August - September 2001 Edition

Letters to the Editor   Mini-Bus In the latest edition of Fair Lawn News, a letter was posted from a resident questioning the on-time schedule of our free mini bus service. As the person overseeing the service I would like to respond.    Fair Lawn runs two buses Monday-Friday from 8:30AM - 5:10PM. (Saturday service began in May, compliments of a grant from the Fair Lawn Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention.)  The buses make a continuing circle around town. Just as us residents are delayed due to construction at the Rt 208/Broadway exchange and Morlot Ave and Plaza Road intersection so are the buses.   Additionally, our drivers have been known to assist a senior citizen on the bus from time to time, who may be having difficulties due to a handicap or bags of groceries. In the event of illness we have only one substitute driver so from time to time only one bus may be running. We do have a mini-bus information line which tells residents of schedule changes. Residents need only call 794-5332.   Also, there are a number of bus services running through town that are NOT the Fair Lawn Mini Bus. I had a resident call to complain that the bus was not following the advertised route. I sat out on Fair Lawn Ave. The bus the resident was complaining about was not one of ours! Tom Metzler, Coordinator   Thankful  I wanted to say that I've lived in an apartment (old complex) in Fair Lawn and thankful that this town is rich in history, modern times and secure, clean and a very proactive community for young and old people. I am one of those young people. I find commuting terrific, shopping A+, religious environment A+, parks and recreation above average and the general sense of a community. A tough place though to get around Rt. 208 - wish there was a ramp that people can walk over it. Who knows, maybe someone has thought of that as well.  Gerald   Vandalism in Public Gardens The Fair Lawn Borough Garden Committee is a volunteer committee appointed by Council to beautify Fair Lawn with gardens. We have won several county and local awards for our efforts, and we feel the Borough is a much nicer place to live, work, and shop. Our volunteers have worked hundreds of hours to plant and maintain the sites, such as the library, Radburn, Walsh Pool, the intersection of Prospect and Saddle River Road, and the Recycling Center. However, we've had problems with vandalism at some of these locations.  People have been picking flowers, digging up plants, breaking and stealing our signs, using the flower beds as garbage cans, and installing garage and real estate signs in the beds as well. Anyone found damaging or stealing plants or materials from public spaces will be subject to prosecution to the full extent of the law.  Jane Spindel,  Chairperson, Fair Lawn Borough Garden Committee   July 4th Fireworks Disappointment It was a wonderful display.  However, in terms of the music it was a disappointment. We arrived and took our spot around the pool only to discover that the orchestra was too far from us and we could not hear it or any announcements. There was no sound system, only those fortunate to sit near the bandshell could hear it. We assumed that music would then be piped at the time of the show but that didn't occur either. We wish we would of known, we would of brought some CD's and played some Sousa or squished ourselves closer to the bandshell. There's something traditional about hearing those patriot American tunes while watching fireworks that was lacking...... Maybe putting it on some AM station and having us all bring our radios would work.  Fair Lawn Mom   More About the 4th Thanks to those involved with the recent fireworks. The crowd was well behaved (at least from my vantage point) and the fireworks were good, although a little too short for my liking. The music provided by the orchestra sounded great, if you were close enough to hear it all. Which brings me to the only "glitch" in the proceedings. If it is at all possible, next year, the Parks Department should make sure that there are loudspeakers hooked up all around the pool area so that everyone has an equal chance to hear the music. I know those musicians played their hearts out. The 1812 Overture was a nice touch. However, sitting near the Berdan Avenue portion of the sand, the sound, as well as it did carry, was not enough to hear the music properly.  This took away from the enjoyment of it all. Next time, have mikes on stage, and speakers hooked up so that all areas of the pool have an equal chance to listen in -- not just those sitting next to the stage. Again, the sum is as good as its parts, and this celebration was overall, very good.  W. Vedder   Unclaimed Property (See Related Article)  I heard about FairLawnNews.com from a friend who happened to see my name on the list of unclaimed property. Isn't it ironic that when someone owes money to the IRS or the N.J. Dept. of Taxation, they usually have no problem locating you. When money is owed to you they can't seem to find you. Think about all the people who are owed money from the government or even the people on the list you published who do not know they are owed money. If a friend hadn't told me I myself would not have known. Seems to me this is the "Great American Ripoff". Thank you for publishing the list.. I found my daughter's name. Thanks for a valuable service.  