Category: Closter NJ

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North Jersey towns acquiring high-tech surveillance gear

big brother theridgewoodblog.net 1

North Jersey towns acquiring high-tech surveillance gear

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY NOVEMBER 23, 2012, 12:03 AM
BY ZACH PATBERG
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

A federal anti-terrorism program has drawn North Jersey deeper into the practice of hidden surveillance, equipping police departments with high-tech cameras, infrared technology and automatic license plate readers to keep tabs on people as they travel to local reservoirs, financial hubs and malls.

The stepped-up security around potential terrorist targets links the region into a network of clandestine monitoring. Some of the departments are already putting to use the equipment provided by Homeland Security; others are gearing up.

Oradell, Emerson, Closter and Harrington Park police have car-mounted night-vision technology and video and recording equipment that can watch over the Oradell Reservoir and dam — and the hikers and anglers entering it. West Milford can do the same around the Newark watershed. Wayne police are scanning scan the license plates of vehicles outside the Willowbrook Mall, while East Rutherford officers patrol hotel parking lots near the Meadowlands and the Federal Reserve building off Route 17.

Local police signed onto the Homeland Security network have broad discretion in deciding what to monitor and when to share surveillance feeds with federal agents. And when national security isn’t calling, they can use the equipment for day-to-day police work, such as enhanced tracking systems to catch suspects and better radio communication among officers.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/North_Jersey_cops_enlisted_in_anti-terrorism_surveillance.html

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>THIS IDEA WILL COST BERGEN COUNTY TAXPAYERS BIG TIME

>THIS IDEA WILL COST BERGEN COUNTY TAXPAYERS BIG TIME
Posted on April 5, 2012, 9:00 AM

Buried in Friday’s Bergen Record was a little story that is sure to cost the taxpayers of Bergen County a fortune if it is implemented.  But seeing how Bergen County Executive Kathleen A. Donovan loves to come up with more ways to increase her fiefdom it very well could come to be.

In a story titled Demarest to consider having Bergen County Police patrol the borough we learn that after trying to reach an agreement to share police services with the adjoining town Closter, the Demarest mayor said discussions were being held to have the county assume police responsibilities in the town.  This all developed because of the loss of tax revenue in the town and the Christie imposed property tax cap putting the squeeze on the municipal budget.  But the question has to be asked, if this is good for Demarest, will it be bad for the rest of Bergen County?  That answer is yes.  Let’s take a look at just why it is.

https://conservativenewjersey.com/this-idea-will-cost-bergen-county-taxpayers-big-time

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>Former Ridgewood Mayor Quentin Wiest Gets Nod As Hoboken’s New Top Dog

>Former Ridgewood Mayor Quentin Wiest Gets Nod As Hoboken’s New Top Dog 

Mayor Dawn Zimmer announced the hiring of Quentin Wiest as Business Administrator and Stephen Marks as Assistant Business Administrator.

“I am very excited about this team and the strong backgrounds they bring,” said Mayor Zimmer. “They will be a great asset to the City of Hoboken.”

Mr. Wiest has served as Business Administrator of the Borough of Closter, Executive Director of the Bergen County Improvement Authority, Director of Public Works for Bergen County, and Mayor of Ridgewood. He brings extensive finance, construction and facilities management experience.

https://www.hobokennj.org/docs/mayor/Resume-Wiest.pdf

https://www.hobokennj.org/2012/03/mayor-zimmer-announces-new-administration-leadership-team/

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>2 different career paths define Christie N.J. Supreme Court nominees

>

2 different career paths define Christie N.J. Supreme Court nominees

One nominee has logged long hours in the courtroom, and the other has rarely appeared before a judge. One has a $3.5 million real estate portfolio, while the other owns less than $1 million worth of property.
Those are just a couple of the distinctions between the two attorneys nominated by Gov. Chris Christie to serve on the state Supreme Court detailed in questionnaires submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The documents, obtained by The Star-Ledger, offered a glimpse into the different backgrounds of Phillip Kwon, 44, of Closter, and Bruce Harris, 61, the mayor of Chatham borough. If confirmed, Harris would be the first openly gay justice on the court, and Kwon the first Asian-American.  (Baxter and Spoto, The Star-Ledger)

https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/02/2_different_career_paths_defin.html
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>Payouts for unused sick days vary in North Jersey towns

