tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post7768667106807076548..comments2023-10-17T22:56:42.784-04:00Comments on Only in The Republic of Amherst: A billion here and a billion there...Larry Kelleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02614645831526190536noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-27143100856193756952008-10-08T01:05:00.000-04:002008-10-08T01:05:00.000-04:00Umass umass umassUmass umass umassAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-53077265111338814462008-10-08T00:06:00.000-04:002008-10-08T00:06:00.000-04:00I gotta ask:A: are you really typing all those "U...I gotta ask:<BR/><BR/>A: are you really typing all those "UMass" lines?<BR/><BR/>B: how cheap do you type for? Can I hire you type a thesis?<BR/><BR/>EDAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-14753700326260632742008-10-07T11:52:00.000-04:002008-10-07T11:52:00.000-04:00The residents of UMass have none. And would be no ...<I>The residents of UMass have none. And would be no worse off if UMass was its own municipality as opposed to the quasi one it is now.</I> - ED<BR/><BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass <BR/>Umass Umass Umass Umass Umass UmassAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-25006808129434771072008-10-07T11:01:00.000-04:002008-10-07T11:01:00.000-04:00First, as to the parking, name one business that r...First, as to the parking, name one business that reserves the best parking for its employees. Walmart? Big Y? Hampshire Mall? I don't think so...<BR/><BR/>And you wanna go down the road of residential preference for parking, well wouldn't it be ironic for those who reside on campus to give you a dose of your own medicine an tell YOU to "take the bus..."<BR/><BR/>Second, who says that there wouldn't be private property within the line of UMass? This exists today with private homeowners on state and National Park land.<BR/><BR/>And third, what, exactly, is wrong with the people who live in a municipality running it? Remember I am not talking just about the land that UMass actually owns, but all of the adjacent neighborhoods where folk want UMass to govern because there are large numbers of students living there....<BR/><BR/>Whatever you get, including direct Chancellor fiat, would be worse than the Amherst Select Board?<BR/><BR/>Fourth, if you want to argue separate municipal budgets, if you want to argue that UMass is responsible for compensating Amherst for providing municipal services to inhabitants of Amherst (who also attend UMass) than the only way you can logically do it is to carve the land upon which they reside out from under the authority of Amherst.<BR/><BR/>As to the inherent undemocratic nature of it, I argue it already exists. Other than Barbara O'Connor and the UMPD, can you name one other police chief with primary law enforcement jurisdiction over an area where the residents thereof do not have direct democratic imput into her hire/tenure? <BR/><BR/>The Amherst Town Mangler may consider himself able to ignore Selectboardspersons with impunity but he does have to get his contract renewed eventually. There is some accountablity.<BR/><BR/>The residents of UMass have none.<BR/>And would be no worse off if UMass was its own municipality as opposed to the quasi one it is now.<BR/><BR/>EdAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-33532959318317140872008-10-07T07:44:00.000-04:002008-10-07T07:44:00.000-04:00I believe if you look at the budget of MDC and MWR...I believe if you look at the budget of MDC and MWRA you will find a item for property taxes. Like the other water and sewer companies in the State they are required to pay property tax to the municipality their facilities are on. The only exception is that most of the systems only pay PILOT in their home Town. <BR/><BR/>Amherst water and sewer companies for example pay property tax to Hadley, Leverett, Pelham and Shutesbury. <BR/><BR/>Note- I said property tax not some version of PILOT set by the State, but property tax set by the municipality based on land and improvements value.<BR/><BR/>Thinking about UMass being a municipality itself is actually an interesting concept. The theory of government, specifically local government, is that it is run by the people, the residents. Who would be elgibile to hold office in the Town of UMass? So we would have a Chancellor trying to accomplish the goals of the university, the sole business in Town. So the appointed Chancellor would be like a City Manager or Town Manager. But these positions are usually apointted by the elected officials of the Town. Most Towns require that the local officials be legal residents. So who would make up the residents? Undergraduates living on campus, graduate students in UMass housing, the few resident advisors living on campus and the Chancellor.<BR/><BR/>This setup has endless twists and turns of the tradition american form of local government. The entire parking system on campus would change. Residents would get better choices for parking. Faculity and staff, the workers of the Town would end up in the outter lots or would become the cronic meter feeders in Town UMass.<BR/><BR/>The financial support system would a bit different. The Town would own all the property so there would be no one to pay property taxes. Vehicle excise tax would be an important issue for the University because they would get the money. Now they don't care.<BR/><BR/>This could be a truly revolutionary form of government for the US.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-72636197851738820192008-10-07T06:02:00.000-04:002008-10-07T06:02:00.000-04:00Well the fish in the Quabbin don't impact Pelham $...Well the fish in the Quabbin don't impact Pelham $ervices the way, ahem, students do.Larry Kelleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02614645831526190536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5035949355013113578.post-31010261210485192022008-10-06T23:20:00.000-04:002008-10-06T23:20:00.000-04:00Larry, it is municipal soverignty. It is the same...Larry, it is municipal soverignty. It is the same reason why the Amherst LSRE doesn't have to pay meals tax TO HADLEY for the stuff that they sell at the July 4th pre-fireworks carnival which is technically located in Hadley.<BR/><BR/>The solution, of course, would be to carve a Greater-UMass out of Amherst/Hadley and make it a new town and to have all taxes due within paid to UMass qua municipality.<BR/><BR/>You don't see Pelham trying to get revenue from the MDC/MWRA for the half of that town that is under the Quabbin, do you?<BR/><BR/>Enough said?<BR/><BR/>EdAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com