War on Rowdyism: The Tide Is Turning

 Graph courtesy of APD

With overall citations up 30% over last year it may seem counter intuitive to declare the problem of rampaging college aged youth is getting better ... but it is.

Note, for instance,  the decrease in arrests for "noise" vs citations issued this year vs last.  But an increase in "nuisance" tickets, a slighter higher level of response/sanction to a party.

A cop in the field has a fair amount of latitude in deciding to arrest (cuff hands behind back, throw -- err, gently place -- in the back of a cruiser and bring to the station for booking) or simply issue a $300 ticket.

If the perps are cooperative they only get a warning, or civil infraction ticket; if not they get arrested.

Word has gotten out about noise/nuisance bylaw enforcement, and the kids are starting to get the message.

According to UMPD Chief John Horvath:

"UMPD dedicated more officers to supporting APD with off campus issues in spring 2013.  The two departments have worked together for a long time and there are good relationships built, while new ones are forming.  It is my intention to continue to work with APD, Chief Livingstone and the Amherst & Hadley communities to support them when needed, while respecting the jurisdictional boundaries that are established."

UMPD Mounted Patrol stationed on Phillips Street April 5th 

I also asked APD Chief Scott Livingstone if this past spring seemed better controled than last spring because of a united crackdown:  

" We know that the weekends have been quieter than past years, because of enforcement, assistance from UMPD and MSP, and the cooler weather…I also think the continued messaging from Enku Gelaye's office helped as well." 

This spring UMass officials issued stern messages to students and their parents warning about the consequences of bad behavior.  They also instituted "Walk This Way", where a legion of volunteers set up at high traffic areas during the late night to redirect revelers away from residential neighborhoods. 


 
Amherst Select Board Chair Stephanie O'Keeffe in the dead of night mid-April

Chief Livingstone agrees enforcement is working, but it also comes at a high cost: 

"We can put an end to much of the bad behavior with enforcement, but not all the bad behavior. Problem is, it cost a lot of money in overtime  cost, and my cops get tired and burned out, and that worries me…Tired cops and stressful situations are a bad combination…" 

According to a prominent longtime local landlord (whose property once made my "Party House of the Weekend") this past spring was "as under control as any I can recall."

Yes, of course the "Blarney Blowout" stands as a notable exception.  But perhaps -- coming in the early spring -- it acted as a wake up call, setting off a "we're-not-going-to-take-this-anymore" response.

A kind of high water mark for rowdy behavior that, like Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, represents a dramatic example of a turning point ... the beginning of the end.

DUI Dishonor Roll

Sobering statistic:  36%  of all traffic deaths in Massachusetts are DUI-related

Since Omar Cruz, age 21, was taken off the road early Saturday at 3:29 AM -- a time when most of us are safely sleeping in bed -- and he was the only drunk driver bagged by APD this past weekend, I suppose we locals should feel somewhat relieved. 

Although I much prefer the July 4th weekend -- number one nationwide for DUI arrests -- where not a single tipsy perp was to be had within the confines of Amherst.

May be quite a while before we see a repeat of that good thing. 

Tasty Expansion

 Mission Cantina, 485 West Street, Amherst.  (Outside looks the same)

For a much needed break from reporting business obituaries in our little college town, I submit for your culinary perusal the following good news note:  Mission Cantina -- the blockbuster restaurant in South Amherst Village Center has doubled in size -- with the long awaited addition/renovation now complete.

 Doorway to new room

And the expansion seems not to have hurt the cozy atmosphere any.  Based on the overcrowded parking lot I witnessed this past weekend, there's still a wait for a table during prime time, but certainly nowhere near what it was a month or so ago.
  

 

New room

According to manager Sammy Kochan:

"With the expansion finally complete , the wait times have dropped significantly throughout the week. With the addition of reservations for parties of 6 or more , and tables that actually accommodate groups up to 16 , the overall flow and customer experience has greatly improved. As for the weekends, wait times , they fluctuate from 10 minutes to 45 during peak business hours,"

The Mexican restaurant opened in the summer of 2011 after Andiamo's went belly up, and has been wildly successful since day one.  So much so, Mission Cantina recently opened a second location in Brookline.

All photos taken before business opened for the day

Parking lot 6:00 PM (after opening at 4:00 PM)

Repaving Paradise

Marsh House lawn 81 Lessey Street. 

Amherst College, the town's largest property owner and #1 taxpayer, is on a building boom, with current projects underway in the downtown -- the  Fiber Art Building rehab -- and the massive overhaul at Pratt Field.

