Please help the residents of RidgeCrest Senior Housing prepare for disasters and storms by giving them emergency “Grab & Go” bags.
“Grab & Go” bags give senior a sense of empowerment and security knowing that they are prepared in the event of an emergency.
Items needed for the 150 Ridgecrest “Grab and Go” bags include:
Whistles
Rain Ponchos
Light Weight Blankets
Light Weight Flashlights
Travel Size First Aid Kits
Also included in the “Grab & Go” bags will be Personal Medical ID Cards and a bottle of water
Once the items are collected, each bag will be put together and distributed during an emergency safety demonstration for the residents.
This petition is to seek to protest and repeal Ordinance 3519-An Ordinance authorizing the execution and granting of a lease purchase agreement with the Bergen County Improvement Authority relating to issuance of County Guaranteed Lease Revenue Bonds for the Village of Ridgewood parking Deck Project (i.e. Hudson St garage).
You must be a registered voter residing in the Village of Ridgewood to sign the petition.
This has nothing to do with the design or scope of the parking garage-just to stop the funding of it with the BCIA, until Ordinance 3519 can be submitted to the electorate (Village of Ridgewood residents/registered voters) for a vote at next election as a referendum question.
If you have any Questions, please email [email protected]
As of Monday Feb 15, the petitions will be available at following times/locations:
Lorraine Reynolds house, 550 Wyndemere Ave/come to door off John St., Monday, Feb 15th – 1pm-4pm.
Anne Loving, call cell 201-723-8017 to make appt to sign.
Melanie McWilliams – 431 Bogert Ave – Feb 15th-Feb19th (M-F) 9:15-12:15pm, call/text to confirm 201-675-8937
PLEASE CHECK BACK AS TIMES/LOCATIONS WILL BE ADDED.
PLEASE EMAIL [email protected] if you are a registered voter
and can help canvas neighborhoods this week when it’s not so cold out!!!
WE ARE WELL ON OUR WAY RIDGEWOOD!
Please let us know if you want to be part of the petition to say No 2 BCIA,https://goo.gl/forms/KpPtDY2We9
Below are some reasons why people feel we should not have a lease/purchase agreement with the BCIA (Bergen County Improvement Authority):
1. The BCIA will cost us more than what it will cost us to bond through Ridgewood. Yes, the BCIA can get us a better interest rate by 0.03%- to 0.08% compared to what we get from a Ridgewood Issued bond, but that is so small and it eventually costs more to go with BCIA, because of their initiation fees, and annual fees as well as multiple lawyer fees. Here are the final costs -https://mods.ridgewoodnj.net/pdf/manager/hudson/20160129BCIAFin.pdf
2. The BCIA financial comparison from the above link, does not consider the fact that we will now have to charge out-of-town commuters the same price as Ridgewood commuters (a requirement by the BCIA to treat all county residents the same.). Suppose we issue 50 out-of-town commuter passes at $300 less than what we could have charged them, that’s $15,000 more per year for the next 25 years by going through the BCIA. Will non-resident commuters take many of the spaces, leaving few spaces for our own commuters?
3. Once we take money from the BCIA, it will be issued like a loan, not like a Home Equity Line of Credit. We cannot draw the funds when we need them, i.e. as the project goes along. We will have to start paying interest on ALL of the money from day 1, which is May 2016, and the garage will not be complete until Feb 2017. Once the BCIA bond is issued in May 2016, we won’t be able to pre-pay for 10 years. We are locked into the interest for 10 years, even if the design & scope changes to a smaller design and we need less funds.
4. The county will own the garage for next 25 years. They may add more conditions later, for now they have asked us to treat non Ridgewood commuters at the same price.
5.The lease agreement also mentions that the BCIA will build the garage and lease it to us. It’s not clear / not explained to us how much control they will keep during the ‘build’ phase.
6. Overall, all of the benefits explained to us for going through the BCIA route are financial. In the end, with all those benefits, if it still costs more, and if we don’t retain full control of the garage and the process, then why go through the county?
