Tag: Ridgewood Real estate

>Stuart Lieberman, environmental attorney for The Preserve Graydon Coalition, has written a blog piece celebrating the wisdom of Ridgewood, NJ’s voters in electing preservation-minded candidates Tom Riche and Bernadette (Bernie) Walsh.

https://www.graydonblog.com/2010/05/environmental-attorneys-blog-piece-ridgewood-voterss-favored-preservation/

An excerpt from Mr. Lieberman’s article:

In a hotly contested municipal election involving four candidates running to fill two Council seats, the winners were the candidates who, among many other things, both publicly supported preserving an important local landmark –the Graydon Pool.

The two successful candidates openly (and we think quite correctly) opposed any effort to transform this natural, important landmark into a concrete pool. (The pool is really beautiful and has served the community for generations. Many local residents have strong memories attached to this landmark.)

Apparently, this issue meant a great deal to local voters – and in interviews some voters stated that the Graydon issue was an important one in deciding which way to vote.

Our hats go off to these two excellent candidates. And of course, to our amazing local community organization and other community organizations that dared to form and be heard.

Read Mr. Lieberman’s blog piece: Ridgewood Voters Choose Preservationist Candidates

https://stuartlieberman.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/ridgewood-voters-choose-preservationist-candidates/
 

>Dear Supporter,

Please note Kathe Donovan’s letter to Dennis McNerney which was hand delivered this afternoon. It is in response to Mr. McNerney’s latest irresponsible press release regarding “blue laws” which was posted earlier today on Politickernj.com. Ms. Donovan had refrained from responding to earlier rants but Mr. McNerney’s total and reckless disregard for the truth demand that he be put on notice. Mr. McNerney is entitled to his own opinions but not entitled to make up his own facts.

———————

May 14, 2010

Dennis McNerney

County Executive

1 Bergen County Plaza

Hackensack, New Jersey 07601

Dennis:

I just read your weekly rant regarding the Blue Laws. As you know, I strongly oppose

repeal of the Blue Laws and presume that your colleague Senator Sarlo will exercise his

clout as chair of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee and make certain that

this ill-conceived plan is stricken from the budget which is sent to the Governor by the

legislature.

In the meantime, I would ask that you stop protecting two New York City billionaires and

join with me in demanding that they share their windfall profit from the sale of Personal

Seat Licenses. According to newspaper reports these billionaires have pocketed $800

million from Jets and Giants fans. You should be demanding that these billionaires pay

their fair share.

And please stop lying about my proposal which was originally made in November, 2008.

At that time I wrote to Governor Corzine that ” … At a time when practically every

individual and business in New Jersey will be asked to make a significant sacrifice, is it

too much to ask that the New York Jets and New York Giants share a portion of their

windfall profits with the very people who are providing them with enormous taxpayer

generated subsidies … ?” Dennis, nothing has changed except now you are asking hard

working county employees to shoulder the burden by threatening layoffs, etc. while

protecting your New York billionaire buddies.

Dennis it’s time for you to start running on your record and stop lying about mine. To

help you out I am attaching a copy of my initial letter to Governor Corzine and my letter

of March 24 to Governor Christie.

Sincerely,

Kathleen A. Donovan

>Ridgewood’s own Spring Sidewalk Sale Days!
Shop till you drop and enjoy sales galore.
May 13th, 14th, *15th
Thursday, Friday, Saturday

Come to Ridgewood for the weekend –
*Saturday, May *15th, join the Chamber of Commerce and Valley Hospital who have partnered to partnered to sponsor a “Women Have Heart”.

Join us –
9:30am – Heart Healthy Breakfast
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church
1 Passaic Street
Catered by Kings Super Market
10:30am-12Noon
Heart Disease and Women
Presented Dr. Janet Strain
Heart Health Nutrition and Exercise
Presented by Valley Hospital Registered
Dietitian and Exercise Physiologist.
Goodie bags
There will many other surprises and treats!

1:30pm Heart Healthy Historic Walking Tour of Ridgewood.
You will start at the train station and end up at Cottage Place by the Education Center. – Free to everyone

For more information and to sign up for the walk tour call the Chamber 201-445-2600 – email [email protected] or call Jasalyn King, Valley Hospital 201-447-800x 7404

>The Ridgewood Village Council will meet on Monday, May 17, to decide on next year’s school budget. The meeting will take place at Village Hall, starting at 5:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

 

>Senate panel approves school voucher bill

Hundreds of private-school students got a real-life lesson in politics and government Thursday when a dispute over seating forced a legislative committee to pass a school voucher bill from the steps of the Statehouse Annex. The state Senate Economic Growth Committee moved its meeting outdoors after members of the state’s largest teachers union, which opposes the bill, packed the committee room and refused to open seats for supporters of the plan. (Method, Gannett)

https://www.app.com/article/20100513/NEWS03/5130340/Senate-panel-approves-school-voucher-bill

>Municipal taxes to increase 5 percent in Ridgewood
Thursday, May 13, 2010
BY MICHAEL SEDON
The Ridgewood News
STAFF WRITER

https://www.northjersey.com/news/93711649_Municipal_taxes_to_increase_5_percent_in_Ridgewood.html

Ridgewood officials will not seek a waiver from Trenton to exceed the state-mandated cap on spending.

