>NEW LOCATION FOR TREE LIGHTING is at Memorial Park at Van Neste Square.
6:45pm – Music: Band, Flag Salute, Harmony Chorus, Art of Motion Children, Official Greeting from Mayor
7:30pm – Tree Lighting
7:40pm – Musical Entertainment continues until 9pm
*** SANTA will be in his House in the Park on SATURDAY, Dec. 6th, 13th, 20th and Christmas Eve – 12/24 10am – 2pm
SPONSORED BY THE RIDGEWOOD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
>Sunday, November 30, 2008
BY RYAN TRACY
https://www.nj.com/news/times/index.ssf?/base/news-5/12280215439560.xml&coll=5
Though health care may be a necessity even in trying times, local hospitals say they are not immune to the strains of the reeling economy.
In fact, Mercer County’s four major hospitals, which together account for more than 7,000 jobs, face worries similar to other businesses: As consumers tighten their wallets, they might spend less on elective surgeries or preventative medicine.
Meanwhile two health care organizations with ambitious plans for construction of new hospitals in Hopewell Township in Mercer County and Plainsboro in Middlesex County have expressed confidence that financial market upheavals will not disrupt those projects.
But as unemployment increases in New Jersey, hospitals also are facing another unique challenge: more and more people find themselves without health insurance while hospitals remain obligated to provide “charity care” to the uninsured.
Already, St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton is reporting a “small uptick” in charity care patients, according to president and CEO Gerard J. Jablonowski.
Meanwhile, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital at Hamilton recently cut 22 positions from its staff of over 1,800, citing economic challenges shared by other health care providers.
“Fewer patients are seeking elective procedures (and) more people are uninsured because of the increased work force reductions nationally,” Diane Grillo, chief spokeswoman at Robert Wood, said in an e-mailed statement.
Grillo said the staff cuts included “a few nurses who did not have direct patient care assignments” and came through a combination of layoffs and attrition. She did not attribute the work force reduction to any particular economic cause.
“Hospitals in New Jersey are beginning to see the effects of the economic downturn,” she said. “We are confident that these changes will not compromise the care and service our community has come to expect.”
Robert Wood is not the only hospital in New Jersey that has made staff cuts, according to Kerry McKean Kelly, spokesperson for the New Jersey Hospital Association.
“Even in the last couple months, we have seen the elimination of jobs (and) the elimination of some services,” Kelly said. Statewide, hospitals have announced “200 or more” job cuts in the past two months, she said.
Five New Jersey hospitals have closed this year, in addition to three last year, Kelly said. Before those closures, 15 hospitals had shut down in New Jersey in about the last 15 years, she said.
At local hospitals, officials said finances are strong.
“The last three or four months … we have been near capacity, in terms of inpatients that we are treating,” said Barry Rabner, president and CEO of Princeton HealthCare System, though he cautioned that it is “often impossible” to explain trends in such numbers.
Jablonowski said patient numbers are also strong at St. Francis, but noticed another change.
“Over the last year, we have started noticing a small uptick in the number of (charity care) patients” on the order of “a few percentage points of our volume,” said Jablonowski.
“We take care of every patient who needs us, and that’s part of our mission, but the mounting pressure to be able to continue that is what really is the biggest concern of the organization.”
New Jersey has lost 27,200 jobs so far this year, including 6,000 in October alone. The statewide unemployment rate rose to 6 percent in October, its highest level in more than five years.
Rutgers University economist James W. Hughes said that trend is likely to continue over the next 12 months.
Hospital officials fear that will bring more residents without employer-provided health coverage.
The state government, which mandates “charity care” for the uninsured, reimburses hospitals slightly less than 50 percent of the cost of treating each uninsured patient, said Kelly of NJHA.
While local hospitals would like to see that reimbursement rise, some officials fear it might fall once again.
The state’s budget for the fiscal year that began July 1 cut “charity care” funding by 15 percent, according to the NJHA website.
Less state reimbursement “would be potentially tragic news for the state because we already have hospitals struggling, laying off folks, (and) reducing services,” Kelly said.
“We’re also hearing from hospitals that they are delaying construction projects” due to high interest rates and difficulty borrowing, Kelly said.
Two major medical centers are under construction in central New Jersey — Princeton HealthCare System’s campus at Plainsboro and a new location for Capital Health System in Hopewell Township.
Rabner said Princeton HealthCare’s project has not been delayed, though the construction costs may rise.
“Fortunately we borrowed money to complete the project before the economy became so complicated,” Rabner said in an interview. “We do have money to do the work.”
Work toward demolishing existing buildings at the site off Route 1 is under way and “we’re in the process of bidding” other aspects of the project, Rabner said. “We’re just getting the bids back. (We) don’t know what impact the changes in the economy will have on the project budget.”
Capital Health spokesperson Jason Stacchini said the company had no comment for this report.
