>Ridgewood NJ Economic Downturn on CBSnews
From October 18, 2009
While Nero Fiddles and Rome burns there are now almost 40 vacancies in the central business district of Ridgewood. This blog over the last 3 years has warned time and time again that if things continue in the direction they are going our Village would be in jeopardy . The Village Council and the BOE have continued on a spree of tax and fee increases ,bad planning and irresponsible spending while our traditions and institutions have been degraded and or destroyed. What once made us special and unique is now under siege from the very people that should be protecting the Village. Weather it is the $9 million dollar Village Hall reck-avation , ill conceived parking rate increases ,a “stupid” math program ,$375,000 for a gold plated bath room and the complete and utter destruction of the “Home for the Holiday” tradition coupled with the desecration of the Village Christmas Tree ,yes its called a CHRISTMAS TREE! The Village has continued to move away from all the things that made this a great community .
Now before we blame Bush or the global economic meltdown ,it was all to obvious to most of us that for many years the number of residents connected to financial services was very significant. The fact that Ridgewood had over 16% of its work force employed in financial services was well known and was an often discussed FACT . Apparently it was well know by everyone except the Board of Ed and the Village Council and perhaps many of the merchants in town that never seem to be opened. Wall Street provided us with a gravy train to milk for every political whim . Alas the party is over ,Wall Street is no more .
There is still time to prepare for the new reality,while I do agree that the schools and fields are looking a bit shabby to say the least,and a proper long there capital investment and student population strategy is necessary ,this didn’t just come about since the last BOE election. Past experience has show that the schools seem to have become more a fiefdom for consultants and the NJEA than the place to prepare students to meet the challenges of the future or at lest prepare them to meet the requirements of the high quality college education. Nor did the failing of the down town magically appear since October 2008. In stead of the TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE that the village was known for where both the BOE and VC would over deliver and under promise at a reasonable price has now been turned on its head . Our Village is now stuck on over promising and under delivering where all projects are decided not on there merritt but on whether they cost enough ,with the most expensive option being the preferred option but seldom being the best option.
It is time for everyone to step up and take responsibility for the disastrous situation we find ourselves in . We have to make some hard choices . First the VC needs to take a look at all the commercial fees it charges ,like the ICE machine fee a left over from the horse and buggy Ice man days and bite the bullet and get rid of all these commercial fees that make the down town uncompetitive. These fees must be reduced or gotten rid of. Next the Village Council in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce must work a lot harder to actually promote the village downtown to retailers and other merchants . Many towns like Englewood, Tenafly and Westwood have been impacted by the flight of retailers too a much lesser degree than Ridgewood. Take a look for yourself. Perhaps many of Ridgewood fine Realtors can also contribute to this marketing effort. Restoring the “Home for the holidays” to its former glory is also an excellent way to promote the town.
As for the schools a focus on preparing young minds for attending a high quality universities should be the only priority .In the “old days” Ridgewood Schools would brag about how many of its graduates would go on to college and how many would attend prestigious Ivy league schools. Now all I hear to the constant lowering of standards and the ” I glad we beat Newark, attitude”. Folks Ridgewood has nothing in common with a city like Newark what so ever ! This kind of attitude is both insulting and ridiculous and you should be grateful everyday that we don’t live with the kind of problems a city like Newark has to deal with.This town was build on “GREAT SCHOOLS” ! If we raise our expectations instead of the constant lowering of them we will once again return to the “TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE” we are so fond of exposing.
There is no reason in a town with so many opportunities for young people to have a government run community center . We have facilities at Graydon, the Ridgewood Public Library and the Stable just to name a few as well as many church ,synagogue ,private schools and the YMCA to provide all the needed support for absent parents . Again Ridgewood is not Newark !
Many residents have suggested that we get rid of the parking meters all together ,and there for get rid of all the costs to service and maintain the meters ,some feel that like the Garden State Parkway ,Ridgwood would lose less money with no meters at all . This may or may not be true I don’t know.
In the past we have made many suggestions ,while initially po-poed many have been adopted . What ever the case it is time to go back to some of the tried and true ideas that made Ridgewood such a Great Place to live . Some ideas will work and some will fail but anything is better than sticking to the current coarse of government assisted suicide for the Village.
In the next couple of months the Ridgewood blog is going to roll out a series of articles on both the History of the Village, the Tradition of Excellence and suggestions for what it may take to restore the luster to the Village. We encourage you to participate as much as possible in the discussion. We are looking to foster solutions which means that full and open debate is expected and required and those with bad intentions will be outed.
thank you,
PJ Blogger
and the Staff of the Ridgewood blog
