>Blogger Laurie Goodman openly laments the budget loss, she can’t help but call out a fellow citizen for being under-informed and angry lunkhead in true Alinsky style.
If this guy was underinformed, whose fault was it? LG will probably say that he should have one to the budget meetings and open houses (for indoctrination purposes) to get the ‘facts’. Truth be told is that the whole reason for a representative democracy is that no one can know all the facts.
I’m sure the guy has read a blog, the Ridgewood News or approached by the HSA moms who troll Ridgewood like it’s Stepford.
Laurie has a cure to her problem (as do the seemingly clueless BOE members): the mirror. If she was listening to her constituents, she would know that the economic lag in education is about 24 months. Instead of waking to the alarm, the BOE keeps hitting the snooze, expecting things will turn around and Trenton will honor its $10 million dollar coupon for a huge referendum.
We in the private sector face a daily onslaught. Government has been a sacred cow, but when you have endured all you can in the private sector, the knife must turn to BOE & VC budgets.
I suggest Laurie and her mates lick their wounds and open their ears. A small dose of humility goes a long way in mending fences.
SUMMIT — Saving taxpayer dollars, as most residents know, has become a major theme in Governor Chris Christie’s administration. And one of those tools would be to privatize some products or services.
About 80 people, many of them state union members, gathered at Summit High School on Wednesday, April 14, to testify before a state Privatization Task Force appointed by Gov. Christie.
The task force has been charged with finding $50 million in savings in the 2011 budget and $100 million in savings for the year.
“We’re looking for ways to outsource or turn over to the private sector whatever services we can,” said task force member P. Kelly Hatfield of Summit.
“We hope to give elected officials the tools that they need to make local government more cost effective,” said Hatfield, who is a former member of the Summit Common Council and Board of Education. The task force was asked to apply the “yellow pages test,” she said, to determine if there was a duplication of services being offered by the private sector or by non-profit organizations. “How can we eliminate impediments? New Jersey has made some mistakes,” she said. A few years ago an effort to privatize motor vehicle inspections led to long lines and a cumbersome process.
The task force has been meeting since March 11 and has interacted with the four major unions in New Jersey, including the New Jersey Education Association and the Communication Workers of America.
Hatfield said other states have been doing this reduction in state government successfully, citing Texas, West Virginia and Virginia as examples. In Texas, she said, highway work and infrastructure projects are being handled by the private sector.
>One of the roles assumed by New Jersey’s municipal governing bodies is as referee when a school budget is defeated. Having been defeated by 102 votes, the proposed $78.8 million Ridgewood Budget now heads for review by elected members of Ridgewood’s Village Council.
The last time The Fly can recall this happening in Ridgewood was 2004, when the Village Council, led by former Mayor Jane Reilly, passed the voter defeated budget with cuts totalling only two-tenths of one percent. Ms. Reilly was offered a paid position with the Ridgewood Board of Education following her departure from public office in the summer of 2004. By New Jersey state law, if a school budget is defeated, the budget is sent to the municipal government for their recommendations. A municipality is under no obligation to cut the school budget, but the reality is that if the voters defeated the budget, then the taxpayers are demanding some relief. That message is not lost on municipal officials, and they are often forced to find a middle ground between the wants of a school board and the decision of the voters.
Generally, the budget will be sent to the finance committee of each municipality and out of respect to the school board, a meeting is held between the two bodies to discuss what budget cuts are possible. After the municipality makes its recommendations, taxpayers can expect to hear how draconian the cuts are from both school officials and representatives of the teachers union. The public will then hear that the school may not be able to function with such tight restrictions and how the children will be deprived of the finest education.
Some of this is true, but most of it is rhetoric. With few exceptions, most of the recommendations made by municipal officials are modest in size and rarely cut deeply into a schools budget. Whenever you read about significant cuts to a school budget, you can bet that the school district will automatically appeal to the county education commissioner. At this point, the commissioner has the power to reinstate many, if not all, of the proposed budget cuts and the school district winds up winning in the end.
By restoring many of the recommended cuts, the voting result is circumvented and the taxpayer winds up footing the bill. The entire process is out of whack and there has got to be a better way of making the vote count. However, until the electorate of our state has the stomach and political will to reform our school funding formulas, we are stuck with the charade of voting on school budgets.
>Besides being School Board/budget election day, today is three weeks before our Council election and therefore the LAST DAY on which anyone who wishes to vote in the May 11 Council election, but has never registered to vote, may do so.
