January 4,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood Nj, Girls Lacrosse Coach Karla Mixon received the William Corcoran Service to Youth Award at the 51st Annual Greater Bergen County YMCA Sports Award Banquet held in November. Karla is pictured here with YMCA CEO Glenn MacAfee. Karla teaches science at BFMS.
If the her name sounds familiar Ridgewood girls lacrosse was named state Team of the Year and Karla Mixon was named state Coach of the Year for 2011 by the Star-Ledger.
January 4,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Bergen Record posts a misleading article on the Ridgewood Board of Education. The article claims in the article, New year, new leadership on Ridgewood BOE https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/bergen/ridgewood/2017/01/03/new-year-new-leadership-ridgewood-boe/96111336/, The puff piece claims , “The new year brought significant change to the Ridgewood Board of Education.” , significant changes when board members run unopposed and have run unopposed for several terms. Does anyone remember a Ridgewood BOE without Shiela Brogan? While this is not to pass judgment on the quality or competence of the Ridgewood BOE members there clearly is NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE in the Ridgewood BOE nor has there been for years.
According to the BOE eblast , James A. Morgan and Jeanette S. Wilson were sworn in as Board members and Vincent Loncto was nominated and elected Board President. James Morgan and Jennie Smith Wilson were nominated for Vice President; James Morgan was elected.
The next Regular Public Meeting of the Ridgewood Board of Education will be held on Monday, January 23, 2017 at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place, Floor 3 at 7:30 p.m. The meeting will be aired live on television, FiOS channel 33 and Optimum channel 77, and streamed via the “Link in Live” tab on the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us. Meeting webcasts are generally posted to the district website within 48 hours.
Full-Day Kindergarten
Yes: 5,202
No: 5,022
2017 SUPPLEMENTAL SCHOOL TAX BILLING
2017 Supplemental School Tax Billing – As per the Village residents’ November 2016 affirmative vote to approve a permanent $929,800 school tax Levy increase to support a full day kindergarten program for the school district, supplemental tax bills are required to reflect this increase. Questions can be directed to Dr. Alfredo Aguilar, the school district’s Business Manager at [email protected]
or 201/670-2700 x10503.
Both the supplemental school tax bills and the current tax bills are due on February 1st & May 1st 2017.
For example:
1. Although he has known since November that Mayor Knudsen did not violate the Faulkner Act, Councilman Voigt went after her publicly AGAIN. He did it twice in December, and now he did it again. Three times he has publicly accused the Mayor of illegal action after knowing that she did not break any law. Three times. This time he spiced it up by having a member of the public “innocently” lob a question about the alleged violation…….which then enabled Councilman Voigt to read (yes read) a lengthy (very lengthy) sermon that he had typed and prepared for just this moment. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, Councilman Voigt did NOT address the question about how Mayor Knudsen allegedly broke the law (because she did NOT break any law). Instead he sang the praises of the Financial Advisory Committee and various members and all that they have accomplished. Matt Rogers explained that he had given a legal opinion that no law was broken, no violation of the Faulkner Act occurred…..and he clarified that Councilman Voigt knew this in November. Jeff flippantly said something along the lines of Matt Rogers’ legal opinion being exactly that, just an opinion. Come on Jeff, do you think if you keep throwing this lie around it will eventually stick? Guess what Jeff, it is bouncing back and sticking all over you. You look ridiculous. Worse than ridiculous, you look sneaky, nasty, and downright evil. Mayor Knudsen, meanwhile, was the essence of grace, calm, and civility.
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file photo by Boyd Loving
EDISON – New Jersey ranks No. 1 on the list of the most moved-from states in 2016, according to a study by the moving company United Van Lines released Tuesday.
It’s the fifth consecutive year the state ranks first.
The study found that 63 percent of moves in New Jersey were moves out of the state.
January 3,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The Village pf Ridgewood Christmas tree pickup has begun on the west side this week. They will be on the east side next week, and will continue until they have collected all the trees. We are asking that residents get all Christmas trees to the curb by January 13th.
Click here for the press release on the series.
This is from the village website
“The Committee shall meet once per month and/or on an as-needed basis. Decisions shall be made by consensus and if necessary, by majority vote. The minutes for regular monthly meetings shall be kept, transcribed, and made available to the Village and Council and such other Village officials as the Village Manager shall direct. Public comment will be requested at the beginning of a meeting and will be capped at 3 minutes per person; public comment will not exceed 15 minutes”
Does this mean that we are not entitled to the agendas in advance and the minutes of the FAC Committee? Thet get to operate in secret?
Ridgewood friends,
If it weren’t for the guidance and extensive knowledge of Renee Steinhagen, Executive Director of NJ Appleseed, we would be dealing with a massive parking garage, encroaching halfway into Hudson Street, being funded, built and run by the BCIA. Renee and her staff gave us the tools we needed to defeat the massive garage proposals. They have extensive knowledge of referendum petitioning, and were incredibly supportive.
When asked to send to send a bill, Renee said she will not, but rather requested our group contribute to NJ Appleseed, so that they can continue their mission:
“New Jersey Appleseed Public Interest Law Center is a non-partisan, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation. For over 10 years, we’ve striven to correct systemic problems that are at the root of injustice in our state.”
This is the link to donate online. Share this link with your Ridgewood friends!
https://njappleseed.org/donate/
January 1,2017
by Boyd Loving
Ridgewood NJ, As I was leaving the Ridge School playground area with my grandchildren this morning, I noticed that the school’s large trash dumpster was overflowing with materials despite the school having been closed during the past week.
Upon closer examination, it became apparent that the materials dumped within were not generated by school employees – several empty liquor/wine boxes, household trash, a cardboard crate from an electric wine cooler, black plastic trash bags containing ?, and a box from a medical supply company.
