Amherst Town Meeting
Another good reason to replace Town Meeting with a professional more accountable Mayor/Council is that -- like the Mass State Legislature -- Town Meeting members are immune to Open Meeting Law, and to a large extent, Conflict of Interest Law.
The privately owned Amherst Town Meeting listserve has over 200 members (w-a-y more than a quorum) and we can discuss at length among ourselves the business of The People. And not just over the newfangled Internet.
For instance yesterday late morning, leading members of the BANANA/NIMBY crowd met with Amherst town officials in Town Hall for a private pow wow concerning Inclusionary Zoning Articles 21 & 22. Which only further strengthens my hunch that both are now destined to fail.
So I somewhat sympathize with exuberant member Kevin Collins, and he certainly does have a point about rookie member Claudia Brown having a h-u-g-e conflict of interest.
If Town Meeting membership was purged due to NIMBY self interests it would end up being not much larger than a City Council. Which would of course be a good thing.
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Apparently Mr. Collins got their attention:
Click to enlarge/read
I never understood "representative" town meeting -- either EVERYONE is a member OR they are elected officials. Kinda like a really big city council.
ReplyDeleteLarry:
ReplyDeleteFind -- via bribe, research, or whatnot, the majority of the email addresses of town meeting members. (Many will appear on public documents such as emails to officials.)
Make a fake email list that sorta looks like Streeter's one.
Send a variety of "conspiracy theory" emails to it -- the type that will freak out the folks who inhabit it.
Send angry denials as well.
Sit back, have a Bud Lite and enjoy the fireworks....
(Yes, Dr. Ed *is* that evil....)
And then you can play hardball:
ReplyDeleteThe FCC requires all radio stations to be operated "in the public interest" and to renew their license every 8 years -- and anyone can object to them being re-licensed.
They are also required to have a "public comments" file and if you copy the FCC itself, there is no way that whatever radio station this was on (WMUA?) isn't going to (a) notice and (b) keep itself WAY OUTSIDE OF Amherst politics.
Oh, boy, will things get interesting then...
One other thing - would someone explain to those morons what "prior suppression" actually is -- and isn't?
ReplyDeleteHint, this wasn't it...
Anon 2:16 PM,
ReplyDeleteThe concept is not that difficult and you actually have the right idea principle. Town Meeting members "represent" the people who live in their precinct, rather than having everyone who is a citizen go to Town Meeting. In many of the surrounding towns you have a "direct democracy" town meeting where anyone who is a citizen of that town over a certain age can go, participate and vote. Amherst had this style of town meeting for many years until it was decided that Amherst had become too large and we needed "representatives" (just as we do with the state legislature) to vote for us; a form of "representative democracy." Larry, do you know the history on this?
As to whether Town Meeting with its 240 representatives is better than or worse than a Mayor/Council form of government, that is a question that's been debated (and voted on) several times and will probably continue to be discussed in Amherst until the end of time.
Tempest meet teapot.
ReplyDeleteTrue, but it still worked. The show did not go on.
ReplyDeleteAbout 20 years ago I filed a complaint with the State Ethics Commission over Town Manager Barry Del Castilho using the workday and a town, gasp, typewriter and paper to compose a column for the Amherst Bulletin advocating for the Town Hall Renovation Override.
The state found in my favor and the Springfield Republican ran with it.
Definitely discombobulated the pro-Override folks (which ended up failing at the ballot box, twice).
Larry,
ReplyDeleteYou've failed to expand on the implications of the "private pow wow" that's been going on at Town Hall.
There seems to be a transparency problem here.
Who's lobbying whom? The staff lobbying these self-appointed TM members? Or those TM members lobbying the staff? To what end? And when is the public going to learn about it?
This seems to be taking Town Meeting's exclusion from Open Meeting Laws to an unacceptable extreme, away from the press, and away from the rest of Town Meeting membership.
If I had to guess I would say town staff/officials lobbying the "self-appointed TM" spokespersons.
ReplyDeleteThe Town Manager and Assistant Town Manager are also immune from Open Meeting Law, so they can meet with anyone they wish, either elected or appointed (Chancellor Subbaswamy for instance).
Any chance the town can make another run at a mayor and city council form of government?
ReplyDeleteAmherst, please do yourself and your community a big favor and get rid of the circus called town meeting. Who was that guy that organized the charter a few years ago? We need him again!
ReplyDeleteStan Durnakowski passed away two years ago.
ReplyDeleteAnd I can't imagine doing it without him.
