>November Elections: Seniors fled Democrats in midterm
In an election marked by dramatic defections from the Democratic Party, older voters swung hardest, seemingly threatened by President Barack Obama’s mantra of change. Voters over 65 favored Republicans last week by a 21-point margin after flirting with Democrats in the 2006 midterm elections and favoring John McCain by a relatively narrow 8-point margin in 2008. (Tau, Politico) https://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/44802.html#ixzz14gkzrtHU
>New Jersey Public Education : Sloppy bookkeeping, errors, plague school stimulus spending
The 2009 federal stimulus money for schools is almost all spent by now in New Jersey, but it’s still drawing attention from state monitors and raising questions as to how it was spent. (Mooney, NJ Spotlight) https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/10/1107/2109/
>COAH:N.J. Assembly committee to consider affordable housing bill that focuses on rezoning
TRENTON — An affordable housing bill before the Legislature does not actually require towns to provide housing opportunities for low-income residents, but it does credit municipalities if they rezone for more expensive homes, according to a report scheduled for release Monday. (Ackermann, The Star-Ledger)
Ridgewood Knights of Columbus Distribute “Shake the Can” Proceeds
Ridgewood-NJ-November 8, 2010: The Ridgewood Knights of Columbus Council #1736 is pleased to announce that the following organizations have received donations generated from the annual “Shake the Can to Help Handicapped Citizens” fundraiser:
– Alfa Development, Inc., Paramus, NJ – Camp Sunshine, Ridgewood, NJ – Archdiocese of Newark, Ministry for Persons with Disabilities, Newark, NJ – Friends to Friends (First Reformed Church), Ridgewood, NJ – Spectrum for Living, River Vale, NJ – Putting the Pieces Together, North Arlington, NJ
The Knights are easily recognizable in their yellow vests, working the sidewalks and intersections throughout the village every Spring for this annual event. “This three day event is one of our main fundraisers throughout the year, and we thank everyone in the community for helping out”, said Mike Dougherty, organizer of the annual event.
“Charity is one of the main pillars of our organization”, said Peter Bernardo, Chair of the Ridgewood Knights donations committee. “Performing good works for our community is what we do”, Bernardo said.
>CHECK-OUT HUNGER RETURNS FOR 20th ANNIVERSARY YEAR
HILLSIDE, N.J. – Check-Out Hunger, an annual front-end awareness and fund raiser for the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, will be marking its 20th year milestone this fall. This campaign, which began in New Jersey, is run at supermarket chains across the northeast. The Community FoodBank of New Jersey reports that need for nutritious food is up 30-40 percent at its partner agencies (soup kitchens, pantries, shelters, etc) this year.
In 2009 Check-Out Hunger crossed the $2 Million plateau for the first time. The campaign raised $2,093, 086 for food banks across the state. Since 1992, millions of people have supported the program at food markets and online at www.checkouthungernj.org.Participating food markets include A&P, Food Basics, Foodtown, Kings, Pathmark, Shop Rite, Super Fresh, Wawa, and Wegmans.
This campaign was developed by the Community FoodBank in conjunction with the New Jersey Food Council and supermarket chains with headquarters in New Jersey. Currently the Community FoodBank of New Jersey administers the regional campaign with 14 chains for 32 food banks and affiliates in 9 states and the District of Columbia.
The Community FoodBank of New Jersey, a member of Feeding America, distributed 35 million pounds of food in the last year to people in need in 18 of New Jersey’s 21 counties. Its staff and volunteers fight hunger and poverty not only through the distribution of food and grocery products, but by education and training, and by creating new programs to meet the needs of low-income people. The Community FoodBank of New Jersey has earned Charity Navigator’s highest honor, a four-star rating.
Wonder how much effort and money Valley spent on getting out their vote to no avail. Here’s a tidbit, when your elected officials fail to properly fullfill, protect and represent then they tend to get replaced. Funny how corporate lobbying for an over expansion is ok but the voices of parents of Ridgewood schools on east side arent. 2500 nimbys lol.
Someday soon the West Side will be encroached on and the integrity of zones will be breached despite local opposition. Im pretty confident at this point that our community as a whole will respond in kind regardless of location if it is wrong. Seen it happen in other towns when they realize that the checks and balances are being compromised.
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(CNSNews.com) – John Allison, who for two decades served as chairman and CEO of BB&T, the nation’s 10th largest bank, told CNSNews.com it is a “mathematical certainty” that the United States government will go bankrupt unless it dramatically changes its fiscal direction.
Allison likened what he sees as the predictable future bankruptcy of the United States to the problems at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose insolvency he also said was foreseeable to those who studied their business practices and financial situation.
“I think the first thing we have to realize is where we’re going and to face it objectively,” Allison told CNSNews.com, when asked about the trillion-dollar-plus deficits the federal government has run for three straight years, the more than $13 trillion in federal debt, and the $61.9 trillion long-term shortfall the government faces (according to the analysis of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation) if the government is to pay all the benefits it has promised through entitlement programs.