>Payouts for unused sick days vary in North Jersey towns


Here’s a breakdown of data provided by Christie’s office for the obligation in each town in Bergen County:

Allendale – no obligation

Alpine – total obligation, $850,523.00; obligation per taxpayer, $1,169.46

Bergenfield – total obligation, $701,579.00; obligation per taxpayer, $83.44

Bogota – total obligation, $398,360.00; obligation per taxpayer, $162.76

Carlstadt – no obligation

Cliffside Park – total obligation, $100,000.00; obligation per taxpayer, $13.27

Closter – total obligation, $1,704,092.00; obligation per taxpayer, $549.02

Cresskill – total obligation, $319,192.00; obligation per taxpayer, $107.24

East Rutherford – total obligation, $1,101,518.00; obligation per taxpayer, $172.98

Edgewater – total obligation, $1,480,618.00; obligation per taxpayer, $266.69

Elmwood – total obligation, $2,004,685.00; obligation per taxpayer, $324.27

Emerson – total obligation, $400,926.00; obligation per taxpayer, $148.38

Englewood – total obligation, $5,353,655.00; obligation per taxpayer, $576.40

Englewood Cliffs – total obligation, $2,150,583.00; obligation per taxpayer, $793.98

Demarest – no obligation

Dumont – no obligation

Fair Lawn – total obligation, $1,635,758.00; obligation per taxpayer, $132.70

Fairview – total obligation, $1,473,045.00; obligation per taxpayer, $444.53

Fort Lee – total obligation, $9,225,587.00; obligation per taxpayer, $706.40

Franklin Lakes – no obligation

Garfield – total obligation, $2,692,885.00; obligation per taxpayer, $373.63

Glen Rock – total obligation, $1,004,087.00; obligation per taxpayer, $238.49

Hackensack – total obligation, $18,875,368.00; obligation per taxpayer, $1,030.51

Harrington Park – total obligation, $594,486.00; obligation per taxpayer, $356.08

Hasbrouck Heights – total obligation, $237,175.00; obligation per taxpayer, $55.77

Haworth – total obligation, $489,559.00; obligation per taxpayer, $370.61

Hillsdale – total obligation, $201,417.78; obligation per taxpayer, $56.48

Ho-Ho-Kus – total obligation, $1,283,024.58; obligation per taxpayer, $847.04

Leonia – total obligation, $551,626.93; obligation per taxpayer, $195.06

Little Ferry – total obligation, $227,896.00; obligation per taxpayer, $66.81

Lodi – no obligation

Lyndhurst – no obligation

Mahwah – total obligation, $2,033,561.94; obligation per taxpayer, $175.99

Maywood – total obligation, $140,840.00; obligation per taxpayer, $40.81

Midland Park – no obligation

Montvale – total obligation, $468,626.00; obligation per taxpayer, $129.63

Moonachie – total obligation, $552,913.00; obligation per taxpayer, $272.68

New Milford – total obligation, $2,738,820.00; obligation per taxpayer, $578.04

North Arlington – total obligation, $80,000.00; obligation per taxpayer, $17.53

Northvale – total obligation, $847,361.00; obligation per taxpayer, $402.78

Norwood – total obligation, $282,132.00; obligation per taxpayer, $135.63

Oakland – no obligation

Old Tappan – no obligation

Oradell – no obligation

Palisades Park – total obligation, $1,591,795.00; obligation per taxpayer, $328.29

Paramus – total obligation, $575,800.00; obligation per taxpayer, $38.45

Park Ridge – total obligation, $772,804.00; obligation per taxpayer, $230.36

Ramsey – total obligation, $2,425,192.27; obligation per taxpayer, $373.12

Ridgefield – no obligation

Ridgefield Park – total obligation, $678,973.00; obligation per taxpayer, $157.71

