Voting for Dummies

Since it is such a tough task for harried voters to keep track of 24 candidates per precinct (especially with some precincts not having enough candidates to fill all those seats) our friends at Sustainable Amherst did all the work for us and came up with a handy cheat sheet, err, I mean "printable voter guide" you can bring into the ballot box and march in lock step with the supposed "Amherst Center."

If you remember, these folks lost their Op/Ed column at the Amherst Bulletin for journalistic improprieties concerning election endorsements two years ago, so take their election advice with a truck load of salt.  Although I do agree that this election will have a lousy, err, low turnout.  And I could not agree more with their Jones Library Trustees recommendation, which mirrors my Anyone But Carol endorsement.

Notice for School Committee they do not even mention Michael Aronson, the only candidate who dares to discuss the gilded school costs that give rise to the highest property tax rate in the area--almost twice that of neighboring Hadley where school achievement results are comparable to the venerable Amherst system.

Unfortunately Town Meeting is the only game in town.  But voting for someone you do not know is like a bomb disposal technician doing "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe" to figure out which colored wire to cut.

Do as I say...

Kid is thinking: What about Police and Fire?

Baer "The Turk" Tierkel is asking fellow Amherst liberals to post this town meeting recruiting poster on Facebook to drum up support for the aging institution. Now yes, Mr. Tierkel is an Amherst resident and a town meeting member, so no hypocrisy there...but, umm, he also does not send either of his children to the Amherst public schools. I guess it all depends on how you define "support."

Change indeed

So the Gazette today reports the Amherst Chamber of Commerce doling out their annual awards at an upcoming expensive dinner party and former Amherst Bulletin 'Amherst Center' columnists Baer Tierkel, Andy Churchill and Clare Bertrand are receiving the "change agent award."

Not bad considering they were cut from their rotation at the Amherst Bulletin for failing to disclose conflicts of interest during the election last spring. And about the only "change" they will be tenaciously gerrymandering this coming election is to defeat Catherine Sanderson for School Committee.

Let the Judge decide!

State Ethics Commission, Enforcement Division
One Ashburton Place
Room 619
Boston MA 02108

Dear Sir or Madam,

I wish to file a formal complaint over the inappropriate use of a taxpayer funded town digital asset (High School website) to further a partisan political cause--the passage of a Proposition 2.5 Override ballot question.

Although the Amherst Select Board has not yet formulated the structure or amount for the Override, Select Board Chair Stephanie O'Keeffe has publicly confirmed they will place an Override question on the March 23 local ballot.

On January 14 an ad appeared on the Amherst Regional High School Parent Center, a page contained within the High School website (http://www.arhsparentcenter.org/)

##################################
Petition for a Prop 2 1/2 Override
Submitted by Baer Tierkel on January 14, 2010 - 6:10pm.

Override Petition If you are interested in supporting a Proposition 2 1/2 override to help avoid the most drastic cuts to our schools, libraries, and town services, there is a petition being circulated at:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/saveamherst
#################################

Since the Override online petition drive is clearly an effort to influence the outcome of the ballot question, it should not be promoted at taxpayer expense.

Sincerely Yours,

Larry Kelley

Blank check petition

UPDATE: Thursday, 8:00 AM

Okay now that the crusty Gazette and Bulletin (Front Page no less) have caught up with this cyber "story" the Overriders should have little trouble getting the remaining 750 signatures or so. Only a slight vested interest on the part of our local media as the Gazette and Bulletin get to charge "open rate" (highest possible) for political ads and Overriders tend to love those boring but large signature ads.

UPDATE: 3:00 PM

Found this blast from the past on the failure of the "Amherst Plan" Override three years ago published in the 5/7/07 Amherst Bulletin:

Although not as decisive as Select Board member Hwei-Ling Greeney would have liked it to be, the vote would send town officials a message, said Greeney, who campaigned hard for the "No" side. "Now I feel we're in a strong position to say, 'You need to go by what the voters want, which is to live within our means.'"

Override supporters said the 267-vote margin hardly constitutes a mandate.

"I think it's pretty positive," said former Select Board member Bryan Harvey, at Town Meeting members Patricia Blauner's and Peter Blier's house, where supporters met on Tuesday night.

"This is the hardest sell you can imagine," Harvey said. "Big number, multi-year, all the risk about - will it work?" There is no harder sell, and the result is we have to change 130 minds. We'll find 130 people," Harvey said.

"We have to figure out what the town really wants to do. There was some doubt about this particular package, but strong support for doing something."

Baer Tierkel, a supporter, said parents hadn't turned out in the numbers he had hoped to see. "It's up to parents to have a voice in how our schools are financed and what their level of quality is," Tierkel said.