Phil Z.   Smart Kids  I have three children. Two are in Milnes currently. All three will be in Milnes next year. I was interested in finding out about courses or after school classes for children with above average smarts. I was amazed to find out that nothing is offered to children until middle school, yet if my children were to have speech problems or they were disabled they could get all sorts of help. Why is that. I get no response from the Board of Education Web site. What is a parent to do about this?  Steve  [Note From the Editor:  Read the articles in the Education section about the PAGE organization]   Raphael Street Marina Maybe the borough police should be looking into the resident who consistently empties his bilge water into the borough septic system and then park his 20 foot boat on a trailer with his Suburban attached over night on Raphael Street. I believe both actions violate borough ordinances and are done on a regular basis. Further the home owner across from him parks his boat every night this summer in his front driveway. Pretty soon we will have a regular marina on Raphael.  Concerned Citizen   Overnight Parking If the overnight, read 2am to 5am, parking ban is "needed" for emergency services, street cleaning, parades, visits of outside dignitaries, etc., why can you call in a car to park all night long and not cause a problem? Even sillier is that you can call in three different cars on three different nights and have different cars parked in front of your house every night, but not the same car every night. Can your neighbor from around the block park in front of your house and call it in and grab "your spot"? Parking on your lawn seems to be okay as is having a car blocking the sidewalk. Sending cars off to another town can only cause counter action. Let's get this ancient law repealed and move into the 21st century!  H. Vogel   Monitoring Borough Employees  [Regarding article in the last edition]  I think they are wasting time, money and energy on trying to figure out if the employees are wasting time and money! It is unbelievable that this is even an issue. The department heads could just casually monitor and quietly reprimand or remind that employee to keep personal calls to a minimum and/or only for an emergency. That's what was done in the past when we didn't have all this technology at our hands. Aren't employees more valuable than creating a paranoid atmosphere where they have to be afraid that their every move is monitored?  Creating that kind of atmosphere just because the technology is capable of monitoring, does not create a good work atmosphere and definitely causes a difficult employee/employer relationship.  What will be next, monitors on the toilet to time exactly what the employee has done and how long they had to sit there and do it? As a taxpayer of this town, I say stop wasting time and money and get to work on the important issues of this town.  Fair Lawn News Reader   Engagement Announcement  Judi and Ike Malinger of Fair Lawn have announced the engagement of Their daughter, Michelle to Rob Klein, son of Karen and Ron Klein of Little Ferry. The bride-elect is a graduate of Fair Lawn High School, and has a Cosmetology license from Artistic Academy also in Fair Lawn. She is employed by Total Concept Hair Salon in Wyckoff. Her fiancé is a graduate of Ridgefield Park High School. He received a Bachelors Degree in Exercise Physiology at Southern Connecticut State University. He is employed by Parisi's Sports Club USA, where is an assistant manager at the Wyckoff facility.  An August 2002 wedding is planned.    Denver Post bashed New Jersey I just wanted to make the rest of NJ clear on something that, upon reading, made me sick. A gentleman by the name of Woody Paige over there in Denver has published a column in The Denver Post on June 6, 2001 that totally bashes New Jersey, the Devils, and the Devils' fans, which I think takes things too far. The column calls Devils' fans: "..derelicts. They obviously crawled out from under a rock or up from a Secaucus sewer. Or they're left over from the XFL.". According to him:,"The New Jersey arena, appropriately named for an airline that was run out of Denver, is a dump site for sore eyes. And the sports media are swamp scum." And here's what he thinks of our fine state: "The Devils are the only team in sports that represents a sludgy, slimy, stagnant swamp and a turnpike toilet stop." Had we won the Cup, Mr. Paige had our party all planned as repeating our party last year: "There's no town in which to have a parade, so last year when the Devils won the Stanley Cup, a few thousand slobs and slugs partied in the arena parking lot. I urge all of you, and the Fair Lawn News, to send your complaints to the Denver Post and to publish some sort of retaliation on NJ's behalf, our beloved Devils who worked their hearts out, and the Devils fans who stick by their team no matter what. Thank you.  Lisa Venezia   Elmwood Park Fan As a resident of neighboring Elmwood Park, I've just found your site and read any number of your articles. It's quite interesting and very well done. Congratulations on this excellent source of public information.  Geri Mola  (Note: Geri Mola is wife of the Elmwood Park Mayor)     What Do You Think?: Send an e- mail to editor@fairlawnnews.com or post a message on the Fair Lawn News Discussion Forum.