Accounting Gimmick: Ridgewood considers using $3M surplus
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
The Record
RIDGEWOOD — The Village Council could conceivably draw $3 million from the village surplus, if it is intent on delivering a zero-percent tax increase while maintaining current staffing levels.
The $3 million solution to Ridgewood’s lingering budgetary concerns was floated by Village Manager Ken Gabbert at a recent council meeting.
The village’s present fund balance sits at $4.3 million, Gabbert said, adding that $800,000 of the money is restricted and cannot be touched.
That, Gabbert said, leaves $3.5 million in the surplus account the council could access to attain its stated goal of no tax increase for 2013.
Tapping into that money would prevent layoffs, increase funding to the library’s budget, and permit extended hours at Graydon Pool, Gabbert said.
The tactic gave Councilman Thomas Riche pause, because he said such a move would leave the village with a fund balance of just $500,000.
3rd annual film festival in Ridgewood welcomes student work
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
BY ELYSE TORIBIO
STAFF WRITER
The Record
WHAT: 3rd Annual Spring Film Festival.
WHEN: 6 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday.
WHERE: Clearview Cinema, 190 E. Ridgewood Ave., Ridgewood, 201-444-1235.
HOW MUCH: $15 per night, $25 for both nights, $12 for Ridgewood High School students and senior citizens. Tickets available at the door, Brownpapertickets.com and Mango Jam, House of DeCicco and Araya-Rebirth in Ridgewood.
“A Colorful Romance,” one of the feature-length entries in Ridgewood’s Spring Film Festival this year, opens with a short black-and-white sequence highlighting the village’s streets and landmarks like Ridgewood Avenue and Van Neste Square. The rest of the film follows awkward teenager Ted as he falls for Katie, the head cheerleader who literally brings color into his life via a secret Technicolor portal in the woods. The 64-minute film was made entirely by two teenagers.
“Being a former educator, I’m always in awe of the student filmmakers,” said Ridgewood Guild president Tony Damiano. “They’re all so enthusiastic, and the quality of the work we get from them is unbelievable.”
You’ll recall the ruckus raised recently on this site and throughout the village when the Ridgewood district first resisted, then disingenuously revised the district’s math offerings, improving some circumstances at the elementary level but leaving the middle schools in particular in a world of hurt.
Well the time may have come to begin pinging on the Ridgewood district once again. As many people are aware, there is a nationalization effort well underway that will deprive not only local school districts, but this time also state educational leaders of the ability to maintain true stadards to provide students the opportunity to master critical academic subjects before they leave the fold to attend college. Will the Ridgewood district fall prey once again to faddish change for change’s sake?
The following web-page has interesting information about Common Core, as well as links to further information.
Does anyone else hear the faint creak of the rusty hinges of the proverbial cheap camera as it commences folding once again? There is no acacemic standard so poor that it can’t be weakened still further by advantageously-positioned and ideologically-motivated individuals such as our illustrious Assistant Superintendent in charge of Curriculum, Ms. Botsford.
Readers says , note to the BOE. The endless increases there need to stop
Look at their presentation under “initiatives” – they want to add even more courses – none are core requirements, and most of which are honors courses. How much does each one cost? How many kids will each one benefit and by how much?
Instead of telling you, they offer an apples to oranges comparison showing average school taxes have increased 5%/yr over a long period. But fear not– average home values have increased 8% over the same period, they say.
Oh joy. How do you monetize that? No one issues you an “appreciation certificate” you can take to the tax collector as partial payment of your now even larger bill.
And even if you could refinance every year at super low rates, there’s a cost to that, which of course their presentation fails to show.
They also don’t show the substantial cost we as taxpayers pay for BOE debt service.
Sure I’m for good schools, and I went to the schools here myself, K-12, when most classes had 30 (to one teacher) and many had more. Funny thing though… the schools were rated higher than they are now– despite a lot more kids in the system.
RHS when I went there was a 3 year school — yet had over 300 more kids attending than it does today— as a 4 year school.
Some of the way-too-many extras need to go and save the cost. I have relatives who for 2 generations have taught at an exclusive private prep school in New England, rated near the top nationally. Yet they offer LESS “extra” courses than our taxpayer funded schools do…. and those who want ‘em have to pay extra for ‘em, too. Gosh, what a concept.
Also note that the Council received “word” from 2 BOE members (it was said in last meeting) that BOE has zero interest in having any kind of Financial Oversight group studying them. Gee… wonder why? Same type of thing they did to sandbag Morgan’s initiative of “hey, can’t we start with zero?”
