>Forcing the issue: the coming clash over property tax caps
The property tax cap clash features Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford) on one side with his proposal of a statutory 2.9% cap on property taxes – and Gov. Chris Christie’s 2.5% constitutional hard cap, a collision that will likely result in some kind of amalgam. The question is which combination will prevail – or ultimately get vetoed with the point made for one side or the other? (Pizarro, PolitickerNJ)
Sunday’s Op-Ed from George Zoffinger that appeared in The Record is yet another must read from the outspoken former head of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. Zoffinger, who once called former Democratic Gov. Dick Codey an idiot, this time digs into his reperoire of cartoon characters to compare Codey, a state senator, first to Homer Simpson and then to Sponge Bob Square Pants. And he didn’t stop there. He went on to liken former Chief Counsel Paul Fader to Sponge Bob’s neighbor in Bikini Bottom, Squidward Tentacles. DOH! (Isherwood, PolitickerNJ)
by Ole Erekson, Engraver, c1876, Library of CongressBorn: September 21, 1737 Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Education: Graduate of the College of Philadelphia (Lawyer, Judge, Author) Work: Delegate to the Continental Congress, 1776; Judge of admiralty for Pennsylvania, 1780; Appointed Judge to the US Court for the District of Pennsylvania, 1790 Died: May 9, 1791
Francis Hopkinson was a man of extraordinary talent and charm. Born into a family of substance in Philadelphia, he was the first scholar and first Graduate of the College of Philadelphia, which his father, along with good friend Benjamin Franklin, played a role in chartering. He studied Law in the office of Benjamin Chew (later, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania) and then continued his education in England, two years study with the Bishop of Worcester. He was a writer of music, poetry and satire. His notable works include “A Pretty Story,” a skeptical examination of the relationship between Great Britain and the colonies, and “Battle of the Kegs,” a satiric taunting of the British. Hopkinson claimed credit for designing the American flag, but the evidence for his claim is not clear. Hopkinson was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1776, where he signed the Declaration. After the War he was an active advocate, in speaking and in writing, for the New Federal constitution. He was commissioned a Judge of Admiralty in Pennsylvania in 1780, and Washington appointed him Federal District Judge for his native state in 1790. He died very suddenly of a missive epileptic seizure in 1791, at the still young age of 53.
Ridgewood Education Foundation Contact 201-670-2700 ext 10562 Rebecca Taylor Silbernagel “The Ridgewood Education Foundation is pleased to announce its First Annual Community Dog Show! Taking place on Sunday, May 23 2010, in the parking lot of Ridgewood High School, (627 East Ridgewood Avenue), the event promises to be a waggin’ good time for critters of both the 2-legged and 4-legged variety! We will be having several doggy contests, demonstrations by the Sheriff’s K-9 unit, pet psychics and behaviorists, and lots more fun. Local vendors will be offering their wares, and our sponsor, Ridgewood Veterinary Hospital will be holding free grooming sessions. You may also participate in our “King or Queen” of the day, and have your pooch named “Top Dog”. (Follow the link below for further information!) Dog-themed art work by our students will be on display all day. Register your dog today by visiting our site. https://www.ridgewoodedfoundation.org/dogshow/ See you there! WOOF”
The Mission of the Ridgewood Education Foundation is to enhance the quality of education in the Ridgewood Public Schools. Since 1989 the Foundation has awarded more than $400,000 in grants for special projects created by forward thinking teachers, parents, students and alumni(ae). We were able to do this, thanks to the generous sunspot of our members and other friends. Whether it is through these Classroom Grants, Alumni Teacher Development Fund Grants, the Arts Fund, or other programs, our objective is to sunspot the quality of education in the Village’s schools in whatever way we can. The Foundation receives no government funding and is solely sponsored by its members. The Ridgewood Education Foundation is an IRC § 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. All contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. For more information visit our website https://www.ridgewoodedfoundation.org/
>I hope the Village Council will respect the voice of the voters and cut the Education budget. I just read an article in The Ridgewood News and it sounds like they are considering leaving the budget as is. What’s the point of voting? They need to cut the budget, and I don’t mean a token 1/10th of one percent like Jane Reilly either.
There are still cuts that can be made to administration staff and salaries that don’t directly affect students or teachers…..starting with the Office of Curriculum which is seriously overstaffed and undereffective. In my opinion the BOE has done a terrible job over the past 10 years. The Superintendent’s position has been a revolving door for many, many years. My child effectively went through 4 years of high school with no leadership in this critical position.
The BOE contracted and paid for consultants to advise them in this search, another waste of money. Their failure to negotiate with the teacher’s union (unlike Glen Rock and Wyckoff) is a disgrace. They are amateurs. The BOE representatives who have been serving for 15+ years are doing no service to the community and I would love to see term limits imposed. Some people get in, they never leave, and incumbents historically never lose, no matter what.