Then, Larry, become the next Stan Durnakowski. There's no other way... Get involved. Not form the sidelines, not form your perch of immunity. Run, Larry, run!
ReplyDeleteTown meeting members who own rental and commercial property owners or work as property managers, as architects, and as environmental consultants for property owner. regularly vote on zoning articles that increase development and can potentially benefit them financially. Town meeting members who are teachers and parents vote on the schools. The town manager votes on articles that affect his own work. Voting to put the CPA levy increase on the ballot had a direct affect many members taxes. Should any town meeting potentially affected by an article not vote on it? Not getting the point.
ReplyDeleteTown Meeting service is:
ReplyDeletea) a kick in the head
b) a shot in the back
c) a sharp stick in the eye
d) all of the above
"Should any town meeting potentially affected by an article not vote on it?"
ReplyDeleteDamn right!
May I suggest you, like, read the state ethics homepage?
It's like Justice Thomas not ruling on the Girls-in-VMI case because his son was attending a state military academy at the time.
It's called "recusal" and people can respect it -- and you actually will have a hell of a lot more influence saying that you otherwise would vote a certain way but ethically can't vote than in actually doing so, but I digress...
You can pick your friends.
ReplyDeleteYou can pick your nose.
But, you can't pick your relatives, or your fellow Town Meeting members.
...but you can be picayune. This is picayune.
ReplyDeleteTown meeting prevents UMAss students from running the town. If there was a mayor/council then the 28000 students could easily elect the few council members and control the town
ReplyDeleteStudent voter turnout for local elections is almost nonexistent.
ReplyDeletePresidential elections however ...
I can see the student risk if there was open town meeting - they could show up to vote up/down on issues they care about and would have no trouble rallying a few thousand to get their way.
ReplyDeleteI don't see the risk with a town council/mayor system or even, as Larry has suggested, a ~60 member elected TM. Both should be paid at least a stipend. Either would be more manageable than the current system, as you would have fewer, more educated members.
Even better, if the positions are paid then certain current members that decry economic progress might refuse to serve as a matter of principle!
They're all under arrest all right.
ReplyDelete(or soon will be)
https://sp.yimg.com/ib/th?id=JN.XfjwPl8m7pVjKvci7u5RFg&pid=15.1&P=0
-Squeaky Squeaks
p.s.
Come'on grampy, you can make it!
What I see is a beautiful town with lots of open space, interesting people, a vibrant downtown, the excellent Mission Cantina and 30 other places to eat, residents who volunteer their time to help others, many cultural activities. Who created this hell? Maybe Town Meeting government helped create this great place?
ReplyDelete"I can see the student risk if there was open town meeting - they could show up to vote up/down on issues they care about and would have no trouble rallying a few thousand to get their way."
ReplyDeleteOMG -- a marginalized groups of people arising from the ghetto and having a voice in the laws which they are subjected to.
Perish the thought....
This is why I think that Amherst will BURN...
TEDE,
ReplyDeleteYou would be right if UMass students were citizens of Amherst. But they are not. They are here only temporarily (other than those of us who stayed). Their interests are similar to quarterly profits for publicly owned companies. And allowing them to make long term decisions for the town would be a disaster.
The few students we have had at TM have been excellent, but they are rightly outnumbered by year-round residents.
Anon 1:22 pm,
ReplyDeleteTown Meeting definitely gets credit for the open space.
The volunteerism? I'm not sure what TM has to do with that. TM wears out many people who never come back.
The places to eat? Check with the owner of The Black Sheep on that one.
The vibrant downtown? Define "vibrant", especially when it comes to retail establishments.
The cultural activities? Many are provided on UMass and Amherst College campuses, which would exist if TM was eliminated tomorrow.
So, on balance, in answer to your question: no.
approx. 180 members attending Town Meeting
ReplyDeletex 3 hours tonight=
540 hours of life total
divided by 24 hours in a day
comes to 22.5 days of life in Amherst that we'll never get back
Oh, the sacrifice that is made!
You would be right if UMass students were citizens of Amherst. But they are not.
ReplyDeleteChillingly similar to what was said about African Americans in the Jim Crow South...
Who was Jim Crow, anyway? You hear a lot about him, but I bet most people have no idea who he was.
Delete1:48 & 6:33, it is not at all like the Jim Crow South. Nor are the students a "marginalized ghetto."
