Category: Bergen County

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CATO Institute Ranks New Jersey 47th in Overall freedom

Trenton_New_Jersey
August 20,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

The overall freedom ranking is a combination of personal and economic freedoms. This year the Cato Institute ranks New Jersey 47th and here is the analysis :

About 50 years ago, New Jersey was considered a tax haven. It grew wealthy under that regime, but over the past two decades it has competed with California for the position as the second-worst state for economic freedom. As long as it is better than New York, it will probably continue to get tax refugees from that state, but more New Yorkers now move to Florida than to New Jersey.

New Jersey’s state-level taxes are slightly higher than average (5.7 percent of income), while local taxes are much higher than average (5.5 percent). New Jerseyans have more choice of local government than any other state, with 6.2 effective competing jurisdictions per 100 square miles. Government subsidies and debt are above average, but state and local employment is a little below average. We show a small improvement in each of those three areas between 2010 and 2014.

Land-use freedom is quite limited in New Jersey. The state lets cities adopt rent control, and local zoning rules are often highly exclusionary, even though the state has been losing population for years. Renewable portfolio standards are among the highest in the country, raising electricity rates. In 2013–14, the state adopted a minimum wage. Labor-market freedom was already bad because of strict workers’ compensation rules, mandated short-term disability insurance, mandated family leave, no right-to-work law, and a stricter-than-federal anti-discrimination law. Occupational freedom is, perhaps surprisingly for such a corrupt state, close to average. However, in 2013–14, nurse practitioner freedom of independent practice was abolished. Insurance regulation is fairly strict, and there is a price-gouging law, which Governor Christie deployed after Hurricane Sandy to devastating effect. The civil liability system is somewhat better than average.

New Jersey has improved over time on personal freedom and is now better than average. Incarceration and victimless crime arrest rates, drug and nondrug, have all fallen since 2000. Asset forfeiture, however, has not been reformed much. New Jersey is a bad state for tobacco freedom, travel freedom, and gun rights, but it is a good state for gambling and same-sex marriage. The picture on educational freedom is mixed. Homeschools and private schools are barely regulated, but there are no public or private school choice programs. Cannabis freedom is similarly mixed. The state has a limited medical cannabis law, but otherwise it has done nothing to reduce penalties. Alcohol freedom is a bit above average, but the state interferes here too. Direct wine shipment is tightly regulated, and the rules on when a grocery store may sell wine are complicated—perhaps to create a “tollbooth” where state politicians can extract rents.

Policy Recommendations

Fiscal: Cut spending on parking lots; New Jersey spends almost three times as much as New York. It also spends more than average in the “miscellaneous” category and on employee retirement. Income, utilities, and property taxes are abnormally high and could be cut.
Regulatory: End rent control. This move would have raised New Jersey four places on regulatory policy.
Personal: Decriminalize low-level cannabis possession, and make high-level possession a misdemeanor. These reforms would have raised New Jersey two places on personal freedom.

https://www.freedominthe50states.org/overall/new-jersey

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Your Zip Code Should Not Determine Your Success in New Jersey

kids- ArtChick

file photo by ArtChick

August 14,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, the Franklin Center, a non-profit, public-interest media and public policy organization invited the Ridgewood blog to attend  their “Amplify School Choice” conference in Denver.

The conference took place all day Thursday, August 11 through noon on Friday, August 12 at the SpringHill Suites in downtown Denver. Over 50 of America’s top bloggers and citizen journalists attended the event .

While we are advantaged with quality schools in Ridgewood , it is simply not true for so many parents and so many young people in New Jersey . We have all read about chronically under preforming schools  all over New Jersey . The reality is your zip determines your educational opportunities and success.

The fact is urban education, despite 30 years of New Jersey Supreme Court required intervention by the state, is still failing students and their parents at an alarming rate.  The theory from the Supreme Court was that money would solve the problem.

