Author: James

MUNICIPAL ELECTION – Candidates Debate : Beware all. Benedict Arnold on Valley

Killion does speak from the heart and is sincere. There are just some things that cannot be disguised. His sincerity comes through.

Jane is sincere so I guess you are not in the mood to attack her tonight.

Russ is loud and a little rough around the edges.

Gwenn was concerned with Valley and Valley and Valley and wait, can you repeat the question. As noted above maybe something synthetic.

Paul, Speaks his mind but didn’t really tell it like it is since what it is is Mayor. Paul can never be mayor with the council the way it is currently structured so there has to be a really big change at Village Hall for Paul to be Mayor. So the truth, or tell it like it is, Paul gets Mayor with support from himself, Gwenn and AL with the two opposing votes from Tom and Bernie. Then Paul reciprocates and Al would be the deputy mayor with support from Paul and Gwenn, Of course this cozy little setup would have to be negotiated and one could only imagine what was leveraged to broker the deal. Could it be 1.2 million square feet with a 200,000 square foot parking garage?

Paul speaking his mind? Hardly. For if he did he would have been crowned not mayor but rather Village Traitor.

Beware all. Benedict Arnold.

Phone-a-thon : Do they really need the coffee bar?

I am not saying the Library should not be modernized, however, last year was a phone-a-thon for one thing and now this. Seems to me our taxes should be paying for this along with other improvements within the district. If I began calculating “donations” into my tax bill it would probably be 20% more than I am currently paying. Perhaps the monies that have been used to repeatedly repair damaged turf would have been better spent elsewhere. After donating during the last phone-a-thon maybe I will sit this one out. Is there a “do not call list”?

Last year they raised $55,000. Even $100,000 would not be enough for this project. What is the plan and the cost? If they do not raise the money in the phone-a-thon what will they do? More fundraising or scale back? The Ridgewood News did not have a lot of detail and the HSA has provided very little.

Do they really need the coffee bar? Can the pampering end here? Money is tight and I do not feel obligated to fund everyone’s pipe dream.

With all of the money raised in tax revenues why is there no money for a project as small as this? This is not huge by any means and we did just pass a budget. Was this in the budget? If so, where is the money and if not, why not? This is poor planning on the part of the BOE and once again, maybe we need a good accountant at Cottage Place.

Ridgewood Historical Society receives awards

MONDAY APRIL 30, 2012, 2:13 PM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

The Ridgewood Historical Society has won first prize in both the poster and DVD categories of the Kevin M. Hale Publications Awards competition of the League of Historical Societies of New Jersey.

The poster and video were created to publicize the society’s current exhibit at the Schoolhouse Museum, 650 E. Glen Ave. “The Civil War Years: At Home and on the Battlefield” commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. The exhibit runs through July 29.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/149531655_Ridgewood_Historical_Society_receives_awards.html

Paul Arohnson : Democratic Machine Politics 

Paul Arohnson has received thousands of campaign dollars from Democratic politicians to establish an outpost in Ridgwood. He is a professional politician and was former Gov. McGreavey’s press secretary. The last time I check his fund raising for this campaign was close to $10,000. Most of this money is coming from direct democratic sources in Trenton and is union backed.

Paul Arohnson is running with Gwenn Haulk and Albert Puccarelli and has openly asked the voters of Ridgewood to sweep them into power.

Keith Killion and Jane Shinazuka have relied on a few hunded dollars to win this campaign.

Neighbors and residents of Ridgewood, you know what to do, who to vote for.

Keep dirty, professional politics out of Ridgewood.

Vote for Killian and Shinazoka (and even Russ Forenza who is not affiliated with Paul Arohnson, thank God!)

Vote!

Four Ridgewood schools are ‘rewarded’ by state

MONDAY APRIL 30, 2012, 2:22 PM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Four Ridgewood schools have been designated as Reward Schools under the state’s new accountability system.