The community has spoken. They are sick of wasteful spending and weak decisions. If the Village Council does not respect this vote then I’m not even bothering to vote in Ridgewood ever again. It’s not for them to “interpret” the meaning of the vote. “No” means “no. Period.
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>Stuart Lieberman, environmental attorney for The Preserve Graydon Coalition, has written a blog piece celebrating the wisdom of Ridgewood, NJ’s voters in electing preservation-minded candidates Tom Riche and Bernadette (Bernie) Walsh.
In a hotly contested municipal election involving four candidates running to fill two Council seats, the winners were the candidates who, among many other things, both publicly supported preserving an important local landmark –the Graydon Pool.
The two successful candidates openly (and we think quite correctly) opposed any effort to transform this natural, important landmark into a concrete pool. (The pool is really beautiful and has served the community for generations. Many local residents have strong memories attached to this landmark.)
Apparently, this issue meant a great deal to local voters – and in interviews some voters stated that the Graydon issue was an important one in deciding which way to vote.
Our hats go off to these two excellent candidates. And of course, to our amazing local community organization and other community organizations that dared to form and be heard.
Read Mr. Lieberman’s blog piece: Ridgewood Voters Choose Preservationist Candidates
Please note Kathe Donovan’s letter to Dennis McNerney which was hand delivered this afternoon. It is in response to Mr. McNerney’s latest irresponsible press release regarding “blue laws” which was posted earlier today on Politickernj.com. Ms. Donovan had refrained from responding to earlier rants but Mr. McNerney’s total and reckless disregard for the truth demand that he be put on notice. Mr. McNerney is entitled to his own opinions but not entitled to make up his own facts.
———————
May 14, 2010
Dennis McNerney
County Executive
1 Bergen County Plaza
Hackensack, New Jersey 07601
Dennis:
I just read your weekly rant regarding the Blue Laws. As you know, I strongly oppose
repeal of the Blue Laws and presume that your colleague Senator Sarlo will exercise his
clout as chair of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee and make certain that
this ill-conceived plan is stricken from the budget which is sent to the Governor by the
legislature.
In the meantime, I would ask that you stop protecting two New York City billionaires and
join with me in demanding that they share their windfall profit from the sale of Personal
Seat Licenses. According to newspaper reports these billionaires have pocketed $800
million from Jets and Giants fans. You should be demanding that these billionaires pay
their fair share.
And please stop lying about my proposal which was originally made in November, 2008.
At that time I wrote to Governor Corzine that ” … At a time when practically every
individual and business in New Jersey will be asked to make a significant sacrifice, is it
too much to ask that the New York Jets and New York Giants share a portion of their
windfall profits with the very people who are providing them with enormous taxpayer
generated subsidies … ?” Dennis, nothing has changed except now you are asking hard
working county employees to shoulder the burden by threatening layoffs, etc. while
protecting your New York billionaire buddies.
Dennis it’s time for you to start running on your record and stop lying about mine. To
help you out I am attaching a copy of my initial letter to Governor Corzine and my letter
>Ridgewood’s own Spring Sidewalk Sale Days! Shop till you drop and enjoy sales galore. May 13th, 14th, *15th Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Come to Ridgewood for the weekend – *Saturday, May *15th, join the Chamber of Commerce and Valley Hospital who have partnered to partnered to sponsor a “Women Have Heart”.
Join us – 9:30am – Heart Healthy Breakfast Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church 1 Passaic Street Catered by Kings Super Market 10:30am-12Noon Heart Disease and Women Presented Dr. Janet Strain Heart Health Nutrition and Exercise Presented by Valley Hospital Registered Dietitian and Exercise Physiologist. Goodie bags There will many other surprises and treats!
1:30pm Heart Healthy Historic Walking Tour of Ridgewood. You will start at the train station and end up at Cottage Place by the Education Center. – Free to everyone
For more information and to sign up for the walk tour call the Chamber 201-445-2600 – email info@ridgewoodchamber.com or call Jasalyn King, Valley Hospital 201-447-800x 7404
>The Ridgewood Village Council will meet on Monday, May 17, to decide on next year’s school budget. The meeting will take place at Village Hall, starting at 5:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend.
Hundreds of private-school students got a real-life lesson in politics and government Thursday when a dispute over seating forced a legislative committee to pass a school voucher bill from the steps of the Statehouse Annex. The state Senate Economic Growth Committee moved its meeting outdoors after members of the state’s largest teachers union, which opposes the bill, packed the committee room and refused to open seats for supporters of the plan. (Method, Gannett)
Ridgewood officials will not seek a waiver from Trenton to exceed the state-mandated cap on spending.
