Reader asks What would the Readers want the Village Council to look for when hiring the new Village Manager?
Reader :The residents should not worry about nepotism in this town. They should worry about politic cronyism.
Reader: I would like to see someone who is not affiliated with any member of the Council past or present.
Reader:Cronyism is partiality to long-standing friends, especially by appointing them to positions of authority, regardless of their qualifications. Hence, cronyism is contrary in practice and principle to meritocracy. Lets see who this Concile appoints as the Village Manager
‘Chasing New Jersey’ spotlights Ridgewood, N.J. on WWOR My9
Wikimedia Commons
Diane Zoller-CiattoNew Jersey Day Trips Examiner
February 4, 2014
Last Thursday’s episode of “Chasing New Jersey” aired in the midst of all the hullabaloo of Super Bowl XLVIII, so if you missed this episode, it spotlights one town, not too far from MetLife Stadium known as the Village of Ridgewood in Bergen County. If you missed it, check it out here.
Host Bill Spadea and chaser Ronica Cleary met with Mayor Paul Aronsohn at an iconic bank building in the heart of the town. Although the bank is unoccupied, Mayor Aronsohn told them, the town was experiencing a resurgence. Although the event in reality took place in New Jersey, many New Jersey politicians put a negative spin on the Super Bowl; citing the emphasis given to New York. Mayor Aronsohn actually embraced the opportunity to have visitors come to his town of 25,000 residents, and hailed the event as a boost to the economy.
Weather woes stall Christmas tree pickup in Ridgewood
Friday February 7, 2014, 11:39 AM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News
Last year, 33 days separated Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, the typical lifespan of a Christmas tree inside one’s house before it is relegated to its final resting place. As of Friday, the new year is 38 days old.
Several dozen Ridgewood residents have expressed collective bewilderment and frustration when presented the revelation that their Christmas trees have spent more time curbside than they did decorated in their homes. This week’s snowfall blanketed streets and sidewalks, and many villagers have said their trees are still there and buried, waiting to be retrieved.
The village collects household Christmas trees after the holidays, asking residents to leave their undecorated firs, spruces and other evergreens by their curb for pickup. Residents also have the option of bringing their trees to the Graydon parking lot. Ridgewood converts the disposed trees into mulch for use in and around the village.
NAACP president: Black people worse off under Obama
NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Jealous said Sunday that black Americans “are doing a full point worse” than when President Obama first took office.
“The country’s back to pretty much where it was when this president started,” Mr. Jealous told MSNBC host David Gregory on “Meet the Press.” “White people in this country are doing a bit better. Black people are doing a full point worse.”
The black unemployment rate was 12.7 percent when Mr. Obama took office. While the unemployment rate in the U.S. as a whole is below 8 percent, the Labor Department reported the black jobless rate was up from 12.9 percent to 14 percent for December.
The worst during Mr Obama’s first term was in September 2011, with 16.7 percent unemployment for blacks — the highest since 1983, the Department of Labor reports. The black teen jobless rate hit a staggering 39.3 percent in July 2012.
15.8% of Young People Still Out of Work in January
Washington, DC – (2/7/14) – Generation Opportunity, a national, non-partisan youth advocacy organization, is announcing its Millennial Jobs Report for January 2014. The data is non-seasonally adjusted (NSA) and is specific to 18-29 year olds:
The effective (U-6) unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds, which adjusts for labor force participation by including those who have given up looking for work, is 15.8 percent (NSA). The (U-3) unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds is 11.3 percent (NSA).
The declining labor force participation rate has created an additional 1.922 million young adults that are not counted as “unemployed” by the U.S. Department of Labor because they are not in the labor force, meaning that those young people have given up looking for work due to the lack of jobs.
The effective (U-6) unemployment rate for 18-29 year old African-Americans is 23.9 percent (NSA); the (U-3) unemployment rate is 20.1 percent (NSA).
The effective (U-6) unemployment rate for 18-29 year old Hispanics is 16.7 percent (NSA); the (U-3) unemployment rate is 12.2 percent (NSA).
The effective (U-6) unemployment rate for 18-29 year old women is 13.5 percent (NSA); the (U-3) unemployment rate is 9.9 percent (NSA).
Evan Feinberg, President of Generation Opportunity, issued the following statement:
“Young Americans can thank Obamacare for such a bleak jobs picture. The Congressional Budget Office wasn’t lying when it reported Obamacare will reduce the American workforce by an additional 2 million jobs over the next three years.
“15.8% of us are still out of work and we have almost nothing to show for it – fewer people have health insurance now than in 2009.”
Assembly Panel Wants to Establish New Reliability Standards for Utilities
Proposed measure would require power companies to restore service rapidly in wake of extreme weather.
A day after a half-million people in the mid-Atlantic region were left without power — including 60,000 in New Jersey because of an ice storm — a legislative committee voted yesterday to require the state to adopt new reliability standards for utilities in restoring service.
The Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee approved the bill, A-1412), a measure that was first drafted in 2012 in the wake of Hurricane Irene, according to Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula (D-Somerset), the chairman of the panel and the bill’s sponsor.