The preliminary 2010 municipal budget included an estimated tax rate increase of 8.8 percent or $302 for the average home in the village assessed at $800,000. But it was uncertain if the village would receive a waiver from the state allowing it to exceed the 4 percent cap. If granted, the waiver would have negatively impacted the 2011 budget, because the amount over the cap would be added as a penalty to the 2011 budget.

Without the waiver, this year’s budget will increase by 5.16 percent or $182 per average assessed home, for a $3,588 average municipal tax bill for this year, said Village Manager Ken Gabbert during Wednesday night’s public budget hearing.

“The total budget being adopted is $41,351,367,” he said. “That represents a 1.9 percent decrease from the adopted 2009 budget.”

Although the overall budget was reduced, Gabbert said, rising costs and reduced state aid have forced the village to increase taxes.

Layoffs are also on the way as originally planned, but the exact number of positions to be cut was unavailable as of Wednesday night.

“The official plan to [the state Civil Service Commission] was ‘Fed Exed’ on May 10, and the council is making minor changes to the planned layoffs,” Gabbert said in an e-mail. “We should have the layoff list from Civil Service within 30 days.”

A second round of layoffs may be necessary because of the decision to not seek the state waiver, which leaves the village having to cut an additional $1,044,800 from this year’s budget, Gabbert said.

In the first round of layoffs, police officers and firefighters were not considered because of the number of high-ranking officials in both departments that have chosen to retire, but layoffs in those departments could be considered in the second round, Gabbert said.

“Civil Service selects the persons actually to be laid off, as some staff have bumping [seniority] rights,” Gabbert explained. “We are meeting with each of the unions and are seeking to reduce the number of staff that will be included in a second round of layoffs.”

Previously, 34 notices were sent to village employees in danger of losing their jobs.

see more :
https://www.northjersey.com/news/93711649_Municipal_taxes_to_increase_5_percent_in_Ridgewood.html

>

Sen. Goodwin Launches Petition to Repeal Kyleigh’s Law DecalsSenator Tom Goodwin (R-14) has announced the launch of a new online petition to support the repeal of the decal provision of Kyleigh’s Law. Goodwin is the sponsor of legislation, S-1908, which would eliminate the recently enacted requirement that young drivers display special decals on their license plates.

The petition, located at https://goodwin.senatenj.com/decals, includes interactive features to allow supporters of the repeal effort to share the petition on Facebook and Twitter, directly from the petition page. Facebook users can leave comments that will appear on the petition page, on their profile pages and in their friends’ “News Feeds.”
“There are already Facebook groups that have tens of thousands of members supporting the repeal of Kyleigh’s law,” said Goodwin. “It’s clear that many of the people who are now affected by the law, including young drivers and their parents, feel like their voices were not heard when the original legislation was enacted. I encourage everyone who opposes the decals to sign the petition, which will ensure that their voices are not ignored as the repeal effort proceeds.”

>ok, here’s the postmortem of the election (in my view)….

1. Ridgewood voters will not fall for McGreevey election techniques. They are too smart. Pressuring everyone you know to put signs on their lawn does not guarantee they’ll vote for you.

As I said in an earlier post, from my personal discussions with a lot of residents, C/D support was a mile wide and an inch deep. Walsh/Riche, who spent a fraction of what C/D spent, had a much better turnout. But if you drove around the west side, it would have appeared that C/D would have won handily, and they didn’t.

The loudest voice does not win in a town such as ours.

Understated advertising and intelligent arguments are the way to win.

2. The town is sick of tax and spend liberals in office.

The last two elections have confirmed it. Ridgewood needs to get its fiscal house in order. That includes the school system. Suggest otherwise at your own peril.

We’re not so dumb as not to realize that the school spending has become an arms race you can’t win. Get back to basics.

Similarly, voters realized that if Cronk was elected, his wife (co-chair of the RPP) would suddenly reappear and it would have been much easier to push thru an expensive redo of Graydon.

Prediction: Graydon’s attendance is much better this summer since the water quality has improved and the RPP is not as big as a force as it was two years ago when it was scaring everybody away with negative advertising.

3. Valley Hospital growth needs to be contained

While we all appreciate the benefits of the hospital, its requests need to be balanced with the community’s at large.