Ridgewood – total obligation, $7,203,566.23; obligation per taxpayer, $861.41

River Edge – total obligation, $733,050.20; obligation per taxpayer, $197.51

River Vale – total obligation, $1.00; obligation per taxpayer, $0.00

Rochelle Park – no obligation

Rockleigh – no obligation

Rutherford – total obligation, $3,620,854.00; obligation per taxpayer, $569.54

 Saddle Brook – total obligation, $1,295,495.00; obligation per taxpayer, $202.96

Saddle River – total obligation, $412,800.00; obligation per taxpayer, $318.05

South Hackensack – total obligation, $539,525.00; obligation per taxpayer, $320.47

Teaneck – total obligation, $4,379,922.16; obligation per taxpayer, $335.08

Tenafly – no obligation

Teterboro – total obligation, $94,299.77; obligation per taxpayer, $42.01

Upper Saddle River – total obligation, $986,895.00; obligation per taxpayer, $338.73

Waldwick – total obligation, $1,214,624.00; obligation per taxpayer, $324.61

Wallington – no obligation

Washington – total obligation, $567,071.00; obligation per taxpayer, $162.59

Westwood – – total obligation, $1,060,665.00; obligation per taxpayer, $247.79

Woodcliff Lake – no obligation

Wood-Ridge – total obligation, $1,417,724.00; obligation per taxpayer, $425.22

Wyckoff – no obligation

https://blog.northjersey.com/thesource/1768/payouts-for-unused-sick-days-vary-in-north-jersey-towns/

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>Neighbors-helping-Neighbors

>Neighbors-helping-Neighbors
 John Fugazzie  NhN Leader.

I want to invite you to become a Neighbors-helping-Neighbors member, we have an incredible group of people who are willing to help each other, our group has been in existence for just a little over 6 months now starting up in River Edge Library in January and we have helped 11 people find jobs including me back in May ! All of our meetings start at 7pm on Tuesday in Bergenfield and Hawthorne Libraries, Wednesday in Cresskill, and Thursday in River Edge all starting at 7pm sharp and it is helpful if you can be on time as we start into agenda and go around the room to heac member and it is important to know what each person is looking for so you can help with the networking and target company suggestions.

 As the awareness of our group meetings is increasing we are experiencing increidible growth with new library programs coming on stream each week, Westwood Library Aug 15; Ridgewood Sept 8, Lodi Sept 12, Sussex County Library- Newton NJ. Sept 13   Libraries in process of being set up are, Closter, Rockaway Twp, Waldwick and Englewood, and we also have some out of state programs begining to take the initial stages to organize. NhN members are free to attend any programs we set up and for the programs held on different nights you can network members from any of these libraries.

Please go to our web site and down load the very helpful materials that members of our group has put together, beginning a job search is a great one to start with.  www.neighbors-helping-neighbors.com 

The key to moving to our successes page is to stay positive! network like crazy and dont be affraid to help the others in our group, the group has incredible karma and i promise you attending weekly meetings and working with our wonderful neighbors who are in the same situation will help you find what you need.

Neighbors helping Neighbors theridgewoodblog.net

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>Isabel Park of Ridgewood, selected for JCC Thurnauer School of Music Master Class

>Isabel Park of Ridgewood,selected for JCC Thurnauer School of Music Master Class

JCC Thurnauer School of Music Announces Selected Students For Master Class

The JCC Thurnauer School of Music, recently named a Major Arts Institution by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, is pleased to announce the violin students selected to perform in a master class with New York Philharmonic concertmaster Glenn Dicterow on Sunday, April 10 from 2 to 5 p.m.

The class, open to anyone who would like to attend, will take place in the school’s Eric Brown Theater, located within the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades (411 East Clinton Avenue, Tenafly). The suggested donation to attend the class is $10, payable at the door.

