Reader says time to change residency requirement for new hires
That residency requirement for new hires limits who we can hire, but if it was changed to residency after one year of appointment we’d get a much broader range of qualified applicants going for these golden jobs with their multi-million dollar lifetime benefits. And let the Village fire people for incompetence. Now apparently the only way to get rid of a Village employee is to catch them stealing quarters. According to some former Village employees on this blog, the Engineering department where that thief was employed has cost taxpayers millions of dollars in DEP and other fines, lost quarters, and flooded fields and Village Hall that need to be repaired every time we get a super storm. Where is the accountability to taxpayers there ?
Reader asks why no current member of the Council seems at all bothered by this subversion of the election process.
Funny that no current member of the Council seems at all bothered by this subversion of the election process. One would imagine that our elected leadership might want to maintain some level of integrity to the election process where those that seek public office aren’t personally harassed on the very day that their candidacy is certified. After all, this is the very same process that put them into office in the first place. One might imagine that as human beings they might have expressed some sympathy for what a bum deal this young man got for answering the call to public service.
Even the most cynical among us would expect at least a superficial statement from our elected officials condemning this brutally unfair and potentially illegal tactic, the timing of which is highly suspicious. So why the deafening silence?
Ridgewood officials discuss safety plans for ‘Backwoods’ student dance
APRIL 7, 2014 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, APRIL 7, 2014, 5:05 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The reported numbers of unruly teens observed at each of the semiannual RHS Backwoods dances have raised safety concerns among the Ridgewood Council, but police officials believe that the overall positives outnumber any negatives that result from the organized gatherings.
With preparations under way for the next Backwoods dance, typically held in Memorial Park at Van Neste Square every June and September, members of the Ridgewood Police Department last week discussed the trends as well as the pros and cons of the event with Village Council members.
Police also recommended additional officers to staff the upcoming dance.
Reader says Just reading some of the comments from municipal pensioners and union hacks on this blog, and it’s no wonder we’re in such a mess in this state
Just reading some of the comments from municipal pensioners and union hacks on this blog, and it’s no wonder we’re in such a mess in this state. They are living in fantasy land, expecting new municipal hires to be able to afford their own house and property taxes in Ridgewood, and thinking that their oversized pensions and gold plated healthcare-for-life are sustainable if we just keep raising property taxes every year… I’m not even sure these benefits were negotiated in good faith anymore judging by the comments – when you have a potential conflict of interest with former Police and Fire management on the Village Council approving outrageous wage and benefit increases, i.e. in the 2009 CBAs and again when they were re-opened in 2010, you leave the Village taxpayers with an even bigger entitlement liability. Were those CBAs really negotiated in the best interests of taxpayers when you hand out +4% annual wage increases during a recession ? All the union guys talk about is the current cost for public safety – they always ignore the future fixed costs for pensions & healthcare which will cost us hundreds of millions of dollars in the next 15 years – money that we won’t be able to use for services and improved quality of life for Villagers. Many of these retirees don’t even live in Ridgewood !
NJT EXPANDS ‘QUIET COMMUTE’ TO OFF-PEAK ON MAINLINE AND BERGEN LINE TRAINS
Pilot program to launch May 5 on rail lines serving Hoboken Terminal
April 8, 2014
Ridgewood NJ, In direct response to recommendations from customers seeking an improved on-board experience, NJ TRANSIT Executive Director Veronique “Ronnie” Hakim today announced the expansion of the agency’s Quiet Commute program to off-peak trains that serve Hoboken Terminal, through a pilot program starting Monday, May 5.
“We heard from our customers that they want to enjoy the benefits of Quiet Commute cars on trains during off-peak hours in addition to peak periods, and we are taking action based directly on their recommendations,” said Executive Director Hakim. “We want our customers to know that their feedback will continue to be the driving force behind NJ TRANSIT’s ongoing efforts to improve their overall experience on our system.”
Starting May 5, NJ TRANSIT will add Quiet Commute cars to all off-peak trains arriving and departing Hoboken Terminal between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays only. This includes trains on the Morris & Essex, Montclair-Boonton, Pascack Valley, Main, Bergen County and Port Jervis lines, along with the 2300-series trains on the North Jersey Coast Line.
