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You recently wrote an article entitled, “Local blogs: Free speech forums or battle fields?” In that article, “Sue” (moderator of the “Ridgewood Views” blog) was extensively quoted without The Ridgewood News divulging her or her partner’s (“Andrew”) identity or giving any of their background information. This contrasted sharply with your reporting of James Foytlin and his “The Ridgewood Blog.” Why is that? Hasn’t it always been the policy of The Ridgewood News not to print anonymous statements?
When you compare the following statements made by “Sue” in your article with the comments “Sue” and “Andrew” are allowing to be posted on their blog, you will see that there is plenty of name-calling, nasty names and bashing … hardly a civil debate.
“…So we finally decided we can make our own blog and be fair to everybody. And we don’t have the name-calling because that just got ridiculous.”
“It can be said it was a response to the TERC stuff but I think the TERC stuff really just drove home the fact that this name-calling needed to stop…”
While she admits there are “three sides to every story,” Sue said she and Andrew would like to host an environment where people throw around ideas and not nasty names.
“We’re not trying to bash PJ [Foytlin],” she said. “He may have had the best intentions when he started but it seems to have gone awry. It seems with that blog that there is a lot of whining. Everyone’s got a complaint, but no one has an answer.”
The following mission statement is posted on their “Ridgewood Views” blog:
“In reading the postings on The Ridgewood Blog we came to the conclusion that there needed to be a more civil forum which could provide some balance. Unlike the Ridgewood Blog you will find no advertising here. We are not looking to make money from your participation. Here we encourage a free and open exchange of ideas, questions and opinions based on intelligent discussion and debate. The moderators of this blog will NOT post any comments that, in their opinion, contain personal attacks.”
Under the following heading excerpted from their blog there are eight postings.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
No Clear Answers To The Ridgewood Math Debate
Anonymous said…
Have you seen our friends latest post….he is really insane.
July 22, 2007 1:07 PM
Anonymous said…
it’s obvious he is consumed with the math issue, which is a clear sign of someone who is a fanatic.
July 22, 2007 1:36 PM
Anonymous said…
Why is this guy spending so much time on this issue? does he have a child in one of these programs?
July 22, 2007 4:20 PM
Anonymous said…
Because it gets him and his blog attention and he makes money…its that simple.
The fly Swatter
July 22, 2007 4:50 PM
Anonymous said…
If he is such a good Investment Advisor why is he wasting his time running a blog? I would think he would have better ways to spend his time.
July 22, 2007 5:31 PM
watching the lunatic fringe said…
The Math Moms mean well and have legitimate issues with respect to TERC. They were represented well in the Ridgewood News article by Keith Hamas.
Unfortunately, their side has been hijacked by the Lunatic Fringe, i.e. a small group of people in the village who have starred in such episodes as:
— suing the BOE over a high school survey, claiming that their privacy had been violated,
— getting forcefully removed from Orchard School grounds because they were upset about the school’s building expansion,
— threatening to sue Ridgewood Basketball Association to let a girl play in the boys league
— constantly writing letters to the editor of the Ridgewood News about some perceived outrage or injustice.
There are rational adults on both sides of the math debate in the village…and there are irrational cranks with problems that go way, way beyond mathematics.
July 22, 2007 8:00 PM
Anonymous said…
To watching the lunatic fring
Some people have a problem with everything and everyone in their lives. They go out of their way to make trouble for everyone around them. These people usually are very unhappy and angry at the world.
July 22, 2007 9:27 PM
watching the lunatic fringe said…
9:27 — Agreed. Unfortunately, even though they’re a small part of the population (5%? 2%? 1%?), their actions can cause problems for the rest of us, such as
— wasting taxpayer money & civil servant time by launching frivolous lawsuits
— causing a highly-qualified school leader to change his mind and not become superintendent of our schools
— polluting the public debate about what’s best for our children when it comes to math education
As the old saying goes: just a few rotten apples can spoil a whole barrel.
July 22, 2007 9:48 PM
Keith, would it be possible for you to write a follow-up article on “The Ridgewood Views” blog divulging the names of the moderators and giving their background information? I don’t understand why The Ridgewood News allows “Sue” and “Andrew” to remain anonymous while being extensively quoted in your article. Do you allow them to remain anonymous because they have chosen to remain anonymous? Over the years, there were many times while being interviewed by reporters for The Ridgewood News that I would have preferred to remain anonymous but was not afforded that opportunity. Does The Ridgewood News have a double standard?
By the way, Keith, I have corresponded with both “Andrew” and “Sue” using “Sue’s” e-mail address, [email protected]. In response to my questions to them, “Sue” e-mailed the following background information:
How old are you? Andrew is 53 and I am 31
Are you married? Both Andrew and I are Married (but not to each
other)Do you have children in the system? Andrew had two
children who graduated
from Ridgewood High School. My son is not old enough to attend
school yet.
Did you go through the school system? Andrew and I both
Graduated from
Ridgewood High School.
> > > > Susan
As you can see from the following heading from an e-mail I received from “Andrew” (for some reason he e-mails me through “Sue’s” e-mail address) he openly cc’d “vbombace.”
—– Original Message —–From Susan Roxbury Date Wed, 18 Jul 2007 12:24:57 +0000 To [email protected] Cc [email protected] Subject Ridgewood Views
When I questioned Andrew as to who “vombace” was he responded that she is a relative of Mark and Maria Bombace. I think Andrew meant to bcc V. Bombace but mistakenly cc’d her. It turns out that V. Bombace is Vicki Bombace who resides on Midwood Road with James Bombace (husband and wife?). Isn’t James Bombace our chief of the fire department? There is a Vicki Bombace, age 31 (same age as Susan) who graduated from RHS in 1994 and resides on Midwood Road. Mother/Daughter?
Why create an anonymous platform? James Foytlin takes ownership of his blog and is very open to the public with who he is, what he does for a living, and even provides a picture of himself. Are “Andrew” and “Sue” hiding behind a group of people in this town (some who hold exalted titles such as fire chief and president of the boe)?
Keith, I think it would be revealing to your readers if you did a follow-up article addressing “Andrew” and “Sue’s” forced anonymity and their relationship with leaders in our town (who already have a public platform for their views) versus the openness of James Foytlin’s Ridgewood Blog.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
Carole Nunn
