>Valley’s former standing as a friend to its town has plummeted and probably will never return
While those who live near Valley have understandably been the most outspoken about this issue, their views on the proposed expansion and reworking of the Master Plan are shared by many who live elsewhere in town. The thing is, we sometimes leave home! The “Back Yard” of NIMBY in this case stands for ALL of Ridgewood.
As many note, bigger equals bigger, not necessarily better. Valley should be ashamed of itself for persisting tooth and nail, with a fake “grassroots” website and endless ads and other expensive marketing efforts, in the face of such intense and broad-based opposition.
Valley’s former standing as a friend to its town has plummeted and probably will never return.
Six months after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg appeared on Oprah to give $100 million to improve Newark’s strapped and struggling schools, $99 million is still sitting in the bank. (Moore, USA Today)
>Christie: Vote to approve school budgets shouldn’t be automatic, despite state aid increases
Just because school districts received increases to their state aid does not mean residents should automatically vote to approve those budgets, Gov. Chris Christie said Friday at a meeting with the New Jersey Press Media editorial board. (Manochio, Gannett)
>Celebrate National Library Week- Ridgewood Library Celebrate National Library Week @ The Ridgewood Library April 10 – 16 Call Library – 201/670-5600
GOLF INSTRUCTION with Total Golf Adventures of Bergen County sponsored by Ridgewood Parks and Recreation Ridgewood Parks and Recreation will offer the following spring sessions: SPRING BREAK MINI CAMP – April 12 – 14, Grades K-8 The Irene Habernickel Family Park. $60 per person – all equipment provided.
Annual Used Book Sale Benefits College Club Scholarships April 14 to 17 At Somerville School, 45 S. Pleasant Ave. April 14 – 4pm – 7pm $15 Admission April 15,16- 10am – 5pm No Admission April 17 – 10am – 2pm No Admission Something for Everyone! Information: 201/670-9689
Antique Appraisals- Old Paramus Reformed Church – All Welcome! ANTIQUE APPRAISALS BY JON FELZ Certified Appraiser & PBS Road Show Participant SATURDAY, APRIL 16 1:00-4:00 p.m. – Doors Open at 12:30 p.m. $5 Fee per Item – Limit of 2 Items; Bake Sale/Refreshments available for purchase Barrier-Free OPRC Education Building 660 East Glen Avenue at Route 17 South Ridgewood, NJ – 201-444-5933 www.oldparamus.org
Ridgewood Favorite Poems Reading Sunday, April 17 at 3:00 PM at the Ridgewood Public Library, 125 N. Maple Avenue, Ridgewood. In celebration of National Poetry Month in April, Ridgewood community members of ALL AGES are invited to share a favorite poem by a published poet, famous or otherwise, for this 4th annual event. Please drop off or email ( [email protected]) your favorite poem to the Ridgewood Public Library NOW to be included in a favorite poems display. Then join us on Sunday, April 27, to enjoy favorite poems read by Ridgewood folks, young and old — why not YOU? For information, contact Gina Mitgang at 201-670-5600, ext. 110 or [email protected]
>Ridgewood municipal taxes will increase anywhere between 5.2 and 7.4 percent
Ridgewood budget hearings come to a close Friday, April 8, 2011 BY MICHAEL SEDON THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS Staff Writer
Ridgewood municipal taxes will increase anywhere between 5.2 and 7.4 percent based on the outcome of meetings with village department heads and four scenarios crafted by the village manager.
“Introduction does not mean in any way that the budget process is over,” said Village Manager Ken Gabbert. “It’s introducing it, starting the discussion process, hold a public hearing and it will be adopted at some point down the road.”
All four scenarios include tax increases higher than 2 percent, the state mandated cap on tax increases passed by the state Legislature last year. The law allows for three big ticket items to be excluded from the cap: health benefits, pensions and deferred charges and emergencies, Gabbert explained.