According to today’s square on the Village Calendar, the lobby of Village Hall will be open tonight from 4:30 to 9 PM for that purpose. It doesn’t get more convenient than that.
Any 17-year-old resident who will be 18 on or before May 11 may do this. Teens should be encouraged to become politically active and protect their own interests. They must show I.D. proving age and address.
Have a teenage neighbor who qualifies? Consider offering to take him or her to sign up to become a proud voting American. And of course any adult who has never registered before might consider doing so as well.
Questions: Village Clerk’s office, 201-670-5500, extension 201, before 4:30 PM.
>All proceeds go to the Special Needs Children and Camp Moore Sunshine. These organizations are geared towards these special needs children and appreciate ours and your support. Saturday April 24th 7 PM to Midnight All you can eat dinner includes beefsteak, beer, wine, soda and great DJ music. Our cash bar is open for other drinks. Cost $35.00 in advance or $40.00 at the door.
Village Manager Ken Gabbert will now play a dual role in Ridgewood’s administration — the Village Council approved his appointment as chief financial officer (CFO) by a 3-1 vote at a special public meeting on Tuesday morning.
Councilman Paul Aronsohn cast the dissenting vote. Councilwoman Anne Zusy was absent from the vote. Gabbert was sworn in as CFO immediately following the vote.
“Everyone in village government is being asked to work harder and longer,” Aronsohn said in an e-mail. “It therefore seems wrong to give a few people extra salary, while everyone else works harder for the same salary. A good example is the fire department. The village manager is proposing the elimination of the deputy chief position, but is not proposing an increase in anyone’s salary to compensate them for doing the extra work.”
By serving in both capacities, Gabbert’s salary will increase by $25,000 annually, but the taxpayers will save about $135,000 the first year and about $150,000 the second year of his four-year appointment, officials said. The savings will be realized by not having to hire an additional person to fill the opening left when former CFO Dorothy Stikna retired in January.
“The big picture is restructuring the finance department,” Gabbert said Tuesday morning at Village Hall.
The resolution, read by Village Clerk Heather Mailander, said that the state requires every municipality to have a CFO appointed, and that Gabbert is qualified to hold such a position because he has the proper state certification.
,”comparing schools to private enterprise is not an intelligent comparison. the two are in different realm – its like comparing baseball stats with golf handicaps – the two have nothing to do with each other.
you see, part living in the greatest nation on earth means that YOU have to pay up to live here. you live in one of the wealthiest towns in the nation – nobody is crying for you when you’re paying taxes. YOU CAN AFFORD IT – YOU LIVE IN RIDGEWOOD.
if you can’t afford the taxes, move elsewhere. there is plenty of affordable housing in alabama.”
The Village of Ridgewood in 2009 felt the continued effects of the worst recession, since the great depression. The Village sustained a significant downfall in anticipated revenues of $455,955. ,which negatively effects fund balance. The 2010 reduction in State Aid revenues of $572,072. only imposes additional constraints on the Village to minimize property tax increases while maintaining the same level of services. Proceeds from the sale of a Liquor license for $450,000. will be anticipated as revenue in this years budget. Contractual salaries, health insurance and pension costs remain to hamper efforts to control budgeted expenses.
The 2010 introduced municipal budget has a estimated tax rate increase of 8.8 percent, or a $302.00 increase for the average residential property assessed at $800,000.
The 2010 budget must meet both State imposed budget (expense) and levy (tax) caps. On the budget side the Village has met its spending cap of $1,106,000. This was obtained by implementing an aggressive expense reduction plan. Total expense reductions to be realized in 2010 total $966,327. The introduced budget however does not meet the levy cap. The Village will request a levy cap waiver in the amount of $1,100,000. The levy cap waiver if granted by the State will enable the Village to provide health and safety services to its resident. Also, the levy cap waiver will be an adjustment or pass on to the 2011 tax levy year. The Village will be in a more stable financial position to satisfy the levy cap, due to the second six month savings from the cost reduction plan which will be undertaken this year. It is anticipated that the expense reduction plan will provide several years of property tax relief. Continued efforts to expand inter-local services with surrounding communities and outsourcing of services will be explored and reexamined.
The 2010 Budget will only increase $243,773. over the 2009 Budget. Large expense items in the budget are:
Group Health Insurance increased 19.83% or $684,219. The Village solicited bids for alternative plans, but was unsuccessful in securing a cost effective solution.