ReplyDeleteAs an analogy of why you are wrong: In federal immigration there is a difference between a citizen and a resident alien. Non-citizens are welcome to live in the U.S. and abide by our laws, pay taxes, etc. but are not entitled to vote. The assumption is that they will eventually return to their home country.
This is more or less the same situation with our students in town. Eventually most of them return to their home towns. We welcome them and even give them MORE rights than U.S. resident aliens - students have the right to vote in Amherst's local elections, even if they choose not to. Their lack of voting is proof that they do not care about long-term Amherst issues. And I would argue that those who choose not to vote in our local elections are not really "citizens" of Amherst. They are akin to resident aliens.
In contrast, African Americans in the Jim Crow South were routinely denied the right to vote even though they were technically "citizens." And minorities trapped in a cycle of poverty are a far cry from the over-privileged students that wreak havoc here every warm weekend. (I agree that both groups are, at times, the targets of badly considered public safety strategies).
So the next time you start playing the race card to justify - well, I don't know what you are trying to justify. But please take a moment to think about what you are really saying. You dilute legitimate concerns about racial inequality and insult its real victims when you invoke it for completely unrelated arguments.
Is there a Jim Crow North?
DeleteThanks for the lecture. Would would we do without it?
ReplyDeleteHappy to oblige.
ReplyDelete"In contrast, African Americans in the Jim Crow South were routinely denied the right to vote even though they were technically "citizens.""
ReplyDeleteAs are students!
Massachusetts law, in it's infinite wisdom, says "181 days" -- if you plan to be somewhere for at least 181 days out of the next 365, you'r a "citizen" of that community, indistinguishable from any other one, are liable for jury duty to the community, etch.
"And minorities trapped in a cycle of poverty"
Bullshite
Reality is that the "mired in poverty" has to do with committing crimes and/or getting pregnant instead of graduating from high school. It has to do with what we used to call "illegitimate births" -- something like 72% of Black babies are born out of wedlock -- that's damn near three out of ever four!
If you adjust for mother and Father being married and living under the same roof as the children THE BLACK POVERTY RATE IS NO HIGHER THAN THE RATE OF ANY OTHER RACE!"
And as the NAACP points out, there are more poor White Americans on Food Stamps than there are Black Americans. Poverty is not a "Black" thing...
"the over-privileged students that wreak havoc here every warm weekend."
Kind of like how Willie Horton represents all Black Men?
Are you familiar with the definition of the word "prejudice" you schmuck?
And how the hell do you conclude that students unfortunate to go to a third rate diploma mill are "overprivileged" anyway? You can borrow shitloads of money too...
And as to reparations for slavery, how but subjugation of those reparations as well? One White Northerner died for ever 100 Slaves freed -- what about my family? My Great Grandmother was orphaned by the Civil War...
So the next time you start playing the race card to justify - well, I don't know what you are trying to justify.
"Chillingly similar to what was said about African Americans in the Jim Crow South..."
It's called an analogy. It's like comparing Apples and Oranges and saying that a Diabetic needs to be careful about eating either.
I am not saying that Apples are a frm of Orange, only that both contan a significant amount of Fructose.
My point: It's the same "us versus them" mentality -- and the fear that "they will outvote us" that was the motivation for the things done to prevent African Americans from voting -- remember that they technically could vote -- and something like half of one percent of them did. (Or maybe that was registeted to vote, I forget which.)
But please take a moment to think about what you are really saying. You dilute legitimate concerns about racial inequality and insult its real victims
Oh, the "White Privilege" libel...
Larry, you've seen the scars I have on my hands, and may have noticed that my right one is damn near *two* sizes bigger than my left.
I have year to meet a Black college student whose hands weren't the same size. The summer of my sophmore year as an undegrad, I had a hardhat split off my head, four stories up a shaft at a paper mill.
There are a lot of reasons why it took me so long to get my Doctorate but they can all be summed up in six words: I had nothing handed to me.
I look at students -- both undergrad and grad -- screaming about how they are victims of racism -- as they are given absolutely everything imaginable -- and I want to vomit. What fire-trucking "White Privilege?!?!?"
I'm really glad that I know people like Ward Connerly and Allen West, they are the anchor that keeps me from drifting to places where I otherwise likely would go.
But Larry, it's crap like this that is going to eventually instigate a *real* riot -- the one that incinerates your town. It's gonna happen -- maybe not next year, but everntually....
Who gives a rat's ass about your great grandmother? But thanks for the lecture.
ReplyDeleteThat is what I call a successful troll of Mr. Ed!
ReplyDelete