Posted on

>New York City Officials Reach Agreement On Pension Reform

>New York City Officials Reach Agreement On Pension Reform
By: Bobby Cuza

City officials were joined by municipal union leaders Thursday afternoon to announce an agreement on a new pension system that will consolidate funds under a unified board in hopes of producing higher returns and lowering costs to the city. NY1’s Bobby Cuza filed the following report.

Right now, the pensions for city employees reside in five different pension funds, each with their own separate board overseeing investment decisions, with 58 trustees in all. It’s a system critics say is inefficient, duplicative and outdated.
Web Extra

“Right now, if we want to make an investment, it’s like turning the Queen Mary around in the Hudson River. By the time you do it, you may be going in the wrong direction,” said Stephen Cassidy, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association.

On Thursday, labor leaders joined the mayor and city comptroller to announce a new way of doing business: All five funds will be overseen by a single unified board, which will hire a new chief investment officer, independent of any one elected official, to manage the money. The aim is to produce higher returns and, in turn, lower costs to the city.

“The extra investment dollars that pension funds earn free up city taxpayer dollars that can instead go for police and fire protection and for teachers’ salaries or to pay for all the other essential city services,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

https://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/149725/city-officials-reach-agreement-on-pension-reform

Posted on

>FLAGS ORDERED FLOWN AT HALF-STAFF FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28

> FLAGS ORDERED FLOWN AT HALF-STAFF FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28

Upon Executive Order from Governor Chris Christie, flags at Ridgewood schools will be flown at half-staff on Friday, October 28, 2011, in recognition and mourning of a brave and loyal American hero, United States Army Staff Sergeant Jorge M. Oliveira of Newark, who tragically lost his life while heroically and selflessly serving his country in Afghanistan while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Posted on

>Garrett Unveils Proposal to Reform Secondary Mortgage Market

>Garrett Unveils Proposal to Reform Secondary Mortgage Market

WASHINGTON, DC, October 27, 2011 –

Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises, today unveiled his proposal to reform the secondary mortgage market to ensure robust private investment in the U.S. mortgage market without a government guarantee.

“Since taking control of the House in January, we have remained steadfast in our drive and determination to end the ongoing bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, protect taxpayers from future bailouts, and encourage private capital to re-enter the secondary mortgage market,” said Garrett.  “Now that we have taken the important step of introducing a series of bills to wind down the government-backed mortgage twins, it’s time to start thinking about the ways we can jumpstart the private market to step in once they’re gone.  My proposal to reform the secondary mortgage market will facilitate continued standardization and uniformity, ensure rule of law and legal certainty, and provide investors with the standardization and transparency necessary to ensure that a deep and liquid market develops in the absence of Fannie and Freddie.”

“Most, if not all, of my colleagues, Republican and Democrats alike, recognize the status quo is unsustainable.  The government-sanctioned duopoly of Fannie and Freddie is not only systemically dangerous to our economic security, it’s un-American,” added Garrett. “For too long the government’s manipulation of the housing market has crowded out private market participants at the expense of the American taxpayers.  It’s time to move from the era of crony capitalism that defined our housing finance system during the last century to an era of free market capitalism that will define our housing finance system in the next century.”

Garrett’s proposal to reform the secondary mortgage market will do the following:

    1.   Facilitate Continued Standardization and Uniformity of Mortgage Securitization

        Direct Federal Housing Finance Administration (FHFA) to create several categories of mortgages with uniform underwriting standards for each.
         Direct FHFA to develop standard and uniform securitization agreements and representations and warranties.
        Streamline the process for securities that meet the standard underwriting characteristics and securitization agreements to be sold to investors.
        Provide FHFA authority to ensure underwriting and securitization standardization compliance.
        Abolish risk-retention provisions included in Dodd-Frank.

    2.   Ensure Rule of Law and Legal Certainty

        Remove conflicts of interest between servicers and investors.
        Clarify the rules around the eligibility of obtaining second lien mortgages.
        Require mandatory arbitration on disagreements between investors and issuers on reps and warrants.
        Prevent regulators from unilaterally forcing investors to reduce the principal of loans they have invested in.
        Allow for the appointment of an independent third party to act for the benefit of investors in mortgage-backed securities.
        Standardize servicer accounting and reporting for restructuring, modification or work-out of loans used as collateral.

