Click image to readSo with temperatures in the single digits it’s kind of hard to get all excited about a July 4’th Parade. But tonight’s Select Board discussion (7:40 PM during Town Manager’s Report) should be interesting, if only because of a new—way more respectful of the flag—Chair replacing His Lordship Gerry Weiss and his mentor for flag rejection Anne Awad, is no longer a Select Board member (even though her term did not expire until this spring).
Look for a 3-2 vote against doing anything really ridiculous—like refusing to issue the private committee a permit (for their 8'th consecutive year), or even supporting the idea to have the Leisure Services Empire run a competing July 4 Parade.
14 comments:
He really just doesn't get it...
Terry F.
No I don't think Mr Shaffer does, but a majority of his bosses get it (I think).
You would think--especially in Amherst--that the original threat from the ACLU would have done the trick.
Do you know how much those Kopelman & Paige guys cost per hour? I don't think they will touch this for less than a $20,000 retainer.
-Xenos
I have to laugh every time I see ACLU expressing their view in support of the parade license.
It's funny because in Amherst, conservative activism in support of a protest-free July 4 parade is being protected, and liberal group's advocacy of government violation of right to association is being challenged.
Where the liberal groups and town government, specifically Shaffer, have gone wrong is their insistence for inclusion on terms they demand. Of course there are lots of remedies but not the one they have chosen.
Usually the shoe is on the other foot. Usually, the ACLU is supporting the rights of liberals being violated by conservative interests.
The position taken by Shaffer, is a big time loser and he still doesn't understand why. Better send Shaffer an e-mail with a definition for the word "anethema".
I'd love to see Larry back on O'Reilly to see if O'Reilly could wrap his head around the idea that the ACLU is an agent of enforcing the civil rights we have, and that they are not pin heads and should not be "shutdown" and that his blathering on the air to a large audience uninformed audience is destructive and stupid.
Civil rights are for everyone, not just people Bill O'Reilly agrees with.
Demonizing the ACLU is one of the values Republicans must reject if they're going to attract new members because when it comes right down to it, you can't blame the rule of law.
The irony is that conservatives have spent a lot of airtime demonizing the ACLU.
Question: Does LSSE want any part of this whole parade thing? I don't see how they would with their staffing budget being cut as much as it's going to be for 2010. And where, exactly, is the $$ for this parade going to come from? Tapped-out citizens? Equally tapped-out local businesses? I don't think so.
From July, 2005 Public Documents Request: email to town mgr:
- my knowledge of parades is nil
- this is an extremely busy time for the department and we struggle to handle all of the special events that we currently have in addition to the summer programs
- it is unlikely that we could handle this additional assignment without adding staff
Linda Chalfant, Director
Amherst Leisure Services and Supplemental Education
"The irony is that conservatives have spent a lot of airtime demonizing the ACLU."
That's my point. And Larry gets it but Bill O'Reilly doesn't have the intellectual capacity to, and neither does Shaffer.
I recall Shaffer claiming the town-sponsored parade would be funded without taxpayers money by fund raising, LSSE organization and volunteers but that's immaterial because he can run a parade but he can't keep you from running one.
This is actually scary.
1: We don't care if the 4-person bylaw is now unConstitutional, and aren't going to ask the AG to advise us, either.
2: We are going to dictate what people can say in parades, they must include what *I* want to see.
3: Even though the Selectboard voted to authorize the parade, I am not going to give a permit anyway, na, na, na, na, na...
Who the hell appointed this man dictator? And *Dictator* is EXACTLY what he is becoming, and when did I have a chance to vote against him?
This is starting to get scary.
I think the courts would take a dim view of a prolonged permitting process for some people while others can get one right away. Mr. Shaffer is on shakey ground on this and getting shakier. He clearly doesn't like the point of view of the organizers of the parade and is using the permitting process to punish speech he disagrees with. This opens the town to liability that I as a taxpayer am very uncomfortable with. The old phrase "you can't sue city hall" is not only false, but if you do sue and get a big judgement, the taxpayers pay the bill.
The taxpayers also have to pay the ACLU's legal fees, which can be quite expensive.
Why was it that the Town Manager got his own permit in a day, but the July 4th Parade Permit (which he promises to sign) languishes in the Police Station????
Congrats! the parade lives on. Gotta luv local cable, just watched czar larry say the parade must go on, and he basically said he respects Larry K. See y'all and waffles the clown on North Pleasant at 3 on 7/4.
Yea, I was there as a parade committee member, and I still did not like his tone. I called him and Weiss Dictators, at another SB meeting when all of this yahoo started, last year. What is so wrong about having a peaceful happening on the 4th of July, for the children and adults, who really appreciate their independence? I guess they do not care of its' imporance, as they have denied the fire and police apparatus to be involved in our PRIVATE parade. As Larry said, "Only in Amherst." What a place to live, where "Freedom is not free". When you have to fight so hard for something, that is fairly simple, and it has to have stipulations from the Town Manager before a permit is issued, is that freedom? Anon 4:47 is correct. It's called Dictatorship, Until Later.............
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