Other Insurance Workers Compensation appropriation rose $62,629. Funds will replenish the insurance reserve fund for future claims which may arise.
Accumulated Absences increased 19.19% or $71,572. Village must provide funding for retirements in 2010.
Police & Fire Retirement pension bill, increased 8.60% or $161,176. Village must meet its financial obligation as mandated by the State.
Unemployment costs increased by $286,288. over 2009. The dramatic increase is the result of implementing staff reductions to comply with the States imposed budget and levy caps, and minimize property tax increases.
Police and Fire contractual Salaries increased on average of 4.3 percent, or $431,160.
The Capital Budget will provide funding for the following :
Rolling stock of Municipal Vehicles
Technology Infrastructure Upgrades
2010 Street Resurfacing & Reconstruction Program.
Stormwater Drainage System Upgrades
Building Improvements, Various Locations
SCADA System Upgrades, Water Pollution Control Facility
The Crisis | Only 35 percent of American high school seniors are proficient readers. Only 23 percent are proficient in math. Nationwide, only 74 percent of ninth graders graduate within four years—and that number drops to about 50 percent for black and Hispanic students. Twelve percent of American high schools are “dropout factories”—schools where less than 60 percent of freshmen even make it to their senior year. It comes as no surprise, then, that America lags far behind other developed countries when it comes to schooling: Among large industrialized countries, America ranks last in educational effectiveness—despite spending the most.
About The Cartel | Teachers punished for speaking out. Principals fired for trying to do the right thing. Union leaders defending the indefensible. Bureaucrats blocking new charter schools. These are just some of the people we meet in The Cartel. The film also introduces us to teens who can’t read, parents desperate for change, and teachers struggling to launch stable alternative schools for inner city kids who want to learn. We witness the tears of a little girl denied a coveted charter school spot, and we share the triumph of a Camden homeschool’s first graduating class.
>I am what some may call a “Ridgewood Newbie”. As newlyweds three years ago my husband and I went on a search to find the perfect home to begin our lives together in. We wanted a community that would allow us to be involved, raise our children and most of all grow old together in. Ridgewood immediately was narrowed down as the ONLY TOWN we would search in. We finally landed in the beautiful Wastena Park area and could not be happier.
Recently I have tried to gain awareness in regards to local issues including the vacancies in our downtown shopping district, the community divide about the beloved Graydon pool, the Valley expansion and most recently the Council Election. So many of these issues are tainted with personal attacks and agendas that it can be very difficult to learn the truth. I urge everyone to learn before choosing a side to support. And PLEASE lets keep this about the issues and not about supporters.
Last night as I sat and talked with some Ridgewoodians (as I like to call them) we began to discuss these current topics with passion. Someone at this meeting said “If we continue to strive for status quo we at least need to make some changes to maintain that balance. If we choose as a community to keep everything as is, we will only fall behind in society and this beautiful town and admired community will be gone as we know it”. This really struck a chord with me and I hope it does with you as well.
As we enter this critical time in Ridgewood’s history I urge you to Vote for growth. Vote for change. Vote for innovation.
Tomorrow we vote for the school budget. Voting YES will mean an increase in our taxes. Do I want this – NO! But how can we put a price on education? We live in this town for a reason and one of them is the opportunity it provides our children. School budget questions? Visit – https://board-of-education.ridgewood.schoolfusion.us/modules/groups/group_pages.phtml?gid=944840&nid=116620&sessionid=664189c6cfbd6e1ac84f929ca2a0b3be
On May 11th we are voting for town council. Voting for candidates who support research and community growth may be scary – but it is also brave. We need to support the Cronk/Dowd ticket or we risk moving backward in terms of community evolution. https://www.cronk-dowdforcouncil.myevent.com/ Want to know more about the candidates for Ridgewood Council? Attend Candidates Night TONIGHT April 19th @ 7:30 in the Town Hall.
I hope that you read this message as a request for bravery and not as a personal agenda. We need to work together as a community or in the blink of an eye it will all be gone – and frankly that is NOT a risk I am willing to take.
Rachel S. Schulties A Concerned Ridgewood Resident
James in the following thread from the Blog… Rachel S. Schulties calls herself “A Concerned Ridgewood Resident”
So as not to cause confusion, I was wondering if you might add a disclaimer at the bottom of the post:
Rachel S. Schulties is not member of the organization “Concerned Residents of Ridgewood”.