7. We can and should do this with a Ridgewood Issued bond. It is our fiscal and resident responsibility to make sure this bond is issued through Ridgewood and not the County.
I am new to Ridgewood, so here comes a newbie question –
Were previous village managers also as politically active as the current one? i.e. supporting and promoting specific council members and their agenda, and withholding information from other council members? Shouldn’t that be a politically neutral position?
I have wondered why the village manager ,Roberta Sonenfeld has been such a vocal supporter for the council.
In the past is was a low key position, the managers just did their job.
Schoenfield was a member of the self proclaimed “Tiger Team” that worked as a self-important financial advisory committee. Now we have a permanent financial advisory committee that also is active in promoting the council projects. They are intertwined and hardly objective.
Atlantic Stewardship to Sponsor Social Security Seminar
Social Security continues to play a critical role in a retirement strategy. Is yours taking full advantage of what Social Security offers?
Thursday Feb. 18
5:30 – 7:00pm
Atlantic Stewardship Bank
190 Franklin Ave
Ridgewood, NJ
Speaker/Host: Catherine Barbier
Financial Consultant
Learn 7 keys to enhancing Social Security benefits:
Keys to help you understand the basics of Social Security, including when you should start taking benefits.
Keys that take a deeper dive into Social Security, such as working in retirement.
Finally, taking the next step at this insurance sales presentation with the Rethinking Retirement Strategies.
WHAT: “So Amazing,” a one-woman show by Ho-Ho-Kus resident Diana Brown, based on her experiences being recruited into a local church she says was a cult that brainwashed her before she was eventually able to break free.
WHERE: Kraine Theater, 85 E. Fourth St., Manhattan.
WHEN: Tuesday at 7:10 p.m., Feb. 20 at 8:20 p.m., Feb. 24 at 5:30 p.m., Feb. 27 at 3:20 p.m., March 5 at 1:40 p.m.
Actress, playwright and cult survivor Diana Brown has a message for her audience: Watch who your friends are.
The 26-year-old Ho-Ho-Kus resident says her one-woman show, “So Amazing,” is based on her yearlong experience being lured into a cult at age 23, brainwashed and eventually escaping to reclaim her life and reconnect with her family.
For some of us, it might seem impossible to imagine how anyone could take psychological and physical control over our lives against our will. But, she argues, that’s the point. This isn’t something that just happens to runaways or people estranged from their families, neither of which she says she was. This could happen to anybody. Everybody is vulnerable, to greater or lesser extents, she insists. And a cult’s recruiting tactics tend to be pretty universal.
“The first thing that is most prevalent is ‘love bombing’ – when someone wants to be your friend really bad, and everything they say is along the lines of, ‘You’re so nice, you’re so beautiful, you remind me of someone.’ They make you their best friend as fast as they possible can and they make you think they love you more than the people who really love you the most – your friends and your family,” Brown says.
A graduate of Rutgers University (2011), Brown has performed earlier versions of “So Amazing” at TheaterLab in New York City and the International Cultic Studies Association conference at La Fonda on the Plaza in Santa Fe, N.M. She has performed stand-up comedy at Gotham Comedy Club and Eastville Comedy Club.
Brown is careful to straddle the line when talking about fact and fiction. For example, she insists the main character in her self-produced show is not her, but a fictitious character based on her. And the character’s name? The same as hers – Diana.
“It’s not an exact portrayal of my experiences. I don’t mention the name of any cult in this play. What this play says could be said of many cults out there. I don’t want to be pointing a finger at any particular cult. But I think the characters are all relatable in that the way someone gets recruited into a cult is pretty cookie-cutter and repeated throughout the world. I have met many cult survivors who have told me the exact same things. Who knew that me, a regular girl living in New Jersey, could have so much in common with a girl in California? This is how cults recruit. This is how people get brainwashed.”
As heavy as some of the material may sound, Brown, who plays various other characters besides the one who is based on herself, says the piece is a comedy. She said her purpose here is to entertain — not just report. It is not a portrayal of the particular church of which she was a member, the World Mission Society Church of God in Ridgewood. The church is an offshoot of the South Korean World Mission Society Church of God, with more than 2 million followers worldwide.
