ARHS
UPDATE: Phoebe Prince's death cost the insurance company that covers South Hadley $225,000. Not enough. Not nearly enough.
Emily Bazelon first filed her request with the Secretary of State Public Records Division and I would bet they found in her favor, as they did with me. But then the South Hadley Schools probably did what Amherst defiantly did with me: refused to comply.
Since the Public Records folks have no enforcement power they would have to turn it over to the Attorney General's office (which I quickly requested they do in my case). They however, sheepishly suggested I take it to Hampshire Superior Court where I'm sure I would win, but only after paying a $275 filing fee.
And the schools will use big city attorney Regina Tate to defend the stonewalling, while we, the taxpayers of Amherst, cover her $225/hourly fee.
Since Ms. Bazelton works for Slate Magazine she can afford the steep up front cover charge, although she was savvy enough to request court costs as part of the settlement.
My original request for any settlement agreements over the past five years between the schools and separated employees costing taxpayers a minimum of $5,000 resulted in 13 cases with a combined cost of $200,000 and unlike South Hadley, not covered by an insurance company.
What kind of message does that send our children when public schools buy their way out of a mistake using taxpayer money, and then spend even more tax dollars trying to keep the secrets buried?
51 comments:
yet they couldn't pay Bach for the work verbally contracted by town reps
Oops! Looks like 'Bach got more coal in his stocking.
t's not about you, all the time, Bach.
that coal comes in handy on cold nights, wish I had a broken powerplant full of it!
Merry Christmas, Bach. Still stuck in the ghost of Christmas past, I see.
You've done your reputation more harm than good with all your postings here Bach.
well I still have some strong support there from people that matter...who actually are happy to pay me.
as for reputation, the people who actually know me don't even read this rag, with the exception of a few. and I get the feeling they are on my side
btw, if being a trusting person who was told on multiple, witness laden occasions, that I would be paid for my efforts.... then they didn't pay me and dropped the project with no explanation....then calling the perps out for their misdeeds...has ruined my reputation.... I would question those who think my reputation is damaged for fighting back.
ask Barry Roberts why they screwed me out of 7 grand, since he never told me
Yup. It's always someone else's fault. Try taking some personal responsibility for the mess you are in.
You know, in all honesty, I don't think that a municipality can verbally contract for anything. Any expenditure of $7,000 would have to have bids in response to a RFP and those have to be sealed written bids and the rest.
That is the law...
Forgetting this petty Bachfest, why is Amherst exempt from the laws that Boston & Springfield and the rest of the municipalities in this state have to follow????
yup, you are right. my fault for trusting people who sought me out.
quantum meruit
unjust enrichment
fraud
so tell me Ed, what law is it again that says committee members can go around saying we will pay you during public meetings? there was 5000 grand in the kitty to start for the project they voted in as the winner. never saw it.
when this does hit the court I shudder to think of poor amherst and their 225 lawyer fees.
This isn't going to court and you know it. This wasn't the town, it was the 250th Anniversary Committee, which is no more. Say goodnight Gracie.
Seems to me that at best you have a claim for $7 grand, if you prove that you are indeed entitled to anything. The judge will decide if you are. So, hire a lawyer and pony up the retainer, but if you lose you are going to be out your lawyers fees too. Talk is cheap. Hiring a lawyer, expensive.
This wasn't the town, it was the 250th Anniversary Committee, which is no more.
I don't think it is that simple.
If it existed under the authority of the town, if the town recognized it as such, if it was designated for doing things on behalf of the town, if town officials served on it -- then it IS the town.
For example, the UM Chancellor Search Committee is considered a public entity -- considered to be the UM Board of Trustees -- and I have a memo from UM Legal Counsel saying that.
Think about it for a minute - if they didn't have this rule, then every municipality would simply form committees to skirt each and every ethics and bidding law they want to -- think of what Maria G could do...
My guess is that the 250th Committee would be considered a subcommittee of the Select Board. Whoever granted its authority is responsible for it, and remember that the Select Board is responsible for everything that the town manager does, he is just their agent.
its all in the committee guidelines.
i forgot conflict of interest for several members of the sub committee and steering committee
defunct does not mean they are no longer accountable for their actions,
Public purchasing law -- Chapter 30B
30B MGL 4 -- purchases of goods or services between $5K & $25K must have 3 bids, and must be awarded to the lowest bidder, and a written record of who, when and how much must be made -- 30B MGL 3 says it must be kept for 6 years and is a public record.
We all know how to get access to public records, don't we?
