"One is the loneliest number..."

Since a flock of folks have asked how I’m voting in Tuesday’s election I’ll let you in on the secret: Sorry Alisa, but I’m bullet voting for you (sorry meaning I hope that didn’t just cost you a few votes); and I suppose if somebody pressed a flamethrower to my head and required that second vote I would hold my nose, close my eyes, throw salt over my left shoulder and vote for Mr. Weiss (no apology--and I do hope it costs you some votes Gerry).

So why does Mr. Hubley come in last in a race where two out of three win? Well, lets forget the frequent Reagan moments because he was pretty lucid when stating he “slid like a zombie” into his current position (perfect metaphor) or that Open Space is better than development, which is like a firefighter suggesting gasoline as means of fire suppression.

I could, however, most eagerly flip-flop (like the Select board did Monday night on an additional May 1’st Override Question) with only one condition: I would bullet vote for Hubley as long as his wife, current Select board Czar Anne Awad, resigns if he is reelected.

An acquaintance asked an attorney if it’s a conflict for two of five Select board members to be married (to each other)? He quickly responded: “While it is not illegal under State Ethics Law or Open Meeting Law for married people to serve on the same board, as a matter of public policy it’s a very bad idea.”

Now lawyers are far from infallible but this one makes sense. He continues:

“When three of five Select Board members make a quorum, and when two Select Board members are married, it’s very easy to violate the open meeting law.

Robbie and Anne have recently been cited for violating the open meeting law on two occasions by using emails to discuss important town business.

By having a married couple serving together on the Select Board, the likelihood of further violations is significantly increased.”

He went on to cite state ethics law c. 268A: "act in a manner which would cause a reasonable person, having knowledge of the relevant circumstances, to conclude that any person can improperly influence or unduly enjoy his favor in the performance of his official duties, or that he is likely to act or fail to act as a result of kinship, rank, position or undue influence of any party or person."

And all the state requires to nullify this possible conflict is simply to disclose this “kinship” publicly.

I think she broke trust with her supporters by not disclosing her close personal relationship with another Select board member in last year’s low-key campaign. Although I do have to admit, their affair was the worst kept secret in Amherst.

Of course, the certain way to solve this problem of a five-member Select board with possible conflict of relationships is to switch to a strong Mayor form of government.

Let the revolution begin!

Golf anyone?

To no surprise nobody showed up for the “mandatory” site visit at the Cherry Hill Golf Course yesterday so now another Request For Proposals (maybe they should have said “please” in the ads) has gone bust and we’re stuck with the White Elephant.

So in next year’s budget the town still has on the chopping block five firefighters, two cops and the outdoor War Memorial Pool, all costing less than the golf course--even though the former are far more utilized by Amherst taxpayers than the latter, where half the season pass holders are from out of town.

Hence the title of this Blog: Only in the Republic of Amherst!

No wonder

The town took Dave Keenan's house on Shays Street (well, besides the $50,000 in back taxes owed). Makes a great political sign location. And all three Select board candidates are equal opportunity users.

Out of the Chaos

As I said before sometimes you just have to be there, rather than watching from the comforts of home. Now I’m told the Select board did NOT go into Executive Session at the end of that rousing meeting characterized by one of them as “drama in the town room.”

Why the confusion? Executive Session was the last item on the Agenda (but then it’s almost always there). Mr. Hubley made the final motion and used the awkward phrasing “adjourn the Open Meeting of the Select Board meeting of March 19...”

And at least one reporter seemed to think they went into Executive Session.

Still, since my protest to the DA is two-fold and I’m sure that the second part of my complaint is still valid, at least I can’t be arrested for filing a false report.

"There they go AGAIN"

Northwestern District Attorney
Elizabeth Scheibel
One Gleason Plaza
Northampton, Ma 01060
3/21/2007

Amherst Open Meeting Law Complaint

I wish to file a formal complaint about the abuse of Executive Session by the Amherst Select board in general (as in overuse) and in particular their most recent 3/19/07 meeting where they adjourned into Executive Session without first giving a reason justify it or announcing if they would return to Open Session.

According to Chapter 39: Section 23-B: “…the presiding officer has cited the purpose for an executive session, and the presiding officer has stated before the executive session if the governmental body will reconvene after the executive session.”

If you analyze a year’s worth meetings I think you will find the Amherst Select board is a statistical outlier in their use of Executive Session when compared with Executive Branch boards in comparable--or even larger--cities and towns.

Sincerely Yours,



Larry Kelley

Sex, Lies and Voice Mail

So reaction to my Blog has been pouring in via email, telephone, and live encounters in the bricks and mortar world. Selectman Kusner called, again, to complain. This time he had a point…. albeit minor.