CRR will be announcing their recommendations for the candidates this week.
Gov. Chris Christie is trying to solve New Jersey’s chronic bud get problems by cutting spending, including state aid to local schools. But the state’s powerful teacher unions and many school boards are balking — claiming that this will either drive up local property taxes or result in devastating cuts to school services.
In fact, there’s plenty of fat to cut. For proof, just take a close look at the recent hiring and spending patterns of Jersey’s school districts: Both hiring and spending have risen far faster than can be justified by the mild growth in enrollment. Thus, most should have plenty of room to cut spending without major impact.
Given the state’s chronic budget woes, the schools’ hiring spree defies logic. Since 2001, just as budget problems began in earnest, public-school enrollment in Jersey has risen by less than 3 percent, or slightly more than 36,000 students. But total school hiring (full-time employees and equivalents) has jumped by 14 percent, or nearly 28,000 employees, according to federal Census statistics.
That’s right: Jersey’s schools have added three-quarters of an employee for every new student — during a period of deep fiscal pain for the state. Most of the new hires were teachers — which is more than one new instructional worker for every two new students.
The hiring spree, along with rich benefit increases, has fueled payrolls. Wage costs alone have increased 43 percent since 2001 — well ahead of the inflation rate plus enrollment growth.
But the real budget-buster has been health and pension costs. Between 2001 and 2006 (the latest year data are available), total benefit costs rose by a whopping 115 percent, adding several billion dollars to school costs.
After this runup, outlays are now a whopping $16,000 per student, nearly 60 percent above the national average. Jersey already was a leader in this spending category back in 2001; the spending spree has widened the gap, at great taxpayer cost.
There’s been little educational payoff. Performance on national education-assessment tests has been a mixed bag. On crucial eighth-grade reading tests, for instance, the percentage of Jersey students scoring at or above proficient in 2009 was just 42 percent, up slightly from 38 percent in 2005.
But the spending has deepened the state’s budget and economic problems. Jersey now has the highest combined state and local tax burden in the country — yet has been in an almost perpetual budget crisis since 2001.
To fund state spending, Govs. James McGreevey and Jon Corzine hiked taxes by billions of dollars — devastating the state’s economy. Jersey has had no private job growth in the last decade and missed out even on the 2004-’06 expansion that most other states enjoyed.
But the tax hikes didn’t solve the budget crisis. The key reason: As the above data suggest, the spending hasn’t slowed.
If anything, the numbers suggest that Christie’s approach, which is to finally start weaning local schools off continual increases in state aid, is the only way to bring spending in line.
In response, the teacher unions (and allied school boards) are trying to prompt a crisis. Most locals have refused to renegotiate their contracts with wage and benefit concessions — though Christie has pointed out that if teachers merely accepted a one-year wage freeze and a moderate contribution toward health costs, school districts wouldn’t have to make further cuts.
The unions hope, instead, to present voters with a choice between “devastating” spending cuts or property-tax increases.
Voters shouldn’t buy it. One look at hiring and spending in Jersey suggests its schools are far from starved for resources.
Steven Malanga is senior editor of the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal.
>Candidates Night to be held on April 19 Wednesday, April 7, 2010 The Ridgewood News
The Ridgewood League of Women Voters will sponsor a Candidates Night for the upcoming Village Council election at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 19 in the Village Hall Court Room, 131 N. Maple Ave. The event will be televised on the local cable network.
The candidates will receive four prepared questions in advance, and time will also be given to the public to ask questions. A trained moderator will facilitate the session.
With four residents running for two open seats on the Village Council and both incumbents not seeking reelection, there will be some fresh faces in Ridgewood government following the May 11 municipal elections.
The candidates are: * Bernadette Coghlan-Walsh, a community volunteer who said she can bring that experience and a business background to the Village Council if she is elected.
* Ridgewood Zoning Board of Adjustment member Douglas Cronk, a former commuter and current Ridgewood business owner who decided to run for one of the open council seats to “be involved” in the community.
* Brian Dowd, who has 25 years of experience in commercial real estate, said he “always wanted to get involved” with the community to “maintain and enhance” the qualities of Ridgewood that attracted him to the village in 2005.
* Thomas Riche, a former councilman, is currently a Planning Board member, active in the Office of Emergency Management, and a member of the Site Plan Exemption Committee and the Historic Preservation Commission who said he has “kept my finger on the pulse of things going on in the village.”