The designated Quiet Commute car will be the first car on trains traveling into Hoboken, and the last car on trains departing Hoboken, with seating on a first-come, first-served basis.
Quiet Commute cars are intended to provide a subdued environment for customers who wish to refrain from using cell phones and are willing to disable the sound feature on pagers, games, computers and other electronic devices. Conversations should be conducted in quiet voices, and headphones should be used at a volume that cannot be heard by other passengers.
NJ TRANSIT will closely monitor and evaluate the off-peak Quiet Commute pilot program, with feedback received from customers and employees guiding any possible future plans for further expansion across the rail system.
As a reminder, customers may currently take advantage of the Quiet Commute amenity on all peak-period, peak-direction trains, as follows:
On all Northeast Corridor “3900-series” express trains. The designated Quiet Commute cars are the first and last cars of each train.
On Northeast Corridor, North Jersey Coast, Midtown Direct and Raritan Valley line trains that arrive in Newark or New York between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m., and trains that depart Newark or New York between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. The designated Quiet Commute cars are the first and last cars of each train.
On Morris & Essex, Montclair-Boonton, Pascack Valley, Main, Bergen County and Port Jervis line trains that arrive in Hoboken Terminal between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m., and depart Hoboken Terminal between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. The designated Quiet Commute car is the first car on trains traveling into Hoboken, and the last car on trains departing Hoboken.
NJ TRANSIT first launched the peak period Quiet Commute program in September 2010 as a pilot on its busiest trains—“3900-series” Northeast Corridor express trains—to test the feasibility of offering the amenity on its rail system. After receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback from customers, NJ TRANSIT expanded the program in January 2011 to include all peak-period, peak-direction trains that begin or end their trips at New York Penn Station or Newark Penn Station. In June 2011, NJ TRANSIT completed a systemwide rollout to peak-period trains with the expansion of Quiet Commute to include all rail lines that serve Hoboken Terminal.
Survey: US sees sharpest health insurance premium increases in years
Americans have recently been hit with some of the largest premium increases in years, according to a Morgan Stanley survey of insurance brokers.
The investment bank’s April survey of 148 brokers found that this quarter, the average premium increase for customers renewing an insurance plan is 12 percent in the small group market and 11 percent in the individual market, according to Forbes’ Scott Gottlieb.
The hikes — the largest in the past three years, according to Morgan Stanley’s quarterly reports — are “largely due to changes under the [Affordable Care Act],” analysts concluded. Rates have been growing increasingly fast throughout all of 2013, after a period of drops in 2012.
53% Expect Quality of Care To Suffer Under Health Care Law
Monday, April 07, 2014
Unfavorable opinions of the new national health care law are at their highest level in several months, while the number who think the quality of care in this country will get worse is at its highest level in over three years.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 58% of Likely U.S. Voters have at least a somewhat unfavorable opinion of the health care law, with 43% who view it Very Unfavorably. Just 39% have a favorable view of the law, including 16% with a Very Favorable one. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Despite the Obama administration’s claim that it has exceeded its March 31 goal of signing up seven million Americans through new health insurance exchanges, overall unfavorables for the health care law are up from 54% two weeks ago. Most voters have had an unfavorable opinion of the law in regular surveys since the beginning of last year. But the latest finding matches the all-time high first reached in mid-November. Favorables fell to a record low of 36% in that same survey.
UConn’s success envied around nation, especially in N.J.
APRIL 8, 2014, 10:55 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 2014, 12:48 AM
BY TARA SULLIVAN
RECORD COLUMNIST
THE RECORD
This was before the opening tipoff, before her Connecticut women’s basketball team routed Notre Dame for a second consecutive national championship, before Stefanie Dolson helped turn Storrs, Conn., into the college basketball’s epicenter. Dolson, a senior center who would go out and dismantle the Fighting Irish with 17 points and 16 rebounds, was asked if she’d heard any words of advice from the previous night’s national champions, otherwise known as her male counterparts back at UConn.
Dolson said she and her teammates had received texts from the men’s players that said, “One more game to go – you got this.”
That they did.
For the second night in a row, a Connecticut team outran, out-jumped and out-hustled the opposition; and for the second night in a row, Connecticut was the last college basketball team standing, finishing off a male-female double-double championship for the second time in school history.