Over the past seven years, the church has quietly gone about its business as its local membership expanded tenfold, and it opened what it called numerous affiliated churches along the East Coast. It was praised by political leaders for public service that included cleanup efforts after Superstorm Sandy.
But some former members have said publicly that the church has a largely hidden dangerous side, recruiting young people at malls and on college campuses and showering them with affection before eventually encouraging them to cut ties to family members who are critical of their new beliefs.
Two former members have alleged in lawsuits — one was dismissed and one is pending — that they gave substantial amounts of their money to the church after it drew them in without initially revealing its true theology. They alleged that they were pressured to spend most of their free time at the church and were kept so busy they did not get enough sleep, which made them more susceptible to the teachings.
Readers not happy with council response to unacceptable attacks of residents :
Seriously, someone argues it is ok to knock a camera out of a person’s hands? Yes, no one should shove a camera in someone else’s face. But that is not what happened here. (And if it did, someone should have called the Police earlier.) Condoning and urging violence between Villagers cannot be viewed simply as the ravings of a self-styled curmudgeon. It is what we would expect to hear from a fascist who seeks to undermine democracy. Sadly, the comment personifies the mire into which we have been led by members of our Council.
This just in from Big Al – clearly he is running on defense. We know that Albert hates Dana, we heard him threaten Dana a few weeks ago, then we saw him join in a middle-school-boys’ bashing of Dana in cahoots with Aronsohn and Bob Fuhrman. Albert may claim that he does not want to outlaw taping, but he sure as hell does What he hates more than anything is that all of his nasty, inappropriate outbursts have been caught on tape by the Village cameras (and by other peoples cameras) and replayed over and over and over. It makes it impossible for him to escape the truth about himself, that his temper is unmanageable and flares up often and publicly. So read what Albert is saying here:
·If the reference in this article to an ordinance “introduced” at the January 27 Village Council meeting is referring to a draft ordinance that I circulated for comment, that ordinance does not purport to prohibit or restrict video or audio recording at Council meetings. It would require that participants at meetings that are not otherwise being recorded, such as a meeting of the Arts Council, be informed that the meeting is being recorded.
Albert Pucciarell
Reader says Delzio was standing with his foot inside the legs of Dana’s tripod. He had his face in Dana’s face. He was twisting his neck and putting his face in front of the camera lens. Dana was silently standing there with his camera, as he is entitled to do by law. He did not rise to the provocation of this aggressor at all. The only thing he did was take out his cell phone AFTER Delizio started cell-phone-taping HIM. Delzio was 100% aggressor and Dana was 100% passive, quiet, and orderly. You did not see what happened, and your wife sure as heck did not because her eyes were glued onto Jim Griffiths’ event. So your commentary is less than meaningless. You constantly criticize the blog, but you are posting based on the skewed report that your friend Gwenn gave you – and remember, GWENN STATED THAT SHE DID NOT SEE ANYTHING and that NO ONE SAW ANYTHING. Consider your source. Have some warm milk and go to bed.
If Mayor Paul does not issue an emphatic statement about this then I think the citizens should upraise. It is ridiculous that he allowed this to happen in a meeting that he chairs, he said nothing, he did nothing, he did not speak to Dana on the way out, he is such an obnoxious self-serving jerk. It is increasingly apparent that this whole event may have been in some way planned in order to make Dana look bad. Well, Sir Paul and Sir Albert, this did not happen. Instead you and your blondie gal Friday wound up looking like complete and total insensitive, uncivil idiots. There are simply not enough horrible adjectives to describe the three of you.
URGENT – WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
349 AM EST SUN FEB 14 2016
…DANGEROUSLY COLD WIND CHILLS THIS MORNING…
…WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON EST TODAY…
* LOCATIONS…NEW YORK CITY…LONG ISLAND AND PORTIONS OF
NORTHEASTERN NEW JERSEY.
* HAZARD TYPES…DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS.
* TIMING…THIS MORNING.
* WIND CHILL…15 TO 24 DEGREES BELOW ZERO.
