>NJ Assembly advances Christie’s property tax reform measures
TRENTON — An Assembly committee Monday advanced four bills designed to chip away at property taxes, including a proposal sought by Gov. Chris Christie that could expand the use of a potentially powerful state Council on Local Mandates. (Symons, Daily Record)
>SKATEBOARD – Best Trick Contest ! October 9, 2010
Ridgewood Recreation Program Ridgewood Parks and Recreation Announces, “The Best Trick Contest,” at Ridgewood’s Skate Park On Saturday, October 9th Ridgewood Parks and Recreation is sponsoring, “The Best Trick Contest,” at the Ridgewood Skate Park. This event is open to all skateboarders who have pre-registered. The rain date is October 10th. The event hosted by Ketan Malhotra will begin at 11:00 a.m. The contest schedule is as follows: Beginner Level 11:00-11:30 Intermediate Level 11:30-12:00 Advanced Level 12:15-12:45 Prizes will be awarded to top contestants. The cost to enter the contest is $20. All entrees must be received by September 22. Stenciled tee shirts are included in the price of registration and must be noted in the registration application in sizes: Child Medium, Child Large, Adult Medium or Adult Large. Registration is in person or by mail at the Stable, 259 N. Maple Ave, Ridgewood, NJ. For more information or assistance, please contact the Recreation Office at 201-670-5560. (photo by ArtChick.biz)
>If your looking to run ads or get in touch with the Ridgewood Blog please send all correspondence to [email protected]
thank you for your support!!!!
*IMPORTANT NOTE: Please try to sent us JPEG’s ,PDF files are very difficult to work with
PHOTOS
Press Releases
Special Events
Garage Sales
Open Houses
Birthday’s
Birth Announcements
Obits
Tips
News
ADVERTS
blogging
Links
thanks again
PJ Blogger
the Ridgewood Blog
also now on twitter : www.twitter.com/ridgewoodblog
Speak Your Mind ……………………..
>Ridgewood Traffic Advisory – Goffle Road – September 27 – 30
FULL CLOSURE of Goffle Road between Wyckoff Ave and Rock Road. The closure will start Monday, September 27th at 6:30am and will continue until Thursday, September 30th at 6:30pm.
This is a an update for the planned FULL CLOSURE of Goffle Road between Wyckoff Ave and Rock Road. The closure will start Monday, September 27th at 6:30am and will continue until Thursday, September 30th at 6:30pm. Once closed, both northbound and southbound traffic will be detoured. The southbound detour will remain the same as it is right now (Wyckoff Ave to Layfette Ave, to Ravine Ave – all in Wyckoff). The northbound detour will start at Rock Road and will continue to Lincoln Ave to Godwin Ave to Goffle Road.
Limited through access on Goffle will be allowed for both the school buses and NJ Transit buses. (During this time, the work will be stopped and the crane will be lowered so the outriggers can be brought in).
Local traffic for residents and businesses on Goffle will be allowed, but through traffic will not be possible.
>Village Council Elections: Thanks to all who attended this Saturday’s meeting at The Stable
Ridgewood Meet the Councilors
Thanks to all who attended this Saturday’s meeting at The Stable. It was a great opportunity to meet the current council members and discuss the current issues with them.
I did not see anyone with Anonymous on their nametags, but I suspect I know who a few of you are now.
Oliver Train
[email protected]
>DEMOCRAT BURT ROSS WHO SYMBOLIZES HONEST GOVERNMENT ENDORSES KATHE DONOVAN
Former Mayor who ignored mob death threats and rejected $500,000 bribe denounces McNerney, Democrat corruption
Burt Ross, the one-time Democrat Mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey who drew national attention and fame when he ignored death threats from organized crime figures, rejected their $500,000 bribe and played a key role aiding the FBI in their apprehension and conviction has endorsed Republican Kathe Donovan for Bergen County Executive.
In his endorsement statement Ross said, “The choice is simple-do we want an honest, independent, and intelligent leader who has served all of us for decades without a blemish on her record or do we want to reelect a person who has helped the Democratic Party Machine feed itself at the expense of the people? Do we want somebody who will serve us or somebody who will keep the patronage flowing at our expense. It’s as simple a choice as that.”
A full copy of Ross’s statement follows.
Donovan said that she was overwhelmed by Ross’s endorsement. “I was in awe of Burt Ross’ incredible courage and dedication to the principles of good, honest government then and remain so today. He is the standard by which all public officials should be measured. I am truly humbled by his support.”
Donovan has also been endorsed by the Bergen County Police Chiefs’ Association, Bergen Grassroots the good government activist organization, The New Jersey Laborers International Union and the Sierra Club.
Burt Ross Endorsement of Kathe Donovan for County Executive
As a life-long Democrat who has held both elected and appointed office in this State, I have never endorsed a Republican for public office until now, but the culture of pay to play in our county government is so pervasive, the stench of corruption so overpowering, that my decision is easy – I am wholeheartedly endorsing Kathe Donovan for Bergen County Executive.