Last month, Capital Health spokesperson Jayne O’Connor expressed confidence in the financial condition of the company and its ability to finance its $530 million construction project.
O’Connor also said the company had not yet “even gotten to the stage where we’re going to market” for bonds that would fund the construction.
https://www.nj.com/news/times/index.ssf?/base/news-5/12280215439560.xml&coll=5
>A route to higher home values
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Jennifer V. Hughes
THE RECORD
And, yes, it is an oncoming train.
But in this real estate market — more than any other — that’s a good thing.
Homes in towns with rail stations at their heart or nearby fare much better than those in any other market, said real estate guru Jeffrey Otteau, who has been analyzing New Jersey real estate for 30 years.
“It’s not enough to have a rail station,” Otteau said. “But it’s a really good start.”
In an October report, Otteau found that nine of the top 10 New Jersey housing markets either have a train station or are less than a mile away from a rail stop. In Bergen County, Midland Park and Ridgewood made the list.
That top designation was determined by how long it would take to sell out the homes currently on the market, Otteau said. Statewide, the figure is 13 months; in rail-friendly towns it ranges from two to five months.
Homes near train stations are also worth more. In a 2005 survey of towns in Essex, Union, Somerset and Morris counties, Otteau found that homes within walking distance of a rail station sold for 5 percent more than those houses where residents would have to drive to the station.
Those increased values were even more evident in a slow market. This year Otteau revisited that survey, in central New Jersey, and found that homes within walking distance had values 10 percent higher than their counterparts’. Otteau said the findings would “certainly” hold true for Bergen County rail towns.
“This is true in the northern half of New Jersey,” he said. “The closer you get to Manhattan, the greater the effect.”
Martin Robins, senior fellow at the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University, said if not for a shaky financial climate, transit-oriented development “would be a runaway market.”
One thing slowing things down is that people who might want to downsize into smaller homes or condos near transit can’t sell their current homes.
“People want to sell and move now but they can’t,” Robins said.
As for demand, Robins cited an example of a new condo development that opened up two years ago on the Raritan Valley line at Cranford. More than 1,300 applications were put in for 80 units.
The center also studied the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Line, focusing on five stations in Hoboken, Jersey City and Bayonne. It found that the housing boom around those stations has added more than $5 billion in property value to the local tax base, said Jan Wells, an adjunct professor at the Rutgers center.
“For the most part, these were parking lots and brownfields,” said Wells. “You’re putting people there who will support your local businesses, buy new furniture, need groceries.”
There are also so-called Transit Villages, an official designation by the state Department of Transportation. There are 19 Transit Villages built or under construction statewide, including Rutherford, Morristown and Jersey City.
Transit Villages can apply for grants for landscaping, street lights, sidewalk projects and other improvements. In 2008 the DOT spent $1.2 million to fund a bikeway in Pleasantville and a river walk project in Belmar. The budget for 2009 is $2 million.
Transit hubs are thriving because of demographic changes, said Otteau. In the 1940s and 1950s, homebuyers moved westward from the city, creating suburbs bolstered by highway projects, cheap gas and an exodus of jobs from urban centers. Wealth and family size were on the rise, leading to a demand for larger homes.
Now, the two biggest demographic groups are baby boomers and Generation Y-ers — both of whom don’t have young children and crave walkable neighborhoods and transit into New York City.
In his surveys, Otteau has identified markets that have not hit yet, but could. These “investment” markets include several with rail stops, such as Hackensack and Glen Rock.
To encourage rail-friendly projects, towns need to rezone properties to welcome mixed-use development, Otteau said. Also, towns should reexamine whether it is a good idea to have ordinances that mandate a certain amount of parking in new developments. Today’s buyers in transit towns often have fewer cars and use them less often.
Additionally, Otteau said, planners need to realize children are not “toxic.” In the past, planners often shunned multi-unit developments because of a fear that they would attract families with children in numbers that would burden schools. But new demographics show families are having fewer children, or forgoing them altogether.
“What we need to understand is that all the old models don’t work in this new world,” he said.
In Wood-Ridge, construction is beginning on a $500 million project that will bring rental apartments, condos, shops, restaurants and an NJ Transit train station to the former site of Curtiss-Wright’s B-29 bomber factory.
The cost of the $37 million rail station on the Bergen County Line will be split by the developer, Somerset Development, and NJ Transit. It is expected to open in late 2010 or early 2011. The development, Westmont Station, is expected to have about 800 rental and condo units. Ralph Zucker, president of Somerset Development, said planning for the project began six years ago during a very different real estate market.
“We’ve definitely had some sleepless nights,” he said. Originally the company planned to open the project by offering condos. Now, rental apartments will come online first. Could the project have survived without the train station?
“I don’t think so,” Zucker said.
NJ Transit partnered with the developer to boost ridership, which is good for the agency and the state in the long run, said Jack Kanarek, NJ Transit’s senior director of project development.
