So this from the October 3 Amherst Bulletin:
Select Board Chairman Gerry Weiss said he has been pleased with the work of the subcommittee (FCCC), which has been meeting regularly since April. Weiss said he and Andy Churchill, who are co-chairmen of the Budget Coordinating Group, deliberately selected the 11 members of the panel to represent diverse viewpoints, with people both in favor of and opposed to tax-cap overrides or deep budget cuts.
"I think the committee has gelled and it's in sync," Weiss said.
This is perhaps best demonstrated, Weiss said, in that he doesn't expect there to be a minority report filed by the committee. Both the Bulletin and Daily Hampshire Gazette will feature coverage of this presentation and public reaction in future editions.
We really don't need a committee that is in lock step--errr, I mean "sync" with each other on a fundamentally critical issue like this. What we need is for folks who have a core to stand up and be counted (and I'm not so sure the Gazette/Bulletin is up to covering that in a fair and balanced way).
State slashes CPA funding to Amherst
Umass takes a hit as well
7 comments:
Neither do I, Larry, from some of the other coverage on issues in Amherst, that do not seem to be going in their direction. (the town of Amherst, that is.) Maybee we will get luck this time and see something different in the way of reporting.
Until later...............
You get what you pay for - and when you can make more on welfare than being a reporter covering small town politics, well....
So before the committee has uttered a word, Larry Kelley is crapping on the results.
Who says that there has to be a minority report?
The whole point of the committee was to get people together to try to address a problem. I didn't hear the usual early complaining that this committee was somehow skewed in its membership. Did I miss something, or isn't Stan Gawle a member?
I get it: Mr. Kelley thrives on conflict, except when it comes to organizing a parade, of course.
He constantly calls attention to himself as a patriot, more patriotic than the rest of us. But, with this kind of preemptively negative perspective, I suppose the Founders would have met in Philadelphia, found that their differences were too great(and they were substantial), and then broken off the discussion and gone home.
Consensus is not "lockstep", or God save the United States in these troubled times ahead.
Rich Morse
Rich, Talking about the founding fathers, I like to think of Larry as John Adams in his erascable demeanor but not always in substance.
I did not necessarily see Larry's comments as inflammatory toward our Committee. Perhaps toward Mr. Weiss, but that is a different issue.
Stan Gawle is, indeed, a member of our committee. His excellent minutes of our meetings can be found on our web site at www.amherstchoices.org
I can also attest that our committee is not at all "lock step" and although we might be "in sync" regarding the work that needs to get done to educate the public about the budget problems and to solicit public response, I can assure you that we are NOT "in sync" regarding the solution! Except to say that we all agree that something needs to be done.
If you are interested in learning just how many different viewpoints are represented among us, you are welcome to join what will undoubtedly be a spirited discussion this morning at 9AM at the Police Station.
Alison Donta-Venman, member FCCC
www.amherstchoices.org
A 9 AM weekday meeting in the police station.
Objective and public and all being welcome.
Right.....
See Alison, now you know why I affectionately refer to Mr. Morse as “The Grumpy Prosecutor”; and since he posted that late last night and had to get up early this morning to put Bad Guys (and to a lesser extent Bad Gals) in the Big House, I can see why he was in a less than diplomatic mood.
It only takes 1 white crow to disprove the notion that all crows are black. It only takes 1 out of 11 on a Committee to write a Minority Report (if they are allowed.)
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