The choice is simple – do we want an honest, independent, and intelligent leader who has served all of us for decades without a blemish on her record or do we want to reelect a person who has helped the Democratic Party Machine feed itself at the expense of the people? Do we want somebody who will serve us or somebody who will keep the patronage flowing at our expense? It’s as simple a choice as that.
Kathe Donovan is a Republican and I continue to believe the Democrat Party best represents the needs of all citizens. Kathe and I do not agree on every issue. But on the critical issue of intellectual and practical honesty we are in total agreement. Kathe Donovan is a public servant who has earned the public’s trust and support.
We in Bergen County are well educated and well informed. We do not want nor do we deserve the kind of political machine for which Jersey City was known in the 1930’s and 1940’s. We want our elected officials to represent us, not themselves and their cronies.
I have watched with pain the County Democratic Party which used to represent our highest ideals gradually become a Tammany Hall like machine more interested in taking care of its own than the public at large. I will continue to be a Democrat and I truly believe that most elected officials regardless of party affiliation try their best for the public good, but a relatively small group of individuals has taken control of the County Democratic Party these past several years and the public has suffered the consequences.
I personally regret having remained silent for so long, but the indictments and convictions of key Democrats who controlled the County government and the corruption emanating from the Bergen County Improvement Authority whose key players were appointed by the incumbent are impossible to ignore. Enough is enough. I am voting for Kathe Donovan
>N.J. workforce is third most-bloated in country with 19K excess state workers, study says
Published: Thursday, September 23, 2010, 12:04 PM Updated: Thursday, September 23, 2010, 1:21 PM
Lisa Fleisher/Statehouse Bureau
TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie wants to cut 1,300 workers from New Jersey state departments this year. But an analysis released this week by the chairman of Columbia University’s political science department suggests there’s far more fat to trim from all corners of state government.
Using a statistical model, the study said New Jersey’s state work force is bloated by at least 12 percent — or 19,000 workers — for a state with its characteristics, third-highest in the nation. It said the state has about $497 million in excess payroll.
“While (Christie’s) proposal has stirred up strong, organized opposition, our results suggest that if anything it is quite modest,” according to the study, which concludes New Jersey “stands out as the strongest candidate” among high-population states for pay cuts and layoffs.
>
New federal regulations have forced Ridgewood’s Traffic and Signal Department to replace every street sign in the village.
I don’t have the time to count the number of street signs in the village and I don’t have a bead on how much they cost to produce. One thing I do know is that to change every street sign in a 5 square mile village because the Feds say you have to is moronic.
Rutishauser doubles down and gives the trip-n-fall lawyers fodder by saying we may be sued if the street names do not include lower case letters and an accident occurs.
We may not feel the effects of Obamacare for years, but I drive by street signs every day that will be thrown in the trash because the Feds said so.
Michael
New federal regulations have forced Ridgewood’s Traffic and Signal Department to replace every street sign in the village.
MICHAEL SEDON/THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
https://www.northjersey.com/news/103690794_Watching_out_for_signs.html
Jim O’Connell, a 30-year employee with the Traffic and Signal Department, stands in the department’s shop. Street signs used to be labeled with the name of the road in all capital letters. The new regulations, however, require street names to be printed with a capital first letter and the rest of the name in lowercase. Under the new regulations, for example, MAPLE AVE. is now Maple Ave. on the street sign.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/103690794_Watching_out_for_signs.html
>Xanadu “appears to be a failed business model,” according to a gaming, sports and entertainment report released Friday by Governor Christie’s transition team.
Christie report: Xanadu appears to be failure
Friday, January 22, 2010
Last updated: Sunday January 24, 2010, 10:54 AM
BY JOHN BRENNAN
The Record
STAFF WRITER
https://www.northjersey.com/news/012210_Christie_report_Xanadu_appears_to_be_failure.html
Xanadu “appears to be a failed business model,” according to a gaming, sports and entertainment report released Friday by Governor Christie’s transition team.
Thus, New Jersey needs to tell the owners to “open or surrender the property,” the report says.
The group, which includes Atlantic City casino industry chief Joseph Corbo and former New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority President Robert Mulcahy, was led by ex-sports authority Chairman Jon Hanson.
The analysis was as blunt and at times as withering as a Christie press conference.
full story:
https://www.northjersey.com/news/012210_Christie_report_Xanadu_appears_to_be_failure.html
>the Ridgewood blog Editors Note : when we saw this article we thought it was written 30 years ago
NJ schools fail to prepare future workers
Saturday, September 25, 2010
BY HUGH R. MORLEY
The Record
STAFF WRITER
https://www.northjersey.com/news/bergen/103772604_Schools_urged_to_better_prepare_future_workers.htm
EAST RUTHERFORD — New Jersey’s school system is failing to prepare people for the workforce, a panel of college-level educators told a workforce summit Friday.
Students come out of high school lacking in basic skills and an understanding of how to hold down a job, and are unaware of the demands of the workplace, said the educators at the summit, organized by the Meadowlands Regional Chamber.
