October 23, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 5 Ridgewood Citizen urges right to vote on school budgets by John Koster Ridgewood resident Sally Brandes recently urged the Ridgewood Board of Education to retain the April school trustee and budget election rather than move the election to November and forgo the budget vote if the school spending plan comes in under the state-mandated cap. The board of education is now discussing the possibility of moving the school election to November, and trustees and members of the community are weighing the pros and cons of taking that action. There are opponents and supporters on the board and within the general public. Ridgewood was one of a handful of local school dis- tricts that opted to retain its spring board and budget elec- tion, when many districts made the move to November for the first time last year. Those who moved their school board trustee elections to the date of the general election in November were permitted to forgo a public budget vote as long as the budget falls within the state-mandated cap, which is currently two percent. “While the current governor says he will cap any board increases at two percent, a change in Trenton can easily mean a change in the cap amount, either up or down,” Brandes said. “So, in the future, taxpayers may desire to change the per centage amount, but cannot vote on the entire package. Once we lose our right to vote, there will be no chance to make amends.” Brandes said the Ridgewood district consistently goes to cap and sometimes requests cap waivers. “We are so highly taxed now, it is incomprehensible where we will be with no taxpayer vote on such an impor- tant issue of our lives,” she said. “The argument that the district can save approximately $43,000 by moving the election to November sounds tempt- ing until you realize that in years that the budget failed to pass vote scrutiny, the town council generally recom- mended a reduction of $100,000 or more. Some may have Band to compete at Rutgers and in finals After winning a regional competition, the Ridgewood High School Marching Band is now on the road to the New Jersey State Championship at Rutgers and the national championship to be held at MetLife Stadium on Nov. 2. During the recent event, the band earned first place in performance and won awards for best music, best visuals, and best effects. The regional competition was held at Vernon Township High School as part of the USBands competition circuit. Ridgewood’s band has traditionally been a strong com- petitor. The first-place performance was “Rush Hour,” a three-part show about traffic and travel in the New York City area. The band director is John Lucenbill III. been disappointed in that amount, but that doesn’t mean that the public’s voting voice should be silenced.” Brandes said that voter apathy, in fact, is sometimes based on the perception that voting does not matter much in practical terms in any case. She pointed out that Ridgewood has a small school board compared to the number of schools and size of the com- munity, and that, in theory, three board members, a simple majority, could basically control a budge of $85 million. She also noted that, while employee unions could serve as advocates for the union members, only the voters serve as advocates for the taxpayers.