A very good point was made by Fishbein, he and his administration are responsible for monitoring a powerful device that is put in the students hands (smartphone) by the parents. When are we going to start holding parents accountable for their kids and what they do? Also, I have heard so many complaints of the BOE not doing their jobs in taking a stand (which I highly disagree with – my kids who are at 3 different schools in the district have been coming home talking about their bully – HIB presentations since I can remember), but I have yet to hear anyone come forward with what they think should or can be done in addition to what is already being done. Anyone? I bet if more parents were policing their kids and their phones, this would help the administration A LOT. They can’t’ do it alone, and they shouldn’t be held entirely accountable for 6,000 kids and their actions. This is a group effort people. Teaching our kids accountability for their OWN actions is an amazing life lesson. Placing blame has not benefit to anyone – not helpful.
Ridgewood NJ, The adult male driver of a Jeep Cherokee involved in a two (2) vehicle, head on crash in front of 424 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood on Tuesday evening, 11/21, was in full cardiac arrest when patrol officers arrived at the crash scene. The victim’s seat belt was cut, he was placed on the ground after being removed from the vehicle, and officers immediately began performing CPR. The victim was transported by a Ridgewood EMS ambulance to The Valley Hospital where he was reported to be in grave condition. A tow truck removed the Cherokee from the crash scene. Ridgewood Fire Department personnel also responded to the incident. A Heroin overdose is the suspected cause of the crash.
Ridgewood NJ, Several uniformed and plainclothes members of Ridgewood PD escorted a freshly cut Evergreen tree from a home on Grove Street, Ridgewood to the municipality’s Central Business District where it was lifted into place by a crane and will be decorated to serve as the Village’s 2017 Christmas Tree. The escort detail was executed under the direct supervision of Ridgewood Police Patrol Division Sergeant John Chuck.
Ridgewood NJ, at the Monday night school board meeting , the Ridgewood Board of Educations was once again challenged by parents on the perceived lack of action on what some parents are calling a bullying epidemic at Ridgewood schools.
The school seemed unable or unwilling to confront the issue. The Board continues to claim they are following the anti bullying policy , but recent events would fail to confirm that . The school board maintains that bullying is not an issue at Ridgewood Schools, while recent events again suggest otherwise . Parents as well as students seem to lost confidence in the BOE on this issue .
Ridgewood NJ, In addition to the revenue drain associated with commissions being paid out by the Village’s Parking Utility to Parkmobile USA, the introduction of the mobile parking payment app has resulted in the hiring of additional Parking Enforcement Officers. This because none of Ridgewood’s police officers have been issued, or trained on, the software that is now required to issue parking tickets at any locations within the Village where Parkmobile is accepted for payment.
Ridgewood NJ, The iconic Sycamore tree at Graydon Park is now scheduled for removal during the first week of December. Crews from the Village’s Shade Tree Division will be removing the tree at that time unless a certified arborist, yet to be hired, determines that the tree is healthy and should remain standing. The tree had originally been scheduled to be removed during the month of November, but scheduling delays pushed the date back.
Ridgewood NJ, Rica plead guilty stealing 500k. The Village insurance claim was for 850k. That left a balance of 350k, which someone kept (many suspect Rica had help ).
In the real world, guilty or not, Chris Rutishauser would have been fired. 850k was stolen under his watch. He had to have known, he should have noticed a decline in meter revenue or deposits? He ran, and continues to run a questionable department with no accountability.
The attached Rica Report was submitted by the Village to the Board of Fund Commissioners, Municipal Excess Liability Joint Insurance Fund. It outlines the total amount of quarters stolen and what needs to be done for this to never happen again.
OUR VILLAGE, THE ENGINEER, NEVER IMPLEMENTED ANY OF IT! All recommended safety measures have been met with strong opposition from Mr. Rutishauser and his organization(s). Why doesn’t the Village Manager and Council take action over this matter?
Note the closing statement. It says, the Village needs to have a process for reporting the collections and reconciling those reports to funds deposited/recorded. Security and technological advancement is also needed.
What gives the Village Engineer the authority to decide against practical safeguards, policies and procedures that protect public funds and his department from theft and fraud?
Every one of the above posts gives a clear example of what Ridgewood is really all about. “Redistribution ” “scourge ” “housing projects”.
You people are just so completely self centered its borderline appalling.
You worked so hard did you? At the big bank in NYC where they taught you how to “Wells Fargo ” all your clients? Right 11:18?
You think your biggest problem is your perceived arrival of George Jefferson and the subsequent demise of steppford wood. Your wrong. Remember you just vote Big Murph to be our next Gov and he’s going to have his foot so far up your Ridgewood Counntry Club ass your heads going to spin. Shocked ? Yea, I bet you are…..