Apparently, you can have an oral contract, but you must have a written record of it -- and *that* is why I always followed up with a letter to the vendor -- so that I *didn't* get into situations like Bach -- I outlined the bid, specs, payment, and in one went so far as to add "FOB 990 North Pleasant St, Amherst) without realizing that not everyone would know what "FOB" meant...
http://www.mass.gov/ethics/
State Ethics Commission. Third Try.
Their phone: 888-485-4766
Oh, and Larry, you are a self defense expert -- go to Lincoln Apartments and look at the new trash cage (big walled black metal structure) -- tell me if you would want your wife or little girls going in there to dispose of trash.
Tell me how well a job you could do defending yourself against multiple assailants in a confined space like that...
I am calling it "The Rapists' Playpen." And the university doesn't care, nor does the town, nor does anyone else because UM students aren't people. Every woman in the complex is terrified of going in there, but we don't care because they aren't real women, they are just students....
And this is why I have lost all respect for both UM and Amherst. No one cares about folks who aren't human -- so why should we act like we are? If we are just treated like dogs, then what is wrong with one of my fellow canines urinating on your lawn, that is what dogs do.
Who is Bach?
Did he have a reputation?
Why should I care about him?
Safe bet he will fill you in.
I'm on vacation.
'bach -- We've never met, and I have no opinion about your skill as an artist, or about the merits of your complaints against the town. But I do know that if your name ever came up, and someone who was considering hiring you asked me if I knew anything about you or your work, I would probably answer, "Oh, yeah -- he's that guy who's eternally and publicly bitter about his dealings with the 250th Anniversary Committee."
Is that a reputation you want to have? You're doing yourself no favors.
Wasn't the 250th anniversary in 2009? It's almost 2012. This seems to be a very slow moving lawsuit.
I really resent being painted as a 'hater of students.' Of course we care if women are assaulted. If you feel that this is a public safety hazard, why have you not written a letter about it to the local press (as in Daily Hamp. Gazette and Republican)? You mean to tell me they are ignoring it also? I had not heard of this before.
Grow up and act like an adult. Stop whining and change (for the better) what you can change. No, I am not going to Lincoln Apartments to investigate. You have already done that. Report it to the proper authorities.
Anon 8:24 --
I did report it to the proper authorities, and then even went one step further and filed a formal ADA compliance complaint with the UM EO&D because it is new construction that is not ADA compliant -- the same narrow "squeeze-through" areas that terrify the women also would preclude wheelchair access.
UM's response was to retaliate against me, in a very visible and petty manner, bringing in the town as well. I may not graduate because of the retaliation and my mother didn't get a Christmas tree because of it.
I am not going to say more because of legal reasons, but if I don't graduate, the town now gets named as a co-defendant in the lawsuit and will be in a very bad position for a bunch of other reasons I don't want to say.
And as to letters to the editor of the local media, isn't that what comments on this blog are?
Ed,
Your mother didn't get a Christmas tree? Now I've heard everything!
John Sendelbach (aka 'Bach) also has a complaint in Sunderland, regarding Veterans Memorial.
Don't they require coursework in "professional practice" in the MLA program at UMass, your alma mater?
Earth to 'Bach: Please get help.
ahhh sunderland, that is tied in with the amherst thing via cardasis>thompson>brestrup
i have the support of several of the other contestants, including 2 seasoned land architects.
it was another case of misrepresentation and fraud, that because i spoke out against it, they published a hit piece, then the perps conspired to come round and bite me in the ass. this is how politics works...point out the corruption and get buried by the controlling clique.
Yes, yes, a quaint little celebration like the 250th anniversary of a small town is a hot bed of corruption. I demand an investigation. Perhaps there are spies, Communists, aliens (the space type), or worse.
http://www.gazettenet.com/2007/07/07/sunderland-memorial-leaders-say-rules-followed?SESSfc182ebfedcb501570a335fbff16a58f=gnews
notice how cris carl did not interview the other contestants about whether they thought something was fishy. cardasis/thompsons design came in to bid at nearly double the rule stipulations. they should have been disqualified at that point. everyone else had to design within the 70k stipulated by the rules. so how could anyone else possibly win when cardasis/thompson were offering twice the allotment?
sunderland was an inside job.
amherst 250th was an inside job, with some of the same players
yes i did write cardasis an informative email. it went back to umass days when he never showed up for assigned hours of studio, and he expected us to have off hours class meetings. i couldn't make those meetings and got a "c" for non-participation. at the final presentations legendary julius fabos said i had the best design in the class. cardasis was advising my friend on his masters thesis and on several occasions was a no show when said friend drove all the way from new hampshire for the meetings.
what's that about professional practice?