So the question is: What individual and/or company is using the Ridge School dumpster (paid for by Ridgewood’s taxpayers) as their personal garbage disposal area, and are they dumping materials.
Has anyone who lives in the area of Ridge seen anyone backing a car or truck into the dumpster area recently?
December 31,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Its that time again for the New Year’s resolutions, it is a tradition, most common in the Western Hemisphere but also found in the Eastern Hemisphere, in which a person resolves to change an undesired trait or behavior.So here are our final thoughts on resolutions for 2017.
In a 2009 article for the Wall Street Journal Jonah Lehrer said, Willpower, like a bicep, can only exert itself so long before it gives out; it’s an extremely limited mental resource.Given its limitations, New Year’s resolutions are exactly the wrong way to change our behavior. It makes no sense to try to quit smoking and lose weight at the same time, or to clean the apartment and give up wine in the same month. Instead, we should respect the feebleness of self-control, and spread our resolutions out over the entire year. Human routines are stubborn things, which helps explain why 88% of all resolutions end in failure, according to a 2007 survey of over 3,000 people conducted by the British psychologist Richard Wiseman. Bad habits are hard to break—and they’re impossible to break if we try to break them all at once.
file photo by ArtChick
December 31,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood Nj, Doug Bunza, a 22-year-old village resident who set up a go fund me page to help when his favorite Pizza place La Bella Pizza when it burned down. Doug’s actions inspired us to call for 2017 to be the year of the neighbor and a return to neighborliness.
December 31,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood Nj, while consumer confidence set a 13 high , Ridgewood blog readers remain cautious with their spending.In the latest Ridgewood blog poll only 16.2% of respondents said they would spend more than last year . While 37.8% said they would spend the same and a whopping 45.9% said they would spend more .
Will You Be Spending More of Less Money For the Holidays this year?
More 16.2 %
Less 45.9 %
Same 37.8 %
file photo by Boyd Loving
December 31,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the staff of the Ridgewood blog has assembled the biggest winners and the biggest losers in Ridgewood for 2016.Now for the Village winners;
The biggest winner this year was the Village of Ridgewood’s new Mayor Susan Knudsen and Deputy Mayor Mike Sedon. After years of constant abuse from the “3 amigos”, the two came out victorious with the sweeping victory of Jeffrey Voigt, Bernadette Coghlan-Walsh and Ramon M Hache in the Village Municipal elections. While Jeff Voigt has so far been a bit of a disappointment the new council has full plate attempting to fix the mess of the previous administration.
The other major winner this year were the Village residents who put together the petitions to stop and shut down Garagezilla . The residents mobilized when their voices were ignored and took back the town. As we have learned since motivations for building Garagezilla had little to do with parking for shop owners in the CBD but more for housing development, commuter parking, certain restaurants, schools and of course an “arts center”.
The Ridgewood School system was a big winner with its much pushed for Full-day Kindergarten referendum. While the merits for children remain dubious, it certainly takes a lot of pressure off parents with more convenient hours.
We couldn’t finish the list without this one; Doug Bunza, a 22-year-old village resident who set up a go fund me page to help when his favorite Pizza place La Bella Pizza when it burned down. To the Ridgewood blog thats what Ridgewood is all about ,neighbors stepping up and taking charge. I know this is not the only good deed for the year but this one stuck out in everyone’s minds. It showed us that anyone can make a difference and we all make a difference to someone .
Our final pick this year for the biggest winner is a bit unorthodox, we decided to give it Village employees.Despite turmoil with Village leadership Village employees did a pretty good job at whatever they were doing, I don’t remember the last time no one complained about the police or fire departments for a whole year? We seemed to have no major scandal ie the meter thief and when services were not up to par it was always a management issue.
file photo by Boyd Loving
December 31,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood Nj, the staff of the Ridgewood blog has assembled the biggest winners and the biggest losers in Ridgewood for 2016.First the Village losers;
Far and away the biggest loser was former Mayor Paul Aronsohn, voters rejected not only his future vision of Ridgewood, voters also rejected everything about it from staffing, political appointments, planning and anyone who supported and promoted him. The only upside was that he united the Village against him and his triad of power mad ill-mannered and deceitful proponents. For many, the Aronsohn Mayorship was a huge step backward and marked the low water point for the entire history of the town. Voters rejected Aronsohn by giving his opponents a landslide victory over his chosen Village council slate.
Garagezilla; according to proponents for 80 years the Village has needed parking, looks like it might be another 80. Garagezilla was the victim of an ill-conceived design, dubious motivations and extremely poor execution. What ever happened to Municipal planning?
Other major losers this year were Valley Hospital for their continued failed vision of expansion. Valley’s self-absorbed blindness has also guaranteed it once again the “poor neighbor award”. Valley may someday get their way but they are also assured to be a victim of own arrogance opening the door for a huge property tax assessment.
Ridgewood developers were also big losers, first and foremost by supporting the failed regime of Paul Aronsohn, secondly, by being so ill informed thinking Ridgewood wanted to become Union City. A misplaced support for the former mayor has left Village developers under a cloud of suspicion, tarnishing their names and reputations and failing in their business endeavors.
And finally, the Village Financial Advisory Committee, formed by former Mayor Aronsohn to help push his pet projects through, sabotage opponents, and create a pool of like-minded power made self-absorbed flunkies. Every single FAC recommendation has gone up in flames and now their new attention is set on attacking the new Mayor Susan Knudsen . The attacks follow the same ill-mannered , innuendo driven , and sexist rants that have and continue to make fools of the all the wannabes on the FAC .
