Click to enlargeSo notice how Mr. Kusner ties his name more closely with "authority." Yes, this from the guy who as a cycling Selectman slammed his hand on a car he thought cut him off and shouted for them to pull over under his authority as "Select Man". Maybe we should issue them badges and guns; after all, we only pay them $300 annually.
Of course aligning his name with Redevelopment is a big stretch. This from the guy who received a -24 as a Town Meeting member (the lowest score in his Precinct) from 'Sustainable Amherst', those middle-of-the-road, sensible center types who want to have their cake and eat it to.
Yeah, I scored a +17, second highest in my Precinct, but then I was not in Town Meeting in 2004 and 2005 (showing support for the Charter Commission Mayor/Council initiative) so just for fun I looked up the 8 votes they rated back then and found I would have scored another 7 out of 8 in agreeing with them.
But the one where I would have been penalized is a tad troubling. The Town Meeting vote supporting the "recommendation" to the Select Board to roll back the Town Manager's sudden mid-year pay raise in order to keep up with the new Superintendent's pay jump over the previous one.
The real budget buster in this town is the pay scale and all the associated costs of employees. Just a tiny giveback from the unions can save millions (in fact completely solve the current crisis).
But when it goes public that the new Superintendent is coming in at almost 20% over the previous SUPERSTAR and another 10% over with housing/auto allowance, the union give backs are dead in the water.
So if the Select Board forces the Town Manager to take his COLA this year (which in an unusually statesman like move he decided to forgo) and Town Meeting hears a advisory article this Fall against it, 'Sustainable Amherst' would support spending more?
Doesn't sound very sustainable to me.