The students (participants and honorable mention), selected by a panel of distinguished musicians and music educators, come from eight of the more than 50 municipalities in New York and New Jersey represented by the Thurnauer student body.
Selected student participants are Ari Boutris (New York, N.Y.); Stephanie Xu (Closter, N.J.); Mia Park (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.); Isabel Park (Ridgewood, N.J.); Amanda Chao and Andrew Yohann Kim (Tenafly); and Lucia Nowik (Warren, N.J.). Students chosen for Honorable Mention are Emily Chen and June Lee (Closter); Rachelle Huh (Demarest, N.J.); Dylan Hamme (Leonia, N.J.); and Sanford Whatley (Tenafly).

The master class is part of the music school’s Sylvia & Jacob Handler Master Class Series, and is the third and final class of the 2010-2011 Season. In January, the school welcomed New York Philharmonic cellist Eric Bartlett, and in March Philharmonic pianist (and music school parent) Jonathan Feldman.

The master class will mark Mr. Dicterow’s second appearance with Thurnauer School of Music students this year. On February 9, he performed the “Theme from Schindler’s List” as soloist with the Thurnauer Symphony Orchestra at the music school’s 2011 Gift of Music Gala Benefit Concert at the Bergen Performing Arts Center. The evening, which featured 10 musicians from the Philharmonic including music school parents Sheryl Staples (principal associate concertmaster), Judith LeClair (principal bassoon) and Mr. Feldman, raised nearly $100,000 in support of music education at the school.

Read more: https://nj.broadwayworld.com/article/JCC_Thurnauer_School_of_Music_Announces_Selected_Students_For_Master_Class_20110321#ixzz1HJxVCj4E

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>Graydon Pool: other swim clubs have lost substantial numbers of members this year.

>“This article on Declining enrollments strain finances, in many north Jersey swim clubs, shows how pools have lost memberships this year at accelerated rates due to the slumping economy. Even as the pro RPP tout they joined neighboring pools, those pools show declining membership percent losses also: Paramus 10% loss, Westwood 25% loss, Washington Twnshp 10% loss. Towns are holding off on expensive repairs. One would think, how can Ridgewood possibly think of a $10Million Bond?”

Swim clubs in deep
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Last updated: Sunday September 6, 2009, 9:39 AM
BY DEENA YELLIN
The Record
STAFF WRITER

https://www.northjersey.com/recreation/Swim_clubs_in_deep.html

In a slumping economy, many North Jersey swim clubs have just about managed to stay afloat.

With summer unofficially ending this weekend, swim clubs in Ridgewood, Paramus, Fairfield, Hasbrouck Heights, Bogota, Westwood, Ringwood and Washington Township report they have lost substantial numbers of members this year.


Many of the clubs are holding off on expensive repairs. Others are allowing residents of other towns to join as associate members or to use the pool for daily fees, an unthinkable concept in richer times.

One economist was not surprised.

“The consumer is retrenching sharply because of lost home equity, financial investment losses, excessive debt and job losses or fear of job losses,” said James Hughes, dean of the Edward Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. “Discretionary spending has been curtailed as households try to rebuild their balance sheets. Swim clubs are a discretionary spending item.”

At the Highlands Natural Pool in Ringwood, Treasurer Helene Wittmershaus attributed the decline from 102 to 76 member families to this year’s inclement weather as well as the harsh economic climate. “We are trying to come up with ways to entice people to join,” she said.

Closter dropped the price of its membership. Demarest is considering merging its pool with Closter, and Haworth has allowed the town to take over the club’s operation. Several clubs said they advertised this year for the first time to appeal to a crowd that’s not buying.

“Up until this year, we’ve had a waiting list every year for the past 20 years,” said John Casella, president of the Hasbrouck Heights Swim Club. “The pool needs to upgrade some of its equipment, but its revenue stream has been lowered,” he said.

The Hasbrouck Heights Swim Club charter does not permit members from out of town, but this year, the club issued guest passes for families with friends and relatives in town on a one-time basis, said Casella. Several other North Jersey swim clubs also said they loosened their normally tight membership restrictions this year to make ends meet.