They put it off and then at last minute came up with draconian cuts that nearly no one would want. He questioned it, they pretty much rebuked him and said “no, that’s that”. Amazing. In a budget that huge, there have got to be others…. like the stuff in their own presentation trying to justify the latest increase.
Voting NO on the school budget and hope others will do that too.
A Challenge To Those Who Support “Gay Marriage”
Vostra Guida
Apr 11 ,2013
(Washington State Attorney General has filed a consumer protection lawsuit against a florist who refused to supply flowers for a same-sex wedding. The florist told the couple “I am sorry. I can’t do your wedding because of my relationship with Jesus Chris.” The lawsuit seeks to force the florist to supply flowers for gay weddings and seeks a $2,000 fine for every violation.)
A Challenge To Those Who Support “Gay Marriage”
By Vostra Guida
The concept of so-called “gay marriage” is surrounded with high levels of emotions on all sides of the debate, and has come into even sharper focus this year due in large part to two cases recently argued before the Supreme Court, and the fact that the President of the United States and a slew of “Johnny-Come-Lately” politicians have endorsed the idea of government sanctioned gay marriage.
Yet for centuries, it was presumed that marriage is the union of a man and a woman, and today there are many federal laws that rely on the definition of “marriage” and/or “spouse” (including laws relating to social security, taxes, immigration, employee benefits, etc.). At present, federal law (the Defense of Marriage Act) defines “marriage” as “only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.” That same law also defines the word “spouse” as referencing only “a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.” It should come as no surprise that I continue to support those definitions.
The main arguments in favor of gay marriage tend to focus on the “right” of homosexuals to be happy and to marry the person they love, and to be treated equally under the law. But what we have not heard from supporters of gay marriage is what they propose for the new definitions of “marriage” and “spouse” to be used in connection with federal laws like the ones mentioned above.
So for those who have declared your support for gay marriage, I have a challenge for you:
1) Please propose new definitions of “marriage” and “spouse” that include homosexual relationships and that can be used in connection with federal laws.
2) If those definitions are not also inclusive of all varieties of relationships (for example, incestuous relationships, zoophilic relationships, or polygamous relationships — whether heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual) please provide the justification(s) for treating those relationships differently from typical heterosexual and homosexual relationships such that denying people who wish to enter into such marriages may be denied the same “right to be happy, marry who they love, and be treated equally under the law.”
In responding, please keep in mind that people involved in all of the aforementioned types of relationships are capable of conceiving children artificially (some requiring sperm or egg donations or a rented uterus) and/or are capable of adopting children, just like people in heterosexual and homosexual relationships. Some may be too old to have children or have no interest in having children, just like people in heterosexual and homosexual relationships.
The above challenge is a serious exercise. In order to understand whether redefining “marriage” and “spouse” is justified, workable, and generally a good idea, we need to know what the proposed new definitions will be and how those definitions are justified.
Citizens are ready to rally in counties throughout New Jersey to show their disdain for the attack on our Constitution, the Bill of Rights and our freedoms on April 14.
We the People” Bergen County Rally Sunday, April 14, 2pm, Teaneck NJ
The Rally for Bergen County which is just one of eight for this weekend is set for:
April 14th – 2:00 pm – Bergen County – Teaneck Green: Cedar Lane/Teaneck Road, Teaneck 07666
This rally is for ALL who value their freedom and liberty:
If you are a conservative, Second Amendment activist, libertarian, reform, gun activist, gun/rifle club member you need to show up and be counted with others who have simply had enough of the assault on your rights and the liberty we all hold near and dear to our hearts. This is not supporting any one party, so republicans, democrats and unaffiliated – please come out.
Speakers who will give you hope and a pathway to become involved before it is too late. This brief time will bring you where you need to be to be involved and hear how you can be with a small amount of time and effort.
In Bergen on the Teaneck Green we will be hearing some of the best speakers including
Joe Connor – author, appears on Fox ** Rev. Steve Craft -author, How To Raise An American Patriot ** Mike Henry – Heritage Action ** Carolee Adams – Common Core/Education ** Tom Stowe – Fair Tax ** Mark Peters – Constitutional Activist ** Scott Bach, Esq.to name a few.
If you don’t stand up NOW for your children and grandchildren, who will? Will you let them take the minds and well-being of the children without protest?
*Can you afford to miss this opportunity to network with others who feel the way you do?
*How can you sit home when you see all your rights being hijacked each day piece by piece?
