Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Police report that on Sunday, May 1, patrol responded to a Franklin Avenue office building to investigate the report of a burglary. The management company reported one of the offices has been vacant and when they went to check on it, they discovered someone had broken into it and appeared to be living within it. Patrolman DiBenedetto located the man in a second floor office. Michael Russo, age 54 who reported to be homeless, admitted to breaking into the office and living there for two weeks. He was placed under arrest and charged with burglary, criminal mischief and possession of burglary tools. He was transported to the Bergen County Jail on a Complaint Warrant issued by Ridgewood Municipal Court.Readers believe this to be the same homeless man reported on this blog at the Ridgewood train station in April.
Prior to this on Saturday, April 30, Sgt. Brian Pullman found a female sleeping in the grass in Graydon Park. When he went to check on her wellbeing, she reported to him that she was homeless. An identification check revealed that she had warrants for her arrest from Highland Park and New Brunswick. Joyce Umberto, age 63, was arrested and turned over to the Highland Park Police Department.
Ridgewood NJ, all this talk about Valley Hospital being the “Crown Jewel” of Ridgewood ,but the reality is far different . Valley is according to the new OMNIA Health Alliance at “Tier 2” hospital .
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey announced the OMNIA Alliance, a partnership with 22 hospitals which have agreed to accept smaller reimbursements but would be financially rewarded for quality and keeping people healthy. Another 14 hospitals Horizon designated as “tier one” facilities also agreed to accept lower reimbursement in exchange for higher patient volume.
The 14 were ;Chilton Medical Center; Clara Maass Medical Center; Community Medical Center; Hackensack UMC in Hackensack, Mountainside and Pascack Valley; Hunterdon Medical Center; Inspira Medical Center Elmer, Vineland and Woodbury; Jersey City Medical Center; Monmouth Medical Center and its Southern Campus; Morristown Medical Center; Newark Beth Israel Medical Center; Newton Medical Center; Overlook Medical Center, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway, Somerset, New Brunswick and Hamilton; Saint Barnabas Medical Center. Hackettstown Medical Center will be added after it is acquired by Atlantic Health
However the remaining 36 hospitals in the state, were left out. The hospitals included in Tier 2 (based on the latest available information) are Bayonne Hospital; Capital Health in Trenton and Hopewell; CentraState Medical Center in Freehold; East Orange General Hospital; Hoboken University Medical Center; Holy Name Hospital; JFK Medical Center, Edison; Kennedy Health System in Cherry Hill, Stratford, and Turnersville; Lourdes Medical Center of Burlington County, Willingboro; Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center, Secaucus; and Memorial Hospital of Salem County.
Also in Horizon’s Tier 2: Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center, Camden; Raritan Bay Medical Center – Old Bridge and Perth Amboy; Saint Clare’s Hospital in Denville, Dover, and Sussex; Saint Michael’s Medical Center, Newark; Saint Peter’s University Hospital, New Brunswick; St. Francis Medical Center, Trenton; St. Luke’s Warren Hospital; St. Mary’s Hospital, Passaic; Trinitas Hospital, Elizabeth; University Hospital, Newark; Valley Hospital, Ridgewood; Virtua, Berlin, Marlton, Mount Holly, and Voorhees.
Horizon created OMNIA and the tiered network plan in an attempt to curb health insurance costs and provide cheaper options to employers and consumers.
Horizon examined Medicare data and looked for the hospitals with the lowest readmission rates and best scores on patient, safety and quality measures. Hospitals needed to offer a range of inpatient, outpatient and post-acute care services. They had to be using or prepared to use a “value-based” payment model that rewards preventive care. They had to score high on patient satisfaction surveys. Horizon also favored the largest hospitals and systems, including those that serve a sizable number of Horizon members.
Horizon claims they are not passing judgement on the quality of the hospital. Consumers who go to Tier 1 hospitals and doctors pay lower copays and out-of-pocket costs. They can visit hospitals and doctors classified as Tier 2 but pay higher costs when doing so.
“The fact is Ridgewood was designated by NJT as a major transit hub several years ago and to a large extent that is why so many residents who work on Wall St have chosen to live here. Ridgewood has the reputation as the town that “has it all” great schools, charming neighborhoods, a lively downtown……and an easy commute to the city. When one gets past all the current rhetoric the three amigos are simply executing a plan and a vision for Ridgewood that was put in place long before they arrived on the scene.” Ed S
Q. What is a designated Transit Village?
A. A designated Transit Village is a municipality that has been recommended for designation by the interagency Transit Village Task Force. These municipalities have demonstrated a commitment to revitalizing and redeveloping the area around their transit facilities into compact, mixed-use neighborhoods with a strong residential component.
