Please click link below.
Van Hook Petition
April 13, 2008 · No Comments
→ No CommentsCategories: HH Politics · Life in...
As received from Lisa Hodulik
April 13, 2008 · 3 Comments
April 13, 2008
Dear Residents of Hasbrouck Heights,
I am very dismayed that I must write this letter, but I feel that I must clarify a situation that has been distorted for political reasons. Recently, you were sent a letter from Mr. Van Hook who is trying to gain a political edge by using slanderous accusations.
As you may or may not know, my goal as a board member has always been to ensure that our school district provides the best possible education within the constraints of our budget, while at the same time continuing to monitor sound budget spending. To this, I add that I have always believed that communication between parents and teachers is an integral part of the educational process.
When I ran for the board three years ago, I stated that I wanted to bring in a program that would give parents up to date access to their children’s classroom status i.e. homework, quiz/test grades and participation. I truly believed that having this program would ensure a more cohesive educational setting. Parents could no longer say that they did not know that their child was doing poorly in a subject. Students could not say that they did not know they had homework or that they were not told of an upcoming test. Teachers would now have to make sure that all this information would be inputted in a timely manner. The RenWeb program was approved by our board in September and teachers were given training in October. As the RenWeb program was implemented, there was a resistance to change and complaints of functionality from some of the teaching staff. As a member of the technology committee, I was instrumental in getting this project implemented and operational. As a result of the complaints of the staff I felt I had fiduciary responsibilities to investigate the legitimacies of the issues. The district granted me access to the system so that I might view the fields of entry. I was given a user name and password by the Technology Coordinator of our district. Keep in mind that this was the very beginning of the data migration in which only students’ names and home addresses were available. I NEVER SAW ANY GRADES or other personal student information in the system. Also, I did not request an “all level” access to the system, it was only when union representative, Donna Mikulka, wrote her letter of complaint, and it was further investigated, that I became aware of being able to access all fields. It was obviously a mistake made by the district which was corrected later that day. The Superintendent of Schools was able to retrieve all records of my access to the system which showed the fields I had visited. I never at anytime saw any children’s grades and spent no more than 15 minutes investigating what RenWeb looked like. The HHEA never asked me, the superintendent, nor the board if I had viewed any inappropriate records or asked about another student’s grade before writing their letter.
I can only presume getting at the truth was not their main concern and getting me off the board was. I can assure you that I have upheld all standards of ethical conduct as a board member and parent. I would never ask for another student’s grade. With four children of my own, I am only concerned about their grades. How would it benefit me to know the one grade, of one student, in one class, with one teacher, as accused? There is no proof because it didn’t happen. Yes, in the past, I have questioned teachers about the class average on exams. This information is available to any parent who asks to find out how his/her child did in comparison to the class.
It is obvious that Mr. Van Hook is attempting to sabotage my credibility NOT ONLY AS A BOARD MEMBER BUT AS AN INDIVIDUAL. It’s interesting that this was not brought up by him at Candidate’s Night or at any public board meeting, but how could he? He has not even attended a board meeting since he was voted out of office two years ago. Instead, he waited until the last minute to send out his malicious letter knowing it was too late for a response to be made. I sincerely hope that the voters of Hasbrouck Heights can see through this man’s dirty politics and select their candidates based on past performance. He was Board President when Mr. Luongo was given his 7.5% per year raise that we still have another year left to pay on his generous contract. Mr. Van Hook will be another yes vote to extend Mr. Luongo’s contract with another outrageous raise.
It just so happens that a decision on future contracts needs to be implemented in June of this year. Is this the type of person you want making decisions for your children and your money? He doesn’t have children in the system…but he does have friends in administration. Unlike Mr. Van Hook, my family owns a home in town and we are concerned about our current taxes. I also have our four boys all attending Hasbrouck Heights schools so I have a vested interest in what occurs in our school system.
As most of you know, I have never been afraid to question the administration as to their decisions. I can see clearly that they want me off the board so it could revert back to the “good old days” of prior years.