*Can you really let others do this by themselves without your support?
Well the answer is YOU CAN’T! – BE THERE! Bring a friend and a lawn chair
This rally is supported by NJ2AS, the NJ Constitution Party, NJ Libertarian Party, NJ Fair Tax activists, NJ Tea Party Caucus as well as conservatives throughout the state.
61st Sponsor Show Painting Images at Ridgewood Art Institute
Sun, April 14, 2013 – Thu, May 02, 2013
Time: 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Ridgewood Art Institute, 12 East Glen Ave., Ridgewood, NJ 07450
All are welcome to the opening reception of the 61st Annual Sponsor Show on April 14th from 2 – 4 pm at the Ridgewood Art Institute located at 12 East Glen Avenue in Ridgewood, NJ.
The Sponsor Show, our biggest fundraiser of the year, guarantees each sponsor a painting from the exhibition for a contribution of $275. This year’s show, entitled “Visions of Light” features artwork with beautiful light effects.
***Sponsors claim a painting of their choice at a lottery style drawing on the evening of May 3rd at
8:00 PM. Attend the opening reception to enter a ticket giveaway to the Bergen PAC. The exhibition is free and open to the public from April 14 through May 2, 2012. Gallery hours are Mon. – Fri. (10:00 AM – 8:00 PM), Sat. (10:00 AM – 3:00 PM), and Sun. (12:00 PM – 2:00 PM) Sponsorships can be purchased in person at the Institute or online at www.ridgewoodartinstitute.org.
Please visit the website or call (201)
652-9615 for additional information.
The state Attorney general today released the report of the safety task force created by the governor in the wake of the Newtown, CT, school shootings.
The 83 page report from the NJ Safe Task Force offers a series of 50 recommendations for curbing gun violence in the state. The recommendations focus on several key areas including gun control, urban violence, mental illness, substance abuse, gun violence, violence in the media and school security.
Share With 911 is accessible from anything that connects to the Internet, like this SmartBoard
Local Company Share With 911 takes on School Safety
April 11,2013
Share With 911 creates private and secure Emergency Communication Networks (ECN) for your school, campus or building, linking the people who need help directly with those who respond to provide it.
“We turn your computer, mobile phone or tablet into a emergency communication device that enables you to share and receive critical, emergency information with your co-workers and First Responders, in real-time.” – Erik Endress, CEO
We enable 911, Police and Building Administrators/Managers to broadcast real-time alerts, such as the need to lockdown or evacuate, to your employees, directly to their mobile device. When they receive an alert, your employees respond by sharing their actual location, their status, headcount and a message about what they see or the help they need.
Now, First Responders can see what is happening while responding to and once on the scene of the emergency. This information is prioritized for them in real-time, showing them where they need to go first, to mitigate a threat such as an active shooter or where to find trapped and injured persons.
Incident Commanders, First Responders and Building Managers can use our system to communicate directly with your employees keeping them informed and directing them to take specific actions by transmitting incident updates right from their own mobile device.
Share With 911 was designed with high occupancy locations in mind. Places like schools, college campuses, shopping centers, hospitals, high-rise office and residential buildings or any place where you have a large number of people, in the same location, involved in the same emergency, are the places where our system can make a big difference.
Share With 911 is Powered By OnScene Technologies, Inc. a Ramsey, New Jersey company that applies technology-based solutions to location-based problems.
The web-based platform connects people inside of an emergency with 911, Law Enforcement and First Responders via private, secure Emergency Communication Networks (ECN) that are accessible from any computer or mobile device with an Internet connection.
The idea for Share With 911 came from our CEO, Erik Endress, himself a volunteer First Responder for more than 25 years, who was frustrated by the communication disconnect that existed during these incidents.
Share With 911 was designed with high occupancy locations in mind. Places like schools, college campuses, shopping centers, hospitals, high-rise office and residential buildings or any place where you have a large number of people, in the same location, involved in the same emergency, are the places where our system can make a big difference.
You can contact OnScene Technologies right now at (201) 785-7902 or by emailing erik [at} onscenetechnologies.com
State officials release comparative ‘performance reports’ for every NJ public school
Wednesday April 10, 2013, 3:50 PM
BY LESLIE BRODY
STAFF WRITER
The Record
State officials released new “performance reports” on every New Jersey public school today, saying the new categories for student growth, absenteeism, success in advanced courses and other measures will give parents more information than the report cards of the past.
