Tag: Ridgewood schools

>No the Village is not dead yet: we bowed to developers and people with new money thinking that we had to give way to excess in order to remain viable. Of course, just the opposite was true.

I have been here since the 60’s and think it is still a great town. Yes, its changed a lot, but its not dead yet. And it needn’t die if folks step up and speak up.

The real problems started in the 90’s into the 2000’s. There is an attitude of those moving to town who thought “I can afford a house here, the town owes me.” Or, “I bought this property, I can do what I want with it.” A densely populated area can’t exist with that mind set.

Village management — the council, the village manager, the department heads — all scraped and bowed to developers and people with new money thinking that we had to give way to excess in order to remain viable as a town. Of course, just the opposite was true.

So, for too many years we tolerated someone who behaved like a drunken fool in the manager’s office. And when he couldn’t manage, key service departments, like the building department, grew out of control, In that department, for instance, we ended up with an uncomprehending management that unevenly applies the building and zoning laws of the Village through an apparent ignorance — if not outright hostility == of what the laws mean. And the years dominated by our two recent mayors were very much mis-spent. Taxes rose, services declined and civility and charm left. Its interesting to note that one recent mayor hightailed it out of here as soon as he retired. Apparently, he wasn’t going to go down with the ship he had mis-directed.

All the while, the attitude grew that it was ok to take from the Village and there was no corresponding need to give. The core value of what it meant to be a simple Village where you can relax in your backyards and your children can go to the best schools gave way to a grandiosity. We need the best hospital; we need turf fields; we need a hotel in the middle of town; we need a parking/commercial space/apartment complex; we need bigger houses; etc. Some of those things we truly did and do need, and some we don’t. But there never seemed to be a genuine effort to compromise. For instance, while I may never again set foot on one of the natural or turf fields or the new Habernickel park, I happen to think open space and athletic fields and even lights for night time use constitute a good use of my tax dollars. Yet, I think it is moronic for anyone to suggest that eigth graders must practice until ten on school nights. I like Valley hospital, but think it is moronic to in effect surrender an entire portion of our town to let the Hospital grow so that it is commercially viable to the point where it seeks to attract customers from all over the tri-state area.

What to do? First, a return to civility. (And, as I look back, perhaps my post passes the border of what’s civil.) Second, a return to core values. Re-set Village standards and then set a clear course. Personally, I think we should remain a really great place to relax in your back yard and send your children to the best schools. Others, may see it differently and believe that we need to become of the urban tide. I think the greater challenge — but the far greater reward — lies with remaining a Village.

Some of the new council members might bring us there. Valley is first testing ground. If the planning board’s change in our municipal laws, and the master plan that has quided us for many years, is approved by the council, then I do think its time to sell my westside home before it is further devalued. A second test is the hundred apartments proposed for down town. I cringed when I heard one council member comment that a hundred apartment dwellers would flock to the village, and increase the tax base without draining Village services. I think that member has had time to rationally reflect since then. But imagine the effect of a hundred new apartments, attracting a 100 new couples and 200 hundred new cars competing for parking and street space in the middle of town.

I suppose we will see soon enough which direction we take.