I hope this letter has helped to clarify the misrepresentations made by Mr. Van Hook against me. In the end, whether I’m re-elected or not, what is most important to me is that the residents of this town know that I have at all times conducted myself with the utmost integrity. I encourage you all to go out and vote. Thank You.
Sincerely,
Lisa Hodulik
MomHod@aol.com
→ 3 CommentsCategories: HH Politics · Life in...
Do you have a “Mitch”?
April 9, 2008 · No Comments
Every year it is the same mantra trying to get people out to vote for school elections. But it seems that the disinterest in the whole process extends across almost every community and it makes one wonder “why”?
Do we have a generation of people that don’t want to think for themselves? That don’t care about having a voice when it comes to their government and how it spends THEIR money? Have they become so accustomed to having someone (parents, bosses) think and decide for them they are clueless as to the whole process as to how, where and why their taxdollars are spent and the people that want to do it for them?
It doesn’t take alot of time to become better informed. Subscribe to local and county newspapers and read the “local” section only if you are short on time. Can’t get to the meetings? Get a copy of the minutes, either on-line or from the BOE office to get more detail than what is in the newspapers. Go to meetings periodically to see who is who. Google articles to get a historical perspective. Talk to other parents at local events.
Find a “Mitch” and vote.
→ No CommentsCategories: Property Taxes · Your gov't at work
Ferriero certainly has a set of big ones, doesn’t he?
March 10, 2008 · No Comments
http://www.northjersey.com/opinion/moreviews/The_misunderstood_kingmaker.html?c=y&page=2
…but then we all know that obnoxious bravado and pseudo machismo is actually a way to middle aged men to compensate for…
Please do us all a favor, and our wallets, and just double up on your ED drugs. I am sure some nice pharmaceutical donor will have no problem with handing you a case or two.
→ No CommentsCategories: "Gotta-a-check-for-me?" Dems · Your gov't at work
Writers, Hasbrouck Heights and Being a “duck”
February 16, 2008 · No Comments
So the Writer’s Strike is over and we are now waiting for the phone call from the studio as to when they want the production people back. Usually it is a couple of weeks before the actors start up so things can get back into place before filming. For many BTL (below the line - carpenters, production, teamsters, electricians, hair and makeup, etc) and the auxiliary companies that work with the studios this strike has been very difficult. Before the build up of studios in the tri state area in the last few years, the TV and movie biz here was very seasonal. And that was how you lived your life. They filmed primarily outdoors with some indoor scenes in buildings, apartments, etc. The season was from about the end of March to Thanksgiving. There was some other work during the slow time but it wasn’t alot. So you saved your money during the busy period, did some “day” work in the winter and waited. Now it is busy all year round. The “old-timers” remember, anticipated the strike and had some money put away. But many others did not.
It has been tough. Many people had to go into debt to keep their heads above water and unlike the writers who are now looking towards an increase in their cash flow from the new contract the BTL people won’t be getting any additional money for their work. So for the BTL people it will be many more months of getting their lives on track again even when they are all back to work full-time.
Being a Duck and Bullies
When I first started getting involved in politics I had to sit down with my children and explain to them what it meant to, “be a duck”. I told them it was inevitable that people will say things about me and that like myself they need to be “like a duck” and to let the comments roll right off them. To not listen to their angry attacks and to also understand that unfortunately that bullies will always be bullies whether they are 50 year old adults or 5 year old children. That bullies are cowardly people who are very insecure about where they stand in this world and need to lash out at others to make themselves feel better. Very sad way to live your life.
Recently I have been using my “duck” talents to ignore the bullies on a local town forum. Anonymity makes the bullies bold. I have been told of ISP searches that have identified the multiple names that many use (in fact, talking to themselves), multiple people using the same name and of local leaders who hide behind their forum names. So be it, I say. Life as an adult just mimics what happened at recess every day. As a child I had to learn to fight my own battles. It turned out to be good training for Hasbrouck Heights politics.