Richard Garcia, a vice president at Lakeland Bank in Oak Ridge and chairman of the state’s Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, said only about one-third of the applicants seeking a teller position at his bank — which pays about $10 to $15 an hour — pass the math test on their first try.
“We are graduating students that can’t read, can’t write and can’t put a sentence together,” he said. “Then they go to a bank and apply for a job and they want to earn $100,000. They can’t pass the basic math test.”
The comments came in a wide-ranging five-hour discussion at the summit, the chamber’s first, which drew about 60 educators, government workforce development administrators and business representatives.
Jim Kirkos, the chamber president and chief executive officer, said the idea of the summit grew out of the organization’s belief that creating a better-trained and educated workforce is crucial to economic development.
“I want us to set the bar as high as possible,” Kirkos told the gathering, before he suggested they set a goal of “achieving the most educated workforce in the nation” – the subtitle of the conference.
Yet several speakers said the educational community would need to work far more closely with the business world to make headway toward that goal.
full story :
https://www.northjersey.com/news/bergen/103772604_Schools_urged_to_better_prepare_future_workers.htm
>Rep Scott Garrett : Uncertainty , Our Greatest Obstacle
With summer now in our rearview mirror, perhaps now would be a good time to reflect on President Obama’s “Recovery Summer.” According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 49 of 50 states have lost jobs since the Democrats passed their stimulus bill in February 2009. In New Jersey, the Obama administration projected that the stimulus would create 100,000 new jobs through December 2010. In actuality, the real change in jobs for New Jersey through August 2010 resulted in a net loss of 89,500 jobs.
What’s been the cause of all this job loss? One of the major reasons is business uncertainty. American businesses do not have the certainty they need to grow their businesses and create jobs for Americans. Faced with looming tax hikes to pay for ObamaCare to the distinct possibility that Democrats will allow the Bush tax cuts to expire in January, businesses can’t be certain they’ll have enough money to keep their doors open – much less hire employees.
The high levels of government spending and deficits, along with political uncertainty over the Democrats’ policies is creating a hostile business environment that discourages financial institutions from lending and small business owners from investing, expanding, and hiring new workers. Unsure of what costly mandates are coming from Washington next, businesses are hunkering down in the near term instead of moving forward with business growth plans.
When it comes down to it, businesses can maneuver, adapt and survive in a free market economy as long they are certain about the future. Right now, no one knows what the future will hold for the business community. President Obama can keep trying to convince Americans that his policies are working, or he can start embracing policies that actually work.
One of the ways to create the certainty needed to grow our economy is to do what members of both parties have been asking for – have an up or down vote on extending the Bush-era tax cuts. Speaker Pelosi and President Obama have expressed their desire to reach out to Republicans to find common ground; this is their chance. Over 30 Democrats in Congress have implored the Democrat leadership to bring this tax-cut extension to the House floor but there has been no response.
Job creation is paramount and no one can afford a massive tax hike right now. Mandates and regulations are squeezing the life out of businesses of all sizes while unemployed Americans are suffering. It is time for the government to act responsibly and bring certainty back to our economy.
Rep. Scott Garrett
>
The Cooperative Nursery School of Ridgewood to Hold its 33rd Fabulous Fall Festival on October 2, 2010
The Cooperative Nursery School of Ridgewood (aka “The Co-op”) is preparing for its 33rd Fabulous Fall Festival on October 2nd (rain date October 9th) at Graydon Pool in Ridgewood. This event is the school’s biggest fundraiser. This year there will be games, pony rides, a petting zoo, inflatables, crafts for the kids including sand art and pumpkin painting and face painting. Music will be provided by a local band, some of its members are co-op alumni. There will be over 50 vendors selling jewelry, toy, handmade items and holiday gifts. Food vendors will be on hand and there will also be a bake sale. Come out and support this Ridgewood tradition and have a fun day with your family.
For more information on the event, please call or email the school at (201) 447-6232 or [email protected].
A nonsectarian school, The Co-op also offers morning and afternoon classes for 2, 3 and 4-year-olds, as well as Mommy & Me classes and Kindergarten enrichment. Setting the school apart from other nursery schools, The Co-op is organized and run by the parents, which enables the parents to actively participate in their child’s early learning experience. Music, physical education, field trips, indoor and outdoor play time and an in-house library are just a few of the experiences to which the children are exposed as supplements to the daily education plans.
>Acting-Gov. Kim Guadagno signs order to establish bi-partisan Red Tape Review Commission
Acting Gov. Kim Guadagno signed an executive order Thursday that makes permanent a consulting groupå designed to weed out red tape and government waste. (Fletcher, Statehouse Bureau)
>Bergen County financing agency makes mockery of pay-to-play reform
Nearly $10,000 went to sticking Bergen County-owned horses with acupuncture needles while the Bergen County Improvement Authority stuck taxpayers with the bill. (Stile, The Record)
>N.J. towns’ payments to pension system to rise an average of 22 percent
TRENTON — Local governments will have to pay an average of 22 percent more toward the state’s pension system next year, a bill that will put further pressure on municipal budgets and property taxpayers. (Method, Statehouse Bureau)
