>N.J. Assembly approves measure moving non-partisan elections to November
The Assembly today sent a bill allowing New Jersey towns to move nonpartisan elections to November to Gov. Jon Corzine for his signature. Currently, nonpartisan municipal elections are held on the second Tuesday in May. “Allowing towns that hold May nonpartisan elections to move those elections to November without jeopardizing their nonpartisan status is a win for everyone,” said Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan Jr. (D-Middlesex). Diegnan and Peter J. Barnes III (D-Middlesex) sponsored the bill.The bill (A-351) allows any of the 86 municipalities that currently hold nonpartisan municipal elections to move, through passage of an ordinance, the election to the same date as the general election, the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. According to published reports, the move could save Spotswood Borough in Middlesex County up to $25,000 in election-related costs. For a city such as Newark, the savings would approach $1 million. The Assembly cleared the measure 49-25, with two abstentions. (Star Ledger)
> Village Council to Consider Spending $65K+ For Decorative Parking Meter Sleeves
Yes, that’s right; the Ridgewood Village Council is considering spending $65K, plus approximately 300 man hours of labor, to install decorative plastic sleeves on parking meter posts throughout the Central Business District.
$350K for bathrooms at Vets Field, now this. When will it end?
>I would like to inform you and your readers that the Schedler Home was built in 1820 by John A. L. Zabriskie. that means it is 190 years old and historic.
The council thinks it is in bad shape and needs to be demolished. but none of them have been inside to see for themselves. It needs to be properly assessed by a historical architect. It was well taken care of by Florence Schedler and needs to be examined properly for its historical value.
yes, the village needs more fields. but preserving our history is important too. 7 acres of land is enough room for both. The council can not simply demolish a 190 year old historical house. They should at least consider ALL options first.
if you believe this house should be saved, let your voice be heard at the next council meeting on Jan 13.
The index of signed purchase agreements, or pending home sales, dropped 16 percent as Americans waited for a first-time buyer tax credit to be extended, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington.
Compared with November 2008, pending sales were up 19.3 percent, the real estate group said.
All four U.S. regions registered decreases in November, led by 26 percent slumps in the Northeast and Midwest. Contract signings dropped 15 percent in the South and 2.7 percent in the West.
Pending home sales are considered a leading indicator because they track contract signings. The Realtors’ existing- home sales report tallies closings, which typically occur a month or two later.
>SURVEY: New Jerseyans Can’t Afford to Escape! January 5, 2010
Atlas Van Lines just released their 2009 migration survey (click here to view the report). Unsurprisingly, New Jerseyans are still running for the exits in large numbers. 2009 saw a slightly lower percentage of state residents leave than in 2008, but Assemblyman Alex DeCroce (R) notes that that is more a sign of economic distress than sustained recovery.
From the Assembly Republican Office:
“Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce says a new report that found more households move out of New Jersey in 2009 than moved in shows just how crucial it is for the Legislature to work with incoming Gov. Chris Christie to lower taxes and make the state an affordable place for more families to live. “The only encouraging news in the report released by Atlas Van Lines is that New Jersey is not number one for a change,” said DeCroce, R-Morris and Passaic. “Connecticut was the hardest hit by outward migration in the Northeast. But there’s not much solace in the fact that New Jersey ran a close second.
“People are continuing to leave New Jersey because of high taxes and high unemployment. We must work together to stop this exodus otherwise the future of this state and our ability to resolve its monumental financial problems is grim.” According to a report in today’s edition of The Star-Ledger of Newark, Atlas determined 2,356 households moved out of New Jersey last year while only 1,480 moved in. While the number of people exiting New Jersey dropped 11 percent from the 2008 level, DeCroce said this is no reason to be optimistic. Atlas attributed the drop in moves to the nation’s economic woes.
“Essentially, fewer people moved out because fewer people could afford to make the move,” DeCroce observed. “The only sensible way to keep people in New Jersey is to lower their tax burden and improve New Jersey’s business climate. What the people need are more jobs and more money in their pockets.”
>The Fly and The Spider are both curious to know why Ridgewood Police Department, Street Department, and Construction Code officials continue to ignore the cause of icy road conditions on Marshall Street near the intersection of Franklin Avenue.
A building contractor working on a Marshall Street home continually pumps ground water from a foundation under construction directly into the street. At this time of year, the water freezes relatively quickly, turning the south end of Marshall Street into a virtual ice skating rink.
