Movin' On...

 

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This blog is migrating.. 

You can now find iskrat here: https://iskrat.me/iskrat/

Be seeing you...  

Workin' on the Time Shift

Here I am... My world's biannual temporal shift between "summer" and "standard" times BST>GMT and a week later, EDT>EST At least The Traitors will be an hour earlier this week And now they're saying that Time doesn't really exist... Everything everywhere, all at once #wibblywobblytimeywimey

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— 🌹ᴀʟᴀɴ ᴇ ʜɪʟʟ🌹 (@alanehill.com) October 25, 2026 at 10:08 AM

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The Town of Magical Thinking...

I really should read the agendas and minutes of Red Bank's mayor and council meetings to the bitter end.

Red Bank council caucus meeting...

 Usually published only 24 hours before the next council meeting—leaving the community little opportunity to prepare—the agenda and previous minutes typically list the mayor's latest proclamations about his friends and the latest "tick-the-box" events. These are followed by a list of ordinances and resolutions, often itemized with blank placeholders, ready for a superficial "discussion" and the inevitable unanimous rubber-stamping by the town's Faithful. 

Like the vast majority of the Red Bank community I have now come to the conclusion that it's futile to attend these charades, but I recommend reading the minutes of the previous meeting to see what the council and its members are up to. In this case I was drawn to Councillor Nancy Facey-Blackwood's report given to the October 8 meeting.

Vision Zero is a road safety strategy that aims to eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injuries while improving safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all

This concerns a document drawn up by one of the council's army of "consultants" regarding the implementation of a Vision Zero Local Safety Action Plan. Apparently the draft has been "released" to the mayor's selective and unaccountable Complete & Green Streets Committee, yet, as usual, no provision for any consultation with the community, several of whom are either road safety engineers or veteran road safety campaigners, in the compilation or review of this vital programme for safer streets. 

All this from a council which claims it is dedicated to open government yet doesn't trust its constituents.

• Vision Zero 
• Vision Zero in New Jersey 

 

 

Traffic Matters

 

.Kudos to Princeton Tapinto's monthly Princeton Crash Report

 

It's great for pedestrian and cycling safety that this sort of information is being compiled in the town.

Unfortunately this sort of information isn't available in Red Bank, making it impossible for road safety campaigners in the town to identify prevailing issues and ensure the town makes effective decisions for safe and complete streets.

https://www.tapinto.net/towns/princeton/sections/police-and-fire/articles/september-crash-report-cars-strike-pedestrian-cyclist-and-e-scooter-rider-on-princeton-roads

 

 

Planning Blight...

It is now absolutely essential the borough publishes all planning and zoning application documents, drawings/plans, elevations, traffic engineer reports, etc., on line.

 

Residents are fed up with turning up at meetings and being faced with highly complex projects with only vague items being listed on the official agenda, then listening to often masses of information, data and reports to which we do not have access so that we, residents in this town, can properly examine and ask serious questions, make constructive comments and make our considered views known

Yes, I know... The Director of Community Development will tell me that documents are available in the town hall planning offices any time anyone would like to go in and see them, forgetting that many people have mobility issues, may not drive cars, work patterns may preclude a visit, and as this author found out, be issued a $48 parking fine for parking in the virtually empty town hall lot while attending an evening planning board meeting. Thx RBPD...

I don't need to lay out the long list of planning/zoning disasters which have become prevalent in this town lately, in practice, rubber-stamped by this council and its committees and boards with only notional public input.

I don't want to hear yet another glib traffic engineer's report and watch the board roll over yet again.

Don't tell me it can't be done... Many local authorities already do this, even in New Jersey...

Newark makes documents available via Google Drive...