So Overriders picked the perfect color scheme for their lawn signs. Hey, at least this time around they were clever enough to order them. Three years ago they did not bother--one of the many huge mistakes they made under the leadership of Rick Hood, now a candidate for School Committee.
Slime and demonize is Larry Kelly's MO or do I give him too much credit and his readers too little?
ReplyDeleteWhat I noticed was the number of them along Lincoln Avenue...
ReplyDeleteLarry, where can I get a yellow one? I will put it up and give UM yet one more thing to be mad at me for....
Too bad they put the date on them, they will have to get new signs next year.
ReplyDeleteAnd the year after that, until it is done.
After 2007, it got serious. $7 million in recurring expenses were cut. According the FCCC report, we will need an override sometime in the next five years.
The longer you wait, the more it will cost.
Try getting a building permit if this doesn't pass. The BI clerk's position is on the block.
And, the people who will really pay are the ones who can least afford it.
When ambulance and fire response times go up, who does that affect?
When you need help with forms and the person who assists the elderly, poor and handicapped is no longer around, who does that affect?
And, when students drive crazy and there is no one left to do traffic stops, whose insurance goes up?
And, when schools open two hours late because the snow isn't done, who pays?
That is $1.7 million, down from $38.7 million. The savings do not kick in until starting next year, hence the override.
Who made Amherst business-unfriendly? We did. Or, our Town Meeting representatives did. If you want to blame someone for putting the tax burden on the shoulders of Amherst homeowners, look in the mirror.
Hadley, with its big-box stores, has among the highest MCAS scores in the state. Don't you hate Wal-Mart?
God bless the nitwits.
Just call me 'Twit, for short.
Yeah 'Twit, we were smart enough three years ago NOT to put a date on them. And the swarm of angry yellow jackets will be out soon enough.
ReplyDeleteIF the $2.5 million Override had passed in 2007 (plus 2.5% per year increase) by now--three years later--it would have generated almost $8 million total.
Do you really think town officials would have "gotten serious" and cut that $7 million to date, IF that Override had passed?
Show us your computations on that $8 million figure, or don't use it.
ReplyDeleteMath is not all that complicated but I couldn't find my calculator to factor in the 2.5% increase in year two and then on top of it again in year three.
ReplyDeleteBut $2.5 million (the amount of the 2007 Override) times three years equals $7.5 million.
Then add (you probably have a calculator handy) 2.5% in year two (2008) and then again another 2.5% in (2009) and then again another 2.5% this year.
Soon I will be unleashing my yellow jacket. I had it tucked away in the garage knowing the town of Amherst did not listen to the masses the first time. We have had plenty of time to promote big business to come to Amherst and we sat on our hands. All we do is bitch about how hard it is to permits approved and entice businesses to come here. Something has to change and some people that are bottlenecking the system need to go. So all the pro-overiders better plan how we can accomplish an even tighter budget because the people are still pissed at how poorly the money is managed.
ReplyDeleteDaler
Blogger LarryK4 said...
ReplyDeleteThen add (you probably have a calculator handy) 2.5% in year two (2008) and then again another 2.5% in (2009) and then again another 2.5% this year.
The amount has to be approved by Town Meeting, Larry, every year. You know that. Last time I checked, that would be you.
No one knows what the final amount is until TM votes on it. You're on TM. You have more say than any of us.
And only Town Meeting can pass an "underride". Next year, when the results begin to show, you can be the one to propose an underride. No one will stop you.
While you're at it, maybe we can get some growth happening. Enough with "Most Open Space in the Commonwealth", and becoming "Section 8 Capital of the World" on the backs of property owners, Screw the schools, we got open space. If Town Meeting wants that stuff, they can find another way to pay for it. The party is over.
You should be proud for what you accomplished, Larry. You defeated the override in 2007 and the town is in better shape than it has ever been. Everyone agrees on that.
Imagine where we would be now if we hadn't made the cuts when we did? You saved all of our asses at a time when no one wanted to face the truth. Kicking and screaming all the way. You were right.
Painful, yes, but necessary. And needed.
And just in time.
You did it.
Of course, no one is going to thank you for it, but...
Thank you, Larry.
...
Too many "smoke screens" going before taxpayers minds, if you can't cant "trick" them, then "baffle them", looks like....Give the newspapers credit for finally coming out and publishing some interesting facts....but don't be snowplowed or blinded but what is outside of the box....the admin's who make ridiculous amounts of money, the VERY OBVIOUS "HIT" on Arod, before he could make the "cuts" in admin, warrants VERY close observation...to add to that look at/view the latest school committee meeting with Jackson, just about gets called out on "a secret, and unethical meeting behind closed doors". Wake up PEOPLE!
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that after the newspaper came out with the article of ARODS demise with the school, that there was a significant increase of YELLOW NO MORE OVERRIDES in peoples' yards. I feel that more people in Amherst are starting to wake up and realize that it is not all it seems, and that some people cannot be trusted. period. I wish I could make 43,000 at a job that I am not qualified to do, I wish someone would want to get rid of me as bad as AROD and give me a 36,000 package for walking away.I love the smell of NAPAM in the morning!
ReplyDeleteHey Larry,
ReplyDeleteHave you ridden your bike around Amherst lately and noticed that MOST if not ALL green YES signs are in the yards of school employees, IE; teachers, admins, para's....?????
Maybe they can afford a prop override because of their high salaries, but I can't. I live paycheck to paycheck, and probably do more in a day then they do.