>It’s a shame that today it takes a NIMBY issue for people to get to the polls.
The race was again won on Districts 12 and 15 — Travell and BF neighborhoods. Ridgewood residents need to wake up and realize that decisions on all town issues are being controlled by the people that live near Valley. Let’s also not forget that now 4 out of 5 council members live in that same neighborhood — that’s an unprecedented imbalance.
Less than a third of registered voters turned out. It’s a shame that today it takes a NIMBY issue for people to get to the polls.
You are the one who is out of touch. Our nation is at risk because we are not turning out enough scientist and engineers to maintain the technological leadership that we have enjoyed for the past 100 years.
Lacrosse players didn’t invent or discover semiconductors, computers, transistors, lasers, atomic energy, and genetic sequencing. Scientists and engineers did.
Our priorities are backwards. We should be spending more time on math and science education and less time on travel sports teams. This isn’t an inner city school system where sports are the few ways out.
We need closure on Valley — it needs to either curtail its plans or move down the road to route 17 or somewhere else sensible.
Graydon needs to be made more attractive while staying true to what it is — the local swiming hole where the community can gather.
Village Hall needs cleaning. Get rid of Brancheau, Merlino, Rutishauser and the other do nothing department heads. Its too top heavy.
Address the pension and retirement issues that can drag us down to bankruptcy. We can’t renege on existing contracts and obligations (and remain true to the principles of a free market) but we sure as hell can put an end to the gravy train going forward.
Look closely at the people we outsource to — the attorneys, vendors, etc. Are we really getting value?
Work with the Board of Education –don’t listen to the morons who say the budgets are separate and nothing can be done. I pay out of one check book and one pocket, and I want my money spent wisely.
Cut taxes — but only if you can. We are still reeling from years of the pfree spending administration. Village halls and public toilets that came in three or four times over budget took a chunk out our pocket books when we had the money to spend. Now we don’t, but we can’t make up for it with budget reductions that cut off our noses to spite our faces. We need to remain a first class town.
In that vein, keep up our Village services. Cutting the waste at the top is a first start. But, what else can we do? Be creative. Is there a way, say, to charge people for the services they use, like charging per can garbage pick ups? I dn’t know, but I bet collectively we can find all sorts of creative solutions to our issues.
Open space — perhaps the one area where we can’t cut spending even though we may like to. No one is building more land, so when it comes on the market, we need to buy. Perhaps that means things like the schendler property sit vacant for a couple of years while we get the money to do something with it.
Downtown — we need to be careful. Yes, we need more parking and we more stores, but lets not lower standards. And, we need to do somethig about traffic is horrendus. Again, creativity: can we make Ridgewood avenue and other major streets one way with diagonal parking? I don’t think we need to rush to put up another major structure, particularly a mixed use structure that guarantees as many new cars as it does new spaces.
COAH — perhaps its going away, but unless it does, our prior councils, planning board and board of adjustment have let things get way out of hand by allowing the massive overbuilding we have seen in the past few years. This is Ridgewood, not Long Island. We don’t need to keep expanding. Escpecially when the relaxed building standards mean we have to bring in even more housing structures to satisfy COAH.
New Jersey transit — many of us conspiracy theory folks have wondered just why all the changes to our station? Are there plans to make our local station a hub for buses and trains? Stay on top of this one and fight hard.
In closing, I direct this to the other council people as well. Please, let’s get moving. You made promises and frankly, I am not sure they have been kept. What happened to “lets get moving, we’re burning daylight”? Step aside if its gotten to be too much.
>Congrats to Steve and all who care about Ridgewood!
I think those who voted for Forenza should think again about why the MAJORITY voted for Wellinghorst. Let me help you the majority knows the blight and strain that Valley would cause every taxpayer! Not just the people who live near Valley.
It’s not East vs West either. We can not allow our town fall into ValleyWood. Don’t become aware when it’s too late.
I believe Valley is ready to take legal action and show us they care for only themselves not what expense this will cost the rest of us. Wake up and help CRR and all taxpayers fight this situation. CRR needs donations to properly defend OUR TOWN
Hi, Jim. People on the blog are wondering about the Council vote breakdown by district. Here is a picture I took of the board with the final tally at Village Hall last night.
>Stephen Wellinghorst wins a decisive and clear victory in Village council race
It is always great to see new faces on the Village council, congratulations to all the candidates .
Once again like it or not the Valley Renewal played a key roll in how people voted.
Readers summed it up best : Steve Wellinghorst won by about 700 vote. Sanity prevails. So much for the so called “minority” who were against the Valley expansion
“Wellinghorst had a solid showing in all districts. I don’t live near the hospital and I voted for Steve.”
“Bottom line is Valley put a ton of money into Forenza’s effort but in the end the people spoke.YES Ridgewood, YES Wellinghorst, NO VALLEY!”
>The League of Women Voters of Ridgewood Reminds YOU: Don’t forget to Vote Today, November 2. Polls open from 6AM-8PM. Your polling location is listed on the sample ballot that was mailed to every registered voter.
Please read the sample ballot carefully. There are three sections: General Election; Public Question; and NonPartisan Municipal.
Ridgewood’s municipal election candidates are listed on the very bottom of the ballot.
