Reader says New Housing in CBD should focus on Special Needs
All the applicants seeking zoning changes to permit housing should consider the need for special needs housing like Allendale did. That town is a model that others should emulate.
Certainly there are aging parents in Ridgewood with mentally or physically challenged adult children that will need a safe and affordable place to live when their parents pass or are no longer able to afford their homes in Ridgewood (back to the tax problem).
Look at the developments on Franklin Tpke. and Crescent Ave. in Allendale. They are both more aesthetically appealing than the proposed renderings of what the developers want to cram down Ridgewood taxpayers’ throats.
Special note to Mr. Bolger: You are well known for your philanthropic projects and generosity. Using your property on Chestnut Street for a project similar to those that have been successful up in Allendale you would leave Ridgewood a legacy that will be a valuable asset for the future. This type of special needs housing serves a very real need in society.
Tiger Team Recommendations : Align the Provision of Services between the Board of Education and the Village
The BOE decided in 2009 to outsource their grounds and field maintenance/landscaping and snow removal services to GCA and Jacobsen, rather than use the services of the Village. This was done in an effort to decrease the education budget. Together the cost of outsourcing these services was $279,591. This was considerably less than approximately $600,000 that the Village was charging the BOE for these services. It should be noted that the Village imposed a one-time $114,000 termination fee on the BOE.
In our discussions with Village management, the committee was told that the Village could not compete on price with the new contractors. The Village maintains that their services are superior and that they must on occasion back up the BOE contractors. The BOE is satisfied with the level of services that it receives from its vendors.
In 2010, the BOE was informed that the Village would begin charging for garbage and recycling removal. The quotes provided by the Village were $130,637 (2010-2011), $138,475 (2011-2012) and $146,783 (2012-2013). The BOE outsourced these services to Miele Sanitation for $62,125, $63,125, and $64,125 in those years. The 3 year total from the Village was $415,895. Outsourcing this service resulted in a 3 year cost of $189,375; a
$226,520 savings (more than 50%) to the BOE! The total outsourcing savings to the BOE in these areas has exceeded $500,000 and the Village lost $354,966 in potential revenue, including the termination fee.
The Committee feels that it is an untenable position to have two parts of Ridgewood using different means to execute identical services. Either the BOE is correct in outsourcing because Village services are too expensive or not. This situation must be resolved, either by the Village outsourcing the same services or achieving productivity gains in order to bring prices in line with these vendors. The Village Council must demand that the Village Manager take immediate action to resolve this situation. This is a prime example of how the FOB and a long-term Strategic Financial Plan would facilitate synergies and reduce costs for taxpayers.
Readers Continue to Support the idea of the Council Meeting Directly with the Village Workers
THIS SOUNDS GREAT. this shows the work force cares about the town! this is a very wise move. ford just did this a last year, and lee iacocca did this in the mid 80′s and it worked. any good manager should all ways talk to the worker on the ground level. like they say we all have some thing to learn from some one. this good old thinking. I know we have a lot of older workers that been in town for a long time, we have a few that’s been around from the 70′s. who would know more then they. that is a lot of time. I’m sure we can learn a bit from people like that. as a long time village’er this is the best new’s I herd in along time. good for all of you work and talk together. as long the mayor and council care. we don’t need to waste any one’s time. this must be done council. I do know some of the old time mayors and a few council members would talk to the workers in the past. thank you from the people of the village.
We need to have a close door meeting just like the top manager’s have. it’s time union or no union town’s should have this kind of meeting’s from time to time. it just may help the all town’s to save some money. it may be a good thing. and why would it be DANGEROUS U SAY. it’s just a close door meeting . It may be a danger for you because the truth may come out about a few of you right.
It sound’s like you are one of the problem’s in town. your post say’s it all . are you a bit scared for your job because you are showing it to all of the tax people in town.30 years a go they had this and it worked as a tax payer I like it and yes have the meeting’s with all the village work groups.this should of bin done a long time a go. all village dept’s work to keep this village a great place to work and live. people move into this town not just for the school’s. the service’s play a big part into it.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
509 AM EST MON JAN 28 2013
…WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 6 PM
EST THIS EVENING…
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY.
.DAY ONE…TODAY AND TONIGHT.
PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE
INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN…TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY.
A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH THE AREA ON WEDNESDAY AND
MOVE THROUGH BY EARLY THURSDAY MORNING. THERE IS A CHANCE OF
STRONG AND POTENTIALLY DAMAGING WINDS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AHEAD OF
THE FRONT.
