POST OFFICE SITE DRAMA (summary)

I can't turn left into an angled parking spot because it is (reasonably) illegal.

Yet a grocery store can violate traffic laws many times a day and at any hour they choose.  

And this should not only be tolerated but accommodated?

ArchBroad said:

nohero said:

IndaSechzer said:

@Ctrzaska

I am saying that there is a tangled web of associations. Folks overlapping on numerous committees.  I am asking if that is kosher as it is as if they are making recommendations on one committee then accepting those recommendations as members of another committee  in effect recommending to themselves  

Good questions regarding proper governance

 There's no reason to use such ugly insinuations.  Maybe Mr. Profeta or Mr. Lembrich can volunteer to ask you to stop doing that.

 I had looked done some research a few weeks ago, prior to the MVA meeting, because I was curious who was on the board. This is what I could find, though I can't recall what my sources were. Old meeting minutes, articles online, knowing some of them, etc. I know I'm missing a few though.

John JamesJulie DoranJohn BraniganFred ProfetaAlan WeiserAllison ZiefertVic DeLucaPaul SotropJoe DePlascoJohn MeadeEllen Davenport

One simple look at who was at this list, the township council list and the planning board list and it is easy to see meeting two persons who are on the MVA, who are also on those other committees, John Branigan and the mayor. We all know that the Village Keepers and their supporters seem to have nothing nice to say about the mayor, so I hope that is who she is referring to and not Branigan, who is one of the most upstanding people in this town.

And regarding all of the overlap, I'm sure some of the pool of volunteers you see repeated on many a board on the township website would be happy to give their position to someone else willing to donate considerable amounts of their free time, for no pay, to act on behalf of the residents of this township, only to have those same people attempt to bash and tarnish their reputations online and in public forums. Who's standing up to volunteer?

I believe the TC positions on the PB and MVA are codified, and as a result any overlap surely isn't even remotely new news.   This has been in place most likely since the MVA's inception eons ago, and I'll wager for the PB just as long, if not longer.  Why an issue now (when it really isn't anyway) is way beyond my comprehension, other than to engage in yet another smear tactic of insinuation.  Truly unreal.

author said:

How abut if we let the MOL readers decide for themselves 

http://villagegreennj.com/towns/government/op-ed-keep-maplewood-village-civil/

While I understand that op-eds are by their very basic nature subjective, and Mr. Olin is entitled to his hyperbolic opinions, I'm surprised and saddened by the editorial oversight (or lack thereof) of Village Green which has allowed such a spate of continuous self-promotion on the part of VK.  I would have expected more evenhandedness.  Could be, of course, that most (as has long been assumed) are simply ambivalent and that the most vocal are nearly always those opposed--this should be expected.  But does one have to write in daily expressing a pat on the back to the MVA, the PB, the TC, just to offset the incessant VK whining?  Does it need to be a competition?

Allison Zeifert holds the exclusive real estate contract for the Station House. Has she agreed not to seek such for the Post House?

ctrzaska said:

But does one have to write in daily expressing a pat on the back to the MVA, the PB, the TC, just to offset the incessant VK whining?  Does it need to be a competition?

No to both questions. I don't know Mary Barr Mann or Carolyn Maynard-Parisi personally, but I know a little about editorial oversight (or lack thereof), and I'm betting that if they got just a single submission written with similar conviction, backed up with details, from a Post House supporter, they'd be more than eager to publish it.

After years of embarrassment by the New Record..............never ending wonderment about the Patch........The  Village Green is a breath of refreshing fresh air. I agree with Dave.  They can only  print that which is submitted to them.

author said:

We had a long standing great Pet store that just move out of the Village a few years ago.  Nothing short of a Pet Co or Pet Smart will be able to afford the store rent.

Didn't the pet store owner own the building?  Are you saying that he drove himself out of business by charging himself exorbitant rents?  Interesting.

You know I get so sick and tired of people attributing quotes to me that i never uttered.  Interesting...........I've got a better word for it.

No Bill McLure got a great deal in buying a building in Mill burn that was a former pet supply outlet.

He got the building and in effect inherited the business of supplying animal food in bulk.   He told me his gross had increased several times over.

However given the high costs of rentals in the Village  for whatever is intended to go into those stores will need a very high mark up

to stay solvent.

tjohn said:

author said:

We had a long standing great Pet store that just move out of the Village a few years ago.  Nothing short of a Pet Co or Pet Smart will be able to afford the store rent.

Didn't the pet store owner own the building?  Are you saying that he drove himself out of business by charging himself exorbitant rents?  Interesting.

author said:

You know I get so sick and tired of people attributing quotes to me that i never uttered.  Interesting...........I've got a better word for it.

No Bill McLure got a great deal in buying a building in Mill burn that was a former pet supply outlet.

He got the building and in effect inherited the business of supplying animal food in bulk.   He told me his gross had increased several times over.

However given the high costs of rentals in the Village  for whatever is intended to go into those stores will need a very high mark up to stay solvent.

Huh ???   Author is a master of fiction and implication.   First the implication is that the beloved Pet Store moved out of the Village because of high rents that no one else could ever afford. 

We had a long standing great Pet store that just move out of the Village a few years ago.  Nothing short of a Pet Co or Pet Smart will be able to afford the store rent.