Kanarek said a national study found that people who live in transit-oriented developments make 44 percent fewer car trips than in non-transit communities. That’s good for roadways and pocketbooks, he said.
Transit-oriented developments should also boom as the new trans-Hudson tunnel project progresses, said Kanarek.
Construction on the $8.7 billion project is expected to begin in 2009 and the tunnel will open in 2017. The rail tunnel is expected to double capacity from New Jersey to New York. It will also enable one-seat rides into Manhattan’s Penn Station on 10 of NJ Transit’s 11 commuter rail lines, including the Pascack Valley and Bergen County lines.
In addition, NJ Transit is considering providing passenger service on an existing freight rail line, offering nine stations from Hawthorne to Hackensack.
Towns with stations should act now to capitalize on demand for rail, Kanarek said.
“If towns plan for transit-oriented development, they can enhance their communities and bring not only a mix of uses but also more vibrancy to their community, because transit is such a permanent part,” he said.
So what does all of this mean for values and selling rates for homes that are not in transit-friendly towns? Otteau said prices there will rise more slowly in a good market and will fall faster in a bad one. His research found that the most expensive homes remained on the market the longest.
“It’s all about price,” said Rutgers’ Wells. “People may not get a price that reflects what they have in the house. You have to decide if you’re going to take the loss or sit there and make it more economic and efficient to get around in the suburban sprawl.”
Realtor Barry Colyer, of ReMax Traditions in Oakland said he thinks there will still always be some buyers who are not demanding homes near train stations. He estimates about 30 percent of his clients want transit as close as possible.
“Buyers who want train access will only look at places with train access,” he said. “If it’s on your list, it’s pretty high up there.”
>Wildes: Ensuring stable health care for our region
Friday, November 28, 2008
BY MICHAEL J. WILDES
https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/35207629.html
To build a new facility at the site of the former Pascack Valley Hospital would be a mistake, one that could end up providing worse – not better – care for local residents.
AS MAYOR of Englewood, I strive continuously to ensure that my constituents receive quality services and care in all areas of life here in Bergen County. There is no area where quality is more important than in health care, and for the people of Englewood, having a hospital in our city provides a valuable facility for everyone in our community.
However, as a mayor with a hospital in my community, I can’t limit my concern to what it means to the people of Englewood. I have to look at what it means to the people who come from other parts of Bergen County. Englewood Hospital and Medical Center serves people from all over Bergen County and the financial strength of the hospital is critical to people in our neighboring towns and to Bergen County as a whole.
According to the January 2008 Final Report of the New Jersey Commission on Rationalizing Health Care Resources (also known as the Reinhardt Commission), New Jersey faces an oversupply of hospital beds, a problem that is particularly concentrated in the Hackensack-Ridgewood-Paterson area.
In part because of this oversupply, Pascack Valley Hospital suffered from low occupancy rates, filed for bankruptcy and ultimately closed in November 2007.
Upon Pascack Valley Hospital’s closing, all the hospitals in Bergen County experienced an increase in their respective occupancy rates. This increase confirmed that there had been too many acute care beds in Bergen County. But, more importantly, this change represents progress for the people in the region, as numerous studies, including one by Dr. Elliott Fisher at Dartmouth University, have shown that having an oversupply of acute care beds actually can have the effect of worsening health care.
A mistake
That’s why I believe that Hackensack University Medical Center and its for-profit Texas-based partner, Legacy Hospital Partners, should not be allowed to open a new acute care facility on the former Pascack Valley Hospital site in Westwood.
To open this facility would be a mistake, one that could end up providing worse – not better – care for local residents.
Make no mistake: Having more emergency facilities in the region is never harmful, and in this case would be a welcome addition to the region. It’s when you add the infrastructure of an acute care facility, complete with all of the administration, overhead and equipment required, that resources become redundant and health care quality can be compromised.
Recently, one of my colleagues asserted that the closing of Pascack Valley Hospital was a devastating financial loss to the town of Westwood, both in terms of commerce and jobs lost.
As a fellow mayor, I certainly understand the challenges that take place when a community faces a hospital closing. But I believe it is vital that we not exacerbate those negative effects by starting a new hospital. A new for-profit hospital in the region could destabilize the entire region’s health care system, and could cause additional hospitals to close. We’d be confronting the same issues that Westwood recently experienced, only in a different municipality.
With today’s economic conditions, we cannot afford instability; we must do everything to keep our hospitals, as well as our businesses, stable.
Additionally, the proposed facility is to be a for-profit hospital, and those types of institutions often do not have the interests of the community at heart. The non-profit hospitals in this region invest in the community and are not beholden to out-of-state investors.
Additionally, our local hospitals take all patients – including charity, Medicare and privately insured patients, which I feel is better for the community.
Replacing the old Pascack Valley Hospital with a similar institution runs counter to the Reinhardt report and could undo some of the benefits that the closing of Pascack Valley provided Bergen County’s residents.