Want a solution to Wall Street? Return to free market principles
January 27, 2013 at 10:35 am
by Dustin Siggins
Over at the Washington Post Wonk Blog, Suzy Khimm discusses how the next four years may look like regarding reformation of Wall Street’s machinations:
Four years ago, President Obama was sworn in as a financial crisis was still engulfing the markets and the economy. Now he can point to a Wall Street overhaul that he helped push through Congress, intended to prevent such a meltdown from happening again. But to a large extent, the real impact of those financial reforms will depend on what happens over the next four years.
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act passed in the summer of 2010, but more than half of the new rules have yet to take effect. The law created a blueprint for the most sweeping rules, which the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve and individual agencies still have to write.
Rep. Scott Garrett Supports No Budget No Pay Bill
Jan 23, 2013 Issues: Budget
WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), senior Member of the House Budget Committee and Chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises, issued the following statement regarding H.R. 325, a bill to ensure the complete and timely payment of the obligations of the United States Government:
“Today, I joined my colleagues in the House to pass H.R. 325, commonly referred to as the ‘No Budget No Pay’ bill. This bill is just the first step, of many, that must be taken in the coming months to put our country on a path to prosperity. I welcome our House Leadership’s—Speaker Boehner, Leader Cantor, and Chairman Ryan—commitment to the next steps: advance a 2014 budget that will balance within 10 years, stand firm on automatic spending cuts unless we get comparable spending cuts and reforms to replace them, and seek dollar-for-dollar spending cuts in the next round of debt ceiling talks in May.
“Hardworking American families and small businesses have to budget, yet Senate Democrats have failed to pass a budget—the most basic responsibility of governing—for almost four years. Today’s bill will require the House and Senate each to pass a budget, and Member pay will be withheld if they fail.”
Reader says Mayor and Council should talk directly to the Village Workers
The union’s are not the problem. the problem is the mayor and council don’t talk to the worker’s who do the day to day work. the problem is the top manager’s are bull shit’in you about a lot of things that are going on in town.
If the mayor and council care about this town like they say they do then they will have a meeting with the work force only. NO MANAGER’S . you need to hear the truth. no bull shit story’s. the top brass all they care about is what they are going to get if they cut worker’s. set up a meeting and the worker’s will show. all I can say is if the council has a meeting some people will be pooping right out side the hall way. I know i talk to the worker’s all the time when they pass my home. do it Mr. Mayor.
Credit card surcharge: New 4% credit card fee for customers in January 2013
Most customers are surprised to find out that there is a new 4% credit card surcharge when they pay with a credit card; online and in stores. Merchants are now legally allowed to charge customers up to an extra 4% for using their credit cards according to a Time Jan. 25, 2013, report.
“Starting on Sunday, retailers will be allowed to tack a surcharge of up to 4% extra onto your tab if you want to pay with a credit card.”
For years, most credit card issuers have been charging merchants “so-called interchange fees” which earned credit card companies a lot of money.
Gov issues new building rules for post-Sandy construction
January 25th, 2013
CIANJ
Ridgewood NJ, Gov. Chris Christie issued new standards for building height elevations – a critical step in the post-Sandy rebuilding effort. The standards follow the recommendations of the state Department of Environmental Protection and are expected to comply with the rules of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The governor said he took the extraordinary step because if the state waited on a final decision from FEMA it could take up more than a year and would delay the rebuilding effort. The guidelines call for higher elevations and will reduce insurance premiums.
Christie said he adopted the regulations to help “residents and businesses who have endured so much, to get back on their feet while at the same time ensuring that rebuilding occurs as quickly as possible, without costly red tape slowing this process down for our families and small businesses.”
More details on the new building standards are available on the governor’s office website. https://www.state.nj.us/governor/news/news/552013/approved/20130124d.html
RHS LEARNING COMMONS FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE HAS EXCEEDED THE GOAL
Ridgewood NJ , Great news THE RHS LEARNING COMMONS FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE HAS EXCEEDED THE GOAL
The 07450 committee is happy to report that through the generosity of parents and supporters, the original fundraising goal of $850,000 has been exceeded, an achievement for which they are excitedly and humbly thank the community. The 07450 Committee is now able to explore additional technology with the significant funds raised .
Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving Foot Pursuit leads Ridgewood PD Officer to Apprehend Hit & Run Suspect
January 25,2013
Boyd A. Loving
12:33 AM
A Ridgewood Police Department Patrol Officer nabbed a male suspect wanted in connection with a Thursday night, multi-vehicle hit and run accident following a short foot pursuit near the suspect’s home. The individual was allegedly behind the wheel of a Buick Enclave that crashed into a Toyota Sienna minivan parked on the street near 100 Woodland Avenue. The crash occurred at approximately 11 PM.
Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving
Ridgewood PD patrol units responded to the Woodland Avenue and Crest Road area after receiving multiple 911 calls reporting the crash. After learning from several witnesses that the Buick’s driver had fled the scene on foot, a patrol unit was dispatched to the address of the vehicle’s registered owner. It was there that a Ridgewood PD patrol officer encountered the suspect, who fled through several back yards before being captured.
Following capture, the suspect was transported by ambulance to The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood for treatment of unspecified injuries. Assisting Ridgewood PD at the crash scene were units from Bergen County PD, Glen Rock PD, and Midland Park PD. Ambulance transport was provided by members of the Ridgewood Volunteer Ambulance Corps. Both vehicles involved in the crash were removed from the scene via flatbed tow truck.
The following students were selected to participate in the North Jersey Region Honors Ensembles for 2013. Auditions were held on Saturday, January 5 at Paramus High School. More than 1000 students auditioned for the coveted positions in the Region I Chorus, Orchestra, Symphonic Band, and Wind Ensemble. These groups will be rehearsing and performing in concerts during January and February. (Please note: Four names have been omitted due to lack of parental permission.)
Region Chorus: Dan Brennan (10), Caitlin Crane-Moscowitz (9), Kenny Crane-Moscowitz (9), Grace Gil (12), Morgan Mastrangelo (9), Payson Meistrich (11), Allison Milch (11), Olivia Saporito, 9
Region Orchestra
Violin: Jaesung Son (10) — ranked 2nd of 112 violins, Paul Park (9), Isabel Park (9), Katie Lim (10), Rachel Choi (9), Heesung Son (12)
Viola: Keiko Nagami (11)
Cello: Daniel Kim (9)
Region Symphonic Band: Stephanie Pizza (9) – principal flute; Helen Cho (9) – clarinet; Halina Maas (9) – bassoon; Daniel Kim (10), alto saxophone; Emmett Rapaport (11), principal tenor saxophone
Region Wind Ensemble: Yunseok Choi, 10, clarinet; Katy Wong (10), harp
RHS Teachers: Steven Bourque, Choirs; Kristi Gaspari, Orchestras; Jeffrey Haas and John Luckenbill, Bands
Tiger Team Recommendations: Evaluate EMT Outsourcing Synergies with Valley Hospital
We believe there may be synergies and economies of scale to be obtained by working with Valley Hospital to outsource Village EMT Services to Valley Hospital. Valley has obvious expertise in provision of EMT services and currently serves over 32 communities in and around Bergen County, with professional Advanced Life Service (ALS) technicians, as opposed to the Fire Department’s 18 Basic Life Service (BLS) technicians. The committee questions the need to have both of these heavily redundant service providers within half a mile of each other in Ridgewood. A possible outsourcing of Emergency Medical Services to Valley would reduce direct service demands on the police and fire departments, reduce training/certification costs, reduce ambulance costs/maintenance for the Village and potentially improve service levels.
In the most recent audit of the Fire Department, 744 “Rescue/EMS” response calls were documented in the previous year. This was the single highest response category and represented 33% of all call responses by the Fire Department. The second highest response category was false alarms (526) at 23% of all call responses.
Actual fire calls only represented 3% of all call responses. These percentages remain relatively constant from year to year. In the most recent Police Department audit, over 1,200 “Medical Assist/Personal Injury” calls by Police staff were also documented. If EMS call responsibility could be eliminated from the Fire Department and provided by Valley Hospital, opportunities may exist to improve Fire Department efficiency, focus on core Fire control and prevention competencies and reduce training/compliance requirements & costs, salary, overtime and long-term pension liabilities. Similar efficiencies, although to a much smaller degree, may also
be possible within the Police Department.
While we believe that this is an intriguing concept for the Village and Valley Hospital to explore, it will require more extensive due diligence on the part of Valley Hospital, the Village Council and the FOB to quantify the full financial implications to the Village and ensure a net saving, without a sacrifice in this essential service. It is important to note that outsourcing this service to a potentially more efficient provider, would not necessarily lead to the immediate elimination of personnel in the Fire Department. Rather, the committee’s view is that this may allow staffing/scheduling efficiencies, based on a significant reduction of the hourly demands on Fire
employees (including certification training), and a focus on each group’s core competencies.
Some questions for consideration include:
• What are the annual costs for training, certification & compliance of Fire & Police EMT?
• Would outsourcing this service allow staffing flexibility, particularly in Fire?
• Would a 30% reduction of call load in Fire facilitate opportunities to change current 24-hour shifts to
8-hour or 12-hour shifts, and improve operational efficiency of Fire Department?