So go ahead. Get it all out of your system. If you want, in fact I have a couple of good four-square playground balls you can take from me if that will make you feel better.
→ No CommentsCategories: A little diversion · Life in...
Writer’s Strike - No “joke” to “below-the-line” crew
January 18, 2008 · 36 Comments
I watched Letterman again the other day and he yet again, as he does everyday, jokes about the writer’s strike. Yes, it is nice that he was able to negotiate a separate deal for his own writers with the WGA but it is no joke to the hundreds of thousands of “below-the-line” crew members that work on TV shows and those people that make a living working with the studios in assisting to put a show on the air. They are still out of work and have been for many, many weeks now. Think of every person and company that get a show on the air…from truck drivers, carpenters, electricians, set people, catering companies and then all the businesses that supply and work for the studios. No work for anyone. No paychecks. No strike fund checks. Nothing.
Think of when this strike started, 10 weeks ago. Christmas fell into that time frame. “Clever” timing. Now think about all the savings accounts drained, vacation weeks eaten into, unemployment checks applied for, sacrifices being made by all the NON-WRITERS so their families can keep a roof over their heads, the heat turned on and food in the ‘fridge and yet the Producers and The Writers refuse to sit down and negotiate????
The DGA (Directors Guild) has now embarrassed the WGA and like mature adults have put together a contract long before they needed to (June) and had their membership vote on it. They did their homework, started the talks and got what they wanted. http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=4151979
The self-centeredness of the Writers and Producers astound me. That they can wake up every morning, look at themselves in the mirror, and not think about the crew members that they used to work with struggling to pay their bills because they aren’t pressuring their union leaders to sit down and talk again. How dare you all put everyone in debt that will take months and months to crawl out of so YOU get those few extra pennies on DVD sales??
You better take that DGA contract, use it as your template, AND SIT DOWN NOW! It has never been funny, Leno, Letterman, Conan, etc. that crew members of all those TV shows (and now movies that won’t start) toss and turn every night thinking about groceries for the coming week. Want to talk about the Strike in your monologue? It’s time to talk about the no so funny reality that the rest of us are dealing with!
→ 36 CommentsCategories: A little diversion · Life in...
So will the Writers share their $$ with the rest of us???
January 7, 2008 · 6 Comments
It has been a month of highs and lows. The high? I had a great time at the swearing-in. The lows? The TV series that my husband works on ran out of scripts and now we are in the midst of the Writer’s Strike. To the “civilians” it means more reality shows and re-runs. To the tens and tens of thousands of people on the East and West coasts that work behind the scenes it means no more work, dipping into the savings account and unemployment checks. They laugh on the Late Night shows. Ha, Ha. Guess you have to cut back on your Lattes, you writers. Very clever. What is not so clever and less publicized are those workers who try not to turn on their heat and buy groceries as these spoiled brats (both sides) stare each other down.
I wrote a letter today to a NY Post reporter who mentioned todayin her article about the hundreds of companies shut down and the 75,000 people here in the NY/NJ/CT are that are currently out of jobs. Here is a copy of my letter to her and her response…
Thank you for taking the time to write. I just wanted to express how sorry I am to hear about your family’s hardship. For your sake and others whose livelihoods depend on the entertaiment business, I’m hoping for a speedy resolution to the stand off. All my best, Holly
Mon 1/7/2008 11:44 AM
To: Holly.Sanders
Subject: Writer’s Strike…Not a “joke” to us…
Holly-
Thank you for stating in your article this a.m. the amount of local companies and businesses that are affected by the Writer’s Strike. As a spouse of one of those “below-the-line” employees the jokes that the late night shows make about the situation is no joke to our family and all of those families that have been thrown out of work due to the inability of the Writers and Producers representatives to sit down and hash out a deal.
