Ridgewood Mayor’s Corner: On the agenda for 2014
Friday January 3, 2014, 2:56 PM
The Ridgewood News
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Happy New Year, and welcome to the January 2014 edition of the Mayor’s Corner – my monthly Ridgewood News column that aims to make village government more accessible, more transparent, more user-friendly.
Council agenda: The council will meet three times this month – Jan. 8, 15 and 29. On the agenda will be a school-related smoking ban, the municipal budget, the town garage, and a host of other important issues.
All of our meetings are open to the public, and residents are encouraged to attend and participate. Please visit our website, ridgewoodnj.net, for more information.
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Just another load of crap. He is good at it.
Boyd Loving was right. The RIdgewood News should have ditched this monthly propaganda piece.
This letter should be forwarded to Valley’s attorney.
Civility has its place, yet I am not sure the Mayor’s call for “civility” is a proper response to what is going on the Village. And, it is just a bit difficult to be civil when you have worked hard all your life to buy and live in a nice home in Ridgewood, something you plan to retire in and serve as your nest egg once the mortgage is paid off, and you see that crumbling before you. Overdevelopment will surely destroy the quality of life along with all of our home values. And, I don’t say overdevelopment “threatens” our way of life, I say it will surely destroy our way of life.
There are some who feel the overdevelopment can be managed and controlled, but all i hear from them are pipe dreams that bear no relation to the development plans under consideration: Won’t it be nice to have housing for empty nesters and seniors who want to downsize? Won’t it be nice to have diversity? Won’t it be nice to attract more people to spend money downtown? Won’t it be nice to have a modern, up to date hospital?
Yet, I have never heard anyone explain how the present over expansion plans will achieve these purported goals. Nor do I believe these are the goals of the developers — I suspect they are in business to make money (and rightfully so.) But, perhaps the larger point is, are we not already where we want to be as a Village? We have nice range of housing stock for different income brackets. We have nice apartment complexes and more than enough, it seems, to accommodate residents who want to downsize or one would not see “for rent” signs on any of the existing complexes. Our schools are good, if overcrowded. Our population will continue to diversify and no one has explained why or how greater diversity is achieved through minimizing housing standards (and, frankly, that suggestion is a bit odious). The notion that we need more people to “save” the downtown is equally obnoxious — a downtown exists to serve the community, and a community should not be expanded in the vain attempt to keep a downtown’s status quo. Finally, face it, Valley Hospital is a gold mine for its doctors and administrators. The reality is Valley is not going anywhere if the expansion plans are denied and it will stay a top notch facility.
We are sticking our heads in the sand about some things that are obvious. The never ending hospital expansion will drag down housing prices on the East side. That in turn will drag down the West side. The downtown apartment projects will lower the value of the Heights, the Prospect street homes and the homes around Graydon. That will again affect the entire Village. And, as schools become more overcrowded, streets become overburdened with traffic and the quality of life lessens, our nest eggs will further dissipate.
So, although I hear a call for “civility” and open debate, not once have I heard our Council really dive into the concerns facing existing Villagers. The debate seems to be framed by Valley and the Developers, what they want to achieve for themselves. Valley speaks in terms of the need to stay modern so it can continue to be “the” hospital serving the Northeast. The Developers put out propaganda about the need to accommodate more people in town. Yet, are these reasons to change our existing Master Plan? Are these goals for which we should sacrifice the hard work of those who have and are paying taxes? Are the profit motives of the Expansionists and Developers more important than the financial security of our current homeowners?
Yes, Mayor, we should all be civil. But we shouldn’t allow what we have achieved to be taken away. If you really want to prove your mettle, stand up now for Ridgewood’s taxpayers. Use your pulpit to put an end to the overdevelopment. Be bold enough to take a stand against the destruction of the Village. Express the frustrations that are boiling over into civil unrest. Here’s an idea: Let’s bring the current meetings to an end with a “no” vote. Make your vote the first, and the others will follow. Then, we can move on to more pressing civil matters.
the Mayor mean shut up and let us screw you
lets start with Valley
Our Mayor is as civil as Attila the Hun. If you watch the meeting he is the one along with Big Al the Developer Friend that go way overboard with other Council members. He has some set of BALLS call for “civility”
How is Pucc even able to vote on the sidewalk issue around Valley when he’s recused himself from every other Valley vote?
Pucc is a legend in his own mind.