• Would this create an opportunity to consolidate two current firehouses?
• What would are long-term impacts on benefit and pension obligations in Fire?
• What are the logistics involved of having Valley Hospital’s EMT staff be a “first responder”?
• Are there insurance-related benefits for the Village?
Readers Debate Municipal Unions effect on Village Finances
it is absolutely appropriate that these contract policies should be reviewed and revised today to bring some sense of reality back to the cost of running municipal government
Union employees have not “passed” on any compensation. It used to be that public employees accepted lower pay in exchange for job security and good benefits. However, over the years, the contracts have been allowed to escalate pay higher and higher by compounding several different forms of increases. We have reached a point today when salaries for some (not all) employees is dramatically above reasonable levels for the jobs they perform, which leads to pension packages that are far more than were ever intended when the system was originally established AND the employees have retained job security and “gold standard” health benefits, for which they have historically paid about 2-3% of the premium cost.
The system today has evolved (through excellent negotiating leverage in the past on the part of union leadership) into something that was never intended. However, all over the country, the days of arbitration favoring the unions has come to an end, for this very reason. And, it is absolutely appropriate that these contract policies should be reviewed and revised today to bring some sense of reality back to the cost of running municipal government. the fact that the political climate has changed does not mean it’s fair or appropriate to make the employee the scapegoat
Unions most certainly did pass on higher wages for benefits because that’s all that was available, and in the days when those health benefits were negotiated for there was no such thing as binding arbitration.( prior to 1978 ). The perceived advantage of the unions in binding arbitration come largely from the hard line stances the towns took with regard to negotiations, Many town committeemen came to the table with a chip on their shoulder or seemingly having something to prove, and 19 this goes back more than a decade. This position would leave the arbitrator no choice but to rule for the union. That is not say if the union was unreasonable they would not lose An arbitrator ruled against Paramus pd not 2 many years ago, An arbitrator ruled against Ridgewood back in the 90′s, and Midland park lost also.
The benefits employees have were negotiated for and the fact that the political climate has changed does not mean it’s fair or appropriate to make the employee the scapegoat for poor planning. Nor do these facts legitimize circumventing the collective bargaining process. If you want to see arbitration decisions and their fact patterns, they are available on the internet.
Gov. Hugh Carey of New York, center, in 1975, during meetings on the New York City financial crisis. With him were Judah Gribetz, left, counsel to the governor, and Victor Marrero, assistant counsel to the governor.
Tiger Team makes recommendations: Establish a Financial Oversight Board (FOB)
Our work on this Committee has convinced us that there is a need for continued citizen involvement, oversight and leadership in Ridgewood’s financial matters in conjunction with the Village Council and Village management. The first and most important recommendation of our committee is that a permanent Financial Oversight Board (FOB) comprised of citizens be established by March 31, 2013, to facilitate evaluation and/or implementation of recommendation within this report, particularly those related to the 2013 budget process. The committee is aware that the Faulkner Act form of government in Ridgewood gives the Village Manager executive power over each department in the Village. However, we believe that the Village Council cedes too much autonomy to Village management. The Village Manager is the “day to day” CEO. But, the Village Council is the “Board of Directors”, to which the Village Manager is accountable. They are responsible for the funding of all Village operations and are, ultimately, responsible for the budget and Village governance. Unfortunately, the Village Council members do not have the time necessary to develop sufficient expertise in many areas of Village management, particularly with complex financial and budgetary issues. As a result the Village Council often relies on brief summaries and recommendations from the Village Manager to inform their decisions, and may not gain sufficient understanding of the implications of their decisions or what questions to ask. Our sense is that Village management perpetuates this dynamic in some instances. We expect that some Village Council members will learn about some details of the Village’s finances, for the first time, through the information contained in this report. Our opinion is that the Village Council has an obligation to establish clear directives for Village management take a more proactive oversight role.
Thus, the main purpose of the FOB would be to augment the financial expertise of both the Village management and the Village Council. Similar to the Planning Board, the FOB would provide expertise and continuity across election cycles and serve as a valuable resource for the Village Council, particularly for newly elected Council members. FOB members should have significant financial management, budget management ,and senior executive commercial or governmental management experience. The important recommendations in this report, as well as , areas identified for further study require that there be a group of citizens to support and audit the work being done by the Village. Because Village taxpayers bear the full burden of the Village and BOE budgets, and the BOE share of property taxes is approximately twice that of the Village share, we hope that the FOB would eventually also provide support and oversight to the BOE. This would also serve to facilitate synergies between the Village and the BOE that do not exist today.