A municipality can be designated a Transit Village only after much of the planning and background work has already been done on the municipal level. It may only be designated a Transit Village after the Transit Village Criteria have been met.
Q. How many designated Transit Villages are there?
A. There are currently 30 designated Transit Villages. They are Pleasantville (1999), Morristown (1999), Rutherford (1999), South Amboy (1999), South Orange (1999), Riverside (2001), Rahway (2002), Metuchen (2003), Belmar (2003), Bloomfield (2003), Bound Brook (2003), Collingswood (2003), Cranford (2003), Matawan (2003), New Brunswick (2005), Journal Square/Jersey City (2005), Netcong (2005), Elizabeth/Midtown (2007), Burlington City (2007), City of Orange Township (2009), Montclair (2010), Somerville (2010), Linden (2010), West Windsor (2012), East Orange (2012), Dunellen (2012), Summit (2013), Plainfield (2014), Borough of Park Ridge (2015) and Irvington Township (2015).
We were promised that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would “bend the cost curve down”, and yet health insurance premiums are expected to rise by as much as 60% in 2016. What should be done to solve this dilemma? A common refrain is that since the “free market” has failed, the United States needs a Single Payer healthcare system like Canada’s.
Being a Canadian physician now living in the Minnesota, I assure you that Canada’s healthcare system is not Utopia. In my former life as Medical Director of Diagnostic Imaging for Thunder Bay Regional Hospital in Canada, for a while our wait time for an elective MRI was 13 months and for CT it was seven months. I managed to convince the hospital administration to increase MRI operational hours, and we reduced the wait to 4 months becoming the envy of the province. Doctors from other regions attempted to send us their patients. We said no. We could not accommodate the extra work because we only had one scanner for a radius of about 500 miles because that was all that the government would allow. As payer for the system, it is inevitable that the government controls the system. The incentive is to control costs, not necessarily to care for patients.
The Fraser Institute monitors wait times in Canada. As of 2014, the average wait time for medically necessary specialty care is 18.2 weeks. In the province of New Brunswick, the wait time averages 37.3 weeks. In my hometown of Sault Ste. Marie, where I still own property, the average wait for a newcomer to town to get established with a family doctor is five years, unless you have insider ties to the system.
The standard response by single payer advocates is that Canada’s healthcare system is underfunded. According to the Fraser Institute, the average Canadian family is spending 12,000 dollars per year for health coverage (buried in taxes). According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Canada per capita healthcare expenses rank sixth highest amongst 192 ranked countries.
Another rejoinder of the single-payer advocates is that “outcomes” are better in Canada. For example, according to the World Health Organization, the average life expectancy in Canada is three years longer than in the US. Many factors affect life expectancy of which the health care system is only one. Racial background is very important. According to 1999 OECD data, an Asian-American male at birth can expect to live 80.9 years, a non-Hispanic white male can expect to live 74.4 years, and an African-American male has a life expectancy of 68.4 years. More homogeneously white, Canada is a less racially diverse country than the US contributing to a higher average life expectancy. According to Sally Pipes of the Pacific Research Institute, when allowing for deaths from violent crime and traffic accidents, Americans are the longest-lived people in the Western world. According to John Goodman in “Lives at Risk”, Americans fare better than any other country when looking at individual disease states such as myocardial infarction and various malignancies.
What happens in the doctor’s office or in the hospital pales in significance to the decisions that people make in their day-to-day lives. For example, Canadians are generally less obese than Americans and there is less gun-related crime. The relationship between health care systems and population outcomes is murky, and so we cannot conflate the efficacy of a health care system with average life expectancy.
Why is it that Canada’s single payer health care system is so constipated with an onslaught of patients waiting interminably for care? There are two basic reasons that are really two sides of the same coin. They are price controls and central planning.
N.J. hospitals, health system settle improper billing claims, feds say
By Tim Darragh | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
October 30, 2015 at 4:30 PM, updated October 30, 2015 at 7:01 PM
Five New Jersey hospitals and a health system are among hundreds across the United States that settled charges they improperly billed Medicare for implanting cardiac defibrillators, the Justice Department said Friday.