* WINDS…NORTHWEST 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 35 MPH.
* IMPACTS…THE FRIGID CONDITIONS WILL BE DANGEROUS TO THOSE
VENTURING OUTSIDE. PROLONGED EXPOSURE MAY CAUSE FROSTBITE. THE
COMBINATION OF VERY LOW WIND CHILLS AND FRIGID AIR TEMPERATURES
HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO RESULT IN FROZEN PIPES…FROSTBITE AND
HYPOTHERMIA.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A WIND CHILL ADVISORY MEANS THAT VERY COLD AIR AND STRONG WINDS
WILL COMBINE TO GENERATE LOW WIND CHILLS. THIS WILL RESULT IN
FROST BITE AND LEAD TO HYPOTHERMIA IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN.
OUTDOOR EXPOSURE SHOULD BE LIMITED. IF YOU ARE HEADING OUTDOORS…
DRESS IN LAYERS AND KEEP YOUR HANDS AND HEAD COVERED TO PROTECT
AGAINST FROSTBITE
Ridgewood NJ, With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, I wanted to gauge your interest in a story about American spending habits around the romantic holiday, the topic of a recent survey conducted by Finder.com, a personal finance comparison and education site. The survey, which polled over 3,000 Americans, covered a ton of interesting data points, including how much people spend and the differences in spending based by state, length of relationship and gender. It also looked at secret spending, where a partner knowingly hides purchases from their significant other. If you’re interested, I’d be happy to share the findings, some of which include:
Respondents in Kansas spent the most on their partners on Valentine’s Day, with an average spend of $117, followed by Nevada ($112), Idaho ($111), North Dakota ($108), Hawaii ($102), Arkansas ($93), Virginia ($87), Florida ($83), California and South Carolina ($82).
The states that spent least on their Valentine were New Hampshire ($31) and South Dakota, Delaware, Maine, Vermont, Wyoming and Kentucky (all $36).
34% of Americans plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day by going to a restaurant
Those who are in 2 to 5 year relationship will get the highest valued gifts
Married couples were the most likely not to buy a gift at all
30% of Americans have hidden purchases from their loved ones
In the U.S. alone, there are 10,000 baby boomers retiring every day, a trend expected to continue for the next 15 years. This means that about 3.6 million Americans are retiring each year. And more Americans are retiring outside of the U.S. every year, as evidenced by almost 375,000 retirees receiving their Social Security checks overseas in 2013 (the latest data published by the Social Security Administration).
The dollar has appreciated against most foreign currencies. Thanks to this exchange rate, purchasing property overseas has become relatively reasonable and certainly much less expensive than the purchase of similar property here in the U.S. The cost of living in most overseas locations is a good deal less, which means you can maintain a better lifestyle and your savings will last longer.
In addition, although the cost and quality of health care varies substantially from country to country, there are many overseas locations that offer health care services similar to what is provided in the U.S. and usually at a great deal less.
As you research overseas locations you should select some destinations and check to see how they compare to your needs and expectations. Considerations should be:
Ridgewood NJ, Within the timeframe of a year and a half, about 80 percent of new businesses fail, according to Bloomberg Business research.
And, throughout the past 30-plus years, the amount of new businesses has drastically declined, according to Gallup. During the economic meltdown of 2008, it was the first time in several decades in which more businesses failed than new ones were started. About 70,000 more businesses fail than are launched.
“We see it all the time in our communities – signs on doors that read, ‘Due to circumstances beyond our control we have to close our business…’ What business owners today don’t seem to understand is that what’s required, not only to survive but to thrive, is absolutely within their control,” says Pamela Herrmann, author of the bestseller “The Customer Manifesto, How Business Has Failed Customers And What It Takes To Earn Lasting Loyalty,” ranked No. 3 on the list of customer service books every business owner should read by Business.com.
“The truth is, what is required is way outside their skill sets. The typical business owner has no idea how to create leverage, how to utilize new technologies, how to strategize on any level that makes them competitive or how to stop the hemorrhaging of cash in the form of failed online marketing investments.
