Week in Review: Republican Sweep at the Polls, Ramapo AD on Suspension

Midterm elections often aren't kind to the party in power, and 2010 was no exception.

The that swept much of the country didn't spare Bergen County, as all of the Democratic office-holders on the county level were bounced from office by clear margins of defeat. The will be controlled by the GOP, which also took theand .

Locally, Mayor Rudy Boonstra over a challenge from Democrat and will serve three more years on the GOP-controlled governing body.

Other noteworthy developments this past week:

• The regional school board of Ramapo athletic director Todd Meyer pending an ongoing investigation.

School officials, citing legal confidentiality rules that prevent them from speaking publicly about personnel, are not saying what prompted the suspension or what exactly is being investigated. However, Meyer will be indefinitely absent from his post, with pay, and has been temporarily replaced by Mike Miello, the former Ramapo athletic director and football coach who guided the Raiders to four state sectional championships.

• Patch caught up with the township , who were pleased that there were few incidents of mischief on Halloween weekend. However, they did make several arrests recently on drug and drunken driving charges.
• The Township Committee continued at the long-awaited, $4 million-plus Wyckoff Public Library expansion, with board trustees in need of a building permit to begin construction.

That permit is not yet forthcoming, as an advisory group and accepted by the trustees want more answers on relocation plans, staffing, fundraising and budgeting.

Meanwhile, the Wyckoff Board of Education is on the project, saying it can provide relevant expertise via the schools' five libraries and staff as the trustees try to get the project off the ground.

• We took a look at the 's of "Annie" and "The Nutcracker," both planned for December, with tickets on sale now.
• The Township Committee formalized a for copies of public records, in keeping with state statute.

Starting Tuesday, copies of letter-sized documents will cost residents 5 cents per page, and copies of legal-sized documents will cost 7 cents per page.

• The township was again lauded for its efforts to keep pedestrians and motorists safe from harm.

AAA North Jersey awarded Wyckoff its after six straight years of winning the .

• A history professor, Dr. John Perry Leavell, visited Ramapo High School to speak about the .

The Drew University academic took the audience through a lesson on how expectations of the chief executive have changed over the years, concluding that we all may just ask a bit too much from our presidents.

• Sports writer Matt Sullivan checked in with , the women's soccer coach at Colgate University and an Indian Hills High School graduate.

Brawn helped spark the formation of the first girls soccer team at Hills more than three decades ago and has since dedicated her life to the sport. Over the years, she has seen girls soccer go from a fringe sport to a thriving program, at RIH and beyond.

• Columnist Grocery Johnson took a look at the ecological merits of at supermarkets, concluding that we'd all be better off just using a re-usable bag.

Wyckoff resident Benjamin Rothfeder wrote about the various ways residents can make their homes more , saving money in the long run. Plus, a variety of government programs exist to make certain measures even more desirable from a cost perspective.

• The Ramapo Raiders ended the 2010 football season on a sour note, losing to after falling the week prior to .

However, the boys stand at 7-2, primed for the playoffs in defense of their state sectional championship.

• Several area teams also got off to a great start in state tournament play after disappointing exits in the county finals.

The Ramapo , and teams all had their Bergen title hopes dashed in the championship games of the tournament but rebounded with victories in the state contest. All are still hunting for sectional championships.

As always, feel free to contact me anytime at nick@patch.com or 201-208-3349.