Won’t benefit the people
The introduction of new hospital beds at a location where hospital beds were removed less than nine months ago does not seem to benefit the people of this region. There are seven full-service hospitals less than 15 miles from that site.
All the hospitals in Bergen County support the new emergency facility opened by Hackensack Medical Center at the Pascack Valley site. To add a full-service acute care hospital might be detrimental to the care of the region’s residents and could greatly diminish the continued operational effectiveness and quality of northern New Jersey’s hospitals.
The Reinhardt report should be given a chance to work, to show that the public policies in place are correct and that financially stable hospitals are good for all the people of Bergen County, not just Englewood.
Michael J. Wildes, mayor of Englewood, is an immigration attorney and has been an emergency medical technician for more than 15 years.
https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/35207629.html
>I will post a detail article as soon as I get back from the holidays
An Elmwood Park man was charged with making terrorist threats to the pizzeria manager at Brooklyn Pizza.We also were very disappointed with the service and the food at Brooklyn Pizza but stopped short of terroristic threats and just told the manager the place sucks . It is not clear if Mr.Ruzhdi Aliu the man charged will be sent to Gitmo or not for crimes against Pizza .His companion must have thought he was in a Greek restaurant and threw a plate and threatened bodily harm to the same manager. Plates are traditionally thrown at Greek restaurants .Perhaps he’ll be sent to geography classes.
Again hope your having a very nice thanksgiving !
PJ
Dispute at Brooklyn Pizza results in multiple arrests
Alleged restaurant row brings charge
THE RECORD
November 27, 2008
Evonne Coutros
RIDGEWOOD — An Elmwood Park man was charged with making terroristic threats to a pizzeria manager in the central business district after he was told that the food he ordered was not available, police said.
Ruzhdi Aliu, 30, was inside Brooklyn’s Brick Oven Pizza on Oak Street around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday when he threatened the restaurant manager with bodily harm, said Ridgewood Police Detective Douglas Williams. His companion, Stephanie Colon, 18, of Bayonne, threw a plate, Williams said.
The manager called police to report two unruly customers. When police caught up with the couple, they were walking down the street. Police charged Colon with giving them a fictitious identity.
Both parties were transported to police headquarters where criminal complaints were signed, police said.
>
>
>By TOM BALDWIN
Gannett State Bureau
https://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20081125/NEWS01/811250356
Stewards of the state-employees’ pension fund on Monday promised greater communication with workers at a time when Wall Street’s troubles are sapping retirement plans for legions of workers.
The fund managers said they would, for example, disclose emergency investments even if they are less than the $50 million threshold.
The vow came in testimony to the State Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee by the state’s director of the division of investments, William Clark.
The issue was whether Clark and his staff should make smaller investments without prior review by a larger governing body, the state investment council.
An OK from the council is mandated for investments more than $50 million.
The session marked the first chance lawmakers had to delve into how the state-workers’ pension fund is being battered by Wall Street’s almost daily woes.
Last Thursday, the investment council disclosed a loss of $16 billion over three months ending in October. Clark said the fund held $62 billion on Oct. 31, after being as high as $81 billion.
Monday’s budget-committee hearing sought answers and direction, said Budget committee chairwoman Sen. Barbara Buono, D-Middlesex.
“I don’t think any of us could have predicted we would fall so far so fast . . . At the end of the day, people want solutions and not theatrics,” she said.
“There clearly is a lot of fear out there . . . Things are happening that should not be happening,” said Clark, who drew praise from some members for keeping the state-workers’ pension fund performing at a level that is better than an array of other institutional investors.
“Mr. Clark, you’ve done a very good job . . . New Jersey is performing better than most places,” said Senate Majority Leader Stephen M. Sweeney, D-Gloucester.
A bevy of Republican committee members asked why Orin Kramer, the chairman of the larger body, the investment council, did not appear at the hearing.
“The agenda said that Investment Council Chairman Orin Kramer had been invited to appear,” said Sen. Anthony Bucco, R-Morris. “When the state has one-year losses approaching the magnitude of the entire state budget, the investment council chairman should be there to reassure the people.”
He was joined in his complaint by Sens. Kevin O’Toole, R-Essex, Steven Oroho, R-Sussex and Philip E. Haines, R-Burlington.
“Democrat leaders tell us that Kramer’s appearance was put on the agenda by mistake,” Haines said. “Mistakes in agendas should be corrected long before the meeting starts.”
“The investment council is ultimately responsible for pension performance,” Oroho said.
Noting the pension plan had gone unfunded by the state for 10 years, union official Hetty Rosenstein, issued a statement saying: “The pension plan could not in any way handle vicissitudes of the market because it is grossly underfunded.”
Rosenstein is New Jersey area director for the Communications Workers of America, which represents many state workers.