Bogota’s pool, for example, which lost about 30 member families this year, opened its membership to the public for the first time, said pool manager Jeff Clark. “We’re all pitching in to have special events to do fund-raising activities. We’re reaching out to neighboring communities. We hope to appeal to more people.”

Not all pools are suffering. Hillsdale, Wayne and Fair Lawn said their numbers are similar to last year’s. Cresskill gained members. “We’re getting more members because it’s cheaper to join the swim club than to go away on vacation,” said Matt Bickford, assistant manager at the Cresskill club.

Others are not as lucky. At Graydon Pool in Ridgewood, where membership is down 31 percent from last year, spokeswoman Nancy Bigos said, “This is the lowest membership we’ve had in years. It’s hard to pay expenses.”

Demarest’s pool has seen a lot of turnover, as has the town: Many high-powered executives who lost their jobs sold their homes and moved out. “We’re doing better than most of the other pools, but if we don’t get a surge in the next few years, it will be hard to keep up the pool,” said assistant manager Mike Pasciuto. “The costs of chlorine and cleaning supplies have gone up. There’s been talk about merging the Demarest and Closter pools together, but neither town wants to give up their facility.”

Some say that the declining membership has been a steady trend over the past few years. In Washington Township, membership has gone down every year for the past few years by about 15 families, while five to 10 new families join, said board Co-president Scott Davies. But this year was markedly worse because of the economy. The club lost 25 families this year, and no new families came in.

“A lot of swim clubs are having difficulties,” he said. “We had a greater number of people resign this year than in the past with the economy,” he said. “If residents lost their jobs, they will curtail in whatever way they can.”

In an effort to cut costs, the board members pitched in by volunteering at the club on weekends, maintaining the grounds and painting the pool. The club renegotiated insurance and landscaper contracts to save money. And now, the club is more aggressively seeking members, said Davies. “We’re reaching out to other communities. We’re advertising. It’s definitely tougher this year than in the past.”

Westwood has watched membership decline and expenses go up over the past few years. The club, which lost 30 families this year, had a potential buyer, but the board members wanted to hold on to their beloved club.

“We’ve had financial problems,” said Marge Guitella, the board president. “We had to take out a loan to replace a pump, but we are reluctant to raise dues. We don’t want to lose our club. We will advertise, we’re inviting other towns to come, we’re offering discounts, and we’re thinking of lowering our dues. High dues are driving out members in this economy. We are working hard to get through this season.”

E-mail: yellin@northjersey.com

https://www.northjersey.com/recreation/Swim_clubs_in_deep.html

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>A non-binding ballot question in November about the reopening of Pascack Valley Hospital?

>My questions: WHY our Council hasn’t done so as the other Councils did? Isn’t Ridgewood, va the Valley, directly linked to this??

The REQUEST DEADLINE IS TOMORROW AT 10 AM!!

Votes set on reopening of hospital
Thursday, August 20, 2009
The Record

Many towns in northeastern Bergen County will have a non-binding ballot question in November about the reopening of Pascack Valley Hospital.

Councils in 11 towns — River Vale, Park Ridge, Montvale, Oradell, Hillsdale, Washington Township, Old Tappan, Northvale, Harrington Park, Emerson and Westwood — have approved resolutions asking for the ballot question. Closter was to hold a special meeting about it Wednesday night.

The question asks whether voters favor the expenditure of “resources through the attendance and participation at public hearings or other proceedings by municipal officials in support of the application” by Hackensack University Medical Center to reopen the Westwood site as a 128-bed community hospital.

The deadline for the towns to request the addition to the ballot is Friday at 10 a.m.

— Lindy Washburn

https://www.northjersey.com/news/health/hospitals/53759887.html

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>Ridgewood and Ho-Ho-Kus Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 192 members are being mistreated.

>“Ridgewood and Ho-Ho-Kus Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 192 members are being mistreated. See blog https://vfw-post-192-nj.blogspot.com/ for more information and how to assist our patriots.”

Thanks.