>Village of Ridgewood: Village Council and Board Meetings
04/12/11 7:30 PM Board of Adjustment Public Meeting 04/13/11 8:00 PM Village Council Public Meeting 04/19/11 7:30 PM Planning Board Public Meeting 04/20/11 7:30 PM Village Council Work Session 04/26/11 7:30 PM Board of Adjustment Public Meeting
>Just because you were STUPID enough to purchase a home with a VERY LARGE BUILDING next to it does not give you the right to prevent ME for having the best hospital services available
Being anti valley will not get my vote…..when are you NIMBY’s going to get it through your thick heads that valley is expanding? just because you were STUPID enough to purchase a home with a VERY LARGE BUILDING next to it does not give you the right to prevent ME for having the best hospital services available because YOU are worried about your property values…should have thought about that when you bought a home next to A VERY LARGE BUILDING. dopes !
>BOE Elections : it is time for a change on the BOE and Krauss is smart, articulate, savvy and quick. Her anti-Valley position is a pro-children position
First, all of these posts against CRR or CCR, whichever it is, are clearly written by the same person! So let’s put it to rest now. Krauss is a strong candidate who has studied many of the issues and is quite knowledgeable. Is she as knowledgeable as Sheila or Laurie, of course not that would be impossible, but it is time for a change on the BOE and Krauss is smart, articulate, savvy and quick. Her anti-Valley position is a pro-children position.
Laurie supported Valley and its expansion openly but now says she has no position. Valley is not a strong supporter of the BOE and our students. Valley made calculated as strategic moves after the failed BFMS land grab six years ago. After that debacle Valley began introducing programs for students with the RHAP program, Shadow Professionals and summer programs. But it is disingenuous to suggest these are anything other than a public relations campaign to prevent the BOE from taking a stand against the new Valley proposal. The BOE should sever all programs with Valley immediately and do the right thing by taking a stand against this huge expansion thrust upon all of us, with the greatest adverse impact to our children.
BOE members are charged with the education, safety and well being of our children. This BOE has neglected their responsibilities to our kids and to their learning environment. It is a disgrace. The BOE and Valley have acted with a reckless disregard for our Village children. To the person who suggested Krauss bring cookies and milk to the BOE: you are irresponsible and ignorant. Maybe Laurie will bring a cake.
>BOE Elections: After speaking to Krauss at length I plan on voting for her.
After speaking to Krauss at length I plan on voting for her. My other choice will have to be Sheila even though I think she has been there too long it seems there is no much of a choice when it boils down to the lesser of two evils.
Goodman has no regard for neighbors! She inflicted that duck pond dog park on everyone without consideration to anyone. The eyesore, noise , stench and crap everywhere is a disgrace. People from all over bringing their dogs. Now the plan is to move that eyesore closer to the road out of concern for the neighbors. Great! Now Ridgewood will greet visitors with a chain link fiasco perpetrated by Goodman. Can it be moved to her backyard?
Then the issue of the lights which Goodman voted on as BOE Liaison to Fields and now, as candidate in the hot seat she back peddles to mitigate her responsibility in the illuminating fiasco.
from the patch; ‘Laurie Goodman, who had voted in favor of the proposed (light) revision as liaison, said it was difficult as “much has to be left to the imagination.”
what part was left to the imagination? can the taxpayers of ridgewood take this candidate seriously? short answer is no.
>BOE Elections : It is well documented that Christina spoke against and Laurie Goodman spoke for the Valley expansion
First of all, it’s CRR (concerned residents of ridgewood), second, the issue of Valley Hospital did not come up and was not addressed by any candidate. It is well documented that Christina spoke against and Laurie Goodman spoke for the expansion at the planning board meetings.
Christina is new to speaking in public as well as debates. I have seen her speak among small groups of people and she comes across beautifully. She has done a lot of research, knows her facts, and has strong opinions on many of the issues. She wants to reduce the tax burden while maintaining the quality of education we have and I for one know she can help. I can only guess that nerves played a part in her performance. She has been considering running for a long time and is not a one issue candidate. I believe she will bring a fresh set of ideas and opinions to the currently “cloned” and “robotic” opinions of the board. She will be the only candidate I vote for.
>BOE Elections : Are we now requiring a litmus test for our BOE elected officials
I too am a concerned citizen of this town and I am concerned that the CCR would endorse a candidate for the BOE. Are we now requiring a litmus test for our BOE elected officials? This is an endorsement that does not speak to the needs of our children but just to someone’s anti-Valley stand.