The school that was supposed to be left behind is on top of the world.
With a wire-to-wire 79-58 win over previously undefeated Notre Dame in Nashville, Tenn., on Tuesday night, the Connecticut women didn’t simply finish off a perfect 40-0 season, but improved to 9-0 in national title games under head coach Geno Auriemma. One night earlier, the UConn men’s team defeated Kentucky, winning its second national title in four years, and fourth overall.
Between second-year coach Kevin Ollie and predecessor Jim Calhoun, the men’s team is also perfect in four championship games.
Connecticut’s position among the country’s elite athletic programs is indisputable, a testament to a long, sustained and successful building project that is the envy of schools across the land.
Nowhere is that shade of green deeper than amid the sea of Rutgers red, where a floundering department feels so far away from the superior level Connecticut projected to the world across a dominant month of March.
APRIL 8, 2014, 8:06 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 2014, 8:11 PM
BY PATRICIA ALEX
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
Students on Tuesday asked Rutgers’ governing board to consider freezing tuition, saying that the cost of the state university is exceeding the grasp of the state’s middle class.
“My mother makes as much as Rutgers costs,” said Margarita Rosario, a junior. “Every semester I’ve had to rely on the generosity of others.”
About a dozen students spoke at a sparsely attended hearing in New Brunswick on Tuesday evening that drew about 40 people. The university’s board of governors took the testimony in advance of setting tuition and fees this summer.
Tuition and fees at Rutgers now tops $13,000 for state residents, making it one of the most expensive public universities in the nation. For students who live on campus, a year at Rutgers costs more than $25,000.
“I work 40 hours a week and even with aid it’s difficult to afford this education,” said Joe Fisher, a student from Matawan. “It’s a lot of stress.”
Fisher and others noted a spate of building projects around Rutgers campuses and questioned whether the administration was more concerned with the Rutgers brand than students.
Daffodil Festival – Fine Art Show and Sale – April 27th
Artists specializing in watercolors, acrylics, photography, oils, pen and ink and jewelry will exhibit their talents at a Fine Art Show and Sale set to be held in conjunction with the Daffodil Festival on Sunday, April 27th. This special event will be held at the Ridgewood Train Station and Plaza, between the hours of 12 noon and 3 pm. Artist will be displaying their works inside the plaza building as well as the area adjacent to facility, rain or shine.
Last fall, the Conservancy for Ridgewood Public Lands and volunteer residents of the Village purchased 7,000 daffodil bulbs as an enhancement and beautification project for the entire Village to enjoy. In celebration of the hard work and anticipated beauty, a Daffodil Festival is being planned. In addition to the Fine Art Show and Sale, additional activities include a 12:30PM ribbon cutting ceremony rededicating the renovation of the Broad Street gardens, a classic antique car show, a spring plant sale, a 1:00PM “Daffy Dog Parade”, children’s arts and craft projects and a variety of refreshments.
The mission of the Conservancy for Ridgewood Public Lands is to provide funding and support to restore and enhance the Village parklands in accordance with the Master Plan for development. Now, three years in existence, the Conservancy has fundraising and a few major projects accomplished. Please refer to the website www.cfrpl.org for further information or to become a member.
The Fine Art Show and Sale is co-sponsored by the Ridgewood Parks and Recreation Department and the Conservancy. To obtain additional details or to join as an artist, please contact the Recreation Office at The Stable, 259 N. Maple Avenue, 201-670-5560. Several spaces are still available for interested artists.
The RHS Winter Guard invites you to join them for a special performance of their 2014 production, HARD LINES | soft curves on Thursday, April 10 from 8-8:30 p.m. in RHS Gym 1. This sophisticated, exciting piece highlights the talent and hard work that earned the team a promotion to the prestigious Scholastic A Class in their regional circuit. These amazing performers have intrigued audiences and impressed judges since their debut performance in January and on April 12 they will conclude their season at circuit championships. Don’t miss this opportunity to see the 2014 RHS Winter Guard in a one-time only home performance!
For more information, email RHSGuard@hotmail.com.
The Ridgewood High School Winterguard is an integral part of the RHS Band Program. While this group practices and performs independently from the band, the skills learned are easily transferred to the field for the fall marching band season.