    3.   Provide Additional Transparency and Disclosure

        Increase the quality of the loan level information and the disclosures that investors can use to evaluate the value of the mortgages.
        Ensure investors have sufficient time to review and analyze disclosed information before making investment decisions.
        Increase pricing transparency by disclosing pricing history on securitization deals.
        Require the creation of an individualized marker for each loan within a securitization.

Throughout the 112th Congress, Garrett and his Republican colleagues on the Financial Services Committee have taken an incremental approach to gradually chip away at government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  In March, House Financial Services Republicans unveiled eight bills during the first round of legislation and then followed it up with a second round of seven bills in May.  To date, fourteen of the fifteen bills have been cleared through the Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee and are scheduled to be considered by the full Financial Services Committee in the next few months.

Monthly Coupon Offer 3show?id=mjvuF8ceKoQ&bids=60066

Posted on

>Bill could deliver what solar sector needs most: Stability

>

Bill could deliver what solar sector needs most: Stability

The legislature appears poised to act to stabilize a solar market that some have argued threatens to curtail the rapid growth of solar systems in New Jersey. But the initiative will have to wait until the lame-duck session after the election next month.

Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula (D-Middlesex), the influential chairman of the Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee, said he expects to move a bill in mid-November that would deal with issues that have caused widespread uncertainty among investors as to whether solar energy is still a good bet in New Jersey.  (Johnson, NJ Spotlight)

https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/11/1026/0021/
Posted on

>NJ ‘green’ technology leaders face unclear future

>

NJ ‘green’ technology leaders face unclear future

New Jersey’s economic development czar Tuesday encouraged the green technology industry to take advantage of incentives for start-up businesses, but some investors said they want a clear idea about planned changes to the state’s energy policy.

Caren Franzini, chief executive officer of the state Economic Development Authority, told an audience of nearly 200 at the Cleantech NJ conference about how the administration a few weeks ago won a commitment from Belgian-based Fluitec to call New Jersey home. The company has sales in 36 countries and offices in the United States, Belgium and China, and is consolidating its U.S. operations and global corporate functions here.  (Jordan, Gannett)

https://www.app.com/article/20111025/NJNEWS/310250124/Clean-technology-leaders-face-unclear-future
Posted on

>John Birkner, Jr. Mayor of Westwood thanks area residents for support at hospital hearing

>Letter: John Birkner, Jr. Mayor of Westwood thanks area residents for support at hospital hearing

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2011  
PASCACK VALLEY COMMUNITY LIFE
Mayor thanks residents for support at hospital hearing

To the Editor:

It has certainly been a long time coming, but the residents of the Pascack and Northern Valleys finally had the opportunity to address the New Jersey State Department of Health and Senior Services Planning Board. The application by Hackensack University Medical Center to open a full service acute care hospital at the site of the former Pascack Valley Hospital is now in the final stages of review. After nearly four years of working to have the hospital reopened, it was great to see that the passion, energy, and resolve of our residents has not diminished one bit, and in fact seems to have grown stronger.

The old saying “actions speak louder than words” could apply no better than to the actions demonstrated by the executive staff from both Valley and Englewood Hospitals, who after accusing the members of the State Department of Health of manipulating the application process, then claimed that they cared about the residents in our community. We expected them to speak out against the opening of our hospital, but we also expected that since they claimed to care about our residents, perhaps they would have stayed at the hearing to listen to our concerns. Instead, after they addressed the panel, their small group got up together and left the building in a display that demonstrated a clear lack of interest in what anyone in attendance has experienced because of the closure of our hospital.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/132675548_Letter__Mayor_thanks_area_residents_for_support_at_hospital_hearing.html

Posted on

The Whitestone Associates report is critical as to why the scale of the expansion of the hospital should not go ahead

>The Whitestone Associates report is critical as to why the scale of the expansion of the hospital should not go ahead 

The Whitestone Associates report is critical as to why the scale of the expansion of the hospital should not go ahead – 12 trucks an hour for 8 hours a day and the foundations of local homes been damaged, these are just some of the real issues that the village as a whole will face. Together with the noise, the increased level of traffic and the general dangers posed by such an undertaking, the Village needs to look carefully as to why this project is something that we must not undertake. A legal remedy that the hospital will seek, should its plans be quashed, will amount to nothing based on the findings of this report.

