by Steve Kim
Ridgewood NJ, What you may have missed at the last Village Council meeting… (It’s almost as good as the Law and Order reruns, and it’s free – except for the possible bonding part… link at the end, if you have time to watch)
A high density rental developer (you know, the one who is putting up the massive rental building that’s essentially connected to the station) trying to guilt trip the Village Council members to pass a resolution to fund $2 million of Library Reimagine via debt that would have to be serviced by the residents. He used ridiculous examples like showing up to give people $200k to enable them to renovate to $400k – my immediate reaction: what’s the catch? There’s no free lunch as we all know. I included a photo of his Ridgewood Versailles in progress (framed all with wood as I see it) as a point of reference.
Library admins showing up not having answered key issues on the plan asked as early as 2015, yet trying to gain funding votes by bulldozing with an overlay of platitudes such as “community center” and new paradigm song and dance. Many signs indicate that the Reimagine plan does not reflect the wants of the users (survey), is capital and space and energy inefficient, and incomplete. Reimagine is living up to its name. No substance.
Volunteers trying the guilt trip how they have sacrificed… “I take it as a slap in the face that our Village is not willing to match personal donations.” Since when do personal donations need to be matched by tax dollars? Why are the taxpayers being coerced?
The Library Foundation person saying a room that is collectively worth over $ billion would not donate $63k if Village doesn’t bond. I attached her explanation of the approach the library is taking. Doesn’t sound sensible to me. You can decide for yourself.
One Village Council member(Jeff Voigt) saying he wants the reimagine and is willing bond it because he believes books are not at the core of the library. Another (Walsh) saying she will sign on because books meant so much to her as a child. (Wha?)
Let’s not forget: Residents put $$$ into the Library. EVERY SINGLE YEAR. Take a look. Residents are not freeloading.
Deputy Mayor Knudsen and Councilman Sedon – Thank you for standing up for the residents. It takes real courage to cut through the passive aggressive mercenary bs.
Y’all can see for yourself:
https://youtu.be/gl_AoshZ23c?t=5716
It is disturbing to hear that Developers are attempting to re-design the Village in their own image without regard for the taxpayers who don’t want to and have no interest in funding private business endeavors. We shouldn’t increase our taxes simply to provide a common room for the thread bare apartment projects these folks are building. Same thing for the garage the Council is building for the developers.
The idea is to build a community for the future and residents and other vested parties are collaborating and raising funds to give back. Too bad after all theses years of service Susan and Mike haven’t introduced a viable master plan, just a bunch of survey questions and no actions
A survey from 2013, be honest when was the last time he used the library or took out a book. Does he even have a library card? Did he participate in the survey in 2013?
The library plan is ridiculously extravagant, an absolutely overblown pipe dream of a few entitled do-gooder housewives who have a lot of money and think they have a lot of influence. The fact that Susan and Mike voted NO makes me respect them immensely. They did the right thing. I thought I would throw up if one more person got up and talked about how they love the library and how nice the library is. Yes, we love it, yes, it is a nice place, we all agree. But we do not need to spend millions of dollars unnecessarily to completely overhaul it. NOT NECESSARY. Did anyone notice that all the doey-eyed people who spoke lovingly of the library did not say that it was inadequate? They just said that they love it. The library is just fine. Fix the roof or the HVAC when needed. Paint the walls. Replace carpeting as needed. Move some shelving when it makes sense. In other words, MAINTAIN it, don’t make a whole brand new facility. For some reason it seems that if you love the library then you have to be willing to spend anything that is asked for. Thank you Mike and Susan for behaving responsibly and voting NO for this outrageous plan.
Prior comment must be from someone that doesn’t have a vision for the community and stays in doors. The library ‘s function needs to evolve to stay ahead of the curve not just maintain. Again not very strategic in understanding what planning is all about. It was obvious S/M didn’t spend any time with the library team to really evaluate the details and suggest alternatives. Their info came from Facebook. They didn’t even understand the proposal if the costs go up, the bond would never exceed $2m
Taxpayer, YOU are obviously the one who stays indoors all the time, at your computer screen in the basement, probably in your pajamas. Susan and Mike are out and about all the time, and yes they met with the library, and by the way Sedon does not even have a facebook account so how the heck could he have gotten his info from FB?
I heard people say they love the library. Check
I heard people say the library staff are so warm and welcoming. Check.
I heard people say they enjoy the programs at the library. Check
I heard people say they learned ESL at the library. Check.
I heard people say they moved to town because of the library. Check.
I heard people say they love to read. Check.
I heard people say that libraries are the heart and soul of a village. Check.
I heard people say their children and their grandchildren use the library. Check.
None of these people said they dislike the library the way it is. None of them said the staircase was all wrong or the lighting was inadequate. None said the auditorium was too small. Basically if you listened to all the schills who came out to speak you would think that the library does not even need a coat of paint or the windows washed.
So why would we spend millions on this boondoggle??? Thank you Mike and Susan.
The library and High School are grabbing for the brass ring. They have big ideas and big money wish lists. Why does the library “need” this “Reimagine” project? Why does the high school “need” a 1,000 seat Performing Art Center? I know that the developers are selling the downtown as a city with all the amenities.
The library definitely needs a new mission. I have access to books on my Kindle and research through other libraries online. I do not view the library as a community center. I believe that we have a community center in the next building. I brought my children there for Storytime. It was a fun activity but those days are long gone.
The High School does not “need” a theater, they “want” a theater. For some reason the RHS Arts parents think that it is their turn to get big money. No, it is not. There are enrichment opportunities in the school and in the surrounding community for any student who has a non academic interest.
Look at the housing market. Big houses with big tax bills are not selling. Starter houses get snapped up but the big ones linger until their price drops 40%. New buyers are not looking for the high tax fixed cost of home ownership.
Soon developers will make another push for a cement pool for their renters and buyers. We are being blinded by the needs of the developers. They are selling a product and they want us to fund the bells and whistles.