“If you run the numbers, on all those numbers that you just talked about, which I think are accurate, very accurate, in 20 or 25 years, the United States goes bankrupt,” said Allison. “It’s a mathematical certainty.
“It reminds me very much of that story I told you about Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae,” said Allison. “We were running the numbers, and Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae went bankrupt, and we got there. In 20 or 25 years, the United States goes bankrupt.
>Readers react to Russell Forenza’s wild accusations of Voter fraud in the village.
Try not go blind when you realize that he could have been on our new council person. I think he makes it pretty clear what he thinks…the election was stolen.
He has no credenials and consequently no qualificaions. He does not appear to understand what is an “under-vote”. He appears to have not reviewed the under-vote of prior elections in Ridgewood. Had he done so, he would not have raised any of this stink. He also made a similar presention to the council on Weds night.
I think his statements may be reflective of how he jumps to baseless, wild speculative conclusions and how he might have represented the citizens on council.
Specific review of the under vote suggests , its about the same as in prior years.
We dodged a close one and it is now time to move forward.
>COAH: The overhaul of New Jersey’s affordable housing system is going back to the drawing board.
What comes after COAH?
The overhaul of New Jersey’s affordable housing system is going back to the drawing board. The proposed law that abolishes the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) and creates an entirely new system in its place is undergoing revisions, according to Senator Raymond Lesniak (D-Union) and Assemblyman Jerry Green (D-Union), both of whom recently introduced similar versions of the legislation. McDermott, NJ Spotlight)
>Christie moves to block school districts from circumventing his cap
While Gov. Chris Christie has made noise about demanding new salary caps for school superintendents, Englewood is reportedly negotiating a salary for its new superintendent of around $200,000. Somerville hired a new one at $175,000. Both exceed the caps for comparably sized districts. (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)
Despite concerns from neighbors of Ridgewood High School (RHS) about their quality of life, the school district moved ahead this week to complete the installation of remaining flood lights above the school’s two athletics fields.
Seven remaining field lights between 70 and 80 feet tall were installed at Stevens Field earlier this week, despite a request from residents at last Wednesday’s Village Council meeting that a hearing be held on the installation and a stop-work order be issued. Four other light poles at Stadium Field were installed last month.
Superintendent Daniel Fishbein defended the installation, saying in an e-mail that the district has “a contract for installation in place and we are moving forward.”
Residents of the area were distressed by the news, saying that they had repeatedly reached out to the BOE to voice concerns about possible property devaluation due to the lights and increased traffic and parking in the area.
“I am very disappointed that the Board has proceeded to install these stadium-style lights for non-school teams without engaging in any discussion with its neighbors despite numerous attempts on our part to start the dialogue,” said Jim Morgan, a resident of Beverly Road and a founder of the Ridgewood High School Neighborhood Association (RHSNA), in an e-mail.
Cynthia Fitzgerald, a resident of North Irving Street, said that the decision to move ahead reflected an unwillingness of the BOE to engage with residents.
“It’s just in keeping with their attitude that they can do whatever they want to regarding the neighborhood,” she said. “As a lifelong resident of Ridgewood, I couldn’t imagine somebody would do something like this. & It looks like Giants Stadium right now.”
>If Valley is a ‘NIMBY’ issue, then the $48 million bond referendum was an ‘IMBY’ issue.
If Valley is a ‘NIMBY’ issue, then the $48 million bond referendum was an ‘IMBY’ issue. After all, it was the motivated Willard districts that put the bond over by a handful of votes?
I could go either way on Valley, but I want it done all above board – no backroom deals, no public lockout of residents at meetings.
I still voted.
I was against the bond ref because of its scope and size. I was upset with the elitist attitude of the BOE that we could keep floating what equates to home improvement loans to make repairs rather than maintain the buildings all along.
There is no ‘imbalance’ that you speak of because the voters are the great equalizer. You don’t like the way a BOE or VC member acts, speak up, attend meeting and VOTE. Bring a neighbor or two. This blog often mentions ‘HSA mommies’; if they are the most active it could be because of the convenience of the voting station being at the schools.
Another thing to be considered, writer: the municipal election was on the same day as the county, state and federal – making it even more worth the voter’s while. All this at stake and some didn’t come out on a beautiful day (no rain or excessive chill) with the polls open a full 14 hours.
It’s our right and civic duty to vote. Maybe they should start serving Starbucks?
>Wellinghorst Wins in a Landslide ! What controversy?
If you add togther all the votes cast for Russ, Oliver and Lou and compare that total to Wellinghorst’s votes, Wellinghorst still wins!
That’s called a “LANDSLIDE ELECTION”
I heard Wellinghorst even asked that the last few thousand votes not be counted so as not to embarras the other cadidates. He’s a real gentleman!
I think some folks have lost it here. This is the second election in a row where candidates who were endorsed by CRR won by landslides. In fact,if you go back three elections, you will find that candidates who were purportedly against massive over-expansion won.
Enough said. Move on. You can parse numbers any way you want, but the voters have spoken.