“But as we have all become aware is , “The Abbott school experiment is a colossal failure because it is based on the theory that throwing money at a problem fixes it. Problems facing urban schools are cultural and socio-economic. When people in power face up to that, we can make progress.
There’s not a lot of political profiles in courage because it is easier to toss tax money or make excuses than to say until underlying causes are dealt with, it won’t get any better, just more expensive with more kids’ lives wasted. A few politicians do get it.  (Ingle, Gannett)
https://www.app.com/article/20110821/NJCOLUMNIST06/308210033/-1/NJCOLUMNIST/BOB-INGLE-Nutter-delivers-a-message-to-youth”

Not only have the policy been a abysmal failure but the cost to non “Abbott School” tax payers has been astronomical.

Governor Chris Christie pointed out recently the , ” New Jersey spends the 3rd most in the nation per pupil on K-12 education.  For the upcoming fiscal year we spend 13.3 billion dollars on aid to K-12 education.  How do we spend it?  $9.1 billion goes back to school districts in direct aid.  $3.25 billion is to pay for the pensions and health benefits for retired teachers.   $936 million goes to pay the debt on schools, mostly in urban districts, to build new schools.  $13.3 billion—and that does not count the money paid in local property taxes.

Who gets the $9.1 billion? Well, that begins to tell the story.  By order of the Supreme Court, and coerced acquiescence by the elected branches of government, this coming year $5.1 billion goes to the 31 urban or SDA districts.  $4 billion goes to the remaining 546 districts.  That’s right.  58% of the aid from the state’s taxpayers goes to 5% of the state’s school districts. 42% of the aid goes to the remaining 95% of our districts. This is absurd.  This is unfair.  This is not working.  And it hasn’t been working for 30 years.”

This is why Govenour Chris Christie has proposed giving all school districts same amount of aid, and provide some towns like Ridgewood property tax relief.

It is clearly time for some new ideas , and new student centered education policies . Here are a few we discussed at  the  “Amplify School Choice” conference in Denver.

School choice: a wide array of programs offering students and their families alternatives to publicly provided schools, to which students are generally assigned by the location of their family residence.

Open Enrollment : the process by which parents/guardians residing in a district may enroll their children into any school district in New Jersey.

Charter Schools:  a publicly funded independent school established by teachers, parents, or community groups under the terms of a charter with a local or national authority.

Home Schooling : A “must read” for new homeschoolers! In New Jersey, the Legislature under the compulsory education law (N.J.S.A. 18A:38-25) has permitted children to receive “equivalent instruction elsewhere than at school,” including the home.

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Readers Say we auditoriums in EVERY single school , Why do we need a performing arts center? Not to mention that the property is in a flood zone

ridgewood elks

file photo by Boyd Loving

From the July 2015 Ridgewood Library Board of Trustees Meeting

A couple of library board trustees said they want to move ahead with the original plan, which called only for the renovation of the library, and add in the construction of a performing arts center next to the library and village hall. This would turn the library and its surrounding area into the cultural hub the members are seeking.

The cost of the library renovations alone is estimated at around $5 million, according to Ralph Rosenberg, who was responsible for the renovations 20 years ago. Rosenberg has agreed to advise the trustees throughout the process as “owner’s representative.”

The estimated cost of the renovations, including the hypothetical performing arts center, is unknown.

(Community News | At the Library | Ridgewood Inside NorthJersey.com)

See any common threads here?

Board of Trustees Ridgewood Library

John Johansen, President 12/31/2015
Elisa R. Legg, Vice President
Arlene Sarappo, Secretary 12/31/2018
Gail Campbell, Treasurer
Christine Driscoll 12/31/2018
John Saraceno 12/31/2017
Janis Fuhrman 12/31/2018
Paul Aronsohn, Mayor
Albert Pucciarelli, Mayor’s Delegate
Dr. Daniel Fishbein, Superintendent of Schools
Linda Diorio, Superintendent’s Delegate

Don’t we have auditoriums in EVERY school which can be rented for a very reasonable price. Why do we need a performing arts center? Not to mention that the property is in a flood zone.

Yes, the National Elks organization appears to have been “gotten to”, at least indirectly, by a cabal of local supporters of the idea of building a performing arts center where the Elk’s Lodge now stands. The Local Elk’s club membership is probably reeling at the treatment they have been receiving from their national – level hierarchy. The tax status of the property on which the Elk’s Lodge now sits appears to have also been the subject of hijinks or skullduggery of some sort. Its valuation was dropped by more than half, if memory serves, with no apparent explanation for the change, which sounds like a setup.