Herrmann is co-founder, along with Patty Dominguez, of CREATE Buzz (www.CreateBuzzNow.com), a Fortune 50 branding expert which is changing the way small businesses connect with their customers – both online and offline. Dominguez and Herrmann review four mistakes – and ways to correct them – to keep businesses thriving:
• They miss their biggest revenue opportunity. “When we look at traditional marketing, so many solutions providers are focused on customer acquisition and how to get prospects into their marketing funnel – which is totally necessary and valid,” Dominguez says. “However, the biggest revenue opportunity is in knowing how to keep these customers, because that’s where the higher profits are in the lifecycle of a customer.”
“We teach our small business clients not only how to get new customers but more importantly, how to keep their existing customers,” Herrmann says. “Most small businesses don’t have the foundational strategy for how to build their business for growth. Once you have that in place, marketing tactics such as word of mouth online can be fully leveraged, and that is the key to organic growth.”
• Entrepreneurs not only track the wrong metrics, they don’t even know what they are. In the absence of a strategy, business owners make marketing decisions based on short-term data, like how much money is in the bank or how many sales they made last month. This is reactive — not proactive.
“In life and in business, it’s often not the ability to answer a question, but rather whether or not you’re asking the right questions,” Dominguez says.
So, what are some of those questions? – The duo have come up with the following:
How many new leads did you get this month?
How much did it cost you to acquire that new lead or customer (CAC)?
What’s the average value of a single transaction?
What is the lifetime value of your customer (LTV)?
• Businesses don’t manager their message across all customer touch points. Technology brings customers to us from so many sources. Most businesses are not aware of all the ways consumers are using technology to find businesses to transact with. Businesses should go through the process of creating a Customer Journey Map so that they can see all the touch points across all channels and first measure how well they are doing and then identify gaps and opportunities. The goal in this process is to know exactly what your customer is thinking, feeling and doing throughout their engagement at touch point. This one exercise alone will show you where your profits are being won or lost.
• They don’t know the fundamentals of marketing that are the cornerstones to any long term growth strategy. Just like an archer tries to hit the bull’s-eye, an entrepreneur tries to reach her customers. No matter how many arrows that may be in her quiver, if she doesn’t know how to aim, she’ll probably miss with each attempt. The same is true with marketing: you can spend vast amounts in a campaign, but you need to know the who, the how and the why of your aim.
Dominguez, a Fortune 50 business strategist, says: “You need to know who you’re marketing to. Why are you marketing to them? What are their wants and needs; what keeps them up at night? Are there emotional triggers that make your marketing relevant? What is your brand promise and what makes you different from the guy down the street? And, you when you do you this effectively, you shift from sinking money into fixing problems and into growing your business through strategic decision making.
About Pamela Herrmann and Patty Dominguez
Pamela Herrmann and Patty Dominguez cofounded CREATE Buzz (www.createbuzznow.com), an online training experience which helps business owners and their employees get powerful, positive and practical customer engagement habits that build loyalty. As CREATE Buzz, Herrmann and Dominguez provide deep insights and strategic planning on how to make your marketing dollars convert more sales. They co-host Customers For Life podcast and co-host The Morning Would Show providing daily motivation. The duo have a very big vision of helping one million companies leverage customer loyalty in the digital age, and they’ve influenced thousands of entrepreneurs with their straight talk about growing business from a place of strategy.
Ridgewood NJ, Councilwomen Gwen Hauck has announced her re-election bid for Ridgewood Village Council. On her email she lists village hall as the mailing address for her campaign?Maybe that is ok in NJ, but it does seem odd. Maybe she should also have add. ” Or visit my Field Office located at The Valley Hospital Campus in Ridgewood.
Gwen’s term on the Village council has been marred by controversy . In 2012 when she ran Gwen promised a return to a more “healthy dialogue” in the Village , results have been anything but. Gwen’s is part of the triumvirate known in the Village as the “3 Amigos” which includes Mayor Paul Aronsohn ,Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli and Gwen Hauck . The 3 Amigos are led by Mayor Paul Aronsohn and vote as a block on all issues .