We must be mindful that the Village has a duty to care for its tax-paying citizens and most importantly, for the children that will be caught in the crosshairs of this massive project – regardless of what side of town they live on and regardless of their numbers. Endangering the welfare or life of just one child is something that can not be tolerated.

Another important factor that needs to be touched on is the companies that will be potentially hired by Valley for this supposedly massive project – will the Village get an opportunity to review the track records of these companies as those records relate to health and safety history, employment history (most construction companies that undertake these sized projects have in the past been found guilty of hiring illegal immigrants and paying them below average wages off their books). What recourse will the Village have against Valley and the companies should anything untoward happen?

It’s important to remember that the issue of the expansion plan comes with numerous sub-issues that all need to be addressed and I am of the opinion that that most of those sub-issues have not been addressed or even placed on the radar.

wine.comshow?id=mjvuF8ceKoQ&bids=209195

Posted on

>Valley’s expansion will face number of Ridgewood regulations.

>
Valley’s expansion will face number of Ridgewood regulations.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011  
BY BARBARA WILLIAMS
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

RIDGEWOOD — About 22,000 truckloads of soil and bedrock would have to be hauled away from The Valley Hospital site if its plan to expand is approved, according to an expert hired by the village.

To deal with that many construction vehicles, Ridgewood would need to restrict the hours dump trucks can haul excavated soil out of the village and work with the hospital on the traffic routes that will be used, said Christopher Rutishauser, the village engineer.

The 100 daily dump truck trips necessary to remove all the soil and bedrock would have to work around school drop-off and pick-up times, he said.

“There will probably be between 12 and 15 cubic yards per truck — that’s a good amount,” Rutishauser said. “They’ll have to apply for a soil permit from the village and that permit has a lot of conditions.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/132597843_Ridgewood_engineer_explains_impact_of_Valley_plan.html

Posted on

>New Street Lights To Have “Homeland Security” Applications

>New Street Lights To Have “Homeland Security” Applications
 
High-tech system to include speakers, video surveillance, emergency alerts
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Wednesday, October 26, 2011

UPDATE: Presumably in response to this article being linked on the Drudge Report, the company behind ‘Intellistreets’, Illuminating Concepts, has now pulled the video from You Tube entirely, presumably nervous about the negative publicity that could be generated from concerns about street lights being used for “Homeland Security” purposes – their words, not ours. We have added an alternative version of the clip below, but it may be subject to removal at any time. The video is still available on the company’s website.

New street lights that include “Homeland Security” applications including speaker systems, motion sensors and video surveillance are now being rolled out with the aid of government funding.

The Intellistreets system comprises of a wireless digital infrastructure that allows street lights to be controlled remotely by means of a ubiquitous wi-fi link and a miniature computer housed inside each street light, allowing for “security, energy management, data harvesting and digital media,” according to the Illuminating Concepts website.

https://www.infowars.com/new-street-lights-to-have-homeland-security-applications/

Posted on

>NJEA puts weight behind select few on ballot

>

NJEA puts weight behind select few on ballot

The state’s largest teachers union has opened its checkbook wider for this year’s legislative races — largely to gird for a battle with Gov. Chris Christie over proposed changes in education policy.

“Looking out over the landscape, there are more races that are judged to be critical races,” said Stever Baker, a spokesman for the New Jersey Education Association. “There’s a sense that the stakes are higher in this election, so it’s critical we support people who support public education.”

At the same time, the powerful education association narrowed the scope of recipients, following through on a threat to penalize lawmakers who approved a large increase in the cost of pension and health care benefits.  (Friedman, The Star-Ledger)

https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/10/looking_to_stop_christie_educa.html
Posted on

>THOMAS SOWELL :The Media and ‘Bullying’

>THOMAS SOWELL :The Media and ‘Bullying’ 
OCTOBER 25, 2011 12:00 A.M.

Privileges are accorded to the minority of the moment.

Back in the 1920s, the intelligentsia on both sides of the Atlantic were loudly protesting the execution of political radicals Sacco and Vanzetti, after what they claimed was an unfair trial. Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote to his young leftist friend Harold Laski, pointing out that there were “a thousand-fold worse cases” involving black defendants, “but the world does not worry over them.”

Holmes said: “I cannot but ask myself why this so much greater interest in red than black.”