The preliminary 2010 municipal budget included an estimated tax rate increase of 8.8 percent or $302 for the average home in the village assessed at $800,000. But it was uncertain if the village would receive a waiver from the state allowing it to exceed the 4 percent cap. If granted, the waiver would have negatively impacted the 2011 budget, because the amount over the cap would be added as a penalty to the 2011 budget.
Without the waiver, this year’s budget will increase by 5.16 percent or $182 per average assessed home, for a $3,588 average municipal tax bill for this year, said Village Manager Ken Gabbert during Wednesday night’s public budget hearing.
“The total budget being adopted is $41,351,367,” he said. “That represents a 1.9 percent decrease from the adopted 2009 budget.”
Although the overall budget was reduced, Gabbert said, rising costs and reduced state aid have forced the village to increase taxes.
Layoffs are also on the way as originally planned, but the exact number of positions to be cut was unavailable as of Wednesday night.
“The official plan to [the state Civil Service Commission] was ‘Fed Exed’ on May 10, and the council is making minor changes to the planned layoffs,” Gabbert said in an e-mail. “We should have the layoff list from Civil Service within 30 days.”
A second round of layoffs may be necessary because of the decision to not seek the state waiver, which leaves the village having to cut an additional $1,044,800 from this year’s budget, Gabbert said.
In the first round of layoffs, police officers and firefighters were not considered because of the number of high-ranking officials in both departments that have chosen to retire, but layoffs in those departments could be considered in the second round, Gabbert said.
“Civil Service selects the persons actually to be laid off, as some staff have bumping [seniority] rights,” Gabbert explained. “We are meeting with each of the unions and are seeking to reduce the number of staff that will be included in a second round of layoffs.”
Previously, 34 notices were sent to village employees in danger of losing their jobs.
Sen. Goodwin Launches Petition to Repeal Kyleigh’s Law DecalsSenator Tom Goodwin (R-14) has announced the launch of a new online petition to support the repeal of the decal provision of Kyleigh’s Law. Goodwin is the sponsor of legislation, S-1908, which would eliminate the recently enacted requirement that young drivers display special decals on their license plates.
The petition, located at https://goodwin.senatenj.com/decals, includes interactive features to allow supporters of the repeal effort to share the petition on Facebook and Twitter, directly from the petition page. Facebook users can leave comments that will appear on the petition page, on their profile pages and in their friends’ “News Feeds.” “There are already Facebook groups that have tens of thousands of members supporting the repeal of Kyleigh’s law,” said Goodwin. “It’s clear that many of the people who are now affected by the law, including young drivers and their parents, feel like their voices were not heard when the original legislation was enacted. I encourage everyone who opposes the decals to sign the petition, which will ensure that their voices are not ignored as the repeal effort proceeds.”
>WHO wrote this article? Had to be either the Public Information Officer wrote this article or one of her friends. WHO could possibly make the argument that making cuts to textbooks and classroom materials, educators and programs that are REALLY a part of education, should be cut before a $40,000 (package) part time PR position? The information provided by the PR person is redundantly redundant. Years ago when taxpayers/parents wanted better information it revolved around a more comprehensive website with regular updates. That seems to have been achieved but not refined!
The mere fact that the Public Information Officer has the time to copy and paste those ridiculous inspirational quotes that clutter the beginning of every email is enough to “delete” the position.
AND the arrogance of the writer who makes the statement “not to blindly follow voters who are mad about their property taxes and who haven’t a clue what is required to educate 5700 students of all levels”.
Fire the PR person. Set up a Taxpayer/parent/non-parent task force to audit the excesses in each of the schools. The collaborative model alone has become a membership bonanza for the REA while totally unproductive. AND why are elementary school principals (k-5) earning $150,000? The BOE was forced to finally cut. But they are not cutting to bare bone. They are cutting the FAT from the hiring frenzy and excesses that have been going on for years.
For example: BFMS had (until this budget): 1 Principal, 2 Vice-principals, 2 (now 3) guidance counselors, 4 secretaries and GOD knows what else because that is not even getting to crisis counselors, social workers, psychologists, etc! It cost the Ridgewood taxpayers $1 million+ dollars for those first ten people before even getting to a teacher in the 680 student building. Secretaries earning $50,000 plus benefits for doing WHAT? With all that staffing how could anyone miss the bullying going on in the building? In fact, it might be too many people shifting work and responibility around! That school needs 1 principal, 1 Vice-principal and 1 guidance counselor(maybe). RUN a tight ship with zero-tolerance and see how things change for the better!
THERE is so much more waste in the district. The biggest waste and the first job to go should have been the Public Information Officer who even got a trip/travel out of the Ridgewood taxpayers last year. Enough is Enough! Delete.
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