You’re Having a Bad Dream
Welcome to Mr. Biden’s World “Obey and be Miserable.” And another 33 BILLION DOLLARS for the war in the Ukraine with no peace talks – just keep the war going. Meanwhile, Americans are wondering how far they can survive from paycheck to paycheck. More working poor are going to those food banks or churches that give free meals. We hope to never see a homeless camp in town but then anything is possible. Those politicians on the left will tell us “Everything is fine”, “No need to panic”, “Just a bad dream you’re having”.
Orlando “Wildman” Perez
A Cleaner
Environment Starts with
Everyone
Let us celebrate Earth Day April 22nd all year long. Besides recycling newspapers, magazines, glass, plastics, old medicines, paints and cleaning materials, there are other actions you can take which will also contribute to a cleaner environment. Leave your car at home. For local trips in the neighborhood, walk or ride a bike. As more people receive the COVID-19 vaccine, for longer travels, consider many public transportation alternatives already available. Depending upon where you live, New Jersey Transit, New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority NYC Transit bus and subway, Port Authority Trans Hudson (PATH), Port Imperial ferry and other transportation providers may offer various options, such as local and express bus, ferry, jitney, light rail, subway and commuter rail services. Most of these systems are funded with your tax dollars including grants from the Federal Transit Administration. They use less fuel and move far more people than cars. Many employers offer transit checks to help subsidize a portion of the costs. Utilize your investments and reap the benefits. You’ll be supporting a cleaner environment and be less stressed upon arrival at your final destination.
Many employers allow employees to telecommute and work from home full and part time. Others use alternative work schedules, which afford staff the ability to avoid rush hour gridlock. This saves travel time and can improve mileage per gallon. You could join a car or van pool to share the costs of commuting.
Use a hand powered lawn mower instead of a gasoline or electric one. Rake your leaves instead of using gasoline powered leaf blowers. The amount of pollution created by gasoline powered lawn mowers or leaf blowers will surprise you.
A cleaner environment starts with everyone.
Sincerely,
Larry Penner
(Larry Penner is a transportation advocate, historian and writer who previously worked for the Federal Transit Administration NY Region 2. This included the development, review, approval and oversight for grants supporting billions in capital projects and programs on behalf of the New Jersey Transit, MTA, NYC Transit, LIRR & Metro North Rail Roads and 30 other New York & New Jersey transit operators).
Legal Weed
in N.J.
Creates
Quandary for Students, Schools
On Nov. 3, 2020, New Jersey residents voted to legalize marijuana, and it took until April 21, 2022, for the first recreational dispensaries to open in the state.
So much has happened during the 17 months in between, notably the heated debates about tax rates, governing boards and certifying licenses. Some clear regulations were put into place during that time, including those related to legal age and driving under the influence.
But as an educator for 33 years, my concerns are with what is not in place — issues that can affect our students and schools.
Research and data have documented the developing brain between birth and five years old. We have also learned through the years that young children in households where an adult smoked tobacco were more likely to develop asthma and allergies.
The impact of secondhand tobacco smoke has become common knowledge. Has there been a discussion at any level how secondhand smoke from marijuana can impact brain development? We are warning parents to keep their edibles away from children and pets. But where is the education messaging for parents on the impact of young children being exposed to parents and adults who are legally smoking weed and about keeping edibles out of reach?
The state adjusted its current curriculum to include cannabis legalization. Do we have an educational program or messaging for parents and the general public on what the laws are and the consequences for violating them?
What procedures, if any, does an educator or school employee follow if a student comes to school with a “contact high”? Is this something that we will just accept as a consequence of legalization, or is this something school employees need to report — and if so, who do we report it to?
School district policies have specific regulations on no-smoking zones and coming to work under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Testing methods are defined and standards are established. To my knowledge, New Jersey has not conveyed any type of cannabis regulations to school districts. Most districts will just add them to the existing policy. However, without clear guidance and standards related to marijuana, there will be disputes on what is deemed acceptable for the workplace.
I realize that during this time frame between legalization and implementation, we were faced with the pandemic, but we found time and energy to work out the nuts and bolts of opening dispensaries. Gov. Phil Murphy said he is looking at a “legislative fix” that would prevent off-duty police officers from using marijuana. But I believe our students, schools and cannot wait another 18 months for policymakers to deal with these issues. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel: There are other states we can learn from, and all it would take is a phone call or an email.
Passing and signing the legislation was a financial and social win for New Jersey residents, but we all lose if we don’t have legal and safety procedures in place to protect our most valuable resource: our children.
Donna M. Chiera
President / American Federation of Teachers New Jersey (AFTNJ)
Statement from Viridian
Partners
PARA’s Vision Plan NOT Feasible
On April 5th, Perth Amboy Redevelopment Authority (PARA) presented their Vision Plan for the Downtown Gateway Redevelopment Project (“Gateway”). This plan includes 6,000 residential units as well 7,000 parking spaces and 700,000 square feet of retail and municipal buildings. As stated in the meeting, PARA never evaluated whether the Vision Plan was feasible.
Viridian Partners, the designated redeveloper for Gateway since 2015, hired Nassau Capital, a highly qualified and recognized New Jersey expert for assessing the financial feasibility for real estate development, to evaluate the feasibility of PARA’s Vision Plan. Nassau’s study clearly demonstrates PARA’s Vision Plan does not work. The full study is posted at www.saveperthamboy.com. The study concludes that PARA’s Vision Plan can never be built because:
•Based upon current costs of construction and the market value of each residential unit, the developer would lose $182,230 per unit.
•At 6,000 units, the developer would lose a whopping $1.1 billion! No developer would build a project to lose that kind of money.
•This site served as a solid waste landfill for decades. To clean up this space for basements and sub-terranean parking, as PARA’s plan calls for, the price of testing, air monitoring, dewatering and removal costs would be $143 per ton – approximately $100,000,000 for this entire site.
•PARA’s plan suggests both a performing arts center and a new public school. To build these, the cost would be approximately $120 million, which would prorate the capital cost of each of the suggested 12 apartment buildings built on site to $10 million per apartment building.
PARA’s Vision Plan is not financially feasible. PARA’s failure to analyze feasibility before and during preparation of their Vision Plan is utterly irresponsible. “Sometimes doing nothing is doing something.” This process wasted $17,500 of public money producing the plan and, since August 17, 2021 (the date PARA announced it would pursue this Vision Plan process), lost an additional $1,487,256 of Perth Amboy’s tax revenue. PARA’s failure to enact a realistic redevelopment plan is costing Perth Amboy taxpayers!
We encourage PARA to engage with Viridian to work on a plan that benefits Perth Amboy.
