Nyack Mayor John Shields is asking Orangetown, South Nyack and Upper Nyack to contribute funds to a community gangs-prevention program for The Nyacks at The Nyack Center. The funding will double the number of participants who can join the program. The program is in response to the April 16 mini-riot in South Nyack. Shields said the village would only contribute if the other communities agreed to chip in, too.

The Rockland County Youth Bureau has contributed $46,000 to fund 20 participants in the Youth Outreach gang-prevention program.

Source: Journal News, April 17

The former editorial board editor of the Journal News says a school funding crisis is right around the corner. School taxes should be based on income, not just property value, says Blauvelt’s Arthur Gunther.

Source: Journal News, June 2

We saw the winners of last Tuesday’s elections. we were also able to see how was the vote distributed in the four polling locations. I was surprised at the high turnout Valley Cottage displayed.

I am very interested in finding out how was the the vote distributed among the candidates for each voting area. If such info was published, I will be greatful if somebody directs me to it. If it was not published, how can I find out?

mda

Editor’s note: you can find a list of election results by districts here

Tom LaColla, Bryan Burrell and Claudette Jimerson were the top vote getters in the Tuesday May 20 trustee/budget election. Newcomers LaColla and Jimerson will replace incumbents Dr. Fletcher Johnson and Vic Czajkowksi. Voters will send Burrell back for a fifth term.

The Nyack Schools’ budget was approved by 64% of the voters, passing 1357 to 732. The approved budget of $68.9 million is a 4.9 percent increase over last year.

Turnout was somewhat higher for this vote than the 2007 budget/trustee election. A little more than 16 percent of registered voters cast ballots on Tuesday compared to 13 percent in 2007.

Source: Nyack Public Schools

Also see: Journal News, May 21

An Election Commentary by Murphy The Golden Retriever about the Tues May19 School Board Election

I always say, if you’ve got it flaunt it. If I could vote, I would. Instead I just wave my very pretty tail in the face of smaller dogs. But I still wish I could vote. And have opposable thumbs. OK, maybe I’d go with the opposable thumbs first - it would make pulling the lever in the voting booth easier to do.

I saw in the paper - right before I peed on it - that only 13% of the registered humans in Nyack voted in last year’s school board election. That’s unbelievable! In my world, that would be like only 1 in 10 dogs taking the opportunity to mark their territory. We dogs feel that marking territory is an unalienable right. I hear some of the humans feel that way about marking ballots, too.

So if I were you, I’d go out on Tuesday and exercise a right that dogs all over the world and a fair number of humans wish they could, too. And if you are walking to your polling place, bring your dog. If we can’t exercise the same freedoms as you, at least we can exercise our legs.

Earlier this month, the Friends of The Nyacks solicited questions from the public on their Web site for the candidates running for the Nyack Schools Board of Education. Responses from six of the eight candidates are now online.

If you have any comments, feel free to post them on NyackNewsAndViews.com

The Trustees/Budget election is Tuesday May 20th from 7:00a to 9:00p For information on where to vote, please visit the vote & budget information page hosted by the school district.

Thanks to Friends of The Nyacks for hosting this Q&A among the candidates. And thanks to all of the candidates and board members for their time and efforts volunteering to make our community a better place.

Nyack, May 7th — Bad things can bring good people together, demonstrated by the 100+ people who turned out for Wednesday’s community forum at the Nyack Center to talk about gang violence and youth issues.

It’s clear that the causes behind what happened in the park at Cedar Hill Avenue and Franklin Street on April 16th aren’t confined to the Village. What isn’t as clear is whether or not gangs were involved.

Continue reading →

Eight candidates for the Nyack Public Schools Board of Education will answer questions from the public on Monday May 12 at Nyack High School at 7:30p. Three incumbents, Bryan Burrell, Victor Czajkowksi and Dr. Fletcher Johnson, are running against five challengers: Jeff Hindin, Claudette Jimerson, Tom LaColla, Jen Marraccino and Rick Tannenbaum.

The candidates will respond to prepared questions from the Nyack Schools’ PTA followed by questions from the audience.

NyackNewsAndViews.com has offered space to all eight candidates to discuss their candidacy. We will post this content in a new section of this site later this week. Also, the Journal News offers this a pre-forum primer.

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the candidates forum on May 12 and the election on Tuesday May 20th.

A Community Meeting with Town Councilwoman Nancy Low-Hogan will be held at the South Nyack Village Hall on Thursday, May 8, 2008, from 7- 9 PM. It has been many years since the riverfront villages have had a resident serving on the Orangetown Council. Nancy is a South Nyack resident and former Chairwoman of the South Nyack Planning Board. Please join Nancy for a discussion of your concerns and interests.

This post is courtesy of the Village of South Nyack.