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State’s fiscal monitoring offers bark with no bite–Just ask Ramapo

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A Community View by Bill Weber Published in The Journal News Wednesday,  November 22, 2017

The fiscal stress monitoring system was set up by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli so that citizens, government officials, and other interested parties could access information related to the financial condition of municipalities and school districts.

According to the website, “The Fiscal Stress Monitoring System (the System) is OSC’s program to objectively identify issues with budgetary solvency — the ability to generate enough revenue to meet expenditures — for each county, city, town, village and school district.” [Read more…]

Four Thousand Shades of Ramapo Gray

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Rockland Legislator Charles Falciglia

The writer is a member of the Rockland County Legislature

The two properties commonly referred to as the Matterhorn Nursery and Minisceongo Golf Course represent approximately 175 acres in the Town of Ramapo targeted for development. The Matterhorn property was purchased through a foreclosure auction for 5.1 million by deed dated August 22, 2014. The purchaser was Summit Hempstead LLC; or in other words, John Doe one through ten at the time of purchase.

The Minisceongo property was a straight buyer/seller transaction for $32 million consummated in January of 2016. The majority purchaser is Mount Ivy LLC, with a minority purchaser, Lindifrim Pomona. The Minisceongo purchaser’s are floating plans for hundreds of townhomes. [Read more…]

2016 The Year of Indictments–A Calendar of Corruption

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By the end of the year, 2016, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Rockland County District Attorney, New York State’s Attorney General and the New York State Department of State all had turned their attention to the widespread corruption in the Town of Ramapo. Investigations, search warrants, arrests and indictments followed and continue as the year came to a close. The half-dozen agencies are filing their intentions in courts, and several serious investigations continue. Finally, It’s on. [Read more…]

Monitors to oversee building departments in Ramapo, Spring Valley

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Seal of the State of New York

“The state is appointing monitors with investigative authority to oversee the building departments in Ramapo and Spring Valley after years of fielding complaints from officials and first responders about the potentially dangerous lack of fire safety and zoning enforcement in those communities.

The state acted after several years of pressure from Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski, D-New City, Rockland County Executive Ed Day and the Rockland Illegal Housing Task Force leaders. They have called for the state to potentially take over the inspection duties in Ramapo and Spring Valley.

The monitors will be assigned because the communities have not done enough to comply with state regulations, state Department of State spokesman Laz Benitiz said Monday. [Read more…]

Suffern exploring severing ties with Ramapo over finances

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Mayor Ed Markuna Photo:Alex Taylor/ The Journal News

Mayor Ed Markunas Photo:Alex Taylor/ The Journal News

“Suffern Mayor Ed Markunas has said the village is exploring whether to separate from Ramapo over how the town has used millions in village taxpayer money for town-provided services over the years.

Suffern is already a “full-service village,” Markunas said, and decoupling from Ramapo would allow the village to “be in control of 100 percent of our tax base.” [Read more…]

Grassroots groups fighting development in Ramapo

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Screen grab from LoHud video

Image from LoHud video of Local Activitists

“A year ago, a grassroots group called CUPON was formed by a Hillcrest resident who saw an urgent need to keep the area’s development in check.

Since then, that group has helped a handful of similar organizations spring up around Ramapo, a town with a long history of civic activism. They all share concerns similar to CUPON’s, which stands for Citizens United to Protect Our Neighborhoods. [Read more…]

Concrete company operating illegally in Ramapo, officials say

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Co-Mix Concrete Photo/Tania Savayan The Journal News

Co-Mix Concrete Photo/Tania Savayan The Journal News

Concrete continues to flow from a mixing plant on the edge of town even after stop-work orders and numerous violations were issued to the business.

The town cited Co-Mix Concrete for maintaining a use not permitted in the town; changing the use and occupancy without an appropriate certificate; operating without an approved site plan; and performing construction without a building permit. [Read more…]

Ramapo Judge Alan Simon bounced from bench

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Former Judge Alan Simon Photo: Journal News file

Former Judge Alan Simon Photo: Journal News file

“A state watchdog panel has removed Alan Simon as a judge in Ramapo, Spring Valley and Hillburn for violations of judicial ethics, officials said Tuesday.

Simon’s conduct as a judge had been under review by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct based on accusations filed against him in 2012, when he was accused of grabbing the arm of an intern for the Spring Valley Justice Court.” [Read more…]

JN Editorial: Room for all in Ramapo?

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  • Female FBI Agent

    Photo: John Meore/ Journal News

    “Last week brought another FBI raid in town, with another round of accusations that federal monies had been misappropriated by those affiliated with the Orthodox Jewish community. Ongoing tension over zoning regulations, or lack thereof, builds. The distrust continues in the East Ramapo school district, where years of mismanagement by an Orthodox-dominated board have brought efforts to install a state monitor to provide oversight. Tensions have run high in town for a while now, and it’s only getting worse. Some leaders in the Orthodox community cite East Ramapo critics as spewing anti-Semitism; some town residents find instances of probes, like Wednesday’s raids, as proof of rampant corruption among all people of a certain group. Neither passes the smell test. [Read more…]