the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, according to a post on “It takes a Ridgewood Village ” Facebook group , Steve Kim posted an interesting analysis , “Chances aren’t good that the $95 million referendum passes… Chances are slim that even the $70 million portion passes, if the total is split to two questions.
Based on history:
1. Most referendums over $50 million have been rejected.
2. Multiple questions are decided as either ‘all yes’ or ‘all no’ by the voters. So splitting the question (facilities and PAC) to make the figures easy on the eye is unlikely to be effective.
3. Ridgewood’s referendum is an outlier in terms of ask $ (95 million is nearly 5x the average of passed proposals!) and it’s on top of existing hefty debt load.
* If the BOE splits the PAC project as a separate question, then that’s a vote of no confidence on that project and it is a sign that PAC is being used as a bait to get more votes for HVAC and boilers and etc. In a board meeting in 2016, this strategy was briefly discussed. (Most discussions are at the committee level. No minutes.)
* Auditorium can be built for far less than $30 million. Such high and inexplicable price tag ensures the referendum will not succeed.”
Steve also pointed out ,”There were five school referendums in Bergen County in 2019. Of the five, three were rejected.
I also searched for all NJ referendums in 2019 that had multiple question on the ballot. Interestingly, voters either approved all or rejected all. Yes, people know how to add a few numbers, especially when dollar signs are in front.”
Not to Worry.
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We’ll Pay
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… because we’re RICH and STUPID
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Dirty scams as we know it. They waste so much money. And yet they privatized all the janitors.
I vote no. I can just imagine the pressure everybody will receive whose email address and mailing address are known to the school system. Remember, folks, all votes are anonymous. You can say you voted yes, but vote no.