Town Meeting takes a ten minute standing vote
If as Woody Allen asserts, "80% of success is showing up" this past session of Amherst Town Meeting was almost a success as 78% of members showed up for both nights, with 53 of 240 not showing up at all, or 22%. Another 43 missed one of the two session.
The Amherst School Committee -- all of them ex officio voting members of Town Meeting -- manged to be just the opposit of Woody's assertion as four-out-of-five (80%) did not make either session. And the public schools do consume the lion's share of Amherst $80+ million budget.
Yes, the school budget is voted in the spring but there was an important school related capital item on this warrant: $240,000 for a new ADA compliant playground at Crocker Farm Elementary School.
One of the many nice things about a professional full-time Mayor/Council form of government is it's a lot easier to keep an eye on attendence and how they vote on the important issues of the day.
The Amherst For All Charter change enthusiasts are now at the half-way point (1,600 of 3,200) for signatures needed to get the ditch-Town-Meeting question on the ballot for next spring.
This coming weekend they will be hosting "Signature Saturday," with the ambitious goal of 500 signatures.
Something worth showing up for.
2 comments:
Interesting reference.
Just like American High Schools, all they really expect is attendance, because all it really is....is a jobs program for those with little skills, making sure to produce more of the same, and boy do they.
Only in Amherst, we do it for 2x the cost. Teachers-1, Families-0. Same score as last time, why do we even play again? We already know who wins.
Kids, go to school to be teachers! You can do 100% of your career and education without even leaving town limits! One better, become a school librarian. Retired librarians love to talk about their ridiculously easy career at the public's expense. At least they recognize that they have milked the system, teachers rarely admit this.
What was the question?
Post a Comment