 Fiber Arts Building heart of downtown

After the $19 million setback with the Science Center it must be nice to have a construction project go quickly and easily.

Like this sidewalk renovation that bisects a lush green lawn that flows down a steep hill, practically all the way to  Sweetser Park.

According to Facilities Director Jim Brassord:  "The sidewalk was in serious disrepair so we are replacing it.  In doing so, we'll make it a bit wider, perhaps a foot, to ensure that it is consistent with the width of our standard sized sidewalk plow."

 

Marsh House built 1835

The Marsh House at the top of the hill is plenty historic in its own right.  Built in 1835 for Luke Sweetser (of Sweetser Park fame) the house acted as a fraternity for Amherst College students.  Its most famous pledge was none other than Calvin Coolidge, who graduated cum laude before going on to become our 30th President.

The property is bounded to the south by the Dickinson Homestead and The Evergreens, built for Austin Dickinson, Miss Emily's brother.  Both also owned by Amherst College; and all of these properties are pretty much located dead center in the new Dickinson Local Historic District.

Since driveways, terraces and sidewalks are excluded as long as "any such structure is substantially at grade level," Amherst College did not have to seek a "Certificate of Appropriateness" from the DLHD committee.

The entire project was completed within a week, despite the tropical temperatures.  Ah, if only all of them went so well.  Now that would be historic!

Gluttonou$ Game of Golf

 

Despite a bold, suck up assurance to the Select Board from Town Manager John Musante -- "The golf course will cover its operating and employee benefits costs entirely from user fees" -- the White Elephant continues to lumber along in the red as Cherry Hill Golf Course closed the fiscal year requiring $47,141 in tax support, a little more than it did the previous year.

Now $47,000 may not sound like much, but it seems to be the best case scenario with the ailing recreation business.  And worse case scenario is a repeat of the seven straight years (2001-2007) the course required $100,000 in annual tax support.

The course always comes close to covering "operation costs" but those costs do not include employee benefits, capital items (heavy equipment), and insurance.  Cherry Hill never covers those. 

So the year that just started July 1st (FY14) the course has an extra $12,000 in capital over and above the year just completed.  Thus they will easily lose $60,000.  Still, not such a big deal.  However the following year (FY15) they have $97,500 in capital improvements on tap, so that year they will lose between $130,000 and $140,000.

Having such a large piece of property tied up in the golf business rather than, say, student housing, a solar farm, or private landfill -- all of which would pay significant annual property taxes -- underscores the hidden value of opportunity costs. In this case, opportunity lost.

Even Amherst Golf Course, owned by tax-exempt Amherst College, pays over $7,000 per year in property taxes to the town yet still  manages to make money for the College.  Maybe we should let them run Cherry Hill?

Oh yes, that's right, the town already turned down a private management company that offered to pay $30,000 guaranteed annually to run Cherry Hill. 

Cherry Hill, at $2.2 million dollars ($4.4 million in today's dollars), was the most expensive land taking in town history.   All to satisfy North Amherst  NIMBYs, who railroaded Town Meeting into the nefarious use of eminent domain to stop a 134-unit housing development.

Today we have some of those same NIMBYs (Vince O'Connor for one)  trying to fast track the town into taking 154 acres of property in northeast Amherst to stop a desperately needed 170 unit student housing development.  For an astounding $6.5 million dollars, a new record.

Those who fail to learn from history ...

Back story in emails

Notice how nervous Cherry Hill makes public officials

 

Amherst Office Park Expansion

 Amherst Office Park, South Amherst

The number one problem in Amherst today, the housing crunch, will get some small measure of relief as the Amherst Planning Board finally approved the Special Permits required for the addition of a new building to the Amherst Office Complex, a mixed use development located in the village center of South Amherst nestled between the Hickory Ridge Golf Course and West Street (Rt 116).

New mixed use building

The new 30,000 square foot building will house offices on the ground floor and 17 apartments (19 bedrooms total) on the second and third floors.  Originally the plan called for 12 apartments with 19 bedrooms total but was modified between hearings.  