The Winterguard is a competitive team activity that performs a 4 – 5 minute routine that is choreographed and performed to recorded music. The Winterguard emphasizes dance and compliments choreography with flags, sabres, rifles, and other props. Competitions take place throughout the tri-state area, including the WGI (Winter Guard International) Regional Championships. The Winterguard season begins with two long weekends rehearsals in December before settling into a practice schedule of once or twice during the school week, depending upon gym availability. Weeknight practices are held on Monday and Wednesday evenings at the start of the season, and often taper off to once a week by mid February. The guard also rehearses on Saturdays beginning in January. The competition season ends in mid March.
A date for the information and organizational meeting will be announced in the coming months. At that time, audition and membership expectations will be discussed, and audition scoring rubrics and season calendars will be distributed. Students are encouraged to bring a parent to this meeting.
Although no experience is necessary to audition for the Winterguard, many find some dance experience to be helpful. Students must be able to demonstrate good coordination, body control and rhythm, and an ability to learn flag techniques and dance routines. A good work ethic is absolutely essential, and students must be able to commit to the schedule of rehearsals and competitions which will be posted on this website. Due to the regulations of our competition circuits (Mid Atlantic Indoor Network and Winter Guard International), there are a limited number of spaces available.
Graydon Pool Memberships Are Available to All Are Now on Sale
The Village Council and the Ridgewood Department of Parks and Recreation are excited to announce memberships are now on sale for the upcoming summer season and all are invited to join the Graydon Pool facility as season members for the 2014 summer season. Come enjoy fun in the sun so close to home! Opening day is Saturday, May 31st.
Pool features include a shaded playground, water play fountains, shade kites, Adirondack chairs, picnic area, sheltered pavilion, charcoal grills, and The Water’s Edge Café. Additional amenities include a lending library of reading books, volleyball, basketball, ping-pong tables, shuffleboard, four-squares and hop-scotch. Special programs include “Storytime Under a Tree” for the little ones and swim instruction for children and adults, as well as an adaptive swim class. The Graydon Swim Team welcomes youth members, ages 8 to 14.
Resident fees are $120 per adult, $110 per child (ages 2 through 15) and $30 for seniors. Non-resident adults will be charged $200 and children, ages 2 through 15, will be charged $175 for the13 week season.
Badges are now on sale and can be purchased from the comfort of home on Community Pass at www.ridgewoodnj.net/communitypass (Visa and MasterCard are accepted). In person registration assistance will be available Saturdays, May 10 and May 17, 10:00 am to 12 noon, at the Graydon Pool Badge Office (onsite at the pool), 259 North Maple Avenue. Badges may be purchased daily throughout the operating season, May 31st through Septemer 1st.
Details are available at www.ridgewoodnj.net/graydon or you may call the Recreation Office at 201-670-5560 with any questions or if special accommodations are needed.
Reader says These may be “middle school bullying tactics,” but the stakes are very high. Time to ferret out the perpetrator.
There currently is no investigation. That is the point. There should be an investigation, and it should uncover who sent the e-mail or who called the newspaper. Why wouldn’t the Council be jumping right on this? Then their names could be cleared of any suspicion and the real perpetrator could be identified.
So far the editor of the paper has refused to release the email message. Did it really exist or was it actually a phone call from our mayor?
The IP address can be tracked so the sender can be identified. If it’s anyone associated with the VOR then that person should be terminated. But I doubt it. Probably some loser with an axe to grind.
Anonymous
108.59.11.116
Submitted on 2014/04/07 at 3:41 pm
You morons, who hide behind anonymous posts attacking people by name are the real scum of the earth. And the best part is when someone else does what you have done on this stupid blog you get all indignant and demand to know who the anonymous person is….like I said your all morons.
108.59.11.116
Submitted on 2014/04/09 at 3:20 am
YOU FUCKING MORONS WILL NEVER FIND OUT WHO SENT THAT LETTER BUT GO AHEAD AND WASTE YOUR TIME AND EFFORT!
This IP continues to defend the practice of emailing ones employers
Perhaps its the “Ridgewood Soccer Mom ” as well 108.59.11.116
Where is an ip address? This page shows approximately location of an ip address, country, city, postal code, ISP that owns this ip address, ip address whois information and much more.