Wouldn’t you think that an alert police officer, or police supervisor (if they ever leave the comfort of the police station), might have noticed this condition and taken action? Or maybe someone from Sanitation, Recycling, etc.?
Are The Fly and The Spider the only folks in Ridgewood not asleep at the switch? Tony Merlino – are you there?
>The Ridgewood Health Department will offer H1N1 vaccines to all pre-registered Ridgewood residents on Tuesday, Jan. 19.
The vaccines will be available to all residents, regardless of age and precondition; however, preregistration is required. Those interested in receiving the vaccine should call 201-291-6090 before the clinic, which will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. at Ridgewood Village Hall.
>Oh goodie! Laurie tells a commenter at her personal blog that she’s “cautiously optimistic” that Ridgewood will be getting the $10 million in NJ grants to offset the bond referendum. Why not 100%?!?
She pushed hard, along with all of her BoE comrades on something that isn’t a certainty.
Appalling, not to mention an insult to the voters. Such an omission should have been trumpeted…how many voters who voted ‘yes’ would have change their vote if they knew that.
I’d like to know how many other board members will fess up to this uncertainty.
>“I’m very surprised that the blog hasn’t yet put up an entry about Cablevision dropping HGTV and FN. Is it because the blog sits on a Cablevision server and there’s some fear of retaliation? Only reason I can think of. There seems to be room for blog articles about the TSA and the health care squabble, but not about this high-handed behavior that strikes closer to home.
Both parties show plenty of greed; Cablevision, however, is clearly not paying close to market rates, will not negotiate in good faith for these channels and will gladly sacrifice customers to save pennies.”
First a few corrections; this blog is hosted by eblogger aka blogspot which is owned by Google ,and yes we have had many “squabbles” with Google over the years. We have no business relationship with Cablevision that I am aware of.
Next its only Television aka the “boob tube” ie…the bigger the tube the bigger the boob as we used to say and its an antiquated fascist medium that in its present form has no future. As of this moment you are still free to watch what you want and if your can not get the networks you desire in your area there are plenty of alternatives available on the internet or through other providers.
We are fans however of FN and HGTV after all they are one of the few networks were we don’t have to see Obama 24/7 and unbeknownst to many “Ridgewood blog” readers we actually were interviewed about doing a pilot for a cooking show . We have heard the corporate owner of FN and HGTV has severe financial troubles right now and as many of you know so does most of the old line media.
As for the “greedy” ,the greedy are made up of those who think they are entitled to something but don’t feel obligated to pay for it and want others to pay for it, for them. If the shoe fits ?
“Obamacare” will effect every American ,even the folks with “perfect kids” that live in Ridgewood and it will fundamentally or should I say detrimentally alter healthcare in a manner more suited for the lines at the DMV. There are many issues posted on this blog that may from time to time seem not directly related to Ridgewood ,but I am sad to say they do.
Finally unlike some other let us say lesser flogs or blogs and contrary to popular local misinformation topics on this blog are 90% of the time initiated by the readers of this blog. The BOE or VC or some family clan or even some evil person with malevolent intentions toward our fair Village does not control all of the content on this blog .As you so noted noone till now has felt the urge to bring up the Cablevision issue and that my friend is why it hasn’t been brought up.
>The NYT ran a story today on the “2010 Resolutions for NYC” where they asked a bunch of people what the New Years Resolutions should be for the city. Would it be interesting to hear what your community thought the resolutions for the village should be ?
>PJ, So do we really make New Years Resolutions as future goals we want to accomplish or do we simply make New Years Resolutions to make us feel better about all the things we haven’t done that we should ? For instance ;instead of facing the fact that we are FAT we make a resolution to loose wait in the future eat healthier or exercise regularly ?
“39% of Americans say they plan to make a New Year’s resolution. According to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, 54% will pass on a first-of-the-year resolution this time out, but seven percent (7%) haven’t made up their minds yet.”
> The Ridgewood Elks Club has been a long standing fixture in Ridgewood. Interestingly,the Village Hall was the original Elks. Located on 111 N. Maple we have a cocktail bar that is now open to the public.
This year we will have 3 TV’s set up to watch all the NFL playoff games. We would enjoy meeting those who have never visited to stop by.
In addition, our large banquet facility is now available for rent to non-members. For further info, call 201-652-1100