Cooper Health System in Camden, Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Browns Mills, Hackensack University Medical Center, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick and The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood joined more than 450 other hospitals in 70 health networks to settle the charges. Catholic Health East, which operates in several states and includes St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton, St. Michael’s Medical Center in Newark and Lourdes Health System in Camden, also settled for some of the hospitals outside New Jersey in its chain.
In total, the health systems repaid the federal government more than $250 million to settle the charges, which cover operations going back years.
“While recognizing and respecting physician judgment, the department will hold accountable hospitals and health systems for procedures performed by physicians at their facilities that fail to comply with Medicare billing rules,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said in a news release. “We are confident that the settlements announced today will lead to increased compliance and result in significant savings to the Medicare program while protecting patient health.”
I want to thank Senators Vitale and Gill for raising the red flag on the Blue Cross Horizon Omnia Plan. Any time a private company wants to merge and become bigger, we run the risk of having a monopoly that ultimately has the power to charge whatever it wants. “Care-coordination” and “value based approach” are meaningless buzz words.
The sickest and most vulnerable patients are at risk, as these plans have no real way to “keep people well.” Hospitals must be places of mercy and not revenue centers. This should be about care– not big business and mergers. If a hospital is unprofitable, it may just be doing its job, caring for those who are in need. Arbitrary “measurements of quality and cost efficiency” are not what the people need when choosing a hospital.
There is no price transparency in medical care as demonstrated by the recent $42,678 hospital bill for a normal uncomplicated delivery. “Insurance payments and adjustments” were $42,624.60. What exactly did that insurance company pay? What were the real costs and how can such a bill be justified? All of these charges, adjustments and payments behind closed doors suggest skulduggery, plain and simple.
We need to remember what real insurance was meant to be– a buffer to protect one’s assets against the cost of major medical events. Insurance cannot keep people well. We must reduce the power of these plans and have them serve the people, competing with other plans on cost, service and ability to negotiate and pay for major medical expenses. All hospitals should be included.
Let’s work together. Let’s clear the way for direct primary care, where people pay directly or become members of a local physician office for as low as $50/month. Let’s reserve insurance for the catastrophic and reduce the power of these big conglomerates. And let’s figure out how to provide real charity care to the poor without erecting a huge bureaucracy that amounts to a barrier to care. Alieta Eck, MD For Real Health Care Reform
ANDREW KITCHENMAN | OCTOBER 6, 2015
State senators to call on attorney general to block controversial tiered insurance plan before planned November launch
The traditional role of New Jersey’s state government in regulating the hospital and insurance industries has been to balance the needs of residents against the realities of the market, to ensure, among other things, equitable access to healthcare.
Then why are two leading senators on insurance issues — Nia H. Gill (D-Essex and Passaic) and Joseph F. Vitale (D-Middlesex) — arguing that the state has abdicated its responsibility in the case of the new OMNIA Health Alliance from Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey? And they’re not alone in claiming that Horizon’s secretive selection process has left hospitals that were shut out of the alliance facing a bleak future, one that could include going dark.
This situation helps explain why Gill and Vitale are calling for Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman to step in and put a stop to the OMNIA rollout, at least until his office and legislators have more time to review the plans.
Both Horizon executives and critics of how OMNIA was put together attempted to build their cases during nearly eight hours of testimony before a joint meeting of Senate Commerce and Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee.
It’s a process that could play out again in legal proceedings, as those left out of the alliance are raising the possibility of going to court to block it.
That said, not everything about OMNIA is raising a red flag. Senators welcome the possibility of lower costs, as well as the improved care-coordination and value-based approach that the tiered insurance plan is supposed to deliver.
And OMNIA has its defenders. One of them, Dr. Jeffrey Le Benger, CEO of alliance member Summit Medical Group, said that Summit has already reduced the cost of providing care to Horizon members by 13 percent over a two-year period.
Ronald C. Rak, chief executive of New Brunswick-based St. Peter’s Healthcare System, is definitely not among OMNIA’s champions. He found a corollary to the actions of the state’s largest insurer in ancient Rome.
AUGUST 27, 2015, 11:55 AM LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015, 2:23 PM
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) — An elementary school teacher has been allowed to keep his job even though he was late for work 111 times over a two-year period.
In a decision filed Aug. 19, an arbitrator rejected an attempt by the Roosevelt Elementary School to fire 15-year veteran Arnold Anderson from his $90,000-a-year job, saying he was entitled to progressive discipline.