Reach Tom Baldwin at [email protected]
https://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20081125/NEWS01/811250356
>Amid legislators’ flak over losses, director promises transparency
https://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1227591370311770.xml&coll=1
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
BY CLAIRE HEININGER
Star-Ledger Staff
Under fire from lawmakers who criticized their actions as too secretive, managers of New Jersey’s pension fund will now disclose any emergency investments immediately, even if they fall below the $50 million threshold for public review, officials said yesterday.
The change comes after three such deals were not revealed in October, sparking frustration at the Statehouse as the financial crisis focused a bigger spotlight on the embattled pension fund.
During wide-ranging testimony that also touched on an ill-fated Lehman Brothers investment, state pension director William Clark told the Senate Budget Committee he would increase transparency on future deals.
Clark said he and his staff will still be able to make such investments without prior review by the state investment council — which is required for investments of more than $50 million — but will make them public right away on the state website, rather than waiting for the next monthly council meeting.
He also defended the state’s controversial strategy of alternative investments, which allows the pension fund to buy into hedge funds, private equity and real estate as well as stocks and bonds. The pension system covers 700,000 public workers and teachers.
The strategy came under fire at the hearing.
“I believe firmly that the alternative investment program has gone too far, too fast,” said Jim Marketti, who represents the AFL-CIO on the investment council.
The pension fund, which started the year worth $81.3 billion, has lost $23 billion in value amid the markets’ collapse.
But Clark said that without the alternative investments, the fund could have lost about $2 billion more. He said hedge funds are down 20 percent this fiscal year, compared to 37 percent for the U.S. stock market.
“We’re not making the argument that hedge funds are no risk, we’re making the argument they’re lower risk,” Clark said.
Last month, the state put $49.5 million apiece into three hedge funds: Canyon Special Opportunities Fund, GoldenTree Credit Opportunities Fund and the BlackRock Inc.-managed Credit Investors Co-Investment Fund. The state initially invested in the funds in September 2007, with $100 million for each. He said they needed the new infusions quickly to protect New Jersey’s existing investments, and to create the potential for lucrative returns.
“There was no attempt to hide anything here,” he said.
But prominent lawmakers, including Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex), said the $49.5 million figure sent up a red flag.
“On its face, the infusion of capital just below the threshold amount raises the specter of an opaque, secretive process,” said committee chairwoman Barbara Buono.
Afterward, Buono (D-Middlesex) said she needed time to evaluate the step announced by Clark before deciding whether the new disclosure goes far enough.
“I believe that we have to give the division enough discretion to be able to do their job effectively, but you have to balance it against the need for transparency,” she said.
Republicans on the panel zeroed in on the state’s June investment in Lehman Brothers, the bank that has since filed for bankruptcy. New Jersey lost $115.5 million on a $180 million Lehman stake in less than four months.
Sens. Steven Oroho (R-Sussex) and Kevin O’Toole (R-Essex) asked whether there was a conflict of interest, since two members of the investment council were Lehman employees and one member was a former Lehman employee at the time of the investment.
Clark said the division made the decision to invest in Lehman without council input and there was no conflict. He said the state will soon decide on whether to sue Lehman officials to recoup some of its losses. “Obviously, I wish we had that one back,” he said.
Gov. Jon Corzine said he believes the pension investments “were made entirely on merit” and not personal relationships.
Staff writer Tom Hester contributed to this report.
https://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1227591370311770.xml&coll=1
>“please let the record show that Boyd Loving caught this and brought it to the council’s attention. not the first nor the last time, i’m sure … but credit where credit is due, and this is his latest coup” … annie (Anne Zusy VC )
>Advice has the potential to be costly to taxpayers
https://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1227417449161150.xml&coll=1
Sunday, November 23, 2008
BY DUNSTAN McNICHOL
Star-Ledger Staff
After making millions selling New Jersey bonds to investors, Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs told other wealthy clients they could profit by betting the Garden State may not be able to pay off its bonds as scheduled, according to a confidential presentation made two months ago.
The advice would cost state taxpayers if investors believe New Jersey bonds appear riskier than they actually are — and force the state to pay higher interest rates on future bonds.
While not illegal, it is troubling Goldman Sachs almost simultaneously marketed New Jersey bonds to one set of investors, while suggesting to others they would be smart to buy insurance from the investment bank because those bonds may not be repaid, according to Geoffrey M. Heal, professor of public policy and business responsibility at Columbia University.
“That’s not a good way to do business,” he said. “They’ve got a conflict of interest and they’re acting against the interest of their customers.
“You act in the interests of your clients. You don’t screw them, to put it bluntly.”
Goldman’s strategy of “shorting municipal credit,” or essentially betting the state bonds would decline in value, was outlined in a 58-page report obtained by ProPublica, a New York-based nonprofit group specializing in investigative reporting. ProPublica assisted The Star-Ledger in reporting this story.