School districts to pay more for school construction projects
By Jarrett Renshaw/The Star-Ledger
updated April 08, 2013 at 8:46 PM
TRENTON — Hundreds of school districts will pay more in debt service on construction projects for the budget year beginning July 1, state Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff said today.
State Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen) said Gov. Chris Christie failed to mention the increased borrowing costs when he unveiled his $32.8 billion budget for fiscal 2014 in February and touted that state aid to school districts remained relatively flat.
“The headlines said schools are being held harmless, but that’s just misleading,” Sarlo told Eristoff at a Senate Budget Committee hearing.
Since 2011, the Economic Development Authority has charged school districts 15 percent of the borrowing costs for school construction projects, with the state picking up the remaining tab.
6TH GRADE SPRING MIXER At Ridgewood Community Center
RIDGEWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL MIXERS Sponsored by Ridgewood Recreation and the NJ Governor’s Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Village teens have the opportunity to come together as both George Washington and Ben Franklin Middle Schools join to form a “mixer”. Each evening offers students a chance to get acquainted with future classmates while enjoying music and dancing with DJ Sound Illusion, refreshments, fun and games. 6th Grade – Friday, April 12th, 7:30 to 9:30 pm 7th/8th Grades – Friday, April 19th, 7:30 to 9:30 pm (Ridgewood teens only)
The Anne Zusy Youth Center, 131 N. Maple Avenue (NOTE: all parents must drop off and pick up youth in the rear lot of Village Hall at the Community Center entrance.) A donation of $8 will be requested at the door. All donations will benefit the Community Center. Adult chaperones are always needed. Please contact the Recreation Office at 201-670-5560 if you are able to volunteer.
Moxie Twins Salon
April 8 ,2014
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Many readers had not heard of the Moxie Twins Salon until the recent “episode” durring the taping of the Real Housewives of New Jersey . While we are not a fan of the show the owners of Ridgewood’s Moxie Twins Salon have voiced concern that their reputation may have taken a hit during the taping an altercation .
While many readers felt it was nothing more than a publicity stunt others have such low expectations for the D list celebs in reality TV series they have long looked with disdain and worry Ridgewood is becoming a magnet for these types of shows.
What ever your feeling we though we would introduce the Moxie Twins Salon and let you make up your own mind.
You don’t know style until you’ve met the “Moxie Twins”. Say hello to Jamie and Jenn, identical twin hairstylists who truly know how to get glam.
As teens, they simultaneously attended high school and trained using Paul Mitchell’s curriculum at the Parisian Beauty Academy, a Paul Mitchell partner school, in Hackensack, NJ. After graduation, while most others were just starting their hairstyling educations, Jenn and Jamie were already taking the country by storm. True “bicoastal stylists,” they beautified women (and men!) on both sides of the country, in both LA and NY. They took additional enrichment classes in New York City and trained with Guiseppe Franco, one of the TOP THREE HAIRDRESSERS IN THE WORLD. Throughout their careers, the girls have contributed to many charitable causes. They have appeared at several battered women’s shelters in New Jersey and offered haircuts free of charge, a glam pick-me-up for those who need it most. Additionally, they have assisted at St. Jude’s cut-a-thons, which raise money for childhood cancer research, and donated to the Joan’s Joy Foundation. They can often be found helping causes fundraise and donating services to auctions to help local schools and community centers.
Currently, the twins’ salon is located in Ridgewood, NJ. They offer professional haircuts, styling, and coloring, hair and eyelash extensions, and Motives make-up and custom blend foundation consultations. Both are La Bella hair and eyelash extension certified and Brazilian keratin treatment certified. In addition, Jenn is a Wella trained and certified colorist. Jamie is a Motives make-up custom blend foundation specialist.
Today, Jenn and Jamie are well-known throughout the tri-state area and beyond for their tremendous talent, vibrant energy, and unwavering zest for life. Their work speaks for itself. (https://www.moxietwins.com/about-us/ )
We are located at:
57 E. Ridgewood Ave, Ridgewood, NJ Tel: 201.652.1006
4 gay NFL players could come out on the same day, Brendon Ayanbadejo says
By Andrew Sharp on Apr 5 2013, 10:25am
Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo was released by Baltimore this offseason, and on the heels of comments earlier this week where he suggested that he was cut in part because of his outspoken stance on gay rights and equality issues, Ayanbadejo clarified himself to the Baltimore Sun on Friday. During an hour-long interview he made it clear that he harbors no resentment toward the Ravens, and respects them for the support they offered him throughout his career both on and off the field. But that’s not all.