A Reward School is one with outstanding student achievement or growth over the past three years. The district’s four Reward Schools are Ridgewood High School (RHS) and Hawes, Orchard and Willard elementary schools.

The Reward Schools designation is based on a three-year average of growth and proficiency and uses final test scores and graduation rates from the 2011-2012 school year. New Jersey has 112 Reward Schools out of 2,500 public school districts.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/149533205_Four_Ridgewood_schools_are__rewarded__by_state.html

We Are in Age of ‘Late Great Depression’: Shiller
Published: Monday, 30 Apr 2012 | 6:44 AM ET Text Size
By: Catherine Boyle
Staff Writer, CNBC.com

The world is in a state of “late Great Depression,” well-known economist and author Robert Shiller told CNBC Monday

The Yale economics professor, who helped devise the Case-Shiller index for housing market trends, and famously called the dotcom bubble of the early 2000s and the housing market bubble later in the decade, told “Squawk Box Europe” that the world is in a “new age of austerity.”

“Our whole economy has been affected by variations in confidence. Central banks are sort of trusted, but the actions they have often affect people’s confidence by appearance rather than substance. We’re not in the most trusting mood now,” Shiller said.

https://www.cnbc.com/id/47200513

May Day Festivities : Occupy Wall Street Plans Global Disruption of Status Quo May 1
By Henry Goldman and Esmé E. Deprez – Apr 30, 2012 12:00 AM ET

Occupy Wall Street demonstrators, whose anti-greed message spread worldwide during an eight-week encampment in Lower Manhattan last year, plan marches across the globe tomorrow calling attention to what they say are abuses of power and wealth.

Organizers say they hope the coordinated events will mark a spring resurgence of the movement after a quiet winter. Calls for a general strike with no work, no school, no banking and no shopping have sprung up on websites in Toronto, Barcelona, London, Kuala Lumpur and Sydney, among hundreds of cities in North America, Europe and Asia.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-30/occupy-wall-street-plans-global-disruption-of-status-quo-may-1.html

MUNICIPAL ELECTION – Candidates Debate Tonights winners:

Keith Killion (honorable and clear)

Jane Shinazoka (honest and clearly not a public speaker)

Russ Firenza (himself and probibly harmless)

Gwenn Haulk (clearly on something synthetic)

Albert Puccarelli (“No Conflicts Al” Valley Attorney and planning board member)

Paul Ahronson (backstabber and democratic machine funded, professional politician)

URGENT: Aronsohn sells out supporters just to be Mayor!!!

Paul Aronsohn has injected some of the most divisive and nasty politics into our local Village council elections. In his efforts to become mayor, something that will remain elusive if Killion and Shinozuka prevail, he has sold out those that have supported his candidacy. Aronsohn’s self serving plea to Village voters to pull the lever for himself, Hauck and Puciarelli, must met with swift and decisive action. Remove Aronsohn lawn signs and either bullet vote for Shinozuka and Killion or better yet, vote for Killion, Shinozuka and Puciarelli.

The only reason Aronsohn seeks voters to support him with Hauck and Puciarelli is so he can be crowned king! Aronsohn sold everyone out. HE MUST GO!

Candidates Debate

April 30 2012

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

(Ridgewood NJ) Based on the statements from tonight’s Candidate night Russell Forenza, Gwenn Hauck, Albert Pucciarelli have made the issue as being nothing but about Valley expansion plain and clear urging the council to embrace Valley in new dialogue while Paul Aronsohn forever the politician also seemed to be angling to open the door to Valley expansion giving his flip-fop critics ample ammunition but his intentions became ever so clear with his endorsement of Gwen and Al which said nothing but sell out to Valley.

Keith Killion was the only candidate to truly put the Valley issue to rest basically and said enough was enough , Valley doesn’t not deserve a special dispensation ,the issues has been decided with over 6 months of careful hearings and the answer is no.

