The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
School Districts improve school bus efficiency
Fed up with wasteful spending, New Jersey told school districts in the 1990s to use school buses more wisely or possibly lose state aid.
Hundreds of districts have boosted bus transportation efficiency since then, but scores still failed to meet a state standard in the latest accounting, according to state Department of Education reports. (Bates, Gannett)
Education Reform : Putting the teacher evaluation pilot in perspective
NJ Spotlight on Saturday hosted the second in a series of roundtable discussions about New Jersey’s pilot teacher evaluation program, in which 10 districts and another 19 schools are testing new methods for how teachers are judged on both their own performance and that of their students.
Sitting on the panel were the director of the state program and four educators working with the system from Newark, Paterson and Elizabeth. More than 150 attended the two-hour discussion held in the City Council chambers of Jersey City’s City Hall. (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)
https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/12/0513/2159/
‘Secret’ question on statewide standardized test angers parents
Some New Jersey parents are steamed about a question on a statewide standardized test this week that asked some third-graders to write about a secret and why it was hard to keep.
Richard Goldberg, a Marlboro dentist, was appalled when he asked his twin 9-year-old sons about the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge and they told him about the question, which state officials say was given to about 4,000 students as a tryout. (Mulvihill, Associated Press)
Look for the Union Label
May 14,2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
According to PolitickerNJ , Union backed candidates did well in last Tuesdays’s Municipal Elections Edition including our own Paul Aronsohn, As we all know the Ridgewood Councilman’s slate won in Tuesday’s elections, and according to his friends at PolitckerNJ “likely making the former 5th Congressional District candidate and former Jim McGreevey mouth piece the next mayor of the Bergen County town (Ridgewood)” https://tinyurl.com/c482dzt
No Surprise New Ridgewood Council rethinks review process if hospital expansion plan rekindled
MONDAY, MAY 14, 2012
BY EVONNE COUTROS
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD — Last Tuesday’s non-partisan election that ousted one of two Village Council incumbents has left residents questioning what the new mix of leaders will bring to the table regarding The Valley Hospital’s proposed expansion plan — an issue considered dormant since last year.
Mayor Keith Killion, who voted against the $750 million plan to double the size of the hospital, lost his bid on Tuesday for one of three four-year seats up for grabs on the council. The new council could revisit the vote, because a change in the master plan that could permit the expansion still exists.
The most votes Tuesday went to incumbent Paul Aronsohn with 2,479, followed by newcomers Albert J. Pucciarelli with 2,078 and Gwenn H. Hauck with 1,727 votes. Killion lost with 1,711 votes and was trailed by Mary Jane Shinozuka with 1,484 and Russell R. Forenza with 817 votes. Stephen Wellinghorst, who won a seat in a special election two years ago, did not seek reelection.
Killion’s loss was viewed as a blow to opponents of expanding the hospital on Van Dien Avenue. The council had unanimously voted last year against the plan.
File Photo by Boyd Loving
N.J. to contribute to proposed Amtrak tunnel
By Paul Nussbaum
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
The Christie administration, which killed a trans-Hudson rail tunnel because of fears of cost overruns, will pay its “fair share” of a proposed Amtrak tunnel project linking New Jersey and New York City, Christie’s transportation chief said Friday.
The payment would probably be a user fee to share the tunnels that Amtrak proposes as part of its $14.5 billion Gateway project, state transportation commissioner James Simpson said.
Simpson, in Voorhees to address the Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey, declined to predict how much of the cost New Jersey would be willing to shoulder. He said he was meeting with Amtrak president Joseph Boardman and other officials to discuss cost-sharing.
https://www.philly.com/philly/news/20120512_N_J__to_contribute_to_proposed_Amtrak_tunnel.html
Garrett Offers Amendment to Protect Investors
May 9, 2012
WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) today offered an amendment to H.R. 5326, the Commerce, Justice Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2013, that will prohibit the Department of Justice from entering into any future residential mortgage-backed security settlement agreement with state attorney generals and banks that would take money away from private investors without their consent.
“While I sympathize with underwater home buyers hit hard by the recession, there is no reason why private investors who fund our mortgage market should have their private contracts broken and their money stolen,” said Garrett after offering his amendment on the House floor. “They were deliberately left out of the administration’s negotiations on the recent mortgage settlement and weren’t even given a seat at the table when the decision was made to have them foot part of the bill. Actions like this will cause investors to factor in new ‘political risk’ on mortgage bonds if and when they invest going forward, which will drive up costs for new home buyers and make it more expensive to achieve the American dream.”
Specifically, Garrett’s amendment would not allow the Department of Justice to be a party to a single or multi-state court settlement where funds are removed from any residential mortgage-backed securitization trust. This amendment protects investors such as state retirement systems, 401(k) plans, public and private pension plans, insurance company annuities, and mutual funds by ensuring that the Department of Justice will not interfere with private contract rights or the investor’s right to due process before the government can take their property.
Background:
Earlier this year, the Obama administration and state attorneys general entered into a mortgage settlement with some of the nation’s largest mortgage servicing companies. These servicing companies are owned by the country’s largest banks. The administration stated that this settlement would require servicers to use their money to reduce the principal amount of mortgages for over-extended home buyers held in securitization trusts. Mortgages act as collateral for the bonds that a securitization trust issues to investors. Unfortunately, the investors who own these bonds and receive payment from the trust were not part of the settlement discussions. As a result, while the settlement claimed to take money from the big banks to reduce the mortgages of underwater homeowners, what it really did was permit the banks to take money directly out of securitization trusts and away from investors. In essence, the settlement treated investors like perpetrators of a fraud as opposed to victims. Private contracts were broken and the investors who didn’t have an opportunity to be heard are now suing to enforce their rights in court.