Anderson was late 46 times in the most recent school year through March 20 and 65 times in the previous school year, the arbitrator said. But the arbitrator criticized Anderson’s claim that the quality of his teaching outweighed his tardiness.
He relied on “micro-quibbles of a few unpersuasive explanations, with a macro-default position that even when he is late he nevertheless delivers a superb educational experience to his grateful students,” the arbitrator wrote.
Ridgewood NJ, U.S. News and World Report sifted through data for nearly 5,000 hospitals and results from surveys of more than 140,000 physicians to rank the best centers in 16 adult specialties from cancer to urology, according to the publication
Death rates, patient safety and hospital reputation were a few of factors considered. Only 137 hospitals were nationally ranked in a specialty.
Here is the list for New Jersey:
1. Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack
Bed Count: 685
Type: General medical and surgical
Doctors: 1,169
Nationally ranked in 5 specialties
2. Morristown Medical Center, Morristown
Bed Count: 656
Type: General medical and surgical
Doctors: 1,009
Nationally ranked hospital n 4 specialties
3. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick
Bed Count: 610
Type: General medical and surgical
Doctors: 1,259
4. AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, Atlantic City
Bed Count: 534
Type: General medical and surgical
Doctors: 508
5. Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune
Bed Count: 546
Type: General medical and surgical
Doctors: 727
6. (Tie) St. Peter’s University Hospital, New Brunswick
Bed Count: 374
Type: General medical and surgical
Doctors: 887
6. (Tie) University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro, Plainsboro
Bed Count: 338
Type: General medical and surgical
Doctors: 23
8. Overlook Medical Center, Summit
Bed Count: 428
Type: General medical and surgical
Doctors: 1,047
9. (Tie) Holy Name Medical Center, Teaneck
Bed Count: 318
Type: General medical and surgical
Doctors: 670
9. (Tie) Riverview Medical Center, Red Bank
Bed Count: 270
Type: General medical and surgical
Doctors: 1,065
9. (Tie) South Jersey Healthcare Regional Medical Center, Vineland
Bed Count: 331
Type: General medical and surgical
12. Valley Hospital, Ridgewood
Bed Count: 446
Type: General medical and surgical
Doctors: 953
13. (Tie) Capital Health Regional Medical Center, Trenton
The board also adopted a fare and service plan which includes an average 9% increase in fares
NJ TRANSIT ADOPTS FISCAL YEAR 2016 OPERATING AND CAPITAL BUDGETS
NEWARK, NJ — The NJ TRANSIT Board of Directors today adopted a Fiscal Year 2016 (FY 2016) operating budget and capital program that supports continued investments in infrastructure and equipment to maintain the system in a state of good repair and enhance the overall customer experience.
The board also adopted a fare and service plan which includes an average 9% increase in fares, with no customer paying more than 9.4% after rounding, and modest changes for rail and bus service.
“NJ TRANSIT is moving forward with a balanced budget that reflects a laser-like look at individual business lines in order to maximize efficiencies and maintain a safe transportation system,” NJ TRANSIT Executive Director Veronique “Ronnie” Hakim, said. “As transit professionals, we owed our customers and stakeholders a good-faith effort to present them a solid plan that had the least impact on our riders. After much hard work, I am confident we delivered on that.”
The Board adopted a $2.116 billion operating budget and a $2.099 billion capital program for the fiscal year that started July 1, 2015.
Nearly half of the revenue in the FY 2016 operating budget comes from fares ($1.005 billion), supported by a comparable amount from state and federal program reimbursements ($961.8 million) with the balance from a combination of commercial revenues ($115.2 million) and state operating assistance ($33.2 million).
The capital program funds continued state-of-good-repair investments in transit stations and infrastructure supports an ongoing fleet modernization program and advances service reliability, safety and technology initiatives.
Operating Budget
The FY 2016 operating budget reflects an increase of state funding along with a stable level of federal and other reimbursements, which will enable NJ TRANSIT to meet the agency’s projected expenses this fiscal year. Approximately 59 percent of the operating budget is dedicated to labor and fringe benefits costs. Other significant expenses include contracted transportation services, fuel and power and materials, which together comprise approximately 27 percent of the operating budget.
This year’s operating budget reflects a $76.7 million (8.3 percent) growth in passenger revenue, based on the fare adjustment and ridership trends. Overall passenger revenue and commercial revenue represents approximately 53 percent of the total FY 2016 operating program.