You're not going to graduate, Ed? Again? Shocker!
Of course, that has nothing to do with your own failure to get your work done, or your fear of actually facing the rest of your life, and everything to do with a vast conspiracy by The Man to keep you down. He really has nothing better to do than keep you on the taxpayers' teat forever.
(How do I know all this? Can't say -- it's way too hush-hush. But I promise you that one day, when I'm finally vindicated by one of my countless threatened town- and university-destroying lawsuits, you shall know my true power!)
Bach: Uh huh.
Larry's blog seems to attract two kinds. A large number of people that appreciate getting the scoop on local goings on, and the loser class, who think that they are persecuted and apparently never look in the mirror to see their own role in their Sad Sack lives. it's interesting how these Sad Sacks, when given enough time to pontificate, can trace their persecution back to college, high school, kindergarten and prenatal.
He really has nothing better to do than keep you on the taxpayers' teat forever.
I am not on the taxpayer's teat yet.
I could be, it is so easy that it is not funny, but I am not.
And if I ever decided to spend a year or two on it, engaged in "Operation Chaos", you realize that it wouldn't be a PsychOp just targeting Planet UMass, don't you?
Oh, no, there are so many people on the edge in Amherst that just a little push would send quite a few of them tumbling into the paths of others similarly pushed and then remember the concept of a chain reaction. (Or that matter and anti-matter colliding if you prefer...)
Give just one example: Can you imagine the issues that just a "Happy Birthday Jesus" banner across the road would cause? Can you imagine how that alone would split the town? Now can you imagine that being done on a daily basis?
Now put Leviticus 18:22 (or even Exodus 22:18 "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live") on a banner -- imagine how that would tear apart the town between cries of Anti-Semitism and Homophobia.
Does anyone honestly believe that there are even a dozen people in Amherst rational enough to see both sides of the issue? (I don't.)
Now imagine that there was a credible rumor -- say forged MassHighway documents circulating town -- that the state saw the Lincoln Avenue corridor as an "underutilized access route" to UMass and was going to build a road from the new roundabout to where Lincoln end on Rt 9.
And then imagine that the mitigation plan included the state paying for a new trunk sewer line down this road while there were also forged (or perhaps real) documents about the existing Amherst sewer system about to collapse. Throw in a few other goodies like the state taking ownership of the old landfill to keep it "forever wild" and prevent any development.
Fun times?
Can you imagine all the boards and commissions being turned against each other? A little disinformation, a little flattery, and Katie bar the door...
And do you know how many "useful idiots" there are in Amherst? Does anyone remember the nitwit who couldn't tell the difference between a triangle and a rectangle, ie the PR & TX flags? And she did that on her own, imagine what a little disinformation could accomplish...
H*ll, imagine the fun if "Bach" were to receive in the mail the filled-out forms he would need to (a) get court filing fees waived and (b) file his lawsuit. The hardest part of all of that would be getting his mailing address. Like I said, "Operation Chaos."
You really want me to graduate.
You really want the GOP to win in November and me to go down to DC with them. Trust me boys 'n' girls, you really do...
But I promise you that one day, when I'm finally vindicated by one of my countless threatened town- and university-destroying lawsuits, you shall know my true power!
No -- as to destroying the town and university, I much prefer the Pat Conroy solution.
The Lords of Discipline was about the Citidel and absolutely everyone at the Citidel knew it and truly weren't happy about it when it came out a dozen years or so after Conroy graduated. And it is a whole lot easier to get published now than it was in the late '70s.
And no one really looked at that place the same way afterwards -- a decade later it was coed. The pen is mighty, the computer mightier...
And folks -- December 27, 2011 12:24 PM in particular -- I hope you do know that Blogger logs IP addresses and every computer has a digital fingerprint. You won't be anonymous if Google is served a subponea -- it will come right back to the machine you typed the comment on and at the location it was. And even if it is a public terminal somewhere, it *still* isn't that hard to find out who you are unless you are a lot more careful than anyone ever would be.
How do you think they catch the pictures of the perps selling pictures of 5 year olds being molested? It isn't anonymous, my friends -- and the town wireless isn't either...
Tin foil hats for everyone!
Oh my goodness, Ed! Do you mean to say that I could go to prison... for making fun of you?