Tuesday is Election Day in New Jersey, and this year’s fiscal and economic crisis has created hard choices that demand attention.
I am a product of New Jersey’s public schools. I know how good our schools and hardworking teachers are. I owe a lot to my teachers in Livingston for helping to lay the foundation for my success. But the dedication and quality of our teachers is not in question and never has been. Right now, we are addressing the challenge of providing our children the highest quality education while responsibly addressing New Jersey’s fiscal mess and crippling taxes.
When fewer resources available, local school districts and education associations are being asked to share in the sacrifice. New Jersey is facing a reality that can no longer be ignored.
I have encouraged the teachers’ union leadership to work together in finding savings by implementing a salary freeze for one year. While governments at every level have to do more with less, many public employee unions have continued putting a strain on budgets without regard to changing circumstances. At a time when salary raises are unheard of in private industry across New Jersey and when harmful tax hikes are at the doorstep for many communities, it is unreasonable to have union leadership continue to demand raises from taxpayers. A simple fact: According to the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, during 2007-2008, 40 percent of the workers in New Jersey’s private sector had their wages frozen or reduced.
A recent Rasmussen poll found that 65% of New Jerseyans support the idea of administrators, teachers and school workers sharing in the sacrifice. School salary and benefits costs in New Jersey are the highest in the nation and they are rising at over three times the rate of inflation. Unreasonable salary demands in the face of this fiscal reality is irresponsible and costing teaching jobs and student programs.
In the face of these difficulties, we are seeing action take place across the state. Districts and education associations are coming together. Just this past week, the Red Bank Education Association ratified a contract that froze salaries for three years. The Superintendent of the Schools, Laura Morana, acknowledge the collaborative relationship between the district and the association before going on to say, “They recognize these are challenging times and wanted to do what’s in the best interest of the kids.”
Superintendent Morana’s words represent the shared sacrifice of many others across New Jersey. It is the reason why I am proposing to provide additional state aid to school districts that negotiate a salary freeze to the amount equivalent to both the Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes that would have otherwise been paid on the foregone salary increase. The Social Security payroll tax is 6.2 percent of earnings up to $106,800 and the Medicare tax is 1.45 percent of earnings with no cap. This means that we are able to offer school districts additional state aid amounting to 7.65 percent of the savings achieved from a one-year salary freeze, or $76,500 on every $1 million saved. Statewide, if savings of $500 million were to be achieved through the one-year salary freeze, the additional school aid payments would total $38,250,000.
When you go to the voting booth on Tuesday, remember that the only way we will get through the challenges of today is by facing them now. Our state, our families and our children can no longer afford government at any level that wishes problems away or stands in the way of necessary change.
There is still time to reopen negotiations and have the teachers union finally agree to reasonable, shared sacrifice — a one year freeze on salaries and a small contribution to health insurance costs. Let us keep our children in the front of our minds.
Send a clear message with your vote. If your teachers union has taken the freeze and your school board had budgeted responsibly, support them with your vote. If they have not, tell them you will not accept higher property taxes to pay for unreasonable raises when all of New Jersey is already sacrificing. Vote against budgets that don’t include shared sacrifice.
>According to the Pascack Press April 19th 2010 the Park Ridge governing body has unanimously voted in favor of adapting an ordinance which will open the municipal pool club to non residents. The recommendation to do this came by way of the Municipal pool Commission which noted a lack of funds stemming from a loss of membership.
Loss of membership for municipal pools is due to many factors and plagues many towns in Bergen County .Its seems Ridgewood is not the only place were town pool membership has declined precipitously and contrary to what we have been lead to believe maybe its not just the sandy bottom and Canadian Geese that has driven pool goers from Graydon’s shores.
A group of Ridgewood High School (RHS)students and several chaperones on a two-week exchange trip in Oelde, Germany,have received an unexpected trip extension because of the volcanic ash plume hovering over much of Europe.
The 15 students and three teachers were scheduled to fly home to New Jersey early Friday morning, said RHS Principal Jack Lorenz. But they received word Thursday night that their flight was canceled because planes cannot fly through the volcanic ash.
Fortunately, Lorenz said, “they are not sitting in the airport in Dusseldorf. Their host families in Oelde have taken them back, and they are safe and comfortable, and having an extended learning experience. Oelde is a beautiful little town.”