To put it bluntly, it was a question of whose ox was gored. That is, what groups were in vogue at the moment among the intelligentsia. Blacks clearly were not.

https://www.nationalreview.com/articles/281153/media-and-bullying-thomas-sowell

Posted on

>Ridgewood residents clear debris leftover from Irene

>
Ridgewood residents clear debris leftover from Irene

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2011
BY KELLY EBBELS
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Barbara Ferrante, a member of the Women Gardeners of Ridgewood, was walking her dog with her husband three weeks ago when she came upon a mess at Maple Park: trees and debris lodged between the riverbank and the bridge, roots exposed on the path, silt everywhere.

Concerned, she reached out to her gardening club and to Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation Nancy Bigos, who is a member of the club, to organize an effort to clean up the riverbank.

Last Sunday afternoon was no day off for about 20 Ridgewood residents, who volunteered their time and labor to take on the arduous process of cleaning the area. The effort brought together the Women Gardeners of Ridgewood, the Ridgewood Wildscape Association and the Preserve Graydon Coalition.

“It’s just public-spirited people that have come down here to help,” Ferrante said, rake in hand, as she and the other volunteers busily cleaned up the area with tarps, rakes and ropes. Ferrante’s dog, tied to the wheelbarrow, looked on.

https://www.northjersey.com/recreation/132561578_Ridgewood_residents_clear_debris_leftover_from_Irene.html

Posted on

>Rutgers-Eagleton: largest percentage of voters cite jobs and unemployment as state’s toughest problem

>

Rutgers-Eagleton: largest percentage of voters cite jobs and unemployment as state’s toughest problem

In today’s Rutgers-Eagleton 40th anniversary poll, voters assess the state’s most important problems. Twenty-seven percent name unemployment and jobs first, followed by 25 percent who cite taxes first, and 10 percent who express concern about the economy in general.

Crime, cited first by 16 percent in 1971, beat taxes by only 2 percent. Today just 3 percent put crime at the top of the list. The environment, named by 10 percent in 1971, receives first mention from only 1 percent of Garden Staters today.

In the very first Rutgers-Eagleton Poll in September 1971, crime and drug addiction topped taxes as the single most important problem in New Jersey. Forty years later, crime is barely mentioned as jobs and the economy are now New Jersey’s top problem. Taxes, which consistently have been listed first or second over 40 years, continue to vex New Jerseyans, ranking just behind jobs as the state’s biggest problem.  (Pizarro, PolitickerNJ)

https://www.politickernj.com/51940/rutgers-eagleton-largest-percentage-voters-cite-jobs-and-unemployment-states-toughest-problem
Posted on

>Super Cellars : starting or maintaining a wine cellar

>Super Cellars : starting or maintaining a wine cellar

This week ending October 22, John and company continue to load up for the holiday’s just ahead. Here’s the highlights……

 “When 6pack turn into Wine”

We have a program for those starting or maintaining a wine cellar. Monday we feature wines of a certain standard; collectable, high end, with a history of good numbers, when available, from producers world wide. A fresh selection offered each week. As six-packs, one can build an enviable collection or grow an existing cellar, afford the luxury of tasting as acquired, sample another to monitor development, leaving four bottles for the cellar. The wines are available, as six packs, at a sale price. Great wine, great pricing, great additions to your cellar….a way to collect at a comfortable pace.

Theses Wines will be featured Monday thru Sunday of the current week with a special 6-pack price and will be changed the following Monday. The Special 6 pack price will expire once new wines are put into the group.

Click on the Link or go to the Home Page, www.Supercellars.com

https://www.supercellars.com/r/ItemGroup/Build%20a%20Cellar…6%20pack%20Special?id=qzJCJUIw