Capital Program
The FY 2016 capital program continues to prioritize investment in infrastructure to maintain an overall state of good repair, enhance safety and reliability, and improve the overall customer experience on the system.
The program continues to invest in upgrades to the Northeast Corridor (NEC),
the agency’s most utilized rail line. The NEC is allocated $61 million in FY 2016 as part of NJ TRANSIT’s ten-year, $1 billion Northeast Corridor investment program.
Highlights of the program include $82 million in rail station improvements: $27 million for Summit Station improvements, $14 million for Elizabeth Station enhancements, $6 million for Perth Amboy Station improvements and high-level platform construction, $4 million for Newark Penn Station upgrades, $4 million to reconstruct Lyndhurst Station to make it accessible to persons with disabilities and $2 million for New Brunswick Station improvements.
The program also supports continued investment in rolling stock renewal, with $87 million invested in rail rolling stock improvements and $40 million toward the purchase of new buses.
In addition, the program is undertaking approximately $913 million in major capital projects that will help advance NJ TRANSIT’s resiliency to extreme weather events.
NJ TRANSITGRID, which will serve as an electrical micro-grid capable of supplying highly reliable power when the centralized power grid is compromised, is being funded through this effort as well as other projects including Delco Lead Train Safe Haven Storage and Service Restoration, Hoboken Long Slip Fill and Rail Enhancement, Train Controls Resiliency, and Raritan River Drawbridge Replacement.
Funding is also provided for technology and security upgrades, local programs, and rail, bus and light rail infrastructure improvements.
Approximately 42 percent of the capital budget comes from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Sandy Resiliency funds, with the balance coming from federal and other sources including 22% from the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF).
Fare and Service Adjustments
Throughout the past five years, NJ TRANSIT held the line on fare increases while maintaining high quality services and implementing new customer amenities including MyTix, Departurevision, and MyBus Now.
However, costs such as contract services – Access Link, the organization’s paratransit service, Hudson-Bergen Light Rail and private carriers – and workers’ compensation, general liability insurance, healthcare and benefits, and pensions have steadily risen. As a result, NJ TRANSIT was left with a significant budget gap.
Although NJ TRANSIT identified more than $40 million in reductions in overtime, fuel savings, energy and vehicle parts efficiencies, the agency still faced an approximate $56 million budget gap for the 2016 fiscal year. To close the gap, fare and service adjustments were proposed and now approved. The fare adjustment will go into effect on October 1st.
Editors note : once again another editorial that failed to address :
1- what happened to the presidents stimulus money ?
2- where has the TTF money been spent?
3- why does road work cost so much in New Jersey
4- why haven’t we audited the TTF ?
5- we already have enormous revenues from tolls and taxes how is it being spent?
answer any of these questions and you may get some public support for “solutions”June 28, 2015We were disappointed to learn earlier this month that, despite overwhelming opposition from riders and public officials, NJ Transit will be proceeding with the planned fare hikes and service cuts it proposed earlier this year.The action is unavoidable, says NJ Transit, because the agency has a $56 million budget gap; to close it, fares will jump 9 percent, on average, and rail and bus routes will be cut back.This is bad news for commuters, no doubt about it, but it’s bad news for business owners, too. Earlier this month, NJ.com published a report on the median property values along NJ Transit rail lines, and unsurprisingly, people are willing to pay quite a price to live near access to employment hubs such as Newark, Morristown, New Brunswick, Princeton and others. That gives companies incentive to locate in these areas, which gives developers incentive to make investments in these towns, which in turn brings more businesses — especially smaller ones — and powers downtown revitalization. Towns such as Summit and Montclair would be a much tougher sell for commuters if they lacked reliable rail transportation.This is just another example of New Jersey’s poor transportation planning coming home to roost. The depleted Transportation Trust Fund, starved by an insufficient gas tax, has made major rail investment an afterthought. Raising fares is only going to push more cars on the road at rush hour, exacerbating what many consider to be the Garden State’s worst problem, and will harm investment in rail towns by developers and businesses. No one likes a tax hike, but a small increase in the gas tax is preferable to another big transit fare hike. It would be nice if legislators wised up and ensured this is the last increase for the foreseeable future.