Planning Board member Connie Kruger lamented this modification as it does not address the needs of families who may wish to move to Amherst.   But a recent study commissioned by the Amherst Housing and Sheltering Committee would seem to support the move:

While Amherst’s population grew by 13.8% from 1980 to 2010, the numbers of households increased more dramatically, by 21.7% to 9,259 total households. This is correlated to the increasing number of smaller, non-family households 3 , which increased from 3,482 in 1980 to 4,775 by 2010, now comprising the majority of all households in Amherst. This increase in smaller households is reflected in the decreasing average household size, from 2.61 persons in 1980 to 2.44 by 2010. The growing number of smaller, non-family households is also reflective of national trends driven by fewer numbers of children and “traditional” families, increases in “child-free” and “child-delayed” families, and increases in empty nesters and senior and frail populations, particularly those who are living alone. 

The office complex is owned and managed by Ron Laverdiere. The only person from the general public to speak at the Public Hearing was fellow South Amherst developer Rich Slobody, who heartily endorsed the expansion.

Slobody, who owns two adjacent office/retail buildings, pointed out that if the town wishes to make the area a true village center this expansion would help provide a vital component: customers.

The Planning Board voted unanimously to support the Special Permits, with Chair David Webber adding the closing comment, "Great project; and we're excited for the town."

Revenge of the Lorax

Speed limit sign ignored by 80% of drivers

At the "scenic road hearing" last night -- a joint meeting between the Amherst Planning Board and Tree Warden Alan Snow -- the fate of ten trees located near the crest of a hill at 666 South East Street was finally decided.  Sort of.

The Planning Board voted 5-2-2 to allow removal of the trees so the owners can put in a new driveway 60 feet north of the plateau, but they must allow the old driveway to return to its natural state.

In what PB Chair David Webber described as "compelling testimony" Amherst Fire Department Assistant Chief Don McKay confirmed the new driveway location would not impede emergency vehicle access.

The public safety expert disclosed, however, an ambulance or firetruck would still need to stage on South East Street; and where the driveway is currently located sets up a recipe for disaster from cars coming over the hill at an average speed of 40 mph.

He also pointed out after completing the site visit he was nearly clobbered trying to pull out of the current driveway by a car speeding over the hill.

Planning Board member Stephen Schreiber, addressing the "public safety" issue stated:  "I bike by there all the time.  It's not a danger to cyclists or pedestrians; but yes, it is a danger to you or friends and family entering or exiting."  Owner Christopher Benfey responded, "That is a brutal calculation."

The Planning Board also "recommended" to the Tree Warden -- who has the final say -- a 50% reduction in replacement cost fees assessed for taking down healthy trees in the public way.  At $90 per inch, that originally (for ten trees) came to $11,475.

But the Tree Warden, who voted "No" (making the overall vote 5-3-2), pointed out he already compromised by taking three trees out of the equation -- one which he agreed could be taken down the other two should be able to survive.

 

Tree Warden Alan Snow

This morning Mr. Snow confirmed that he has not changed his mind, and the homeowners will be assessed the replacement costs for seven trees, or just over $6,000.

Too bad our mothers were right:  "Money doesn't grow on trees."

The Retreat Charges Forward

The influential Planning Board voted 8-1 to advise the Amherst Select Board NOT to invoke a Right Of First Refusal on the 154 acres of woodland in northeast Amherst currently under a $6.5 million contract to become a gated student community known as "The Retreat."

Planning Board Chair David Webber summed it up succinctly:  "The price ($6.5 million) is too high."

About two dozen neighbors impacted by the development turned out to voice their displeasure with the project, including the usual worries over noise, traffic and vandalism.  But it's not like a casino is on the drawing board.

The Retreat will house 700 students on 154 acres, generating about 1,000 car trips per day vs Mohegan Sun's proposed casino in Palmer on 150 acres, generating 20,000 visitors and 10,000 cars per day.

Most of the 1.5 hours of testimony was wasted with long winded complaints about procedure.

 Jack Hirsch wants a "cost benefit analysis"

Under Ch61 the town has 120 days to decide to invoke its Right Of First Refusal, but the clock only starts ticking when a "bona fied" offer has been made.

 Assistant Town Manager Dave Ziomek:  "Property is not a high priority for the town."

Landmark Properties contract with W.D. Cowls, Inc was first submitted in March but the town rejected it as not bona fide, due to an easy escape clause.

The second contract was tendered on April 23 and was also initially rejected but after months of haggling the Town Attorney agreed on Monday that it was legitimate.  Therefor the 120 days is retroactive to April 23, or a drop dead deadline of August 21.

 Vince O'Connor:  Town Attorney should be "terminated" for taking too long reviewing contract

Either way the Select Board set their July 29 meeting as the day of reckoning and asked for the advice of the Planning Board and the Conservation Commission, who will take up the discussion next week.