CABERNET…..collectables from the 2007 where available, look for Forman, Whitehall Lane, Cade, Howell Mtn, they join Avalon, Mondavi, Joseph Phelps, Oberon, BV’s Napa & Rutherford, Jordan, Liberty School and Mondavi..remember them still good!
Zinfandel…….Getting ready for turkey, start adding a few for the days ahead..or maybe this weekend.. Four vines, Klinker Brick, Predator, a new one from Orin Swift Saldo…very nice, Earthquake, Porque No …now owned by Caymus, and Hartford Court Russian River, rounding it out with Pierano Immortal Zinfandel Old Vines..
PINOT NOIR….Taz…a house favorite, David Bruce, Torii Mor, Elk Cove, and new releases from Ken Wright, Carter & Meridith Mitchel…been following Ken since the 80’s….always good!
REDS TO NOTE…. Peju Cab Franc and David Bruce Petite Sirah Shell Creek….different and good
CHARDONNAY……A few go to types here..Chappellet, Martin Ray, Jordan, Ferrara Carano, Buehler, Clos Du Val and Moro Bay..think the Moro Bay a best value..sur lie aging inexpensive…check it out
VALUE ALERT….This will annoy the net guys but John has done it again…CONUNDRUM…$ 15.99…grab it while we got it!
RHONE…..Perrin family makers of Beaucastel..cote du Rhone, Vacqueras WS90, Gigondas La Gilles WA92, Rasteau WA 90, and a great value Cheauneauf!!!
White Burgundy… Joseph Matrot Bourgogne Blanc, Domain Jacques Prieur Meursalt Clos De Mazeray, Oliver Leflaive Puligny Montrachet AOC, Oliver Leflaive Chassagne Montrachet AOC, Oliver Leflaive Rully 1er cru
Port…..New Additons Taylor Fladgate Quinta De Vargellas, Bogle Petite Sirah Port, Dow Crushed Port, Dow LBV, Dow Trademark Finest Reserve Port
Italy… Renato Ratti….Barbera D’Asti, Barbera, Nebbiolo, Dolcetto, Fonterutoli ,Bertani Secco Valpolicello, Bertani Villa Arvedi Amarone ,Fontanafredda Barbera, Castello del Rampola Chianti…New LOW PRICE..SPECIAL DEAL, Colpetrone Rosso Di Montefalco… NEW LOW PRICE..SPECIAL DEAL, Cantine Povero Roero, Fratelli Povero Roero
375ml… Lageder Pinot Grigio, Alexander Valley Sin Zin, S. Margherita Pinot Grigio, Fonteruta Chianti, Louis Jadot Macon Villages Blanc, Moet Imperial, Taittinger La Francs, Saintsberry Pinot Noir, Saintsberry Chardonnay
Organic: Benziger wines back in stock.., Purato Catarratto/ Pinot Grigio, Purato Nero D’Avola
Kosher: Cantina Gabriele..Chardonnay/ Chianti/ Montepulicano, Gedeon…Cabernet/ Petite Sirah, Manishwitz White Concord/ Blackberry/ Concord..750ml/ 1.5L

John P Gray
“Son”
Patrick & Sons Super Cellars
32 South Broad St
Ridgewood,NJ 07450
(p) 201-444-0012
(f) 201-444-3070
(e) john@supercellars.com

Posted on

>Don’t tell anyone, but there’s an election in two weeks

>Don’t tell anyone, but there’s an election in two weeks
Published: Monday, October 24, 2011, 11:29 PM  

The other night, I had a nightmare. I dreamed that there was an election coming up soon in which every seat in the state Legislature was up for grabs. Yet no one was paying attention.

Then I woke up, got my coffee and looked at the calendar. The election’s two weeks from today. That was no dream.
But it may be a nightmare, at least for the New Jersey Republican Party. About this time last year, they were riding high. They had a new Republican governor and they were looking forward to a redistricting process that could give them a fair shot at erasing the dismal memory of the prior decade.
In 2001, the Republicans controlled the state government. Still, they managed to mangle the redistricting process so badly that the Democrats got a map that let them take over both houses of the Legislature.

The GOP didn’t do any better this time around. Perhaps no observer is following the races for 120 seats in 40 legislative districts quite as closely as Patrick Murray of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. I asked Murray if he expects to see the GOP make any major inroads this year.
“Frankly, no,” Murray replied. “It’s as if in April everybody said, ‘Let’s call off the election and everybody can keep their seats.’ ”

April was when the redistricting commission met, setting new legislative districts based on the 2010 U.S. Census. The commission was made up of an equal number of Democrats and Republicans. The deciding vote went to an arbiter chosen by the chief justice after he received nominations from both parties. The Democrats submitted the name of Rutgers professor Alan Rosenthal — and so did the Republicans.

https://blog.nj.com/njv_paul_mulshine/2011/10/dont_tell_anyone_but_theres_an.html