DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
I hear you’ll discuss some of January 28’s Township Council meeting later in this column. But how did you survive the 21-day council news desert since the last in-person Council meeting on January 7?
Sincerely,
Sandy Sand
Actually, many things happened in Montclair during those three weeks. And I question your use of the word “desert” during a frigid month. I also question if Sandy Sand is your real name.
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
Busted — I’m Silty Silt. Deserts are not just in hot regions, you know. Don’t forget the icy Antarctic Desert that DeCamp commuters could visit only once a month, leading to the 66 route’s demise.
Sincerely,
Where the Suburb Meets the Silty
You’re as history-challenged as Trump, whose cruel policies toward immigrants has our school district at the ready — as outlined in Interim Superintendent Damen G. Cooper’s January 24 email sent four days after Trump’s return to the White House. Four days means it’s time for another presidential election! Or maybe that’s four years.
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
Getting back to the bitter January weather, Montclair Emergency Services for Hope saw demand for its overnight emergency shelter services double. What can you say that’s related to the admirable MESH?
Sincerely,
I.C. Ice
Glad the former Office Bar & Grill has found another life as a MESH shelter space (now a second location is needed) and glad the Council in November allocated an extra $15,000 for MESH — $50,000 rather than $35,000. Cold hard cash for a cold hard winter.
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
Also needing more money is Montclair’s library system. For instance, the main branch’s aged HVAC system means inadequate heat when temperatures are low. Comment?
Sincerely,
This Is Nonfiction
Explains why John Steinbeck’s “The Winter of Our Discontent” won the prestigious honor of “Most Aptly Named Novel on Montclair Library Shelves Even Though Steinbeck’s ‘East of Eden’ Is a Better Book Despite Not Being About Montclair Because Cedar Grove Isn’t Eden.”
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
That’s a rather lengthy name for an award. And now we learn that the school district says it needs an unexpected $2 million more for special education in the 2025-26 budget.
Sincerely,
Sort of MySchoolBucks
I have questions: Is this poor financial management that could have been avoided? Are there going to be dismaying teacher layoffs again to make up for a budget shortfall? Did The Specials’ first album have any insights into this?
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
Meanwhile, Screen Aware Montclair wants a bell-to-bell ban of student smartphone use in the schools even before the state might enact such a ban. Thoughts?
Sincerely,
I Phone, You Phone, We Phone
Methinks a formal ban is unnecessary, and individual teachers should handle things as they see fit.
As for bell-to-bell, I drove up and down Bell Street twice but the bowling alley that was on the corner still isn’t there anymore.
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
But the Council was on Claremont Avenue this week. One January 28 vote involved grant-funded changes proposed for Mountainside Park — including pickleball courts replacing one of the tennis courts. Comment?
Sincerely,
Dill on the Floss
Pickleball is popular but noisy, so adequate sound-muting elements must be part of the mix. Dunking paddles and balls in pickle brine is one possibility, according to Katz’s Delicatessen.
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
Speaking of noise, Woodman Field neighbors continue to suffer from months of clanging poles since the baseball field renovation began. Why hasn’t something been done about this wind-swept problem?
Sincerely
No Action Traction
The interim township manager did mention the belated possibility of putting some sort of “sleeves” on the poles. No wonder The Gap clothing store left Montclair.
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
As we know, the Board of Education and previous Council cut a deal for the baseball field renovation to continue without neighbor input and without required Zoning Board approvals. On the 28th, Mayor Baskerville introduced a motion to ask the BOE to allow the ZB some belated say regarding field problems. The result?
Sincerely,
Better Late Than Never
Unfortunately defeated 2-5, with only the Mayor and Fourth Ward councilor Aminah Toler voting yes. At least some said no because this was not an agenda item first discussed in executive session. Also, the agenda was not dipped in pickle brine.
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
Anything else you want to extract from Tuesday’s meeting?
Sincerely,
Melba More
Many attendees spoke in support of the animal shelter and its esteemed director Liz Morgan, and in favor of the township allowing the shelter to reinstate the great policy of accepting animals transferred from other places. Except for Narnia, because that place is fictional.
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
And there were additional complaints — a situation going back years — of bad conditions in at least some of the apartments at 50 Greenwood Avenue. The modest-income tenants there deserve more consideration than they’re getting, do they not?
Sincerely,
Tale of Two Suburbs
I checked a Montclair map, and our town seems to have several tracts called Bad Landlord Desert.
Dave Astor is the author of the MontClairVoyant. His opinions about politics and local events are strictly his own and do not represent or reflect the views of Montclair Local.
First, that the clanging sail rigging is still problem just shows how unbelievably incompetent the Montclair Public School District is and how utterly feeble the members of the BoE are. Scary.
Second, the Township issued a code violation for a nuisance caused by the MPSD…and Mr Lapolla is requisitioning sleeves to put on the MPSD poles? Seriously? Can you get a little lead in your spine? Maybe, just maybe, get a little angry about how the school district played you. In a big way.
This town is getting dumber and dumber. Seriously dumb. You’re embarrassing yourselves.
Thank you for the comment, Frank. A great point that fixing the clanging problem is the responsibility of the school district/Board of Education. (Though the township has some responsibility in that it agreed to the resuming-the-baseball-field-work deal that shut out the input of neighbors and shut out required input from the Zoning Board.)
Dave, Montclair actually had two bowling alleys that “aren’t there anymore”, as Yogi would say. The aforementioned Bellclair Lanes on Bloomfield Ave. & Bell St., and Valley Bowl on Valley & Van Vleck. Fortunately, the alley’s downstairs at the Commonwealth Club remain in town. Come to think of it, I need a road trip into Katz’s!
Unfortunately Mr Harrison, the Zoning Board Chair, is unlikely to get his wish for the school district to submit an application for Woodman Field…unless the neighbors file suit. The problem is the new State & Township storm water ordinances would apply because of the Time of Application rule determines the which ordinance applies. Either way it goes to court to reopen.
Thank you for the comment, Silverleaf! I had no idea about a bowling alley at Valley and Van Vleck! Wherever 10 bowling pins were or are standing, a Katz’s matzoh ball would knock them down. 🙂
Yes, Frank, it’s unlikely that the school district would go before the Zoning Board unless it was somehow forced to.