Stan

Stanley A. Kober
(sakober@yahoo.com)

Monday, July 20, 2009
Post 192 Veterans Need Help
Dear Friend and Supporter of our Country’s Veterans:

WE NEED YOUR HELP!!

I apologize for the length of this post, but for the last several years, the Washington Elm VFW Post 192 (the only chartered Veterans of Foreign Wars Post for Ridgewood and Ho-Ho-Kus) situated in Ho-Ho-Kus at 620 Cliff Street, Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ 07423, has been attempting to rectify a wrong foisted on its members in 1994 and 2002 when the Post’s command group entered into a lease, after discussions with the Borough’s former mayor (who apparently was simultaneously a member of the lessee-railroad club), which at those times signed away, apparently without the Post membership’s permission, substantially all of the Post’s assets in a lease that is perpetual and “unconscionable” (as at least one attorney calls it). As the Post Commander for the last several years, while directing the Post in its many endeavors to get back into supporting the communities of Ho-Ho-Kus and Ridgewood and all veterans and their families, according to the “Purposes of the Corporation”, my burdensome duty has been to try to find a “pro bono” (at no cost) attorney that would litigate our case in court against this unlawful, illegal lease, so determined by the NJ State VFW Staff Judge Advocate who appears to be supported by at least two NJ statutes.

The lessee, the Ramapo Valley model railroad club, initiated a unilateral legal action against the veterans of our Post when in the Fall of 2005 their club member-attorney (the same club member-attorney who wrote the original lease in 1994) went before the Borough of Ho-Ho-Kus Mayor and Council complaining of the Post (the landlord) wanting to demolish the building and to reconstruct it, stating that they would fight for their leasehold rights, or words to that effect, even though the club was planned to be offered the entire second floor of the new building. That unilateral, uncooperative, aggressive action by the railroad club and its member-attorney commenced only two days after the Post Commander and the club’s president agreed to a meeting with club members to discuss the reconstruction project. Unfortunately, the meeting did not take place until many months later, since the VFW Post was now required to find its own attorney to represent it.

While the railroad club tenant has found an allegedly high-priced, “pro bono” litigating attorney from Closter, NJ to represent the approximately twenty-five club members, the ninety-four veterans in our VFW Post (as of June 30, 2009), all of whom have served OR ARE SERVING honorably in our Country’s military service, have not found any qualified, willing litigator, despite numerous discussions with attorneys, to take our case “pro bono” as the lessee has done. To my recollection, every one of the attorneys we contacted has reviewed the lease and every one has said words to the effect that they “have never seen a lease like this before” in which the lawful property owner (the Veterans of Foreign Wars) is so limited, among other issues, and in which that limitation extends forever!

It must be said, however, that several of the attorneys that we have contacted have been very helpful in providing some ideas and assistance, even though they have not been able to take on our case “pro bono” for various reasons, such as, they are not litigators, not specialists in the required field, etc. There was one local attorney, however, who after several very encouraging and favorable telephone discussions with me, said that he would take on our case and then suddenly made a complete reversal and became very antagonistic. He personally gave me the “cold shoulder” by not returning numerous phone calls (even when he did answer and said he would) and writing a very disturbing letter to me after I went to his office to find out what was wrong. While other attorneys have not returned or taken my follow-up phone calls, this one attorney appears to be the essence for the bad lawyer jokes. These actions and similar ones by other area attorneys have made some Post members think and remark that there may be something in play of which we are not cognizant.

Be that as it may, after contacting these many attorneys and not receiving what we required, we attempted to get the ball rolling by going “pro se” (representing ourselves) in the eviction process.

The eviction notice prepared by me as the Post Commander and given the tenant and its attorney, with copies to the Ho-Ho-Kus Mayor and Council among others, was filed with the Superior Court of Bergen County listing over two pages of inequities and contract violations by the tenant. For example, the lease is a perpetual one (not 99-years, but forever); it limits the use of the facility by the veterans (the landlord) to only once per month for its meeting; it sets the annual lease payment at an unconscionably low annual rate of $1,217 set for this year for a space of at least 2,500 square feet in Ho-Ho-Kus; the lease appears not to permit the landlord (the VFW) to cancel the lease at the time of renewal, only the tenant may do that in writing; it permits the tenant, without the notification to, or permission of, the landlord to alter the insides of the building for whatever it wishes to whatever extent it wishes; it relegates the once per month VFW meeting to an area that is impractical for complying with the VFW rituals and by-laws as well as the local fire code; and these are only a few among the restrictions or violations regarding the lease stated in the eviction notice papers.