Region: NJ | Region Name: New Jersey | City: Westwood | Area Code: 201 | Postal code/Zip: 07675 | Latitude: 41.009899 | Longitude: -74.007301 | Ip: 69.127.76.121 | Organization/ISP:
Ridgewood NJ, April 9, 2014 – The Ridgewood blog was founded in March of 2006 by James J Foytlin aka PJ Blogger .[1] Mr. Foytlin was born and raised in Ridgewood ,New Jersey and is a graduate of Ridgewood High School .[2] [3]
After many years living in New York City[4] Mr Foytlin returned to Ridgewood after a divorce and the tragic events of 9/11 . Once he settled in he noticed a lack of sufficient news coverage of local events . One day a friend from Brazil[5] showed him her home town on the internet and to Mr. Foytlin’s great surprise when he tried to reciprocate he was utterly dismayed at the absolute lake coverage of his home town. After all Ridgewood is only 18 miles from midtown Manhattan[6] the media capitol of world and there was not a single picture of Ridgewood to be found . How could this be? Ridgewood is a picturesque upper middle class village of around 25,000 located in Bergen county in northern New Jersey[7] . Founded by Dutch settlers before it became an English colony[8] . The town or village as its called is steeped in rich history and tradition .Known for a large amount of Victorian era housing , a quality school system and a family friendly atmosphere.
Though busy getting reacquainted with his home town the fact that the Village of Ridgewood was so under represented on the internet continued to disturb Mr. Foytlin. Mr. Foytlin had been writing news letters for his job in financial services since the mid 1990’s . The popular flip, off beat investment strategy news letters had become email blasts with the advent of readily accessible internet.[9] By 2004 the email blasts were converted into blog format for the One Small Voice blog (https://onesmallvoice.blogspot.com/ ). [10]
Around that time the Village of Ridgewood had finally completed it’s much anticipated and long delayed renovation of the Village hall which has been flooded out due to Hurricane Floyd.[11] The renovation was marred by huge cost over runs and lengthy delays. In 2005 it opened with great fan fare , was once again flooded with the very first rain . Mr. Foytlin was more shocked by the abject lack of responsibility taken by elected officials than the fact that the $9 million dollar renovation had to some extent been a failure . That was the breaking point and Mr. Foytlin had had enough so he decided to give , citizen journalism a go and created the Ridgewood blog in March of 2006. [12]
The birth of PJ Blogger .By this time Blogging its seems had become quite the rage and mainstream news anchors such as Dan Rather had questioned the validity of information from non professionals sitting around in their Pajama’s blogging.[13] Mr. Foytlin not a fan of Dan Rather or any of the mainstream media decided to blog under the name PJ Blogger as a play on words and to plant himself firmly in the camp of the new digital media.
Innovations by the Ridgewood blog to citizen journalism.
“The Fly” is a column on the Ridgewood blog the originates from the expression ,”I’d like to be a fly on the wall “ . The idea is that every citizen has both a unique perspective and experience and these two factors can be used to gather news and opinions about local issues. Originally only of handful of people in town participated but with time the Ridgewood blog can now count on 30–50 semi regular contributors. These post are both anonymous and signed and are largely opinion as well a breaking news.[14]
The Ridgewood blog brings a free market lassie fare point of view to local issues . Mr. Foytlin aka PJ Blogger has stated that for local issues there are only two kinds of people ;the ones who say spend what every you want because I will not be around to pay the bill and the second group which are more focused on the ,”be careful this is my money your spending” . The Ridgewood blog is dedicated to the interplay of there two groups.[15]
[1][12] the Ridgewood blog website https://theridgewoodblog.blogspot.com/
[2] Birth Certificate born in Valley Hospital , Ridgewood 04/09/1962
[3] Ridgewood High School Class 1980
[4] 444 East 86th street ,530 East 72nd
[5] Monica Rocha
[6] Mapquest
[7] United States 2000 Census, the village population was 24,936.
[8] https://www.americantowns.com/nj/ridgewood/organization/vi…
[9] Fahnestock & Co. now Oppenheimer & Co.
[10] https://onesmallvoice.blogspot.com/
[11] https://www.ridgewoodlibrary.org/localhistory/lh_vh_pease.htm
[13] https://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110005611
[14] [15] James J Foytlin
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