This summer, Goldman, which once employed Gov. Jon Corzine as its chairman, shared in $1 million in fees for helping New Jersey sell $345 million in highway improvement bonds to investors. The fees are among $15 million Goldman has earned since 2002 for selling investors hundreds of millions of dollars in New Jersey debt.
With the September pitch, Goldman was essentially casting doubt on many of those bonds by suggesting New Jersey and five other states might be considered ripe for default on their bond payments because of huge shortfalls in pensions and other public employee retirement benefits.
Michael DuVally, a spokesman for Goldman Sachs, denied there was anything untoward about the firm’s roles as a seller of bonds and a provider of insurance against their default, saying the advice came from different divisions separated by “a Chinese Wall.”
“There is absolutely no conflict,” he said in an e-mail response to written questions. “The material was prepared by a group within the Securities Division on the public side of the ‘Chinese Wall’ and does not represent the views of Goldman Sachs as a firm.”
Tom Vincz, a spokesman for the New Jersey Treasury Department, declined to comment. Douglas Love, a member of New Jersey’s State Investment Council, which sets investment policy for the state’s pension funds, said he was not troubled.
“Research is research; it’s supposed to be independent,” said Love, chief investment officer for an insurance fund. “That is proof they’re independent.”
In the 58-page proposal, Goldman said it identified 11 states where prospects for a default might be on the upswing.
Six of those states, including New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts, were judged as vulnerable because of “significant unfunded pension and OPEB (post-retirement health insurance) costs.”
New Jersey’s pension problems have been known for years and are getting worse.
Experts said that as of July 1, 2007, the fund set up to cover long-term pension payments contained about $28 billion less than is needed to pay the benefits already promised to the 700,000 workers and retirees it covers.
At the time, the funds held investments worth about $82 billion. Since then, the global economic crisis has drained at least $23 billion from the accounts, officials said last week. On top of that, New Jersey has promised its retirees $50 billion in medical benefits, for which no funds have been set aside.
According to the Goldman report, New Jersey is one of just 15 states that has both unfunded medical expenses and a pension system that is at least 20 percent underfunded.
Goldman’s confidential presentation outlined various potential strategies for investors to consider in light of unprecedented instability in worldwide credit markets. The material was only presented to investors with at least $10 million in assets, according to a footnote.
Goldman recommended that investors could take positions against New Jersey bonds by buying complex financial instruments called credit default swaps.
The swaps are like an insurance policy, where an investor pays a bank — like Goldman — a premium in exchange for protection against the risk that New Jersey could default or, more likely, make a late or lesser payment than scheduled. Goldman and other bankers routinely sell such insurance to investors who do not hold the bonds being insured, despite the fact such investors have no direct stake in whether or not the bonds are repaid.
Selling the swaps could, if done properly, help New Jersey by reassuring nervous investors who would not buy the bonds without insurance. But the swaps have also drawn criticism for their role in the near-collapse of insurance giant AIG in September, and for their propensity to be used by speculators in a market that remains unregulated.
Goldman acknowledged in its document that the firm “may have potential conflicts of interest” and that it may “by virtue of its status as an underwriter, advisor or otherwise, possess or have access to non-publicly available information,” which it would not disclose to its credit default swap customers.
Goldman’s foray into the business of “shorting municipal credit” proved short-lived.
DuVally said Goldman was no longer giving the trading advice to clients “in any meaningful way,” and that the traders who came up with the idea are now promoting new investment ideas.
Nevertheless, this incident shows the growing intricacies of the financial markets, according to professor Heal. “For a company that’s dealing with many entities, big firms, local and state governments, it’s actually quite hard to avoid conflicts,” he said. “And it’s getting more difficult as the market gets more concentrated. But you know, if I was New Jersey, I might want to look for someone else to issue my bonds.”
Dunstan McNichol may be reached at [email protected] or (609) 989-0341.
https://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1227417449161150.xml&coll=1
>The Ridgewood Village Council recently directed Village Manager James Ten Hoeve and Village Attorney Matthew S. Rogers to investigate the legality of Cablevision’s recent decision that requires their subscribers to obtain, and in some cases pay for, digital cable boxes to receive public access channels (including Channel 77, where Village Council and Board of Education meetings are broadcast).
Here’s what officials in Yonkers, NY have to say about Cablevision’s actions:
September 26, 2008
Mayor Blasts Cablevision for Limiting Public Access Channels
Yonkers Suggests Cablevision May Have Violated Federal Law in Placing on Availability Restrictions on Public, Education and Government Access Channels
City May Seek Injunction Against Cablevision to Protect Residents’ Rights
YONKERS, NY — Mayor Phil Amicone is blasting Cablevision for moving unilaterally earlier this month to limit the availability of public, education and government access channels to many of its subscribers in the City of Yonkers, and is now threatening legal action if the company does not immediately remove those limits.