How very sad…As far as I am aware, neither Sheila nor Laurie has taken a pro or anti Valley stand and this is how it should be when you are running for the BOE. The CCR may be correct on their Valley position but they are turning this town into a one issue community. Stridency is never good particularly when it comes to an issue as important and complex as the BOE and the education of our children. In fact 9:17 PM, Sheila has taken a strong stand on the safety of our children and construction requirements IF it comes to that. The CCR has really done a disservice to this community.
The Ridgewood blog ( https://theridgewoodblog.blogspot.com/ ) was founded in March of 2006 by James J Foytlin aka PJ Blogger .[1] Mr. Foytlin was born and raised in Ridgewood ,New Jersey and is a graduate of Ridgewood High School .[2] [3]
After many years living in New York City[4] Mr Foytlin returned to Ridgewood after a divorce and the tragic events of 9/11 . Once he settled in he noticed a lack of sufficient news coverage of local events . One day a friend from Brazil[5] showed him her home town on the internet and to Mr. Foytlin’s great surprise when he tried to reciprocate he was utterly dismayed at the absolute lake coverage of his home town. After all Ridgewood is only 18 miles from midtown Manhattan[6] the media capital of world and there was not a single picture of Ridgewood to be found . How could this be? Ridgewood is a picturesque upper middle class village of around 25,000 located in Bergen county in northern New Jersey[7] . Founded by Dutch settlers before it became an English colony[8] . The town or village as its called is steeped in rich history and tradition .Known for a large amount of Victorian era housing , a quality school system and a family friendly atmosphere.
Though busy getting reacquainted with his home town the fact that the Village of Ridgewood was so under represented on the internet continued to disturb Mr. Foytlin. Mr. Foytlin had been writing news letters for his job in financial services since the mid 1990’s . The popular flip, off beat investment strategy news letters had become email blasts with the advent of readily accessible internet.[9] By 2004 the email blasts were converted into blog format for the One Small Voice blog ( https://onesmallvoice.blogspot.com/ ). [10]
Around that time the Village of Ridgewood had finally completed it’s much anticipated and long delayed renovation of the Village hall which has been flooded out due to Hurricane Floyd.[11] The renovation was marred by huge cost over runs and lengthy delays. In 2005 it opened with great fan fare , was once again flooded with the very first rain . Mr. Foytlin was more shocked by the abject lack of responsibility taken by elected officials than the fact that the $9 million dollar renovation had to some extent been a failure . That was the breaking point and Mr. Foytlin had had enough so he decided to give , citizen journalism a go and created the Ridgewood blog in March of 2006. [12]
The birth of PJ Blogger .By this time Blogging its seems had become quite the rage and mainstream news anchors such as Dan Rather had questioned the validity of information from non professionals sitting around in their Pajama’s blogging.[13] Mr. Foytlin not a fan of Dan Rather or any of the mainstream media decided to blog under the name PJ Blogger as a play on words and to plant himself firmly in the camp of the new digital media.
Innovations by the Ridgewood blog to citizen journalism.
“The Fly” is a column on the Ridgewood blog the originates from the expression ,”I’d like to be a fly on the wall “ . The idea is that every citizen has both a unique perspective and experience and these two factors can be used to gather news and opinions about local issues. Originally only of handful of people in town participated but with time the Ridgewood blog can now count on 20–40 semi regular contributors. These post are both anonymous and signed and are largely opinion as well a breaking news.[14]
The Ridgewood blog brings a free market lassie fare point of view to local issues . Mr. Foytlin aka PJ Blogger has stated that for local issues there are only two kinds of people ;the ones who say spend what every you want because I will not be around to pay the bill and the second group which are more focused on the ,”be careful this is my money your spending” . The Ridgewood blog is dedicated to the interplay of there two groups.[15]
[1][12] the Ridgewood blog website https://theridgewoodblog.blogspot.com/
[2] Birth Certificate born in Valley Hospital , Ridgewood 04/09/1962
[3] Ridgewood High School Class 1980
[4] 444 East 86th street ,530 East 72nd
[5] Monica Rocha
[6] Mapquest
[7] United States 2000 Census, the village population was 24,936.
