Left to right: Shaffer, SB Princess Stephanie O'Keeffe and rookie Aaron Hayden.So these returns from a search on the venerable Daily Hampshire Gazette under the term Amherst Town Manager Blue ribbon committee really tell the story. "Long awaited" and "coming soon" in the same headline all time/date stamped almost six months ago.
Still no public release of the report. Although my reliable source stated it was submitted to the Town Mangler back in May.
Could it be they did not champion the Override as a cure all?
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Shaffer: Long-awaited blue ribbon panel conclusions are coming soon Daily Hampshire Gazette
Wednesday Mar 4, 2009AMHERST - A three-member panel studying efficiencies in the organization of the town government and schools for more than a year is preparing to release its conclusions. Town Manager Larry Shaffer ... more...
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Expert budget advice pending, Shaffer says Daily Hampshire Gazette
Monday Aug 18, 2008AMHERST - A Blue Ribbon Task Force designed to give town and school administrators insight into making the government and schools more efficient has not yet made any recommendations. Town Manager L... more...
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Amherst forms 'blue ribbon' budget committee Daily Hampshire Gazette
Wednesday Dec 19, 2007AMHERST - Town officials are seeking advice from both financial experts and regular folks as they prepare spending plans in yet another tight year. Town Manager Larry Shaffer has appointed a "... more...
Why isn't this a public document?
ReplyDeleteCall me a troublemaker, but a "john doe" Sunshine request could be interesting -- presume that it exists and is public and request to see it.
Make them tell the SoS office that it does not exist.
"A Blue Ribbon Task Force ...has not yet made any recommendations."
ReplyDeleteThe report has not been finished, end of story.
"The truth! You can't handle the truth!"
ReplyDelete-Jack
here it is, as requested by your readers
ReplyDeletehttp://amherst250.blogspot.com/
Anon 10:25 AM
ReplyDeleteHow do you know it is not finished? If not then at this LATE point it's fair to say it will never be finished.
How is it the new Super got his boss in Florida to submit a report on what's wrong with Amherst schools and the new Super only started working on July 1'st.
And last I looked the Amherst schools consume the vast majority of the town budget.
Get the No Override signs ready! With A Rod's plan to have a number of assistants working with him (one in place, one to be hired) Education in Amherst is going to get more expensive. (will he take a cut to pay for these additional positions?) I thought we were trying to cut the budget?
ReplyDelete(and we thought it was bad having a couple acting as superintendent)LOL
The angry bumble bee lawn signs are ready to go.
ReplyDeleteAnd it will be fairly easy to build a war chest for other media.
Yeah, build a war chest. Pay to fight higher taxes. That's paying money to get fewer services. You guys are a bunch of genuises.
ReplyDeleteYeah, now consider the reverse: Overriders have to convince folks to donate money to wage a campaign to increase their already skyhigh taxes!
ReplyDeleteA tough sell--even in the People's Republic--where there's no interest like self-interest.
"My pre-eminent priority is pedagogy. It's not facilities, it's not transportation schedules, it's not even about whether we save money or not,...."
ReplyDeleteA-Rod is out of control. "Save money or not"? Why doesn't he pay some Amherst taxes, i.e. property taxes, before he spouts off about not saving money.
I'll be first in line donating $$$ to fight any override attempt. You can be damn sure.
And does anybody know how much WE paid his cronie from TN to spend 10 days up here writing a report telling us what's wrong with our schools?
ReplyDeleteI believe it was only $3,000--not bad by academic standards.
ReplyDeleteRemember the School Committee was talking about a "retreat" last year so they could all get along better and that was going to cost $10,000.
I hit the Town Manager with a Public Documents request last night for the report and a couple hours ago he sent it to me (and esteemed Gazette editor Noah Hoffenberg).
Looks pretty useless to me, but I'm on vacation so I'll need a day or two to try to figure out what the hell they are trying to say.
Catherine A. Sanderson said...
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 9:17 - the cost of the consultant was $4,999.
August 19, 2009 11:01 PM
This blog is so toxic. sigh.
ReplyDeleteHow unfortunate that we hired a sup. that wants to improve our schools. What a pity. Status quo is good. Improvement is bad. Right?
If the blogger can't "figure out what the hell they are trying to say," I'm not sure what that means. Schools should be run by professional educators, not by every angry resident with a cause of the day. If they could be, the blogger could be the sup. OMG
On another matter, the Ace Reporter aka "angry bumble bee" seems to be good with numbers. What would the tax burden of Amherst residents have been if it had kept up with inflation? Be sure to factor in the fairly recent decrease in state tax rate.
by the way, you might want to change the symbol of your cause from the "angry bumble bee." Bumble bees are pretty friendly . Are you thinking of wasps?
The study cost only $4999? Only one dollar short of requiring quotes from other vendors in an informal bidding format.
ReplyDeleteThanks Catherine. I'm on a whopping 3-day vacation and I get lazy with fact checking. Plus I'm on Donna's PC rather than my Mac so I can barely turn it on let alone navigate to google or gazette archives.
ReplyDeleteAnon 6:39 AM
The report I can't figure out what the hell they are trying to say refers to the "blue ribbon committee" draft report the town manager just sent me yesterday under Public Documents Law. Not the report issued by A-Rod's buddy on the Amherst schools costing only $4,999.
And if bumble bees are so docile why don't you go out and stick your head up a nest someday.
"The $4,999 was the consultant's fee. How much did the district pay for hotels, meals, transportation, and other expenses?"
ReplyDeleteWhy won't Catherine or any other SC member answer this question?