The timing? Just perfect. Right before the holidays. It was just great to have to look at your Christmas budget and think, “Gee, am I going need this money to keep the heat on later this winter?” So you cool it and cut back. Do you know what the max is for NYS unemployment? Just a little over $400 a week (NJ is $100 more, but it is based out of where you work, not live). Stll, pathetic. We have some money saved, but we are going through it quickly. Strike fund? Our Union isn’t the one on strike. My husband is so down now and the kids see that. I feel terrible for him and as much as I try to cheer him up and keep the bills away from him, he sees.
Every expense in our home has to be weighed as to the importance to day-to-day living.
And you know what pisses me off? That my family and thousands of other families are now starting to go into debt, that could take months to get out of so that some WRITER can get his/her piece of DVD and New Media sales. Where is OUR piece for our suffering?
My husband was on a TV series. They filmed until they ran out of scripts at the beginning of December. I know we have been more fortunate than others who have been out longer but the outrage is still the same.
We have been married for 20 years and have been through some of the other strikes and production issues of the years but the difference between than and now is how the TV and movie industry has changed in the tri state area. There are so many more studios with TV production going on than ever before. The state and city governments have done a terrific job to encourage companies to invest in NY/NJ and CT production only to have it closed down by a group of people that apparently have no sympathy for those that they worked with. It’s all about “them”.
I read an article the other day that stated that the writers and producers need to be closed off in a hotel room and not be allowed to come out until they have a deal, no matter how long it takes. I would go one better. I would do that and leave in one plate of deli food and a six pack of water for everyone in the room. When that runs out, that’s it. Too bad. Stay hungry. Maybe then they will understand how the thousands of others on both coasts scrambling to stretch their resources to pay their bills feel.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/01072008/news/nationalnews/wein_if_you_must_714749.htm
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080106/FREE/864798462/1008
→ 6 CommentsCategories: Life in...
A Sing Along…
December 21, 2007 · No Comments
To me, it’s not Christmas until I can do a sing along to one of my favorite holiday pieces. These days it is by myself in the car or at home. One of my fondest memories was performing this in high school, many years ago in our 250 member choir and then having the opportunity a couple of years later, when I was still living in Pittsburgh to go to a Messiah “sing-in” at Heinz Hall with my aunts and grandmother (2 of them would be gone the following year).
They divided the concert hall into sections, the Symphony played the music, the huge Symphony choir led the evening and the audience sang all the chorus parts. When we got to the Hallelujah chorus section and 2,600 singers stood, their scores at their sides as this was the piece that they all knew by heart, the joy of the moment to be in that situation gave everyone chills. And then conductor made everyone applaud themselves and he shouted, “One more time”! And we did it again! So much fun!
I would love to do the Lincoln Center one but my schedule every year has not allowed me. Next year that will change. Life is too short and going so fast.
In the meantime, for those that might be a little rusty, here is the score and the music. Ok, everyone ready?
Have a blessed Christmas and a healthy, Happy New Year!
→ No CommentsCategories: Life in...
Congratulations!!!
December 2, 2007 · 1 Comment
→ 1 CommentCategories: Uncategorized
Arrogance
November 25, 2007 · 1 Comment
It just makes one want to scream when it comes to the entitlement that some local attorneys feel they have when it comes to our hard-earned tax dollars. And because of the “hold” that Joe Ferriero has on many local city governments, questionable invoices produced by a “Joe” attorney would never be questioned by any Democratic Council. That is why be puts “his” people in office and then makes sure that “his” people are then appointed to various positions, especially his attorney cash cows. They started to do that in HH but as the citizens received a crash course in Bergen County Democratic politics they saw everything that they had moved away from in “other” counties try to follow them here. And so they stopped it. But it doesn’t mean that we are in the clear. In fact, we will always be a target, especially now as we have risen up to protect our town and our taxdollars.
From Today’s Bergen Record and from this blog earlier this year:
http://hhangel.wordpress.com/2007/08/28/poor-mr-go-go-bar-attorney/
→ 1 CommentCategories: "Gotta-a-check-for-me?" Dems
