

Posted on March 16, 2016March 16, 2016 by James — 2 Comments

Top conservatives gather to plot third-party run against Trump

The meeting is scheduled for two days after tonight’s primaries in what many Republican operatives believe will determine whether Trump is on an unstoppable march to the nomination.

By SHANE GOLDMACHER

03/15/16 02:33 PM EDT

Three influential leaders of the conservative movement have summoned other top conservatives for a closed-door meeting Thursday in Washington, D.C., to talk about how to stop Donald Trump and, should he become the Republican nominee, how to run a third-party “true conservative” challenger in the fall.

The organizers of the meeting include Bill Wichterman, who was President George W. Bush’s liaison to the conservative movement; Bob Fischer, a South Dakota businessman and longtime conservative convener; and Erick Erickson, the outspoken Trump opponent and conservative activist who founded RedState.com.

“Please join other conservative leaders to strategize how to defeat Donald Trump for the Republican nomination,” the three wrote in an invitation obtained by POLITICO that recently went out to conservative leaders, “and if he is the Republican nominee for president, to offer a true conservative candidate in the general election.”

The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, two days after winner-take-all Florida and Ohio vote in what many Republican operatives believe will determine whether Trump is on an unstoppable march to the nomination or is likely to stall out short of the 1,237 delegates he needs.

Posted on March 16, 2016March 16, 2016 by James — Leave a comment

American Millennials Are Some Of The World’s Least Skilled People, Study Finds

03/12/2015 02:08 am ET | Updated May 08, 2015

We American Millennials are really, really good at using today’s technology.

That’s probably because we’ve forced companies to make technology that’s extremely easy to use, and that’s better at doing our day-to-day tasks than we are. But with easy power comes no responsibility, it seems. According to a new study, we’re some of the least skilled people in the world.

Fortune reports that Generation Y Americans (those born after 1980) lag behind their overseas peers in literacy, numeracy and problem-solving in technology-rich environments. Researchers at the Princeton-based Educational Testing Service (ETS), who conducted the study, administered a test called the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, to measure the job skills of adults in 23 countries.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/12/american-millennials-least-skilled-study_n_6852650.html

Posted on March 16, 2016March 16, 2016 by James — 1 Comment

Ridgewood Middle Schoolers Are Finalists For Statewide Immunization Contest

march 16,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood Nj, Two George Washington Middle School students, Marin Kim and Susannah Taylor, were selected as finalists for the Protect Me With 3+ contest.

The Protect Me With 3+ poster and video contest is aimed at broadening awareness for the importance of adolescent immunization among pre-teens, teenagers, and their parents. It is a collaboration between The Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey and the New Jersey Department of Health.

In its fourth year, the Protect Me With 3+ contest aims to raise awareness about the importance of adolescent immunizations among pre-teens, teenagers and their parents. The contest focuses on increasing vaccination rates for four adolescent vaccines: tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis (Tdap), human papillomavirus (HPV), meningococcal conjugate and influenza (flu).

Entries this year represented middle schools and high schools from all over New Jersey. “We are delighted with the volume and diversity of entries this year,” stated Ilise Zimmerman, Executive Director of the Partnership. “We’ve received over 200 entries, a new record for Protect Me With 3+.”

Many teachers used the contest as an opportunity to teach their students about the importance of adolescent vaccines. “It is excellent to see teachers getting their students involved and to see New Jersey’s youth excited about raising awareness of vaccination,” said Dr. Tina Tan, State Epidemiologist and Assistant Commissioner for the New Jersey Department of Health.

The contest offers prizes to the top three entries in the poster and video categories and the chance for winning entries to be used in statewide immunization awareness activities.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony Sunday and placed online Monday.

Learn more: https://protectmewith3.com/

Posted on March 16, 2016March 16, 2016 by James — Leave a comment

Judge denies bid by ex-Bergen County Democrat leader Ferriero to remain free while on appeal

joseph-ferriero-file-photojpg-928e8ceb2b5dc8b1_large

A judge on Tuesday shot down former Bergen County Democratic Party leader Joseph A. Ferriero’s bid to remain free while he appeals his federal corruption conviction, setting the stage for his surrender on Thursday to begin serving a nearly three-year prison sentence. Peter J. Sampson, The Record Read more

Posted on March 16, 2016March 16, 2016 by James — 7 Comments

Ridgewood Village Council Candidate Jeff Voigt’s perspective on the high density Housing Issue

March 16,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, here is a video of Village Council Candidate Jeff Voigt, regarding his views on the high density issue. Jeff’s perspective is thoughtful and I believe reflective of how many of us see it.The video was filmed by resident Dana Glazer .

It’s so important that people understand what is at stake here and how important it is for all of us to be present at Ridgewood High School on the night of March 23rd for the vote on this issue.