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Reader says Vote NO on all day Kindergarten, it will drive out Seniors

kindergarten-cop-comedy

The school system is eating up my income.

They are having committees to study why people over 55 are leaving. Shiela Brogan is on the committee. The survey showed that moving is a financial decision. She needs to pay attention.

Complete agreement with all of the above. Taxes are out of control. And as for the moving truck option, don’t think for a minute that Ridgewood taxes will make the town and your home desirable to young families. Nice towns with lower taxes and higher rated schools surround us. Pay for your own pre-K and Ridgewood teachers need to get a grip on reality when it comes to their demands.

Driving out seniors is not going to help the school population or tax base. Add-ons like this may be the last straw for many who already get nothing from approximately 2/3 of their enormous property tax bite. Tired of hearing that good schools help property values, etc. The fact is that this school system has been going down the tubes for years and the world at large is finally starting to realize it. Throwing more millions at it won’t help. Eliminate half the jobs at the Ed Center and resolve the teachers’ contract dispute before coming to taxpayers for more and more.

As for property values: People will just look at other towns – Allendale, Wyckoff, HoHoKus Upper Saddle River, Ramsey, Montvale, Woodcliff Lake all have lower taxes and comparable if not better schools. Yes, Ridgewood may have a certain status and reputation in its favor but times are different now. The town has changed and more changes are could be on their way. BOE needs to keep a strong position that considers taxpayers. Our teachers are already higher paid than most and pre-school should be the parents’ responsibility.

Schools used to be top class in the entire country 25 years ago. Now it’s all on fumes of past reputation. Current teachers care more about their health benefits than they do about our students, which is sad.

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Reader says Vote NO on Full-day Kindergarten

The+Partridge+Family+PartridgeFamily

vote no

There has to be a point where homeowners taxpayers say enough is enough,12 13000 dollars a year taxes for a postage stamp house in the average ridgewood home district like Somerville or BF DISTRICTS is too much already ..111 per year will be 10000 dollars more in Ten years.

Is not 102 million a year plus taxes for schools and pensions enough..have you no ends to the reaching into my bank accounts ..red flag ..enough is enough,Private options are available for those who look for me and you to pay for
an additional three to four hours of K afternoon class and lunch time,While parents are at yoga or starbucks with errands or at Daddy or Mommy time .

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Governor Chris Christie brings his Fair School Funding Message to Over Taxed Bergen County

Chris_christie_theridgewoodblog

July 29,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Fair Lawn NJ, Governor Chris Christie took his #fairschoolfunding message to Fair Lawn in Bergen County on Thursday, making the case for a new K-12 state aid formula to a town hall audience .

Governor Chris Christie proposed drastic changes to New Jersey’s school-aid formula that would distribute an equal amount for each student regardless of income, a move that would redirect money from cities to suburbs.

Over the past 30 years, New Jersey taxpayers have sent $97 billion to those 31 systems, while the other 546 have received $9 billion less. Worse yet by all standards the Abbott Schools have been a complete failure and are in violation of the very law that requires them to exist.

The average Ridgewood homeowner would save the second most at $4209 in Bergen County after Tenafly at $4478 .

Even Steve Sweeney’s home town, a leading opponent of the plan, way down in South Jersey would receive 58% more funding per student in addition to average net property tax decreases.

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Reader says The REA just wants more money taken from the students and extracurricular’s to pay for their average annual above inflation (and above 2% property tax cap) wage increases and “platinum” health plan benefits

REA Members come out to greet our Board of Ed

#DOITFIRDAKIDZ

The REA just wants more money taken from the students and extracurricular’s to pay for their average annual above inflation (and above 2% property tax cap) wage increases and “platinum” health plan benefits covering 96% of all medical benefits with $10 co-pays. Why are Ridgewood residents paying above average property taxes in Bergen County for schools to only cut spending on students to pay even more for teachers who already earn the highest average salaries in Bergen? Does this make any sense? Won’t our property values decline if our schools keep declining like they have?