I used him as a source in my debut Blog to expose the tipbit about the new Town Manager making a surprise inspection last summer (you can tell he’s a US Army veteran) out at Cherry Hill and not being happy with what he found thus demoting Superintendent Engstrom. I wrote that Mr. Kusner had originally called to complain about something I posted on the net.

Well I sit corrected: Mr. Kusner, as he grumpily pointed out on my voice mail, actually had called to congratulate me on the state Department of Education awarding a Charter to Pioneer Valley Chinese Charter Immersion School (I am one of 15 original founding member). During this chummy chat he revealed the Engstrom episode.

Interestingly this time around he admonished me about “treating your sources respectfully,” but didn’t deny he was a source, or take issue with the information I had used about Engstrom. Yet he couldn’t have been to overly angry as he closed with “good luck with your beginning as a reporter.”

Now combine that corroboration with another source that reported Engstrom had moved into the Clubhouse for a few months last summer. Little wonder why the Town Manager was unhappy with what he discovered in early August. With a 60-K annual salary, you would think Engstrom could afford an apartment.

Of course, that other caller had some interesting things to say about risqué web sites and what may or may not be found on a town computer’s hard drive, but I’ll leave that for the real reporters to ferret out.

Steal this! (Politicking Amherst style)

Okay…I was lazy (actually I had to teach a karate class at my club till 7:30 pm) so I did not traipse to Town Hall to attend the League of Women Voters Candidate’s night, last Thursday 3/15/07, preferring to stay at home and watch it live on public access TV.

Anyone who has ever attended live events—concerts, baseball games, or Broadway plays—knows that there’s nothing quite like being there (except, of course, if Fox News wants you attend a High School performance of ‘The Vagina Monolgues’). So what did TV viewers miss?

Apparently some folks left flyers from sustainableamherst.org on the table as you first walk into the Town Room that endorsed a slate of Town Meeting candidates (amazingly I’m on that list) as well as Alisa Brewer for Select board, even though there are two seats on the board open and every voter gets to choose two candidate. That’s a not-to-subtle way of suggesting a Bullet Vote for Alisa, rather than voting for two candidates.

The best way to defend Bullet Voting (political lingo meaning you only vote for one person when you, strangely, have the ability to vote for two) is to tell a supporter of one particular candidate, say Alisa Brewer, who may feel it is their civic duty to cast that second vote for either Gerry Weiss or Robie Hubley: “How are you going to feel if Alisa losses by one FREAKEN vote to the candidate you threw your second vote to?”

So if you really are coming out that day for one particular candidate, then vote for ONLY for them.

Meanwhile back at Town Hall:

Pat Church, in a rash response, proceeds to impound the flyers, after getting permission from Select Board Czar Anne Awad, married to Robie Hubley who is up for reelection. And many insiders predict he will be the odd man out at the 3/27/07 election where two of the three candidates are in.

Now some of you may remember Pat Church. She attended the infamous ‘Only In Amherst’ Select board meeting of 9/10/01 (The Eve of Destruction) advocating against the flying of the American flags in the downtown.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElHzFh5rT5U

And she was also the culprit who took down the Puerto Rican flag in front of Town Hall back in 2004. At the time she was a town meeting member and more appropriately Chair of the Solid Waste Committee; attending her usual Sunday afternoon Peace Rally in town center and somebody told her the Puerto Rican flag was the flag of Texas (to honor President Bush’s reelection the week before).

Here’s a snippet of the Gazette coverage at the time (11/9/04):

'I'm mortified,'' said Church when she learned of her mistake Monday. ''This makes me really embarrassed.''

She immediately asked a friend to fetch the flag from her house and take it to the police station, she said. Town Manager Barry Del Castilho said it would be returned to the flagpole today, she said. Police said today they would not pursue charges.

But the matter didn't end there. Vladimir Morales, the School Committee member who is president of the Puerto Rican Association, says he has demanded a formal apology from Church. The two were active in the campaigns of rival candidates in the Democratic primary for governor's council, said Church, who had not yet responded to Morales' request Monday night.

Removing the flag would not have been justified even if it had been the Texas flag, Morales said. ''You have to respect any flag, no matter where it's from,'' he said. ''Flags are flags. They're symbols.''

And he expressed surprise that a participant in a peace vigil had taken matters into her own hands by removing the flag. ''They're there for peace, for heaven's sake,'' he said.

####

One of the folks responsible for the flyers called Ms. Church to complain about her thievery. Ms Church defended her actions by saying the flyers violated campaign law. Oh really?

Campaign law bans advocacy within 100 feet of a polling station on Election Day, or anytime at the Town Clerks office. But the town room at town hall almost two weeks before the election is hardly that sacred.

Ms. Church also lamented to the caller about how “divisive” this election campaign has gotten. Well, at least she’s one for two.