Posted on March 16, 2016March 16, 2016 by James — 8 Comments

Reader says 2% State Spending Cap on Schools Prohibits Ridgewood Schools from Handling a Large Influx of Childern

It doesn’t matter where new residents come from. It doesn’t matter if they are here for years or here for just one year. What is important is our town’s ability to provide a great education for each and every student, no matter how new or how old that student is to our district. With a state imposed cap on our school budget that is only allowed to increase by 2% per year, our district may not be able to handle a large influx of children without stressing already large class sizes. More kids does not lead to the hiring of more teachers and additional classrooms, the 2% cap won’t allow for this. If these new zoning approvals to build at 35 units an acre are the beginning of a new development trend in Ridgewood, then the residents deserve to know how this new trend will impact our schools and how will we pay for it? The good news, your taxes won’t go up because the state-imposed 2% cap will not allow for a tax increase. The bad news, you will pay for it with larger class sizes. 200 plus units today will look like a drop in the bucket 5 or 10 years from now when all of this expands throughout our CBD.

Posted on March 16, 2016April 9, 2020 by James — 18 Comments

Council Candidate Ramon M. Hache shares his thoughts on the Proposed High Density housing

March 16,2016

the staff of theRidgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, We asked Council Candidate Ramon M. Hache on his thoughts on the high density housing and here is what he said ,”I am a proponent of responsible development and protecting our community from the wrong development. We need to carefully decide on projects that will make our town better without sacrificing the corevalues and character that make Ridgewood the special place we are proud to call our home.”

Ramon then gave us more specifics ,”In terms of high density housing, all the zones around our CBD are currently being considered for a density of 35 units per acre. There are currently four areas under consideration and three zoning changes proposed. Although each area is unique and needs to be analyzed individually, I am comfortable with an average density of 20-24 UPA. This is more in line with the total average throughout the CBD. ”

As for the studies ,” Traffic and pedestrian safety are very important when analyzing the various projects. The impact to schools is a different issue and needs to be looked at collectively for all sites. Although the recent studies suggest there would be a minimal impact to the schools, we all know that Ridgewood is known for its schools and exceptional program for special needs children. Therefore, I would be cautious to solely rely on the student enrollment projections which did not take into account the fact that it could cost around $100,000 a year to educate special needs children.”

Ramon went on saying ,”Ideally, I would rather see us approve one of the proposed zoning changes first. It could provide a good ratable and we could get real-world data on the actual amount of new students attending the schools. We need ratables to finance many of the needed improvements and for stabilizing property taxes.”

We also asked about his thoughts on the fact that the issue is being decided by council members who are leaving office ? Ramon
emphasized , “the current council needs to work together for the welfare of the entire community and make decisions as if they were not going to be replaced by a new council.”

Posted on March 16, 2016March 16, 2016 by James — 8 Comments

Ridgewood News, Patch, and Daily Voice missing when Ridgewood Residents need them most

file photo by Boyd Loving

March 16,2016

by Saurabh Dani

Ridgewood NJ, The Village Council has planned a public hearing and possibly a vote on March 23rd on High Density Housing Issue. It’s widely expected the three outgoing council members are going to vote to increase the residential density in some downtown lots from the current 12 units per acre to 36 units per acre, while the residents have asked them to consider 20-24 units per acre.

This is a big change for Ridgewood, which will probably alter our village forever. The local newspapers have so far reported from the press releases issued by the village administration or from the commentary of what happened at the meetings. Proactive journalism on this issue has been missing so far.

Residents have asked the reporters:

1. When are they going to cover the conflict of interest on the garage vote by Tony and Jim at HPC?

2. When will they be talking to taxpayers ahead of the 3/23 vote to measure opinions?

3. When will they be asking the candidates for VC office to state their positions on the 3/23 vote?

4. When will they talk to the superintendent about class sizes at the middle schools and high school which were not covered by the studies?
5. When will they ask Orchard and Ridge School principals if they can accept the increased class sized?

6. When will they ask the consultants (Ross Haber Associates) on how did he reach to a conclusion of 63 new kids from 4 new developments, while similar sized apartments in the village and the number of school aged children from those apartments suggest that it can be close to 225 new children in the Ridgewood schools?

7. When will they ask and report on the question of ‘what happens to all the 1 acre or more lots that are available in Ridgewood downtown and are waiting for these first four to be approved”?

8. What are the financial impacts to the taxpayer (police coverage, etc.?)?

If you would like our local reporting to question our village government on these very important questions, before next Wednesday’s March 23rd VOTE, see below for contact information.

Dailyvoice.com

[email protected]

[email protected]

Northjersey.com

[email protected]

[email protected]

Patch.com

[email protected]

Posted on March 16, 2016March 16, 2016 by James — 7 Comments

Hit and Run Shuts Down 17 north in Paramus

photos courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook

Hit and Run Shuts Down 17 north in Paramus

March 16,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Paramus NJ, A pedestrian was struck and seriously injured by a hit and run vehicle on Route 17 northbound in Paramus near the Toys ‘R Us store just after 8 PM on Tuesday, 03/15. The victim was transported by ambulance to a hospital. Route 17 northbound between A&S Drive and Ridgewood Avenue was closed to facilitate a police investigation of the incident. Police are said to be looking for a black colored Toyota SUV with heavy front end damage. Numerous vehicle parts were observed strewn about the accident scene. Paramus EMS and Rescue Squad and a paramedic unit from The Valley Hospital were also at the scene.

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