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Kennedy Odede, NYT bestselling author and CEO of Shining Hope for Communities, explains how to counter the emptiness, despair and lack of meaning that fuel violence and terror

Kennedy Odede

July 15,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Kennedy Odede knows a thing or two about falling into the clutches of a terror group.

Raised in devastating poverty in Africa’s largest urban slum, Kibera, Odede fell into a violent street gang as a child, drawn by the sense of belonging to a community united in its struggle for survival.

Now founder and CEO of the acclaimed nonprofit Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) and co-author of the New York Times bestselling book Find Me Unafraid: Love, Loss and Hope in an African Slum, Odede understands that similar to street gangs, terrorism is fueled by emptiness, despair and a lack of meaning.

Messages such as “Join the fight for freedom,” and “The western world is ruining us,” resonate with and attract people when their own communities, government, parents and social networks have nothing to offer.

The only viable solution, Odede says, is to attack the root cause — social disconnection — by engaging vulnerable individuals in their communities through activities such as sports, clean-up projects and education.

This is exactly what Odede and his wife Jessica Posner Odede did in founding SHOFCO, which transforms poor, urban communities in Kenya through tuition-free education for girls and holistic social services for all, filling the dangerous void created by despair with supportiveness and hope.

There’s much more on SHOFCO’s story and the outcome in Find Me Unafraid: Love, Loss and Hope in an African Slum, which Odede and Posner wrote together.  It releases in paperback on July 26 (Ecco / Harper Collins).  The book has received glowing praise from Chelsea Clinton, Gloria Steinem and several Nobel Prize Winners.

 

About Kennedy Odede
One of Africa’s best-known community organizers and social entrepreneurs, Kennedy Odede the co-author with Jessica Posner Odede of the New York Times bestselling book Find Me Unafraid: Love, Loss and Hope in an African Slum. Founder and CEO of the nonprofit Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) based in Kenya, he is a member of the Clinton Global Initiative and was awarded the 2010 Echoing Green Fellowship, which is given to the world’s top emerging social entrepreneurs. He also won the 2010 Dell Social Innovation Competition and was named one of Forbes’ 2014 30 Under 30: Social Entrepreneurs.

Kennedy speaks six languages, is a senior fellow with Humanity in Action, and an Aspen Institute New Voices Fellow.   His work has been featured in the PBS documentary Half the Sky, by Chelsea Clinton and Maria Menounos on NBC, by President Bill Clinton, and on multiple occasions by Nicholas Kristof in The New York Times.

SHOFCO combats extreme poverty and gender inequality by linking schools for girls to a set of high-value, holistic community services for all. In 2016 it will reach 100,000 people.

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Rep. Scott Garrett Announces 2016 Congressional Art Competition Winners

Scott Garrett Alexandra Gutierrez- with artwork

1st Place winner, Alexandra Gutierrez with Scott Garrett

May 26,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) announced the winners of the 2016 Congressional Art Competition at Sussex County Community College in Newton this Saturday. The Congressional Art Competition is open to all 9th-12th graders from New Jersey’s Fifth District, and this year’s competition featured 90 pieces of artwork from New Jersey high schools in Bergen, Passaic, Sussex, and Warren Counties (full list below).

This year the winners were: 1st Place, Alexandra Gutierrez, “Split Vision,” Bergen County Academies; 2nd Place, Grant Brewster, “Forgotten,” Delbarton School; 3rd Place, Nicole Spangenburg, “Doug,” Wallkill Valley Regional High School; 4th Place, Nicole Spangenburg, “Rasta Man Dan,” Wallkill Valley Regional High School; 5th Place, Sophia Bevacqua, “Landscape,” Northern Highlands Regional High School; 6th Place, Nicolina Kanapinski, “Take Me For a Ride,” High Point Regional High School; 7th Place, Maansi Srivastava, “The Afternoon Glow,” Bergen County Academies; 8th Place, Sarah Vargas, “The Dreamer,” Bergen County Academies.