Ridgewood High School (RHS) RANKS #15 IN THE STATE AND #282 NATIONALLY
The latest rankings from U.S. News and World Report are out. Click here to view the details.
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/new-jersey/rankings
77% Plan To Visit Mom on Mother’s Day
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Most Americans whose mothers are still alive plan to honor them today with an in-person visit, but only one-in-four of all adults (27%) consider Mother’s Day one of the country’s most important holidays.
Mother’s Day is a celebration that honors mothers and motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in March, April, or May. It complements Father’s Day, a celebration honoring fathers.
Celebrations of mothers and motherhood occur throughout the world. Many of these trace back to ancient festivals, like the Greek cult to Cybele, the Roman festival of Hilaria, or the Christian Mothering Sunday celebration. However, the modern holiday is an American invention and not directly descended from these celebrations.Despite this, in some countries Mother’s Day has become synonymous with these older traditions.
Julia Ward Howe was the first to proclaim Mother’s Day in 1870. Her Mother’s Day Proclamation was a pacifist reaction to the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. The modern holiday of Mother’s Day was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother in America. She then began a campaign to make “Mother’s Day” a recognized holiday in the United States. Although she was successful in 1914, she was already disappointed with its commercialization by the 1920s. Jarvis’ holiday was adopted by other countries and it’s now celebrated all over the world.
Ridgewood Mid Spring Market Report
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Should I buy now or later? Interest Rates and Market Forecast
Foreclosures in New Jersey in a troublesome state of flux
While two of New Jersey’s largest mortgage lenders are vigorously filing new foreclosures, the state is still waiting for them and other major banks to certify the accuracy of documents in a huge backlog of pending cases.
The parallel trends have worried some foreclosure counselors who fear the reckoning, when it arrives, will be worse for the state’s housing market than previously predicted. (Tyrrell, NJ Spotlight)
PUBLIC FORUMS ON SCHEDLER PROPERTY – May 16 Ridge School & May 29 VH Court Room
The Village of Ridgewood Open Space Committee will conduct a series of three public forums to discuss future development of the Schedler Property located at Route 17 North and West Saddle River Road in Ridgewood. The date and location of the meetings are Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at Ridge School and Tuesday, May 29 in the Court Room, 4th Floor at Ridgewood Village Hall. All of the meetings will begin at 7:30PM and end at 9:00PM.
The purpose of the meetings are to gather community input regarding a development plan for the Schedler property and to gauge the level of interest in funding the development through private contributions. At each meeting, following a brief presentation by the Open Space Committee, the floor will be open to interested residents to express their comments, ideas and concerns.
For further information, visit the Open Space Committee’s page on the Village of Ridgewood website under “Boards and Committees” www.ridgewoodnj.net/department.detail.cfm?dept id=84
For further information, contact the Village’s Director of Parks and Recreation, Tim Cronin at tcronin@ridgewoodnj.net or by calling 201/670-5560.
Trolling for Dirt on the President’s List
First a Romney supporter was named on an Obama campaign website. That was followed by the slimy trolling into a citizen’s private life.
By KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL
Here’s what happens when the president of the United States publicly targets a private citizen for the crime of supporting his opponent.
Frank VanderSloot is the CEO of Melaleuca Inc. The 63-year-old has run that wellness-products company for 26 years out of tiny Idaho Falls, Idaho. Last August, Mr. VanderSloot gave $1 million to Restore Our Future, the Super PAC that supports Mitt Romney.
Three weeks ago, an Obama campaign website, “Keeping GOP Honest,” took the extraordinary step of publicly naming and assailing eight private citizens backing Mr. Romney. Titled “Behind the curtain: a brief history of Romney’s donors,” the post accused the eight of being “wealthy individuals with less-than-reputable records.” Mr. VanderSloot was one of the eight, smeared particularly as being “litigious, combative and a bitter foe of the gay rights movement.”
https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304070304577396412560038208.html
Bob Yudin, Anthony Rottino and John McCann run for Bergen County GOP chair
May 12,2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ There is a 3 man race for chairman of the Bergen County Republican Organization .As of Thursday night’s deadline, Bob Yudin, Anthony Rottino and John McCann had all filed to run in the June 14 county committee election at the GOP headquarters in Hackensack also know as the BCRO.
Bob Yudin a Wyckoff appliance dealer and BCRO fixture is seeking his third term as chairman. He cited his record of erasing the organization’s debts and making the party competitive again. During the last four years while Yudin was chairman, he noted that the party has won the county executive’s and sheriff’s offices, has taken a 5-2 majority on the freeholder board and won a majority the county’s 70 municipalities.
Anthony Rottino is a Franklin Lakes business man who ran unsuccessfully last year for freeholder. He has vowed to end the infighting within the party and John McCann a Cresskill lawyer has served as general counsel to Sheriff Michael Saudino.
While Yudin harped on his accomplishments ,both McCann and Rottino focused on bringing the party together .Republican voters have been largely dissatisfied with the Bergen GOP and the BCRO for some time and the Bergen GOP has been know to make more headlines for its in fighting than it leadership of the county. Many believe the BCRO should be disbanded and or shut down.
