6:15 PMSo if you ask recently retired Amherst Police Chief Charles Scherpa for a shortlist of the hardest working most dedicated person in Public Safety, Animal Control Officer Carol Hepburn would be exceedingly high on that list.
And as you can see from this afternoon's photo, she is also an Elections Warden.
But when the Override goes down, her full-time job as Animal Control Officer goes to half time, thus costing her $21,820. I bumped into her at the Hess Station in front of my Club early one weekday morning and she asked me how I thought the Override vote would go? "Down," I said--and then quickly added, "Sorry about that." "Why," she responded curiously.
"Because your job is half at stake."
"Don't worry about me," she said with Yankee certainty, "I'll be fine."
I hope so.
Well, she is nice too. When she caught my unregistered puppy off leash and far from home, and I told her he was a pit bull-lab mix, she said " I'll just write down Lab-Mix". I hope the override succeeds for her and the schools, but for businesses and home owners, I hope it goes down. It is sort of like the health care bill that just got passed. No matter what the outcome, I won't be happy.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Chuck Sherpa still thinks the laws of the town of Amherst are putty in his hand?
ReplyDeleteWell do ya, Chuck?
Larry,
ReplyDeleteThis is a response to your blog in general and your toxicity.
You are hard to take. You stir up a lot of negative feelings in me. I wrote this whole nasty note to you but my wife thought it was too mean and she was probably right. I wish you would think twice about all the hate you are putting out there.
Steve
dear steve,
ReplyDeleteits very simple.
remove the blog from your favorites/bookmarks.
have a beer.
you're all better now.
If you don't like it.
ReplyDeleteTurn it off.
Thanks for sharing Steve. And we care why???
ReplyDeleteWHERE ARE THE RESULTS!!!!
ReplyDeleteWell, YOU all deserve what you get...keeping on a plumber for the school at over $45,00 that does not hold a license to be one....well spent tax money! Don't come crying to me when you can't afford your prescriptions and health premiums! Good luck, next time you want to improve your home, lifestyles!
ReplyDeleteRepublican has override passing by a big margin
ReplyDeleteSorry, Larry. Override passed. You lose...AGAIN.
ReplyDeleteYes, Republican calls Hood and Spence winners, and override approved by 897 margin. Link: http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/amherst_town_meeting_voters_ap.html
ReplyDeleteso you complain about Larry then come here for election results? That is so funny Steve!
ReplyDeletewell at least we get Spence
ReplyDelete"the insiders will some day have their say" and the "truth" and "unjust'" will prevail, eyes' will be opened, but by then all will probably be forgotten, sad, sad, tragedy of a corrupt town run by corrupt boards and people. Only in New England people. The rich get richer, the poor get more abused and the middle class go extinct.
ReplyDeleteWe have a School Committee with a majority of genuine fiscal conservatives. We have a Regional School Committee without a majority of genuine fiscal conservatives.
ReplyDeleteI see some trouble between the towns on the horizon.
The dog lady keeps her job. Chumps like Larry Kelly and Stan Gawle cry in their beer. Suckers.
ReplyDeleteWINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!
ReplyDeleteFROM THE GAZETTE:
ReplyDeleteAMHERST - Richard Hood and Robert Spence were elected to the School Committee on Tuesday in the town's one contested set of races for office.
Hood was the top vote-getter, receiving 2,418 votes, while Spence received 1,964 votes. Falling short in the five-candidate race were incumbent Kathleen Anderson, who received 1,475 votes; Vincent O'Connor, who tallied 1,342 votes; and Ernest Dalkas, who received 597 votes
AMHERST - Voters in Amherst overwhelmingly passed a $1.68 million Proposition 2½ override at town elections today, with the override effort winning in all 10 precincts.
The vote was decided by an unofficial count of 3,058 voters favoring the override to 2,189 voters against the tax rise, an overall tally that represented a 31.5 percent turnout of the town's 16,625 registered voters.
Aimed at preserving programs and positions in the public schools, libraries and throughout town government, the override will add $264 to the annual tax bill for a resident living in a $334,600 home.
This was the first override presented to voters since 2007, when a $2.5 million override dubbed the Amherst Plan was defeated by a 53-to-47 percent margin
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ReplyDelete************************************
Amherst Town Meeting voters approve override
By Diane Lederman, The Republican
March 23, 2010, 8:44PM
AMHERST – Voters by an 897 margin approved a $1.68 million Proposition 2 ½ override in Tuesday’s annual Town election.
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Don't you love Diane, she never let's a good fact go unpunished. "Town Meeting voters"?
What were you going to do if you won, Larry?
Kevin
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Thank God. The teachers at the high school won't have to make their own xeroxes now.
ReplyDeleteLarry you seem to have some directional confusion there regarding the override..... bummer.
ReplyDeleteI think its hilarious that everyone flocks to Larry's page to rub it in his face ! LOL
ReplyDeleteLarry You do a great service to the town and its people with this website. However, I think in this case you allowed your own beliefs to translate into what you believed the majority of voters were thinking. It is pretty obvious that the out cry against the override was not enough to moblize the fiscal conservatives. I also think that many people found the sum mangeable this time. Yes, the town need to be managed differently, but right now the immediate sacrifices proved too great for the towns people.
ReplyDeleteJohn B
This override is not a case of win or lose. It is about managing resources. Like I said in a previous post I won't be happy either way the vote goes. This also was my feeling about the health care bill. Giving more money to the town is like giving more alcohol to an alcoholic, more drugs to a druggy and more money to a gambler. I think higher taxation during a recession is a sure road to a double dip recession. Due you think landlords or going to eat their higher property taxes. No, this will be passed on in higher rents. Do you think the drug companies and health insurers are going to eat their higher taxes and lower profits for the stock holders. No, prices will go up. As our Federal government prints up more money and the value of the dollar drops do you think oil prices will go down. No, watch what happens to gas prices starting this spring. Cuts and fiscal responsibility will eventually come into play it's just a matter of time. What we will see is pay more and get less.
ReplyDelete---
ReplyDeleteI think that it is time for everyone to take responsibility for himself or herself. That includes you and me.
Yes, the override passed.
That is the bad news. No one is "for" an override. No one "wanted" and override. Not me and not Larry.
The question is 1) how are we going to pay for it, and 2) who is going to do the work while you guys stand around arguing over who was right.
Don't all be idiots...
One could argue that Carol's half time was the result of the override failing in 2007.
Or, one could argue that, because of the $7 million in cuts to recurring costs, she still has a half-time position.
A half-time position that will go back to full-time if we all do what needs to be done to get back to break-even over the next five years. Plus a surplus to replenish reserves. Plus laying a foundation for the next 250 years.
Larry did his job in 2007, and the necessary cuts were made. You may not like how he did it, but he got the job done. This time, by raising a negative campaign, he served to highlight the need for an override. There are two sides to every story.
In the end, we were all "for" funding the shortfall. We only differed on how to raise the money. NMO's were "for" using reserves, and VYF's were "for" a one-time hit.
However, instead of a $168,000 override over five years (certainly an option -- and you guys could have run on that) we pushed through $1.68m in order to avoid future override elections, for years to come. From now on, instead of fighting, we can put our effort into the task at hand.
Everyone agrees, Amherst is in best shape fiscally than it ever was. We are now poised for growth. We can thank Larry and Stan for that.
And, we are two years ahead of every town that did not start making the cuts in 2007. Thank Larry and Stan for that.
Now let's see if he can pull this off and turn it around, into something positive.
He got us this far. Let's see what Larry can really do.
We need him.
Kevin
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