For the first time in 32 yrs. we are starting to question why we are staying here. High taxes, no kids in school, watching services go south( have you ever seen the corner of Linwood and Maple look that bad on Mothers Day, or Ben Franklin the morning after it is used by whoever the night before ?)the garbage political games, developers going nuts (along with a non profit), etc. It was once the positives far outweighed the negatives as this being a top notch town in which to live; unfortunately, that gap has narrowed substantially.
The poster is right.
sad to say, but we have had a bad group of town managers in the past. hopefully our new one will restore Ridgewood.
Manager seems pretty good, but will she get anything done when there are those on the council determined to re-mold Ridgewood into a Hackensack?
If you have no kids in the school system I can’t fathom why you would stay.
Don’t get me wrong. This is a great town. But the things that are great about it can be found in many other places that have better weather, lower taxes, and less congestion.
The downtown looks seedy. Go to Manhattan. Every square inch of available soil is bursting with flowers. Here there are dirt piles around trees that are growing cigarette butts. Hello? Spring is almost over already.
New Village Manager is mayor’s lapdog and the only reason she was hired over a large number of candidates. In a short time she has felt comfortable asserting her opinions where they are of no interest, bossing the council around (not the 3 amigos, of course), and berating residents who dare to question the council’s behavior. In addition, she lacks experience in important areas and has increased middle management jobs, with the attendant benefits and pensions that we can’t afford to pay and never did before. She should be replaced as soon as the council can be restored to the intended five independent minds.
Fixing the council and village manager are important…. but you also had a shift in the mindset of the residents… many newer residents don’t share traditional RW values and are willing to accept mediocre services and willing to waste money on trendy nonsense (and apparently have no limit to the amount of $$ they are willing to accept as “necessary” for the school budget)
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#7 hit the nail right on the head. The newbies think they get it, but really don’t have a clue. When they do get around to understanding what is actually happening, it will have been way too late.