Charter Commission interviewing Mike Ward, Tanya Stepaskuk from Collins Center
The 9 member Amherst Charter Commission met again last night with the main order of business to hear from potential consultants for the long slog ahead.
A team from the Collins Center UMass Boston gave a 20 minute presentation that demonstrated a wealth of experience with helping to craft new Charters.
And next week they will hear from Bernie Lynch and Lauren Goldberg, two independent consultants who will be making a joint proposal to the Commission for the job. Goldberg works for Kopelman & Paige our official town legal counsel and Mr. Lynch did the most recent search for a new Town Manager.
Former Temporary Town Manager Pete Hechenbleikner did not put in for the consulting job because he used up the allowed amount of time working as our Town Manager and any further income would negatively impact his retirement.
The Charter Commission is currently on a major "listening tour" reaching out to the general public in every way possible to collect feedback on what makes our town work and how can they can craft a new government to make it work better.
On their Charter page on the town website citizens can sign up to a list serve and follow them on Facebook.
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IT BOGGLES THE MIND THAT WE WILL BE PAYING CONSULTANTS FOR THIS TASK.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure we could get you for free.
ReplyDeleteIt boggles the mind that people think experts aren't necessary.
ReplyDeleteNext time you need a root canal maybe you and your neighbors should get together and try to figure out how to do it yourselves.
How hard can it be?
Probably as hard as hitting your caps lock key before responding . . . . .
I'm just sayin' . . . . .
Amherst has a $2 BILLION property-base, roughly equivalent to the Amherst College endowment. You don't really want a bunch of volunteers -- who can barely agree on whether or not to have a facebook page -- working on it, do you? Under MGL 43B, there are six plans. Which one would you choose? How would you reconcile that with the eight other people in the room who have their own idea of what's best for Amherst? That is what the consultant does. They show them how to reconcile the differences, should they so choose. Anyone can write a charter, sure, just copy stuff off the internet, like Melania Trump. Go ahead, try it.
ReplyDeleteVira for mayor!
ReplyDeleteTreading water. If there was an expert in government, they would do more with less and we would not need elections. Government and expert have nothing to do with each other, government is the implimentation of special interests and has little to do with special people.
ReplyDeleteFor the menial tasks in government we have elections and hire townies...nothing to do with qualifications.
Yes we take great care in choosing who does a root canal, as it effects the outcome. There will be no real differences between new and old versions of town government, this is like swtching social cliques in jr. high and pretending it is important 30 years later. Perhaps a good thing, but not as important as a real world thing like a root canal.
Larry, how is your story about the APD lawsuit coming along? Almost ready to post? I'm sure you must have requested some documents for us to read.
ReplyDeleteIf it had been a school nurse who failed to give medication to someone, I am sure we would be hearing all about it from you.
If you were my school nurse Nina (or anything else) I'm sure I would need the medication.
ReplyDeleteU mm Kevin....can you monetize that 2 billion dollar property base?...are you rich Morse? And Nina....never mind!
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't answer the question. Why no story?
ReplyDeleteWhy no truth to speak?
Why no voice for someone who could have died?
Start your own blog and cover whatever you please. Maybe Rick Hood will give you his.
ReplyDeleteAnd again, you are unable to answer the question.
ReplyDeleteI'm just pointing out how unfair and unbalanced your coverage is.
I think the best way to show respect for public servants is to treat them as human beings. They work hard and try their best to do the right thing. Sometimes they face impossible constraints and sometimes they make mistakes. This applies to police, to firefighters, to educators -- everybody who dedicates themselves to the public good.
A new tag line: "Unfair and unbalanced". (But never boring.)
ReplyDeleteYes I like that tag line! Great solution.
ReplyDeleteAs will Kurt and Rich.
ReplyDeleteYou guys can form a club, create safe zones ...
Working hard and sticking the people of Amherst with huge payouts from the taxes they pay only to have to pay higher taxes is not the way to do the job. If you don't what the hell you're doing get the HELL OUT!
ReplyDeleteAs long as we do not act like people in the public sector have it hard vs. the private sector.
ReplyDelete