Wellinghorst may have been a gentlwman, but his supporters have behaved badly towards Mr. Train, trying to push him out of the race. They have called him a “bumpkin”, made fun of his frequent Blog replies, accused him of being untrustworthy, criticized his public speaking style, accused him of having a “thin skin”, accused him of being a “fifth column” for Valley, and accused him (with no proof) of planting anonymous postings critical of Mr. Wellinghorst. Mr. Train has done a good job of generating creative ideas, yet Mr. Wellinghorst’s supporters just insult him and call him names instead of debating the merits of his ideas. Wellinghorst may have been a gentleman, but his supporters have acted like high school punks during the past week. Just for the record, my name is not Oliver Train. I’m just a voter who is disappointed with the behavior of my fellow Villagers, who are behaving like brats because an unexpected (and inconvenient to them) candidate may prevent Mr. Wellinghorst from being able to waltz into office with minimal opposition.
>The election of Steve Wellinghorst would be a wise and complimentary addition as he brings both professional and personal qualities that truly round out the council
Steve Wellinghorst is well known by his neighbors as a local dad in the Travell School District and is often seen walking his kids to school in the morning. He is a socially and intellectually engaging fellow. However, I think his profession is more suited to loud self-promoter types-that’s not Steve. He is a bit of a hidden gem.
I came to know Steve professionally several years ago and what most people don’t understand is how incredibly detailed, professional and focused this guy is. In the legal and business world its important to surround yourself with level headed intelligent people that make good decisions-not just decisions for a reason but for good reasons. Steve is just that type of person. When you elect someone like Steve – someone who gathers the facts, explores the relevant context and develops good reasons for action – he can’t be bullied. Its nice to have people like that representing you.
If you have ever attended a village council, planning board or sports council meeting you would instantly understand the importance of these qualities in the public domain where every special interest bemoans their plight and seeks to impose the greatest pain and stress on our public figures. Most typical people (myself included) wither under that type of constant stress and consequently, governments cater to citizens that scream the loudest (or otherwise game the system) and not citizens in greatest need.
Today, the existing village council, perhaps by luck or good judgment of the people, appears composed of capable and competent individuals that, appear to function extremely well. The election of Steve Wellinghorst would be a wise and complimentary addition as he brings both professional and personal qualities that truly round out the council.
>Reader says it’s time for Mr. Train to drop out of this race Dear Mr. Train,
Your barrage of baseless, personal and acrimonious attacks on other candidates, especially, Mr. Wellinghorst, is unconscionable.
But what I, and many others in Ridgewood, find totally unacceptable, is your horrendously bad “Anonymous” behavior. Is that how you would conduct the Village’s business? This certainly is not the behavior of an adult and it certainly is not behavior that would be in the Village’s best interest. That behavior goes way beyond any acceptable level of immaturity. This is not a Tenafly/Mountain Lakes jr. high election and you need to grow up. You are not Al Franken and this is not a joke.
Now that you have been systematically uncovered, do we have to tolerate your total silence? Its amazing how you were capable of typing 90 words per minute under your own name, penning post after post. Or, I assume, you were merely posting letters and comments that were pre-written months earlier. Of course this is the most likely route as this is what you did at the debate when you, not once, looked up from your pre-written script. Someone said you were “Robotic”, but robots are less predictable and devoid of malice.
It is time for you to man-up and drop out of this race. You have completely dishonored yourself and lost all of my respect.
>RHS field lights : It certainly appears that the BOE intended to install the field lights all along
As you may have seen or heard, I spoke at the Village Council last evening about the RHS field lights issues. Attached for your edification are my remarks.The more that I look at this, the stranger it looks. For instance:
How did the BOE pay for the engineering work that went into the field lights bid request on May 16 to possible contractors. Supposedly, the state budget cuts forced the BOE to eliminate teaching positions while at the same time they were spending on professional services for construction engineering for which they told the Planning Board that they had no money?
The actual bid request has language that tells prospective bidders that they must put in the pole foundations before the artificial turf has been installed. This means that the bids that they were seeking for the lights could only be used if the light work was done with the turf installation. Yet at the time the bid packages were prepared (May 16) there was no money to install the lights. Was the BOE clairvoyant in that they knew that they were getting the money in gifts?
How did the BOE approve the contracts with the lighting contractor at the July 19 or August 30 meeting when these monies were not in the Council approved budget? While the BOE accepted restricted contributions from sports groups totaling $79,500 at the August meeting, this was short of the $100,000 needed in the financing that was approved at the August meeting.
It certainly appears that the BOE intended to install the field lights all along and that their surprise at the sports teams getting their act together was just an act.
>European air officials say US security goes overboard; British Airways calls demands excessive European air officials accused the United States of imposing useless and overly intrusive travel security measures, calling Wednesday for the Obama administration to reexamine policies ranging from online security checks to X-raying shoes.
British Airways’ chairman made the first in a wave of complaints, saying in a speech to airport operators that removing shoes and taking laptops out of bags were “completely redundant” measures demanded by the U.S.
He was joined less than 24 hours later by British pilots, the owner of Heathrow airport, other European airlines, and the European Union. The EU submitted formal objections to a program that requires U.S.-bound travelers from 35 nations to complete online security clearance before departure. It called the system burdensome and said it could violate travelers’ privacy.
>Family Event in Ridgewood Nov 4th Jeffrey and The Bossy Frog I know Bergen County kids have off from school on Thursday Nov 4th and just in case anyone ages 2 – 8 years old is looking for something to do – here’s an event I’m doing for the Ridgewood Parks and Rec Dept. Thanks for checking it out.
Thursday Nov 4th 11am Jeffrey and The Bossy Frog character will do a special Thursday morning show for the Ridgewood, NJ Parks and Recreation Department. Community Center at Village Hall, 131 N. Maple Ave., Ridgewood, NJ 07450
$5 for all attendees. Pre-school Audience Tickets sold in advance at Ridgewood Parks & Recreation, The Stable 259 N. Maple Ave. Ridgewood, NJ 07450 or call (201) 670-5560 Thanks Jeffrey
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