Gwen known for her cookie baking for senior citizens had her tenure on the Village Council marked by massive conflicts on interest with Valley Hospital , the over reliance of electronic devices during council meetings, her absence during a key reorg vote, the use of a taxpayer funded newsletter to self promote ,the constant documented attacks from the dais on Village residents , and now the revelation of her implication in the whole sale murder of “wood turtles” at Irene Habernickel Family Park a “Threatened Species” and most recently totally ignoring and some suggest covering up of an alleged assault at a Village council meeting on a Ridgewood resident.
Dear Friends,
I am very excited to announce that I will be running for re-election on May 10, 2016.
Over the next five months I will be hosting focus groups in many of your neighborhoods to explain what I have accomplished and what I believe in. Most importantly, I will be listening to what residents have to say.
Ridgewood deserves diligent, centered leadership. Ridgewood deserves someone who works to find common ground; someone who works for all citizens, a practical problem solver who considers economic, political AND administrative details. My goal is to be that leader for you.
I have created a website, GwennHauck.com, which will highlight current council issues and my thoughts on them. I hope you will find this to be a place you come to understand my views on the current events that are affecting Ridgewood.
Find something interesting? Email me directly after you read an article to share your views. Want to join the discussion? Sign up to host a focus group where residents can learn more about me, and I can learn more about the issues that concern them.
Let’s work together to make us all proud of Ridgewood.
Ridgewood NJ, A recent OPERA request turned up the Village was buying bottled water .I guess Ridgewood Water isn’t good enough for some employees. Maybe it’s the lead.
Village eblast January 5th 2015 , “The water supplied by Ridgewood Water does not have lead in it. A small number of homes in the Ridgewood Water service territory have plumbing materials that can leach lead into the water which caused an exceedance of the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for lead during routine testing in 2012. Regulatory agencies require that water utilities test for lead by setting up “worst‐case‐ scenarios” at locations at increased risk such as those known to have lead service lines. Additionally, the samples taken for testing must be water that has been undisturbed and in contact with the household plumbing for at least 6 hours. These samples are usually taken in the morning before any water has been used including the flushing of toilets. Therefore, samples are usually collected by residents. Each participating resident received the test results for their specific location. Additionally, virtually every faucet has brass components that contain a percentage of lead. This is why it is prudent to let a faucet run for several seconds before using the water for cooking and drinking, especially if the faucet has not been used for several hours. If your service line is made of lead, run the water for a longer period to clear all of the water from the service line. Please call 201‐ 670‐3372 if you are unsure of your service line material. Ridgewood Water will start using a phosphate‐based additive later this year that will also address this issue by coating the lines and faucets effectively stopping the leaching of lead into the water”
photo by Boyd Loving minutes after the alleged assault at the council meeting
BY MATTHEW SCHNEIDER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
RIDGEWOOD – Ridgewood’s Village Council voted 3-2 to bond with the Bergen County Improvement Authority (BCIA) on Feb. 10 in order to fund the proposed Hudson Street parking garage.
This came on the heels of last week’s unanimous vote of the BCIA to authorize the submission of an application to the state local finance board, accelerating the process along.
Just as there was at the BCIA version, Wednesday’s meeting featured both proponents and opponents of the decision to bond with the county, including village residents and council members.
Councilwoman Susan Knudsen, who voted against adopting the ordinance to bond with the BCIA, said that she still has some serious concerns with moving the process along at this time.
“I think that before we get into this, it’s really important to have a conversation with Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and be neighborly and have the simulations and all of the information available to address and allay any concerns that they have,” she said.
While she did admit that bonding with the BCIA “seems like a great option,” she said that she continues to believe “that when we find the appropriate scale and design of this garage, it could be done on self-bonding.”
“While there seems to be some financial benefits to be gained by going through the BCIA, some of the detriments are very real,” Knudsen said. “Maintaining ownership and absolute control is imperative to the success of this garage … I think it’s still an opportunity to bond on our own.”
Councilman Mike Sedon, who cast the other dissenting vote against bonding with the BCIA, said he thinks it is necessary to have a payment plan in place before moving forward.