Part of the reason we’re here is poor policy. No public transit agency is going to break even, much less turn a profit, but NJ Transit has often been a victim of not getting what it needs from the state, combined with its own share of dunderheaded decisions, such as rail car storage during Sandy. The state must take a hard look at the impact rail service has on municipalities when it thinks about funding infrastructure upgrades or new station construction. And that goes for bus and light rail projects, too — the tremendous impact of the Hudson-Bergen light rail line on property values was long ago demonstrated. Given that the only new jobs being talked about in New Jersey are at casinos or megamalls, professionals are likely to need reliable access to New York to find the work they want — and they’re paying for that privilege.
JUNE 3, 2015, 7:50 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015, 9:25 PM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
The Bergen County Justice Center project under construction in Hackensack will cost an additional $1.3 million to build and take about 14 months more to finish, county officials revealed Wednesday.
The freeholders approved a change order Wednesday that calls for paying $1,329,797 more to Gilbane Building Co., the New Brunswick-based construction manager overseeing the project.
The vote to approve was 4-0 with three freeholders absent.
The added payment will keep the firm on site for an additional 14 months beyond its original contract, which was to have expired on July 1, said Ray Dressler, the county’s public works director.
At $147 million, the multifaceted project was already the largest in the county’s history, even before Wednesday’s vote.
Besides a new six-story Justice Center on Court Street, the project includes a new Public Works garage in Hackensack, a Public Works facility in Paramus, a parking deck and renovation of the 102-year-old courthouse.
Public comment encouraged at locations across the system
April 20, 2015
NEWARK, NJ —Throughout the past five years, NJ TRANSIT held the line on fare increases while maintaining high quality services and implementing new customer amenities including MyTix, Departurevision, and MyBus Now.
However, costs such as contract services – Access Link, the organization’s paratransit service, Hudson-Bergen Light Rail and private carriers – and healthcare and benefits, general liability insurance, workers’ compensation and pensions have steadily risen. As a result, NJ TRANSIT has been left with a significant budget gap.
Although NJ TRANSIT has identified more than $40 million in reductions in overtime, fuel savings, energy and vehicle parts efficiencies, the agency still faces an approximate $60 million budget gap for the 2016 fiscal year. To close the gap, fare and service adjustments are being proposed.
NJ TRANSIT will hold nine scheduled public hearings and one information session beginning Saturday, May 16, 2015 to allow the public the opportunity to learn more about the proposed fare increases and service changes and offer comments before the plan is considered by the Board of Directors on July 8, 2015.
The proposed service and fare changes would take effect in September 2015 and on October 1, 2015, respectively. The proposed fare adjustment would be an average of 9 percent for the majority of NJ TRANSIT customers.
Beginning on Monday, April 20th, customers may log on to www.njtransit.com for additional information regarding the budget and service adjustment plan.
To ensure an inclusive public comment process, NJ TRANSIT has scheduled nine public hearings and one information session at locations across the state from May 16 through May 21. The hearings and information session will be held in the evenings and on Saturday to encourage participation.
In addition to appearing in person, members of the public also may submit comments via mail to: PUBLIC HEARING OFFICE – FARE PROPOSAL COMMENTS, ONE PENN PLAZA EAST, NEWARK, NJ 07105; online at www.njtransit.com or dropped off at Customer Service Offices. The online public comment period will be extended until 11:59 p.m., Thursday, May 21.
PUBLIC HEARINGS & INFORMATION SESSIONSSaturday, May 16, 2015 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
NEW BRUNSWICK (INFORMATION SESSION)
New Brunswick Public Library – Carl T. Valenti Community Rm.,
60 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ
Monday, May 18, 2015 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.
ATLANTIC CITY
Atlantic City Rail Terminal – Lobby
One Atlantic City Expressway, Atlantic City, NJ
FREEHOLD
Monmouth County Agricultural Building
4000 Kozloski Road, Freehold, NJ
Tuesday, May 19, 2015 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.
SECAUCUS
Frank R. Lautenberg Station at Secaucus Junction
County Road & County Avenue, Secaucus, NJ
CAMDEN
Camden City Hall – Council Chambers (2nd Fl.)
520 Market Street, Camden, NJ
Wednesday, May 20, 2015 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.
NEWARK
NJ TRANSIT Headquarters – Board Room
One Penn Plaza East, Newark, NJ
HACKENSACK
Learning Center, 4th Floor
One Bergen County Plaza, Hackensack, NJ
Thursday, May 21, 2015 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.
