Hot night in the People's Republic

John Fox presses his complaint yet again while Umass officials (left to rt): Todd Diacon, Eddie Hull, Nancy Buffone, Lisa Queenin and (rear) Dennis Swinford look on, sort of, at ARA meeting in the Bangs Community Center.
A hot night for public meetings that is:

The Amherst Redevelopment Authority continuing to press forward with Umass on the Gateway Project, the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting in Town Hall, where heavy-hitter, insider (Mother) Mary Streeter does her best to torpedo the plans of country Doctor Kate Atkinson to build a medical building in that neighborhood and a hearing concerning the town leveling the bucolic Hawthorne house and barn it recently purchased to create soccer fields.

And the NIMBYs were out in force at all three meetings.

Dr Kate Atkinson (2nd from rt) looks on as Mary Streeter wields her verbal scalpel at ZBA hearing in Town Hall. The Meeting was continued to 12/22 (Let's hope the ZBA gives Dr. Kate a nice Christmas, err, holiday present. Otherwise she builds in Hadley)

Banned in Amherst! (again)

Mary Streeter—private owner of what most people mistakingly think is the official public Amherst Town Meeting listserve—warned me on May 29 after I asked His Lordship to schedule an election to replace Selectboard partner in crime Anne Awad.

“Discussions of a person(s) will not be tolerated on this listserv. This is the only warning that will be given before removal from this group.”

And yeah, I was sorely tempted to “reply all’ with a smart ass comment thus guaranteeing my banishment from the herd. But I controlled the urge (my martial arts training) and did nothing.

Until yesterday morning, when I tried to send the listserve the Springfield Republican article about the residency fiasco embroiling Ms. Awad and husband Robie Hubley

My Yahoo account returned the following:
We are unable to deliver the message from amherstac@yahoo.com
to amhersttownmeeting@yahoogroups.com.

The email address used to send your message is not subscribed to this group.

So then I tried sending via my AOL account (figuring she’s not the very tech savvy and may not have banned both addresses) but soon received the same error code.

Looks like I’ve been given yet another “time out”. Although last time Mother Mary said it was a limited ban. This time nothing. Expelled, perhaps, forever. Banned in Amherst--the town that cherishes freedom of speech.

Funny how an exceedingly minuscule group of malcontents complain about the Amherst July 4’Th Parade banning anti-war propaganda. But here we have a deliberative, legislative body where the only thing silent is the “h” in Amherst and I’m kicked off without warning.

Well, I did get a warning…sort of. But then banning me anyway is sort of like a cop firing a warning shot--into the back of a perp’s head.

No sense of humor

Bully drops a bomb
So His Lordship Gerry Weiss sent a routine housekeeping message over the privately owned (so she can trample First Amendment rights anytime she wants) Town Meeting Listserve, and I of course used the opening to ‘respond all’:

To: amhersttownmeeting@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thu, 29 May 2008 10:18 pm
Subject: Re: [AmhTownMtg] 20B and procedure

So, ugh, it sounds like Town Meeting will drone on beyond June 10'th. And on THAT DAY, according to a legal FDIC mortgage, Ms. Awad and Mr. Hubley (although by a Homestead decree signed April 10 he has ALREADY vacated the town of Amherst) become "primary residents" of South Hadley.

Could you please do your job and schedule an election to replace Ms. Awad--preferably when it will not cost taxpayers a ton of money. Thanks.

Larry Kelley
Precinct 5
Legal and Spiritual resident of Amherst

To: amhersttownmeeting@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thu, 29 May 2008 11:45 pm
Subject: Re: [AmhTownMtg] 20B and procedure

A reminder to everyone that this forum, especially the poster of the
last message:

Discussions of a person(s) will not be tolerated on this listserv. This
is the only warning that will be given before removal from this group.

Mary Streeter
Group Moderator