   Then , when challenged  with the facts,

Didn't the pet store owner own the building?  Are you saying that he drove himself out of business by charging himself exorbitant rents?  Interesting.

 he twists his own implication and cites what everyone knew anyway to cover  and adds more made up baloney:

author said:

You know I get so sick and tired of people attributing quotes to me that i never uttered.  Interesting...........I've got a better word for it.No Bill McLure got a great deal in buying a building in Mill burn that was a former pet supply outlet.  He got the building and in effect inherited the business of supplying animal food in bulk.   He told me his gross had increased several times over. However given the high costs of rentals in the Village  for whatever is intended to go into those stores will need a very high mark up to stay solvent.

Why would the mark up for the new busineses in the PO building be any different than the mark up at any other location on Maplewood Avenue?

I've lived in this community since 1984.  I've seen many many wonderful business come and go, most of them citing "high rent"  as the reason for closing.   Given the laws of supply and demand, wouldn't an addition of 5 superbly located retail outlets increase supply and lessen upward pressure on rents?

The existing building facades opposite Village coffee and Ricalton Square are a pock on the face of our downtown and respected local merchants call them dead zones.   I think new retail space in those areas would be great for our village.  Cry repurpose all you want, but I don't think a repurposed post office would ever match the improvement that a new building would create.

The developer mentioned a organic dog food store as a potential retail business in his building.  He also mentioned, "no fast food."  That's the extent of who's renting the spaces. 

Dogs do prefer receiving their organic food slowly.  

DaveSchmidt said:

ctrzaska said:

But does one have to write in daily expressing a pat on the back to the MVA, the PB, the TC, just to offset the incessant VK whining?  Does it need to be a competition?

No to both questions. I don't know Mary Barr Mann or Carolyn Maynard-Parisi personally, but I know a little about editorial oversight (or lack thereof), and I'm betting that if they got just a single submission written with similar conviction, backed up with details, from a Post House supporter, they'd be more than eager to publish it.

 I'm sure they would.  That wasn't my point, obviously.

ctrzaska said:

DaveSchmidt said:

ctrzaska said:

But does one have to write in daily expressing a pat on the back to the MVA, the PB, the TC, just to offset the incessant VK whining?  Does it need to be a competition?

No to both questions. I don't know Mary Barr Mann or Carolyn Maynard-Parisi personally, but I know a little about editorial oversight (or lack thereof), and I'm betting that if they got just a single submission written with similar conviction, backed up with details, from a Post House supporter, they'd be more than eager to publish it.

 I'm sure they would.  That wasn't my point, obviously.

I missed it, then. It happens. My sincere apology. 

Author:  FYI the owner of the pet store told me that he reluctantly moved out of the Maplewood Avenue location because he needed more space for the merchandise he wanted to stock.  The Millburn Avenue location is larger.  

So, he didn't drive himself out of town by charging himself exorbitant rents.  That is good to hear.  I have to admit I found that story a bit hard to believe.  

ctrzaska,

VillageGreenNJ.com welcomes any and all op-eds that abide by our terms of use: http://villagegreennj.com/terms-use/

At 10:59 a.m. today (minutes ago!) we received our first op-ed in support of the project. We will now read it and check to see that it conforms to our terms and, if it's in good shape, post it.

We would love to post an op-ed from you (clearly, you are prolific!) and anyone else. Please email us at villagegreennj@gmail.com.

ctrzaska said:

 I'm sure they would.  That wasn't my point, obviously.

Maybe this will help me understand the point: You're the editor. Dirk Olin submits his op-ed. What would evenhandedness and appropriate oversight have you do? 

(If you tell him you've decided that there's already been "a spate of continuous self-promotion on the part of the VK," so no thanks, what do you tell the mayor when he comes in the next day with an op-ed of his own?)

ETA: Cross-posted with marybarrmann.

The Village Green seems to be the only unbiased source of news on these issues. They seem to post the facts without additional commentary that could sway a reader to lean toward any one side.

ArchBroad said:

The Village Green seems to be the only unbiased source of news on these issues. They seem to post the facts without additional commentary that could sway a reader to lean toward any one side.

And this, by the way, is the answer to the  OP's initial question. 

dave said:

Dogs do prefer receiving their organic food slowly.  

 Depends on the breed. Do not stereotype.

Some items in Village Green are news reports.

Other items are Op-Eds.

Mr. Olin's piece was an Op-Ed.  Nothing wrong with an Op-Ed, sometimes I agree with them and sometimes I don't.  But it's still an opinion piece from an advocate, and should be read with that in mind.

Here, here, Ice. I read that too and was appalled. Comments like that deserve no place in our diverse town.

Just to be clear, that comment--outrageous and absurd and obviously idiotic as it is--was posted by somebody signing the petition, not by Engage Maplewood. Hard to blame them for the stupidity of one supporter.

ice said:

Part of the 'drama' around the post office has been the various petitions that keep getting referred to as support that the good citizens of Maplewood are not in favor of development. I just read one such comment from an Engage Maplewood's pertion: "We do not need to become another Irvington—projects like this make our community less safe, and mixes the population in a way that could only cause tension. Let's just say, I don't want to have to worry about locking up my childrens' bikes!" Perhaps Engage Maplewood would garner a bit of credibility and perhaps more respect if they did not include such offensive trash in their arguments against development.

ice,

Please clarify. Was that an official Engage Maplewood statement or just a statement by one person?

What do you mean by "various petitions"?

imonlysleeping said:

Just to be clear, that comment--outrageous and absurd and obviously idiotic as it is--was posted by somebody signing the petition, not by Engage Maplewood. Hard to blame them for the stupidity of one supporter.

 Thanks. That answers my question. No doubt that different people have different reasons for their opposition to the redevelopment. Engage Maplewood would do well to denounce and distance itself from racism. 

In addition to what others have said, it doesn't look like it would take much ingenuity for a troll to post a comment on that site under someone else's name.