Reader says Voting BOE members out of office is fine but will be too little, too late .
At Tuesday’s meeting a resident tried several times to get Ms. Brogan to state which BOE members had signed off on her statement. She said at least twice that they had all had a chance to comment, but not all had; of course silence in such cases would suggest agreement. She named a couple of people who had commented, but of course not what they had said. Also it was clear that the statement had been written, then distributed, rather than representing a group opinion.
Instead of going on and on about which streets and corners should have fewer trucks, the BOE should have represented the students’ and other residents’ interest by stating to the Planning Board: “This project would be very harmful to the children. Don’t do it.”
The conflicts of interest are so blatant as to be laughable. When our BOE cowtows to the hospital we are in really bad straits.
A half of million buys a lot of good will.
BOE members,
I write this to express my disbelief and disappointment in your betrayal of Ridgewood’s BF and Travell students by refusing to acknowledge the obvious impact the Valley expansion will have on surrounding schools. Regardless of where anyone stands in support or objection to the Hospital, it is common sense that construction, noise, pollution and traffic will negatively affect the student experience at BF and Travell, and by refusing to stand up for your students, publicly acknowledge these concerns and demand that the concerns be addressed, you have violated our trust in your ability and willingness to carry on your responsibility to safeguard our children. As a board member, we expect you to look out for our children’s interests and the interests of the Ridgewood education system and its properties. As it stands now, Glen Avenue and the side streets such as Van Dien are a speedway for people racing in and out of Valley Hospital. Stand out there on any given day and you can see for yourselves. Expanding the hospital will only increase traffic flow and impact our safety, despite what Valley’s “experts” say. And yes, this is traffic related to Valley because these are cars coming in and out of its parking lots. In fact, I’ve been cut off more than once by people in medical uniforms making unsafe turns in their regular cars leaving the hospital at 515pm. Valley has consistently lied about its plans and their impact and you had an opportunity to speak up for our schools yet failed miserably. How could you fail to acknowledge the impact years of construction noise, traffic detours and environmental dust and debris will have on us and our children and demand that those concerns be addressed up front? We elected you to be our voice and yet you have NO concerns???
What a disappointment! Three years ago Brogan asked that the truck route be changed so that it would not scale the perimeter of BF. This spring, when Valley once again presented its plans, guess what? The truck route had not been changed. Valley still plans to have trucks circling BF. Brogan’s requests meant nothing.
Brogan can request as many “band-aids” as she wants. Even if we get to the stage where we need them, there is no guarantee that Valley will even honor them.
I believe that the health of our children is paramount. But where are the trucks going to go if not on Glen and Van Dien? Right down Linwood Ave, with all the other trucks. So all the families who live here can be subjected to noise, pollution and traffic. It doesn’t make any difference. When an “alternative” is just a tiny bit less awful than the original, it’s time to change the whole game.
Writing a letter to the Board on a blog is like slapping someone in the back of the head and running away. Carve out the time, run for the position and get things done the way you want them done. If the posters on this blog are representative of the electorate, you shouldn’t have any problem winning in a landslide. I would just hope you do the entire job and not just focus on one issue that really doesn’t have much to do with education. This is really an issue for the PB and VC to resolve.
The issue does have something to do with education since it impacts the nearby schools and the safety and comfort of Ridgewood students. Yes, it’s ultimately up to the Village Council and Planning Board but the BOE had a chance to weigh in and Brogan has demonstrated willful blindness to the obvious issues related to such a construction project. This is highly suspicious given the huge conflicts of interests Valley’s sponsorships create.’ I didn’t write in hopes of replacing a board member’s job but I do expect they uphold their responsibility and duty to do what’s best in the interest of the schools and students. It would be interesting to see where the individual board members stand on some of these issues but that is conveniently being held from the voting public.
Since the BOE let us down, the best chance we have is to support CRR. They are the only rational people with a seat at the table, and the 3 people that spoke at that meeting said it all really well! Go to stopvalley.com and make a donation.
While it may be too late, “No More Brogan – Should be Our Slogan”
What is the conflict of interest with board members that people are insituating? They’re not paid! Make a specific accusation or pipe down….just remember the definition of slander….
Slander ? Where ?