I doubt the Village ever revealed how much cash was actually collected from parking meters. Just as they never publicly stated how much money was being diverted from water company revenues to the Village’s general fund. That’s why cash continues to be king in business – you can easily lie to anyone about how much you took in.
Remember 2-5 years and the current Valley location will be a good number of affordable housing units
The same folks who vote for leaders who support these ideas seem to be shocked when it hits home
The new governor and team are all for this with Bergen County and towns like RW in the cross hairs
Valley will be missed and those who voted for all of this will seem shocked
Personally, I think that the Village was okay with no jail time for Tommy Boy because if they weren’t, he would have made embarrassing statements in court that would have exposed how easy it was for him to steal the money. Also, he would have revealed who else either stole in the past, or was currently stealing. It would have been very bad press for the Village. And the Village knew they were being covered by insurance, so it wasn’t their problem to collect from Tommy anyway. It’s now the insurance company’s problem. I wonder how long it will be before the insurance company puts a lien to Tommy’s house, or just takes the house?
Overdevelopment is the most pressing issue facing those of us who own homes in Ridgewood. The “affordable housing” scheme is socialism, pure and simple, as it is designed to redistribute wealth from those who worked hard and saved.
Ridgewood has done nothing to fight this scourge. Sadly, our last Mayor and his cronies fostered overdevelopment. But we can no longer blame the former regime, as the cronies have lost their clout. Besides, we can’t deny Ridgewood’s development shills openly touted the view of a Ridgewood re-modeled in the mold of a communist 1950’s Eastern European city. And that is what Ridgewood and the rest of New Jersey will slowly devolve into if this forced redistribution of property is not brought to a halt, now.
It is not clear what our current council is doing as our property values delcine and our taxes rise. The housing projects now underway in Ridgewood will weigh us down like anchors made of disgarded heaps of socialist concrete housing blocks. And what if we really do need thousands of more units to satisfy the courts’ hunger for buildings to re-order our society? This Council needs to take action. We need somthing more than debates over the number of construction trucks that will be allowed to speed through our Village streets each day (a move akin to re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic.)
Positive action is possible. Among other things, our council should be acting in tandem with other towns to stop this overdevelopment nonsense. The overdevelopment crisis should be an agenda item at every council meeting. It is that serious.
We need a vision to move forward. Council elections are not that far off in the future, and we need to consider whether those running are ready to provide such vision, or if they too will stand still in the myopic self-delusion that seems to grip so many
Ridgewood NJ, Months after Thomas Rica (while employed by the Village of Ridgewood his supervisor was Village Engineer Christopher Rutishauser) plead guilty to stealing almost 1/2 million dollars in coins from the Village of Ridgewood over a two (2) year period, employees of the Village’s Signal Division (under the leadership of the same Christoper Rutishauser) were observed collecting coins from parking meters in empty, unsecured pickle buckets.
When asked during an open public meeting of the Village Council why no state of the art security measures had been added to the coin collection & storage processes, particularly in light of Mr. Rica’s actions, Village CFO Robert G. Rooney said that such security measures would be “too expensive.” Furthermore, all attempts made in recent years by Village Council members to replace coin operated parking meters with multi-payment method kiosks have been met with strong opposition from Mr. Rutishauser and his organization(s).
Now, is it just me, or doesn’t this all strike you as a bit odd?
1) Almost 1/2 million in coins goes missing because of an “inside job,” but it’s too expensive to install state of the art security measures? WTF? Are you for real Mr. Rooney? Frankly, I’m surprised the Village’s insurance company didn’t mandate stronger security measures after paying out over 3/4 million dollars to settle the claim. Absolutely unbelievable. And if that isn’t a joke in and of itself,
2) The leader of the department responsible for collecting cash from parking meters and placing it in storage strongly opposes any attempts on the part of elected officials to cut the number of meters and introduce kiosks that accept alternate forms of payment (credit and debit cards)? Hmm. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Is someone trying to prevent the end of a gravy train?
Ridgewood NJ, This past week’s mass shooting at a California elementary school once again raised questions about safety protocols in schools northern New Jersey and our own schools in Ridgewood .
Early safety focused the duck and cover mode and hope for the best , but with all these high profile incidents many school systems look to be better prepared .
Along come a company called ALICE Training Institute , their Mission: To Improve Chances of Survival .