Each spring, the Congressional Institute sponsors a nationwide high school visual art competition to recognize and encourage artistic talent in the nation and in each congressional district. Since the Artistic Discovery competition began in 1982, more than 650,000 high school students have participated. Students submit entries to their representative’s office, and panels of district artists select the winning entries. The first-place winner from each congressional district is invited to attend a reception in Washington, D.C., and the winning artwork is displayed in the U.S. Capitol for a year. Read more here.

Students from the following schools will be participating (by county):

Bergen County Academies

Bergen County Technical High School (Student lives in district)

Bergenfield High School

Blair Academy

Delbarton School (Student lives in district)

Fair Lawn High School

Glen Rock High School

Hackensack High School

Hackettstown High School

High Point Regional High School

Indian Hills High School

Lakeland Regional High School

Newton High School

Northern Highlands Regional High School

Northern Valley Regional High School – Old Tappan

Ramsey High School

Ridgewood High School

River Dell High School

Wallkill Valley Regional High School

West Milford High School

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Are We Fostering The Wrong Kind Of College Envy?

grads

May 23,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, When it comes time to apply to colleges, we may not be serving our children well.

That’s according to a growing chorus of voices who work with youth and their academic endeavors. For example, Malcolm Gladwell, one of the most recognizable public intellects, regularly asserts that brand prestige from an Ivy League name doesn’t necessarily suit the needs of individual students.

Jeffrey Leiken, CEO of Evolution Mentoring International, agrees. He provides mentoring for teens and young adults, going beyond the typical work of a therapist by building a relationship so that they come to see Leiken as a trusted confidant who answers their late-night text messages and isn’t quick to label them.

“We continue to be obsessed with being associated with the top 1 percent of anything, whether it’s wealth, looks, social media followers or achieving that Ivy League status,” says Leiken, author of “Adolescence is Not a Disease: Beyond Drinking, Drugs and Dangerous Friends – The Journey to Adulthood” (www.Leiken.com).

“Far more important is not the school’s brand and our cultural obsession with it. Rather, it’s helping to ensure that every student who attends any school gets closer to reaching their potential.”

What criteria should students and parents look for when determining where to apply for college? Leiken offers some crucial guidelines to keep in mind.

• Seek a college with programs that may help with lifelong skills. Self-awareness, self-leadership, self-actualization – those qualities are often overlooked when considering higher education. Learning the tangible skills for a future job is important. However, those requirements change over time. Coursework, professors and other programs that speak to a student’s ethical intuition, however, make up the educational gold that is enduring.
• Look beyond the typical menu of schools. There is a common denominator among millions of 17-year-olds: an anxious balance between their “reach” schools and their “safety” schools. It turns out that many college counselors guide these kids to a similar list of “reach” and “safety” schools – about 50 of them. Between public and private institutions, there arethousands of other schools to choose from!
• Ask yourself, “Where will I flourish?” Learn more about the culture of these institutions. There are two distinct stages for young adults in college life: the time where students adjust to a new environment and, later, when students realize they are becoming independent adults. A name-brand school isn’t necessarily the best place for millions of kids to best reach maturity.

“Just as we don’t all wear the same size clothing,” Leiken says, “the intellectual development of young adults doesn’t always fit into the same small box of name-brand schools.”

About Jeffrey Leiken

Jeffery Leiken (www.Leiken.com) is the CEO of Evolution Mentoring International and is co-founder of HeroPath International. Leiken also is author of “Adolescence is Not a Disease: Beyond Drinking, Drugs and Dangerous Friends – The Journey to Adulthood.” He has presented at TED in Athens, Greece; guest lectured at Stanford University; and facilitated programs for teenagers on three continents and in seven countries, among other accomplishments. He has a master’s degree in educational counseling.

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Trenton Wants to Tax Plastic Bags in “Feel Good ” policy move

CASHIERS WORK AT THE CHECKOUT LANES OF A WALMART STORE IN THE PORTER RANCH SECTION OF LOS ANGELES
May 22,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

TRENTON NJ, Under a proposed bill customers would be required to pay 5 cents for every plastic or paper bag they use to carry their purchases .

An previous version of the bill (A3671) called for a bag ban by 2025, but  sponsors discarded that idea. Efforts to curb plastic bag use have been under consideration since 2008 in the state legislature, including in 2012, although each time they have stalled.