He said he was disappointed by some residents he would have expected to support an override.

"Amherst politics always surprises me," Tierkel said. "There are a lot of people who align themselves as liberals, as progressives, as believing in using taxes to distribute the wealth.

"I understand people who are against taxes and big government being on the 'No' side," Tierkel said.

"I don't understand people who believe in government's role in providing for schools and for services to those who can't afford it, aligning with the 'No' side."

#########################################
Update 5:10 PM (EST rather than PST where petitionsite.com is located) Look who just signed the petition!

Jennie "trash talking" Traschen. You know, the Umass Prof who on the night of 9/10/2001 (about 12 hours before the fist plane impaled the North Tower) pontificated before the illustrious People's Republic of Amherst Select Board that the American flag "is a symbol of tyranny and fear and destruction and terrorism." Yikes!
##########################################
12:32 pm PST, Jan 12, Jennie Traschen, Massachusetts
To understand a society, look at how it spends money.
#########################################

Original Post 10:45 AM

So these folks--many who work for the schools--want the illustrious Select Board to put an Override on the ballot this March 23rd; and I guess they really don't care if it's for $1 million (costing the average homeowner an additional $150 in taxes) or $10 million--which would cost ten times that spare change amount.

I'm surprised their goal is only 1,000 signatures because in Amherst collecting petition signatures is a popular pastime; and using the crowd sourcing Internet, they should have gotten that piddly amount, like, yesterday.

Maybe somebody should start a petition targeting Governor Patrick demanding state workers get a raise or the Feds to give those living on fixed incomes a Social Security hike. After all, their local taxes are about to skyrocket.

Yes, we the undersigned want to pay higher taxes

The problem with a delayed lead.

So my friend and fellow blogger/town official Catherine Sanderson is experiencing a bit of a backlash from today's Amherst Bulletin column invoking the still sensitive specter of 9/11 and the immediate aftermath to make a valid point about questioning authority and current paradigms concerning revered institutions. And in the People's Republic of Amherst, none are more revered than the public schools.

I for one took no offense at the 9/11 comparison to our "little Peyton Place" and the "Harper Valley hypocrites." I just thought it was dead wood that detracted from their admirable main point. This is after all Amherst--so I can't blame her for sucking up to the average Bulletin opinion page reader by opening with Anti-Bush sentiment.

But the "appalled" response by California transplant Baer Tierkel on an Amherst Town Meeting listserve he founded was a tad over the top. Mr. Tierkel was one of the main proponents of the "Amherst Plan" Override that failed in 2007. Disgruntled, he took both his children out of the venerable Amherst public schools dividing them between a Charter School and a Private operations. Although one has now returned. So I guess he's entitled to use the term "our schools."

Tierkel doesn't agree with the "racist accusation" but "fully agree with people's right to criticize you." Hmm...So if Anonymous Nitwits call her a "dumb bitch", would that be just fine because it's their Neanderthal way of criticizing her???

As those Southern California surfer dudes would say Mr. Tierkel, "lighten up."

##############################################

Catherine & Steve

I was appalled at your use of the death of thousands of people as a
comparison point, in any way, to our schools. As someone who knew peoplekilled in 911 and as the child of a military family who has given a great deal to our country, I'm just appalled at your using their sacrifice to further your agenda.

Additionally, I feel that you do not have a fundamental understanding of theimpact of your tone on your ability to accomplish your goals in our schools.

You seem to have no concern for the collateral damage you cause with yourstatements and the impact that has on creating more effective and efficientpublic education in Amherst.

Your column also seems to indicate that you are above criticism. I would
guess that I agree with 70% of your positions, yet I fully believe that in a
democracy it is ok for people to question and criticize your approach and
your positions. Indeed that seems to be what you are defending - your rightto question. In fact as you say, we need an unfettered debate and hardquestions need to be asked. It seems to me that there are people asking those questions of you and criticizing you. And you don't like it.

Someone calling a position of yours 'racist' is not challenging your right
to ask questions. It is someone criticizing your position. As is their
right in a truly open debate. You might not like it, but that's the way
debate works. I don't agree with the 'racist' accusation, but I fully agree
with people's right to criticize you. Honestly, I haven't talked to anyone
who questions your right to engage in debate or ask questions. I've talked
with a lot of people that don't agree with you and your approach.

I also don't understand why you would waste column space (5 of 7 paragraphs)writing about yourselves, rather than the issues.

As always, I thank and applaud your work for our schools. I just wish you
take a different approach than using a tragedy of the death of lots of folks
as a way to leverage your work for our schools.

Disappointed,

Baer
tm@sustainableamherst.org


Today's offending school Bulletin Column