TRENTON
Trenton Transit Center
72 South Clinton Avenue, Trenton, NJ
MORRISTOWN
Morristown Town Hall – Senior Community Center (3rd Fl.)
Double Dipping Starts at the Top with Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck and 17 other assembly and senate incumbents
March 1,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, In New Jersey, elected officials can start collecting their lawmakers’ pension once they qualify for it (based on a complex system of accumulating so-called retirement credits), yet stay in office and also garner a salary.
New Jersey state senator, Loretta Weinberg, and mentor to our mayor justified taking nearly a $41,000 pension while still collecting a $49,000 salary on grounds that she had lost money in the Bernie Madoff scandal. Despite taxpayer anger after press reports of her dual incomes, Ms. Weinberg’s colleagues elected her majority leader in November 2011.
This continues a disturbing pattern in the Garden State. Last year, during Jersey’s state legislative elections, 18 assembly and senate incumbents from both parties who double-dip were up for reelection, including Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, who in addition to her $49,000 a year legislative salary receives a pension of nearly $41,000 annually. In her case, both incomes are for the same job because Jersey allows legislators to retire while still in office and get both a pension and salary. All 18 legislators won reelection. Their retirement checks annually cost the overburdened pension system nearly three-quarters of a million dollars.
Elected officials also continue to employ a host of staffers who double-dip, including those working for the governor, the state’s comptroller and the attorney general. Rather than simply resign their state jobs when appointed to the staff of an official, these employees retire, grab their pension and take home a salary, too.
Double-dipping by New Jersey public officials continues to thrive for one big reason: Too many legislators either directly profit or quietly condone a costly practice that drains untold millions from state pension funds.
New Jersey Watchdog found 18 state lawmakers who receive retirement checks totaling $782,000 a year in addition to their legislative salaries. The roster includes leaders of each party in both the Senate and Assembly. (See full list below)
The Assembly’s roll of double-dippers features Deputy Speaker Connie Wagner, D-Paramus; Deputy Majority Leader Joseph Egan, D-New Brunswick; Majority Conference Leader Gordon Johnson, Teaneck; Minority Conference Leader David Rible, R-Wall Township; and Appropriations Officer John DiMaio, R-Bridgewater.
Ranking twin-scoopers in the Senate include Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck and Minority Conference Leader Robert Singer R-Lakewood.( https://watchdog.org/category/new-jersey/)
The biggest dipper in the Legislature is Sen. Fred Madden, D-Turnersville, who collects nearly a quarter-million dollars a year from two public jobs and a state pension. In addition to $49,000 in legislative pay, theSenate Labor Committee chairman receives $85,272 from a State Police pension and $111,578 as dean ofLaw & Justice at Gloucester County College.
“Obviously, I don’t have a problem with people doing it,” Madden told New Jersey Watchdog last year.
“It’s not appropriate,” countered Sen. Jennifer Beck, R-Red Bank, one of the few legislators to openly oppose double-dipping. “The pension system is intended to support you at a time you are no longer working. So when you are an active employee, you should not be able to tap into both.”
Gov. Chris Christie has welcomed double-dippers into the ranks of his administration. A New Jersey Watchdog investigation last year found 19 state retirees were rehired under Christie.
Christie’s deputy chief of staff, Louis Goetting, gets $228,860 a year — $140,000 in salary plus an $88,860 pension as a state retiree.
“The governor called him out of retirement,” said spokesman Michael Drewniak. “And we are grateful to have him,”
Also in Christie’s corner are two prominent double-dipping Essex County Democrats who crossed party lines last month to publicly endorse the GOP governor’s re-election bid. (https://watchdog.org/category/new-jersey/)
PARCC Proficiency Test Is Good For Students, N.J. Education Chief Says
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — Some New Jersey parents have come out so strongly against a new computer-based math and language arts test that they have refused to allow their children to take the exam – but state education officials have rushed to its defense.
As CBS2’s Christine Sloan reported Tuesday, the state’s largest teachers’ union is also against the exam — called the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers – PARCC for short.
But New Jersey state Education Commissioner David Hespe said the students will benefit from being challenged by the exams. (CBS News)
Ex-US ambassador ‘serious’ about run for New Jersey governor
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) – President Barack Obama’s former ambassador to Germany said Wednesdaythat he’s serious about running for New Jersey governor in 2017.
Philip Murphy said after a policy summit at Rutgers that he hasn’t made a final decision about running but is traveling the state to build support and discuss policies. (Catalini/Associated Press)
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