Ed, when did you stop beating your dog?
to December 27, 2011 2:54 PM
actually it was grad school, where a C is an F. and the cardasis/volpe pairing dealt me 2, which equals no degree. so cardasis prevented me from getting my professional degree and thus blocking me from becoming a registered landscape architect. all because I didn't fit his schedule.
you're right, I shouldn't be upset about that.
you need to look at yourself...spewing such crap from your high horse.
Next time get an A.
Where have you gone, Larry Kelley, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you......woo, woo,woo.
Funny stuff Larry. I've been busy like everyone else over holidays. Sad to say I haven't had much time to read your bloggie. Well.... and a huge well. Is it possible to admit posts from the same irritating people (ED & BACH) from months and months ago? These twisted and obviously no life jerk weeds are simply wasting your valuable space. Thanks
No, it's Ed and (to a lesser extent) Bach who make this space so valuable, i.e., entertaining. My favorite latest Ed-ism? That he "prefers the Pat Conroy solution" to the question of how he will destroy UMass -- as if writing a best-selling novel were easier than filing a lawsuit.
(Actually, I guess they're equally easy or difficult if you're incapable of doing either one...)
I like the idea that you spend endless years at a university only to bad mouth it and claim you will destroy it. That ought to look good on the old resume.
Ed is sucking the life out of this blog.
(Actually, I guess they're equally easy or difficult if you're incapable of doing either one...)
Really....
I actually have made quite a bit of money writing and being published. Not a lot by Amherst Million-Dollar-Mansion standards, but enough for me to realize that I always could live on it if I had to.
I *hate* writing, but I am fairly good at it...
H*ll, I can write a coherent essay with most of the words spelled correctly and all of them used correctly (I can even use obscenities as parts of speech -- and do so correctly). And yes, I do know the two errors in that sentence -- screw it, it is also almost 2AM.
And the nice thing about Amherst is that there is a ready audience willing to buy the book for the red-meat factor. Yes, Virginia, there really are true conservatives in this country, and they will pay $25-$40 for a book just to see what they consider to be the evil left get bashed.
(How do you think that Ann Coulter sells books? Have you read any of them?)
As to suing UMass, it is far more emotionally draining that you might realize -- I would have almost the same suit that the Prince family did, and I understand why they settled.
It is like repairing an old car versus buying a new one. I will sue if I have to, but I don't want to. I told the dean of students that, there is no secret there -- I get my life back, or I spend the rest of it in Amherst causing trouble and filing lawsuits.
And Amherst Sucks...
Is it possible that Ed and Bach are the same person?
"On the Internet, no one knows if you're a dog"
"I would have almost the same suit that the Prince family did, and I understand why they settled."
Ed, that statement takes the cake . I am utterly amazed that you would compare your stiuation to theirs! You have some serious isses dude.
Professor: Is Ed alive, or is Ed dead?
Student: How could you tell?
1: And you wonder why they settled for as little as they did.
2: Do you even know what the basis of the suit would have been?
2A: Did you read the release and do you know anything about the laws cited in said release?
2B: Now why would a lawyer be putting those in what we all were told was a MCAD sex discrimination complaint?
2C: What other forms of discrimination does MCAD deal with?
3: What is it that the SHSD doesn't want the Prince family talking about? We already know that she (a) was bullied, (b) the school didn't do much to stop it, and (c) she hung herself.
Those are pretty damning facts. What else could there possibly be that the school department wants to keep buried -- what new fact(s) could possibly make So Hadley look worse than they already do?!?!?!
4: Remember the criminal trials of the kids and how there was the sealed subpoena to the school for Prince's records/files that weren't in the response to the other subpoena and what might this have been?
5: Suits over suicide usually are negligence ones, but this was a discrimination issue -- and this was a heterosexual female being harassed/bullied by other heterosexual females which MCAD wouldn't have dealt with -- so what was the issue that MCAD *was* dealing with?
6: A published report states that CDH prescribed Seroquel. Wow.
7: A lot of depression in girls is actually secondary to something else -- which does respond a little bit to antidepressants but that is not the preferred first line treatment. Seroquel though -- well, wow.....
8: What might a competent educator see screaming out of the various pieces of her writing that are floating around the web?
9: What if there was something bigger than just failing to deal with bullying that the SHSD failed to do.
10: What was the role of the SHSD's "Student Assistance Team" in all of this? What might they have not done -- or worse, what might they have actually DONE?
Just wondering.... Maybe I know a tad more than folk think I do?
"Maybe I know a tad more than folk think I do?"
If you honestly meant to compare yourself with someone who appears to have suffered from mental illness... enough said.
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