Since then the state has been battered a number of times by extreme weather, most notably Hurricane Sandy in the fall of 2012, which left more than seven million people without power. Many had to wait up to two weeks or more to have service restored.
The extensive outages spurred widespread criticism from utility customers, local officials, and lastly, state regulators, who have convened their own proceedings to determine how to prevent such massive service disruptions in the future. The primary focus is what needs to be done — and at what cost — to make the power grid more resilient when extreme storms occur.
Chivukula noted the state Board of Public Utilities, which oversees utilities in New Jersey, already has established reliability standards, but said those rules lack key elements that require utilities to provide reliable service and quick restoration in the event of extreme storms — or face civil penalties if they fail to do so.
The issue is significant because the state’s utilities have filed petitions with the BPU to spend more than $4 billion on upgrades to make their gas and electric power grids more resilient. Those costs would be borne by utility customers, already saddled with some of the highest energy bills in the nation, according to consumer advocates.
Each utility would be required to submit a reliability plan to the state, but it would differ depending on the service territory a company serves. (Johnson/NJSpotlight)
The Larry Stevens Band at the Park West Tavern Tonight
To make reservations for any of these events, please call the Park West Tavern at 201 445-5400
30 Oak St, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
Larry Stevens Band
Some people are just born with music coursing through their veins. Larry Stevens has been singing and performing since he was merely 5 years old. An accomplished singer-songwriter, Stevens has shared the stage with many national acts including Gin Blossoms, Blood Sweat & Tears, Kenny Loggins, Huey Lewis and the News, Foreigner, The Doobie Brothers, America, and Peter Frampton, just to name a few. Hopping over the bridge to NYC, Stevens has found himself on stage at some of the most sought-after venues such as The Bitter End, Kenny’s Castaways, and The Iridium, and also has performed at many noteworthy venues in New Jersey including Bergen Performing Arts Center (bergenPAC), PNC Bank Arts Center, New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), and the Quick Chek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning. While living in Nashville, Stevens wrote, collaborated and performed with many of the most prominent names in the music world, and performed at the most coveted singer/songwriter venue in the world, the legendary Bluebird Café, as well as many other important stages.
With years of experience performing in diverse settings, Stevens is a dynamic entertainer with a gift for reading his audience. The melodies in his original material have been compared to those of Jack Johnson, Plain White T’s and the Beatles. Stevens is currently in the studio working on his newest CD, and has had the privilege of including world-renowned musicians such as Liberty Devitto (Billy Joel), George Small (Graham Parker/John Lennon), Muddy Shews (Southside Johnny), Jimmy Clark (Blondie/Joan Jett), and Kenny Vaughan (Marty Stuart/Lucinda Williams) on many of his recordings.
Check out www.larrystevensband.com for updates and more info about the band.
Ridgewood Mayor’s Corner
Friday, February 7, 2014
The Ridgewood News
Welcome to the February edition of the Mayor’s Corner – my monthly Ridgewood News column that aims to make village government more accessible, more transparent, more user-friendly.
Council agenda: The council will meet two more times in February – Feb. 19 and 26. On this month’s agenda are the 2014 budget, smoke-free school zones, committee appointments, the police department’s organizational size/composition and a host of other important issues.
Our meetings are open to the public and carried live online and on public access television. Residents are encouraged to attend and participate.
Snow, snow and more snow: This has been one of the whitest winters in recent memory. That makes for beautiful pictures, but it also makes for dangerous commutes, school closings and general inconveniences.
Keeping our streets cleaned — snow as well as leaves — is certainly not an exact science, and we don’t always get it right. But I can assure you that, under the leadership of John Spano, our guys have been working hard, sometimes around the clock, to plow and salt and clear the streets.
Ridgewood Veterinary Hospital’s PET DENTAL HEALTH PHOTO CONTEST: We want to see your pet’s smile!
In honor of National Pet Dental Health Month this February, Ridgewood Veterinary Hospital is hosting a photo contest. To enter, please “Like” our Facebook Fan Page, and email [email protected] or send a private Facebook message with a photo of you brushing your pet’s teeth! For tips on how to do this, see this instructional video with Dr. Dean Cerf: https://youtu.be/-SL2gFYdyNA. We will then upload your photo to a special album for the Pet Dental Health Photo contest right here on Facebook. To find your pet’s photo, visit our Facebook page, click on Photos, and then click on Albums on the top right, and you will see the contest album. Once you find your photo in our Albums section, feel free to share, comment and like it, because the photo with the most “likes” wins!! This contest starts NOW! And it will end on March 14th at 3pm EST. Winners will be revealed by
March 21st. ***Before entering the contest, please read the full rules, regulations and instructions in our “Notes” section here: https://www.facebook.com/notes/ridgewood-veterinary-hospital/ridgewood-veterinary-hospitals-pet-dental-health-photo-contest-we-want-to-see-yo/677567718961702***
3 WELLNESS PRIZES!! 3 WINNERS!!
The Doctors and Staff of Ridgewood Veterinary Hospital want to care for and pamper your pets. Our prizes reflect this with gifts that offer preventative care and good grooming. Prevention always gives you the best opportunity to live a long and happy life with your pet.