Right from ALICE’s website , “The threat of an active shooter attack is rare but very real. We aim to eradicate the “It can’t happen to me” mentality and change the way people everywhere respond to armed intruders. At the ALICE Training Institute, we believe that individuals should be prepared for active shooter events and empowered to make their own life-saving decisions. Once empowered to make their own life-saving decisions, individuals must be trained in proactive active shooter response options, rather than a passive, mandated, one-size-fits-all response. We want all Americans to have the knowledge and skills to survive when shots are fired. We can achieve this by training as many people as possible and implementing training in drill form across all organizations. We have seen the successful results of fire drills. It’s time to start anticipating man-made disasters.”
ALICE Training Institute is dedicated to promoting proactive strategies to improve the chances of survival during an active shooter event. We’ve worked with hundreds of thousands of individuals in Police/LE, K-12 Schools, Healthcare, Higher Education, Business, Government and Houses of Worship organizations and empowered their people using ALICE Training.
The Bergen Record cited Denville’s School Superintendent Steven Forte who said the district implemented a strategy four years ago called ALICE to prepare students for “an active shooter” emergency.
The ALICE training program, an acronym for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate, was created after the Columbine shooting , by law enforcement professional Greg Crane who was worried for the safety of his wife, a school principal.
Alert is your first notification of danger.
ALERT is when you first become aware of a threat. The sooner you understand that you’re in danger, the sooner you can save yourself. A speedy response is critical. Seconds count.
Alert is overcoming denial, recognizing the signs of danger and receiving notifications about the danger from others. Alerts should be accepted, taken seriously, and should help you make survival decisions based on your circumstances.
Barricade the room. Prepare to EVACUATE or COUNTER if needed.
If EVACUATION is not a safe option, barricade entry points into your room in an effort to create a semi-secure starting point.
Our training explains scenarios where Lockdown may be the preferable option and dispels myths about passive, traditional ‘lockdown only’ procedures that create readily identifiable targets and makes a shooter’s mission easier. ALICE trainers instruct on practical techniques for how to better barricade a room, what to do with mobile and electronic devices, how and when to communicate with police, and how to use your time in lockdown to prepare to use other strategies (i.e. Counter or Evacuate) that might come into play should the active shooter gain entry.
Communicate the violent intruder’s location and direction in real time.
The purpose of INFORM is to continue to communicate information in as real time as possible, if it is safe to do so. Armed intruder situations are unpredictable and evolve quickly, which means that ongoing, real time information is key to making effective survival decisions. Information should always be clear, direct and in plain language, not using codes. If the shooter is known to be in an isolated section of a building, occupants in other wards can safely evacuate while those in direct danger can perform enhanced lockdown and prepare to counter.
Video surveillance, 911 calls and PA announcements are just a few of the channels that may be used by employees, safety officers, and other personnel to inform others. An emergency response plan should have clear methods outlined for informing school employees, hospital workers, or any other employees of the location of a violent intruder.
Create Noise, Movement, Distance and Distraction with the intent of reducing the shooter’s ability to shoot accurately. Counter is NOT fighting.
ALICE Training does not believe that actively confronting a violent intruder is the best method for ensuring the safety of those involved. Counter is a strategy of last resort. Counter focuses on actions that create noise, movement, distance and distraction with the intent of reducing the shooter’s ability to shoot accurately. Creating a dynamic environment decreases the shooter’s chance of hitting a target and can provide the precious seconds needed in order to evacuate.
When safe to do so, remove yourself from the danger zone.
ATI provides techniques for safer and more strategic evacuations. Evacuating to a safe area takes people out of harm’s way and hopefully prevents civilians from having to come into any contact with the shooter.
Did you know that you should break a window from the top corner as opposed to the center? Many useful techniques that civilians do not know exist and can save your life. ALICE trainers teach strategies for evacuating through windows, from higher floors and under extreme duress.
While this may seem extreme to many , its seems that in this day and age you cant be to careful, and like fire drills you always want to be prepared .
Ridgewood NJ, Wellbeing Series combines with Tech Nights Series to provide an Important program on digital mindfulness on Nov. 29 with Devorah Heitner, Ph.D. Dr. Heitner’s program, Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive (and Survive) in Their Digital World, will cover criteria by which parents and guardians may judge the quality of their children’s media experiences and offer tips to help them become tech-positive parents.
Dr. Heitner is an experienced speaker, workshop leader and consultant, and a professional development resource for organizations wishing to cultivate a culture of responsible digital citizenship. She holds a doctorate in Media/Technology and Society from Northwestern University and is the founder of Raising Digital Natives, for parents and educators seeking advice on how to help children thrive in a world of digital connectedness.
The evening with Dr. Heitner will take place from 7-9 p.m. at the George Washington Middle School Auditorium, 155 Washington Place. It is free and open to the adult public.