Public, education and government access channels, or PEG channels, are public amenities provided for by franchise agreements between cable companies and municipalities like Yonkers. It is standard in those agreements for the franchisee, in this case Cablevision, to provide those channels free of charge to all subscribers including those on its most basic cable service package.
However, on September 16, 2008, Cablevision began requiring its customers to obtain, and in some cases pay, for digital cable boxes in order to receive PEG channels, a move Yonkers believes is in violation of federal law.
“Access to PEG channels has always been a basic right of the cable-viewing public and should continue to stay that way. We believe that what Cablevision has done in limiting access to and in some cases charging its subscribers additional fees for these channels is not only wrong, it may in fact be a violation of federal law. I have directed our Corporation Counsel to notify Cablevision of our intent to use any and all legal means available in order to ensure that the public’s access to these important informational channels will continue unfettered,” Mayor Amicone said.
Amicone said that although Cablevision has a limited offer of one free digital cable box for its analog customers (those without digital boxes), the move effectively limits access to PEG channels in several ways:
1) The free digital box offer lasts only 60 days;
2) Only one digital box is included in the offer, limiting PEG channel availability to one TV set per household; and
3) Cablevision may begin pushing hidden charges once digital boxes are installed.
The mayor said that even more troubling was the fact that Cablevision’s began imposing these limits unilaterally and without approval from the City of Yonkers, the NYS Public Service Commission or the Federal Communications Commission.
The issue is an important one since PEG channels offer informational programming about the public school system and city government, allow officials to communicate with their constituency, televise important public meetings and provide the public at large with an opportunity to disseminate information over cable airwaves.
The city notified Cablevision of its demand to immediately remove the new limits in a letter dated today. The letter cites specific requirements provided by federal law requiring cable companies to provide PEG access to subscribers without restriction and free of charge, and warns the company of the city’s intent to pursue legal remedies if the limits are not removed.
A copy of the letter is below:
Cablevision maintains in an August 12, 2008 letter to the city that it would only affect a small number of customers and that the move was part of an ongoing effort to improve service through the ongoing transition to digital technology.
But with more than 40,000 subscribers in City of Yonkers, even the approximately 10% of its subscribers who Cablevision estimates are affected by the new restrictions still amounts to thousands of customers.
Mayor Amicone also acknowledged that technology upgrades are a normal part of doing business for service companies like Cablevision and expressed his support for Cablevision’s efforts to augment service quality.
“We understand that technology upgrades are a necessary and even a welcomed part of doing business. But we can’t allow ordinary customers who have been loyal for years and have paid their bills on time to be left behind at the whim of a corporation. Safeguards must exist for the average consumer, and in this case city government as administrator of the franchise agreement is that safeguard. We will therefore do everything within our power to make sure Cablevision provides PEG access to all its customers free of charge,” Amicone concluded.
Below is a copy of the city’s letter to Cablevision…
September 26, 2008
Mark Weingarten, Esq.
DelBello, Donnellan, Weingarten, Wise & Wiederkehr, LLP
1 North Lexington Avenue
White Plains, New York 10601
Robert Hoch, Director, Government Affairs
Cablevision
Six Executive Plaza
Yonkers, NY 10701
RE: City of Yonkers Objection to Cablevision Transition of PEG Channels to Digital Tier of Programming
Dear Mr. Weingarten and Mr. Hoch:
Cablevision Systems, Westchester Corporation (“Cablevision”) informed the City of Yonkers, New York (“City”) on August 12, 2008, that it intends to shift all public, educational and government channels (“PEG”) to digital transmission, thereby effectively creating a second basic tier of service. This action will require City residents to acquire set-top boxes in order to access City programming. Cablevision created this second basic tier on September 16, 2008, and did so without the permission of the City. Cablevision’s unilateral action is in violation of federal law and is a material breach of the existing franchise between the City and Cablevision entered into on December 17, 1985 (“Franchise Agreement”). Accordingly, the City objects to Cablevision’s action and demands that it reinstate transmission of PEG channels to a single basic tier of service available to all subscribers in the City of Yonkers without need for a set-top box.
The Franchise Agreement requires Cablevision to “comply with all laws, rules and regulations of the local, state and federal governments and their regulatory agencies or commissions which are now or may hereafter be applicable to the construction and operation authorized herein.” (Section 6). In addition, the Franchise Agreement requires that Cablevision’s provision of PEG channels is “[s]ubject to the applicable Rules and Regulations of the FCC and Commission” (Section 15).
The FCC requires cable providers to provide PEG channels on a single basic service tier. See In the Matter of the Section of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 Rate Regulation, 8 FCC Rcd 5631, 5644 (1993) (1992 Cable Act contemplates that each cable operator must offer only one basic tier); Time Warner v. FCC, 56 F.3d 151, 199 (D.C. Cir. 1995) (finding single basic tier requirement consistent with statute). Further, a basic tier is presumed to be in analog, unless the cable system is fully digital. In the Matter of Implementation of Section 3 of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, 20 FCC Rcd 2718, 2720 (2005). Cablevision’s division of its Broadcast Basic tier into channels that do, and do not, require a digital converter box creates a dual basic tier in violation of law. Further, the dual tier evidences that Cablevision is not operating a fully digital system at this time.