1ST PRIZE
• Heartworm/Lyme/Erlichia/Anaplasmosis Test and Choice of Heartworm, Flea and Tick Prevention for 1 year; prescription required for Heartworm medication, ($328.86-$438.86 Value, depending on dog or cat and size)
• Free DOG Grooming ($30-$142 Value, depending on breed)
• Dental Basket ($55-$65 Value)
*Total 1st Prize Value: $413.86-645.86*
2ND PRIZE
• $100 RVH Gift Certificate
• Free DOG Grooming ($30-$142 Value, depending on breed)
• Dental Basket ($55-$65 Value)
*Total 2nd Prize Value: $185-$307*
3RD PRIZE
• $50 RVH Gift Certificate
• Free DOG Grooming ($30-$142 Value, depending on breed)
• Dental Basket ($55-$65 Value)
*Total 3rd Prize Value: $135-$257*
Remember, the photo with most “likes” wins so please email us your photo entry today and share the Pet Dental Health smiles! Thank you!
NJ DOT: No secret stockpile of road salt at MetLife stadium
A spokesman for the state Department of Transportation today dispelled rumors that the state is hoarding a secret stockpile of ice-melting salt at MetLife stadium, causing shortages for townships throughout New Jersey.
DOT Spokesman Joe Dee said today the rumor is utterly false and the state is facing a salt shortage just like everyone else.
“We are in the same boat as everybody else. Our salt levels are uncomfortably low for the DOT like a lot of counties and municipalities not only here in New Jersey but from the Midwest to New England.”
Dee said he’s not sure how the rumor started but it may have been a misinterpretation of a press release issued prior to the Super Bowl saying the state had the capacity to store up to 60,000 tons of salt within 30 miles of MetLife stadium. The press release concerned the state’s readiness for a Super Bowl Sunday storm, should one have occurred.
“There is no separate stockpile,” he said. (Isherwood/NJ.com)
Ridgewood police recruits may start academy in March
Thursday February 6, 2014, 4:21 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News
Two police recruits whose conditional employment offers were recalled in January may be on target to re-join the force in March. The Ridgewood Council reached a consensus Wednesday night on a draft ordinance that would essentially eliminate the cap placed on the number of patrol officers in the village police department.
The proposed ordinance is scheduled for introduction at a Feb. 19 council meeting. If the change is passed in March, the two officers will likely enter the Essex County Police Academy.
Current Ridgewood code establishes a department maximum of 30 patrol officers. On Jan. 17, Police Chief John Ward extended conditional offers of employment to two recruits, both of whom are related to current or former members of the police department. Days after the hiring decisions, Village Council members noted that the two hires pushed the officer roster beyond the allowable amount.
Readers says Council Meetings run smother without the Mayor
Its just an observation. I have watched or attend all most every Council meeting and I have noticed that the few times that the mayor is not presiding over the meeting it run smooth .It is my opinion that the Mayor is the one that fuels the situations for his own agenda. What ever that is. I believe that Mr. PUCCIARELL just get caught up in these unfortunate incidents because of some kind of loyalty to our Mayor. Just a bit of advice. The Mayor has no friends, he will do what ever it take to further his cause. Ms Hauck the same goes for you.
Ridgewood debates size of police force
Thursday February 6, 2014, 9:35 AM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
The Record
RIDGEWOOD — The Village Council this week continued discussion of a possible code amendment that would increase the number of patrolmen permitted on the police force.
No action was taken following Wednesday night’s meeting, which came on the heels of Tuesday’s confirmation from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office that it will be investigating the police chief’s recent attempts to hire two men, surpassing the mandated limit.
“We are reviewing [the chief’s decision] not as a criminal matter but solely as a complaint against a chief which, under Attorney General Guidelines, can only be investigated by the Prosecutor’s Office,” Prosecutor John Molinelli said in a statement.
Police Chief John Ward asked for an inquest by the prosecutor’s office last Thursday — the morning after he appeared before the Village Council to support a retroactive amendment to the code, augmenting the number of officers to 32.
Currently, the department can only have 30 patrol officers.
Nominating Packets Available for Ridgewood Village Council
Nominating packets are available for Ridgewood residents who are registered voters and wish to run for and serve on the Ridgewood Village Council. They may be picked up at the Village Clerk’s Office in Village Hall, 131 North Maple Avenue, during the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except legal holidays. The deadline for filing completed nominating petitions is March 10, 2014.
This year, there are two positions, with four-year terms, to serve on the non-partisan Village Council which will be voted on at the May 13, 2014 Municipal Election. The newly elected Councilmembers will be sworn in and take office on July 1, 2014.
Any questions concerning the Municipal Election should be directed to the Village Clerk’s Office at 201-670-5500 ext. 205 or by email to: [email protected] or [email protected]
The recent snowstorms have delayed the pickup of Christmas trees. However, the Village of Ridgewood is continuing to pick them up. If you would like to drop off your tree, you may do so at the Graydon Pool Parking Lot. Your Christmas tree should be placed in the Graydon Pool Parking Lot, at the corner of Linwood Avenue and Northern Parkway.