To our dismay, the case was “dismissed without prejudice” because as a corporation in NJ a litigant is required to have legal representation (an attorney) in the court proceeding.That legal hurdle, however, has not stopped us in our pursuit to rectify the injustice perpetrated on us veterans. It is just another obstacle that we need to overcome and we believe that in the end, our Post, like the principles of Truth and Justice, as naïve as that may sound to some folks, will prevail. After all, aren’t they two principles that we veterans fought for and many of our comrades died for and our current troops are fighting and dying for, for us and others around the world, every day?

As a result, after much effort on our own, we veterans are at the point of asking the help of, you, the residents, business owners, and organizations of the communities of Ridgewood and Ho-Ho-Kus, whom we specifically serve, as well as others who read this, to assist us financially by sending whatever money you are able to provide for our legal expenses, to the Washington Elm VFW Post 192, 620 Cliff Street, Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ 07423, so that we might hire a qualified litigating attorney to represent us and to rectify this unjust situation without further delay.

Those of you who have the opportunity to have a matching fund donation from your company/corporation, please use this means to double your donation. All the IRS numbers for our organization for a tax-deductible donation are at the top of this letter.

We recognize that times are financially tight for all of us, but anything you can send for our legal expenses would be helpful and very much appreciated by the patriots, and in memory of those who have sacrificed all, from the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 192.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned at 201-445-1121.

May God continue to Bless America!

/s/ Stanley A. Kober
Stanley A. Kober
Commander,
Washington Elm VFW Post 192
620 Cliff Street
Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ 07423
TEL: 201-445-1121
FAX:201-445-2091
Posted by 71542 at 9:28 AM 0 comments
Labels: Ho-Ho-Kus, Hohokus, military, New Jersey, NJ, post 192, Ridgewood, veterans, vfw, washington elm
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>Noted local attorney fighting DWI charges

>The Record

Monday, August 18, 2008

A prominent Closter land-use attorney will head to court in October to fight drunken-driving charges.

David Watkins, 57, was arrested the afternoon of July 15, 2007, after driving to the Tenafly home of a client whose car was being impounded, a police report said.

The well-known attorney behind numerous development projects in Closter and surrounding towns had a blood-alcohol content of 0.17 – twice the legal limit, the police report states. Watkins pleaded not guilty last year to charges of driving while intoxicated, careless driving and having “unclear plates.”

The case was transferred to Englewood Municipal Court after Cresskill Municipal Judge Terry P. Bottinelli requested a change of venue. The judge had represented Watkins in another case, Cresskill Court Administrator Craig Ferdinand said.

Watkins’ attorney has subpoenaed officers from Cresskill and Tenafly, but the case has been delayed repeatedly. The police report describes Watkins as failing to perform several sobriety tests and arriving at the scene wearing “messed up” clothes and “two different colored shoes.” The report states he asked police for both Bottinelli and “Romeo,” an apparent reference to Cresskill Mayor Ben Romeo.

Watkins’ attorney, Joseph Rem, filed a motion to suppress all evidence obtained in the case and is seeking extensive documentation on the types of sobriety tests administered and the credentials and training of the officers who performed the tests. Rem also requested documentation on the testing history of the Breathalyzer.

“We’ve had many pleasant conversations with the prosecutor, both sides know what the issues are in the case, and both sides are ready to go forward,” Rem said, declining to comment on the details of the case.

While stressing that Watkins has denied the allegations, he said a conviction on such charges typically involves the loss of a driver’s license and a fine.

Watkins is scheduled to appear Oct. 2 in Englewood Municipal Court.