In addition, Cablevision may not place PEG channels on what is effectively a higher level of basic service without the City’s explicit permission, which has not been provided. See 47 U.S.C. § 543(a)(7); In the Matter of the Section of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 Rate Regulation, 8 FCC Rcd at 5737-38 (cable provider required “to carry PEG channels on the basic tier unless the franchising authority explicitly permits carriage on another tier” ).
Cablevision’s shift of its transmission of PEG channels to a second basic tier, without the City’s explicit consent, is in violation of federal law and is a material breach of the Franchise Agreement. Therefore, the City demands that Cablevision revert its transmission of the PEG channels to a single, non- digital basic service tier no later than 5:00 p.m. on October 10, 2008, and to inform this office immediately upon taking this action. If Cablevision fails to take the demanded action, the City intends to enforce its rights in an appropriate forum.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely, Frank J. Rubino
cc: Mayor Philip A. Amicone
Deputy Mayor William Regan
Chief of Staff Lisa Mrijaj
City Council President Chuck Lesnick
Majority Leader Sandy Annabi
Minority Leader Liam McLaughlin
Council Member Patricia McDow
Council Member Joan Gronowski
Council Member John Murtagh
Council Member Dee Barbato
Mark Blanchard, Deputy Corporation Counsel
William Derasmo, Troutman Sanders, Special Counsel
Honorable Jaclyn Brilling, Secretary, NYS Public Service Commission
SOURCE: Press Release
>The Fly has learned that district teachers had a math workshop similar to the workshop the district held for parents recently. Teachers were given the same questions asked of parents, and their answers were pooled to provide feedback to the group of principals and math partners working on standardizing our K-6 math programs. Not surprisingly, the teachers overwhelmingly wanted what the parents answers overwhelmingly revealed: A program that is tested, true, traditional math. They also wanted to have books and fewer games. We know that games, gadgets, computer interfacing, fancy graphics and bold colors are used to “sell” uncritical administrators on constructivist math programs. Kudos to the teachers and, especially, to the high school teachers who were there and who put their support, backed up by experience, behind this position (and behind the parents!). Thank you Ridgewood teachers.
>State average cost for regular falls under $2 for first time since ’05
https://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20081120/COMMUNITIES/811200335&referrer=FRONTPAGECARO– USEL
TRENTON (AP) — Gasoline prices in New Jersey continue to drop as Garden State residents prepare to hit the roads for the holiday.
AAA-Mid-Atlantic says the average price for regular is $1.97 a gallon.
A year ago it was $2.92.
It’s the first time since Dec. 5, 2005 that the average price was under $2 a gallon. The last time the price was $1.97 was March 29, 2005.
The auto club says average prices were even lower in Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties at $1.89 a gallon.
Average prices remain higher in Bergen and Passaic counties.
AAA says gasoline prices in 22 states are now under the $2 average.
https://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20081120/COMMUNITIES/811200335&referrer=FRONTPAGECARO– USEL
>https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/11/budget_worries_lead_to_rifts_a.html
Posted by cjrothma November 19, 2008 16:54PM
Frustration over tough budget times spilled over today at the normally placid League of Municipalities Convention in Atlantic City, where a critic of Gov. Jon Corzine provoked a testy exchange with members of the Cabinet.
Former Glen Ridge Mayor Carl Bergmanson, who waged an unsuccessful effort to recall Corzine from office earlier this year, drew cheers from attendees at a mayors’ luncheon when he used an expletive to say the administration was punishing small towns by blaming them for high property taxes.
State Treasurer David Rousseau and Community Affairs Commissioner Joseph Doria called the criticism unfair and insisted they are doing their best to cut costs in a bleak economy.
That left league officials to play referee, with the president, East Orange Mayor Robert Bowser, cutting off the back-and-forth to boos from the crowd.
William Dressel, the league’s executive director, spent the moments before the lunch disposing of anti-Corzine bumper stickers that appeared beneath the mayors’ sandwiches and potato chips.
The unrest came during a stressful time for state and local officials, who are struggling to predict the New Jersey consequences of the economic downturn. Last week, Corzine and Rousseau announced the state faces a $1.2 billion shortfall in its current budget and a hole of $5 billion for the next fiscal year.
As Rousseau combs the budget line-by-line for savings, local officials said they are concerned about the impact on municipal aid and their own finances.
“There’s considerable frustration and anxiety,” Dressel said. But, he said, “it’s too early to start casting rocks and name-calling and passing out degrading slogans…We’re all in this boat together.”
https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/11/budget_worries_lead_to_rifts_a.html