Fireworks surrounded the question of Dr. Gabbert’s 12% raise ,but the criticism rang hollow coming from candidates running for council all having spend many years in Ridgewood while NONE has ever voiced criticism or concern of all the other outrageous spending and financial irresponsibility that has gone on since the founding of this blog including the recent $3.5 million settlement forced on Ridgewood by the then fire chief to busy blogging to focus on employee safety or the $400,000 golden toilet, the $9 million dollar Village “taj” Hall fiasco ,or the failure to pay rent by Ridgewood Taxi or the innumerable mishaps with village vehicles by the previous Village manager and so many other incidences of waste to many to mention.

While all the candidates all talked tough on budgeting few found any programs or departments they were willing to commit to cuts and Kieth seemed the only one honest eough to grasp the gravity of the situation and the pressure of balancing many interests against each other .

It was nice to note that all seemed to recognize Graydon Parks uniqueness and none seemed interested in an “action park” redo in Ridgewood ,while Al and Paul seemed to be the only ones looking to urbanize some say Ghetto-ize Ridgewood, Jane Shinozuka like most of us worries about over development. Gwenn ,Russ and Paul pushed the “wonders” of shared services , impressed by what Russ has done in Paterson I guess. .

In the end Aronsohn was slick, mixed politics on cue, charming and sleazy as always , Russ was well Russ out there and always talking about Paterson , Gwenn was there for Valley but did hit the ball out of the park on maintaining Graydon Park ,Al was knowledgeable but added little and Jane Shinozuka lawyer’d up .

Davidoff Sale at Tobacco Shop of Ridgewood

Extraordinary Sale!

Approved by Davidoff of Geneva
For a limited time only 40% off
Davidoff Humidors and Davidoff S.T. Dupont Lighters
If you ever wanted to own a Davidoff Humidor
or Davidoff S.T. Dupont lighter, now is the time!

Only while supplies last!

~Gary, Barbara and Collin

The Tobacco Shop of Ridgewood | 10 Chestnut Street | Ridgewood, New Jersey 07450
Phone: 201-447-2204 | Email: info@tobaccoshop.com
Hours: Monday – Saturday 10:00AM – 5:30PM and Thursday Night 6:30PM – 8:30PM

Graydon Pool Resident Memberships Now Discounted through May 19th

The Village Council and the Ridgewood Department of Parks and Recreation are pleased to offer discounted rates to Village residents who purchase their pool memberships early, through May 19th. Badges are now on sale and can be purchased from home on Community Pass at www.ridgewoodnj.net/communitypass (Visa and MasterCard are accepted).

Adult and child badges will be discounted $13 each while seniors will benefit a $5 savings from their already discounted fee.

In person registration assistance will be available Saturdays, May 12 and 19, from 10:00 am to 12 noon, as well as Memorial Day Monday, May 28th, from 10:00 am to 12 noon, at the Graydon Pool Badge Office, 259 North Maple Avenue. Badges will be sold daily throughout the operating season. Proof of residency (Driver’s license, utility bill) must be provided for all new memberships; checks are to be made payable to The Village of Ridgewood.

Village priced memberships are available to Ridgewood residents, non-residents who pay local property taxes to the Village of Ridgewood, and employees of the Village of Ridgewood and the Board of Education.

Non-resident seasonal memberships are available to all. The cost for each adult is $175; each child (2 through 15 years of age) $155.

Graydon Pool will open on Saturday, June 2nd with a festive weekend celebration (free to Village residents) including live entertainment, organized games and more. For season details please visit www.ridgewoodnj.net/graydon.

Pool amenities include “The Wibit”, a modular play system aquatrack providing added physical fitness, a lending library of reading books, volleyball, basketball, ping-pong tables, shuffleboard, four-squares, hop-scotch, as well as a shaded playground, water features, shade kites, Adirondack chairs, picnic area, sheltered pavilion, charcoal grills, and The Water’s Edge Café. Special programs include “Storytime Under a Tree” for the little ones and swim instruction for children and adults, as well as an adaptive swim class.

Don’t hesitate to contact the Recreation Office at 201-670-5560 with any questions or if special accommodations are needed.