California is the state that has a statewide ban on plastic bags and Hawaii has a de facto state ban because every county has adopted the policy.

If the bill becomes law, retail operators in New Jersey would begin charging 5-cent fee for each single-use carryout bag on June 1, 2017. Stores would keep a penny, as would the state Division of Taxation to administer the program.

The remaining 3 cents would be used to create the “Healthy Schools and Community Lead Abatement Fund” to support the testing of homes and schools’ water supply – a major cause of concern in the state.

While proponents of the ban claim  “Plastic bags are a source of numerous environmental concerns,” We are still not sure how an additional tax is going to fix any environmental problems . Seems more to be another Trenton money grab using a “Feel good” ruse . Opponents say better yet to send the bags to Trenton so law makers can place them over their heads saving the taxpayers money and improving the quality of life in the state .

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Councilwomen Gwenn Hauck Says High Density Housing will Increase Class sizes and “significantly augment our tax base”

CBD high density housing

May 10,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ , picked this up off of the It takes a Village Facebook page in a post by Marty Smith, In a post to Ann Loving today, Gwenn Hauck wrote “$50,000 of Independent Studies approved by all five council members confirmed (confidently) that the multi-family housing will significantly augment our tax base and will help our schools decreasing enrollment. Class sizes are diminishing so much that teachers are actually being laid off causing (ironically) higher class sizes!”

I thought the proponents of higher density housing were saying don’t worry, the apartments won’t be attracting a lot of new students. Now it seems they will be, and that the additional enrollments are what we need. Did I miss something? Dare we say vote of Hache, Walsh and Voigt .Poles are open till 8pm!

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Growth is necessary- responsibly. Revitalization is a good thing- when handled by careful, thoughtful people. Please, please come out and vote on Tuesday and elect Voigt, Walsh, and Hache

Vote Ridgewood

Dear Neighbors,
I am writing not simply to express my support for 3 candidates in the council election, but to endorse record participation in the election process.

I am vocally in support of candidates Bernadette Coghlan-Walsh (line 4), Jeff Voigt (line 1), and Ramon Hache (line 8). I have spent a great deal of time speaking with them, and getting to know them. I have a tremendous respect for each one, as do a great number of people who’s opinions I hold in a very high regard. Additionally, I support these 3 because I have personally spoken to them at length regarding the pressing issues that Ridgewood is facing.

Multi family housing, which will affect our schools tremendously, our infrastructure, our water, our police and fire, fields, and village programs. That building at this density and in the proposed locations, is not at all in keeping with the character of this village, and how can we mitigate the irreversible damage that will be caused if, and when, it is completed.

Valley Hospital, and its proposed expansion. It’s utter disregard for the neighborhood that it resides in, and it’s community as a whole. How the hospitals need to modernize must be done while respecting that it is a community hospital residing within a residential neighborhood tucked next to elementary and middle schools.

Being a life long Ridgewood resident, these issues, in conjunction with so many others, weigh heavily on me. Being residents here for decades themselves; the importance of these issues hits home to these 3 as well.

Ramon, Bernie, and Jeff are not a group. They’re not a bloc. They don’t agree with me about everything, they won’t agree with YOU about everything, and they don’t agree with each other about everything, and I like that.

I like to see that they will have to, and have had to, engage in actual conversation with each other, and I know they will welcome conversation with residents. Something that has been deeply, and purposefully lacking in the last 4 years of council interaction.

Unlike the other 3 candidates in this election who have chosen to run as a trio, Bernie, Ramon, and Jeff are beholden to no one. They’re not bought and sold. They’ve signed no pledges making any promises to ANYONE. This is not because they don’t want to see certain projects completed. On the contrary! They would like to see, for example, the garage built. BUT, they’re unwilling to sign a pledge to anyone to make promises. They have the integrity, and the intelligence to know that NO one should ask that of them, and even more importantly, the integrity and intelligence to say no.

I’ve seen them dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to this election process while still being dedicated to their families, friends, and jobs. I know when elected they will see it through. We can expect positive changes. We can expect the sun to come out after 4 years of storms. I, for one, am looking forward to it.