Similar to the school system and corporations in general, the hospital has a tendency to “empire build” and if left unchecked will overexpand beyond what is truly necessary.

Good job Ridgewood!

-Thed.

>Footloose and Fancy-Free

Have you seen your world lately? Really seen it? Not just in passing but rather as an immersive, “leave no stone unturned” experience? We thought not. It’s hard to plan a trip or a cruise to somewhere different or unfamiliar. And that’s where The Travel Center / American Express comes in. Our job is to make your travel effortless, simple as that. So whether it’s island-hopping around Hawaii, museum-hopping through Germany or just hopping with joy at the sight of a polar bear in Alaska, we can help you do it. And it doesn’t stop with a “here’s your ticket to Barbados, have a great time.” We want you to experience these destinations as the locals who live there do. See things and do things that the average tourist would never think of. That’s where our carefully selected resorts and guided tours come in. The Travel Center / American Express partners with some of the world’s premier tour companies that specialize in helping visitors fully appreciate the wonders of their destinations. So, how can you find your new favorite place in the world? Just ask us.

Is an all-inclusive resort right for your family?

*Save money with unlimited snacks and drinks

*There are water sports activities for kids to keep them busy.

*Multiple dining options mean never getting bored of the food.

*There is always something to do as a family, or even as an individual

*All-inclusives are available in all price ranges and for all occasions, so you can find the one for you.

Need help deciding what’s right for you? Contact The Travel Center / American Express and speak with a Travel Counselor:

The Travel Center / American Express

50 E. Ridgewood Ave.

Ridgewood, NJ 07450

(201) 447-3311

[email protected]

Or visit our NEW website:

https://www.thetravelcenterae.com/

“Ridgewood’s only full-service travel agency.”

>Rally on 5/13 @ 10:30 am at the Statehouse Annex in Trenton.

The Opportunity Scholarship Act (S-1872) will have a hearing this Thursday at 10:30 am in the Senate Economic Growth Committee. This bill will provide a lifeline to children in the state’s lowest performing public schools — expanding choice and opportunity while driving needed reform.

Come Out and Show Your Support!!! Support School Choice in the Garden State!!!

Tweet about the Opportunity Scholarship Act with hashtag #NJOSA

>Unions likely to oppose Christie’s proposed spending, labor restrictions

New Jersey’s public employees unions are likely to push back hard against a package of proposed laws to reduce government spending that Gov. Chris Christie is unveiling Monday. Christie’s proposed reforms include putting a permanent 2.5 percent limit on annual raises for public workers and forbidding property tax increases of more than 2.5 percent without voter approval. (AP)

https://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20100510/STATE/100510011/1098

>Our national debt is simply unsustainable. We have reached a point where our current debt and deficit levels are hurting our economy and the prospects for job creation and future economic growth.

It is almost unheard of for Congress to consider bills to actually eliminate wasteful programs or reduce unnecessary spending. That’s why we are launching YouCut, a first of its kind project designed to reverse the culture of spending in Washington to a culture of savings.

The YouCut project is designed to challenge Congress’s culture of spending. It is a first of its kind effort designed to engage the public in refocusing Congress’s priorities. With a deficit near $1.5 trillion, we don’t think it is too much to ask of Congress to spend some time debating bills to actually reduce spending.

How it Works: The project revolves around a very simple two step process:

1. Each week, the House Economic Recovery Working Group will post online (at https://republicanwhip.house.gov/YouCut )a list of five proposals to reduce wasteful or unnecessary spending. The public will have a chance to vote online or on their cell phones on the proposal they would most like to see Congress take up the next week. (You Vote)

2. And the next week House Republicans will force the House to vote on whether or not to take up and debate the bill. (We Cut)
Each week relevant floor speeches, bill summaries, and vote tallies will be posted online for the public to review. The American people will also have an opportunity to recommend their proposals to reduce wasteful spending. Each and every day, families in New Jersey have been forced to make tough decisions on a daily basis—cutting back on things they realize they can no longer afford. Why should the federal government act any differently?

Rep. Scott Garrett

>Congratulations Bernie and Tom from Concerned Residents of Ridgewood

Bernadette and Tom,

Congratulations on your resounding win last night. By winning with such a large margin, the people of Ridgewood have also given you a strong mandate to take with you to the council.

The election fought over:
· Revitalizing downtown
· Fiscal responsibility
· Preserving Graydon
· Limiting excessive expansion by Valley hospital

…and another one was added last night; backlash against attempts to win the vote through slick marketing! Yesterday people chose substance and integrity over hype!

Congratulations again,
Paul Gould
on behalf of Concerned Residents of Ridgewood
https://www.stopvalley.com/