Ultimately, I hope my neighbors and friends DO simply find the time to get out and vote. This election, and its outcome, are crucial to our future, our kids future. What happens in the coming few years will have the ability to change the landscape of this town forever. The history here is so precious, and we are supposed to protect it. Staying home, forgetting, or not participating on Tuesday is leaving that history, and so many of the qualities that make living here special, vulnerable to damage that we can, and should, prevent. I feel it’s our responsibility to vote- even more than a right-It’s our duty. It pains me to know that 2 other candidates running in this election, have either NEVER exercised that right here in town, or have done so less than 5 times in decades of residency. It’s simply too important to have your voice heard, and to use your vote to effect change.

Growth is necessary- responsibly. Revitalization is  a good thing- when handled by careful, thoughtful people. Please, please come out and vote on Tuesday and elect Voigt, Walsh, and Hache to be those people for us.

Polls are open on Tuesday 6am to 8pm. Remind your neighbors, remind your friends. Take an elderly family member to the polls, but please, please don’t stay home.
Sincerely,<

Melanie Hooban McWilliams

Don’t forget to vote May 10, 2016!!
Voigt, Walsh, Hache!!!

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Reader says , “Paul Arohnson, just leave – you have been self serving and a disaster for this village”

Paul_Aronsohn_dunking_theridgewoodblog

I have been a Ridgewood Resident for the last 22 years and bought into the town because of the schools and quaintness of the village.

I would like to know why Rich Brooks and Gail Price have not openly discussed how they plan on handling what is an obvious Conflict of Interest of being married and the effect if will have on decisions for the town.

Secondly, Evan Weitz has only lived in town for around 3-4 years but manages to become the Chair of the Financial Advisory Committee without even serving previous time on the committee? That makes no sense to me except that he was put there for political purposes.

With regards to parking. The height of the current Plan D eliminates much of the parking on Hudson Street. Maybe if the parking stayed with the original estimates as were expressed to the voters before being voted on in November our community would not be going crazy over the height and girth of the current Plan D. It should be the current size of the footprint and Hudson street should stay the same as it currently is designed.

I believe one of the worst offenses is that all of this seems to be coming from politicians in town who seek higher offices in Bergen County. They take their lead from the Democratic Chairperson, Lou Stellato, who is a Lyndhurst resident. So I ask you, why is it we would ever want a Lyndhurst resident influencing our town. Follow the political trail and make your own decision.

As far as Roberta is concerned her allowing 600 tickets to be handed out for leaves in the street is ridiculous. Also her involvement in the local politics of the garage should never be tolerated by town counsel or our residents. She should be reprimanded or asked to leave. It is not the town according to Roberta!

And as for Paul Arohnson, just leave – you have been self serving and a disaster for this village.

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Services for Benjamin Franklin Middle School Student Alex Modlin

BF_middle-school_theridgewoodblog

Subject: Service for Alex Modlin

Comments:
Benjamin Franklin Middle School
Ridgewood Public Schools
335 N. Van Dien Ave.
Ridgewood, New Jersey 07450

“In the light of knowledge shines the key to the future.”

Anthony Orsini
(201) 670-2780
Principal aorsini@ridgewood.k12.nj.us

April 26, 2016

Dear BF Community,

I know there have been many questions regarding the services for Alex Modlin tomorrow. In conversation with the family and Rabbi William Kraus they have decided to hold a service specifically for students, staff, and families who were planning on attending the funeral.

The service is as follows:
Wednesday, April 27th at 10 A.M.
Louis Suburban Chapel, 13-01 Broadway (Route 4 West)
Fair Lawn, NJ, 07410

The service will last approximately 40 minutes, and Rabbi Kraus will be addressing the issue of suicide directly during the service. The family has indicated that it would be appropriate to leave a note for Alex or a remembrance such as a toy, but your presence is appreciation enough.

At the middle school age it is essential that a parent is able to accompany students to the services in order to help them process after the funeral. Several faculty members will be present at the services for the students as well.

Staff will be back at school following the service. The internment will be exclusively for family.

Our hearts are with your families.

Sincerely,
Tony Orsini
Principal, BFMS