 W.D. Cowls President Cinda Jones:  Gets paid $6.5 million one way or the other

Planning Board member Connie Kruger pointed out the town has a "significant need for student housing" and that the number one cost to the town for servicing new housing is children in the public schools -- which for this project will be zero.

 

Amherst Planning Board:  David Webber Chair (center) voted yes, Sandra Anderson (far right) only dissenting vote

The Retreat is a double win for the town: providing badly needed housing for a never ending supply of students coming to UMass/Amherst, while generating hundreds of thousands in annual property tax revenues.

Hiding In Plain Sight

Amherst Town Meeting Bus Tour under fire 

A "whistleblower" Amherst resident has filed an Open Meeting Law complaint with the Attorney General over the Town Meeting Bus Tour, where members go on site visits to places around town impacted by articles on the upcoming Town Meeting warrant.

Fair enough.  A good reporter should wear out a lot of shoes canvasing the scene of a story.  But in this case the complaint is not that a secret meeting took place -- after all the bus tour is widely promoted -- but that documents distributed on the tour were not placed into the public record.

And by the sounds of it, the documents in question were a tad fudged.  Maybe that's why they suddenly disappeared. 

The Town Meeting Coordinating Committee is taking up discussion of this later this afternoon as the Open Meeting Law requires the offending committee must be allowed to respond first.  If the complainant doesn't like their response he can then retake it up with the Attorney General.

Interestingly Town Meeting is exempt from many Open Meeting Law regulations -- conflict of interest being a major one.  The town meeting discussion list serve, privately owned by member Mary Streeter (who is also vice chair of the Town Meeting Coordinating Committee), is another good example.

It would be a gross violation of the OML if a majority of the Amherst Select Board engaged in discussions via email about any issue coming before them.

Yet the Amherst Town Meeting list serve was specifically created to do exactly that, and as of today has 208 members, W-A-Y beyond a quorum (128).

   Amherst Town Meeting OML Complaint

Weeds Grow In South Amherst

The two roundabouts at Atkins Corner are already going to seed.  Hey, what do you expect for a lousy $6 million.

The property is still in that netherworld where the contractor -- Baltazar Contractors Inc -- is finishing up a "punch list" of final details before the state Department Of Transportation accepts the work and then turns over responsibility of the turf to the town.

I'm told town officials are hoping Atkins Country Market and Hampshire College "adopt" the islands of green space.  After all, it is their front yard.

Town Hall Showdown

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign ...

On Wednesday night the Amherst Planning Board will be the first official town body to weigh in on the possible acquisition of 154 acres of sub prime woodland in northeast Amherst currently owned by W.D. Cowls, Inc, the largest private landowner in the state.

The property is enrolled in the state's Chapter 61A conservation program so it pays very little to the town in property taxes, but Amherst gets a "Right Of First Refusal" should the property come out of CH61A due to a sale.  In this case to a developer.  A b-i-g one, Landmark Properties.
 
By now any of you living within the Happy Valley nuclear fallout zone have noticed the ubiquitous red stop signs sprinkled on lawns everywhere.  The Retreat is what they wish to stop, a 190 unit student cottage style housing development proposed for the 154 acre parcel.

Although ideally, with a zoning change allowing denser development, only 30% of the property will be used; but as it now stands twice that percentage would be required ... and is allowed by right.

If built, the town assessor has guestimated The Retreat will pay the town $395,182 per year in annual property taxes with a guaranteed increase every year of 2.5%.

NIMBYs were already unceremoniously torpedoed at Amherst Town Meeting when they tried to have the town take the property by eminent domain, a drastic measure requiring a two-thirds super majority.  The "Motion to Dismiss" the article passed easily. 

Both the Planning Board and Conservation Commission are required to make a "recommendation" to the five-member Amherst Select Board, the final authority on deciding the Right Of First Refusal.

Late this afternoon the Town Attorney confirmed to the Select Board that the $6.5 million purchase and sale agreement for the property was legitimate.

Thus the ROFR will be a costly one, as the $6.5 million required to match Landmark Properties offer is more than the combined reserves the town has saved in Free Cash and Stabilization funds.

The Select Board vote (July 29th meeting) only requires a simple majority, but Town Meeting would also have to support funding the move with a two-thirds majority vote. 

Wednesday night's meeting sets the stage for a (remotely) possible epic failure.  Any member of the Planning Board who recommends this taking should be forced to write on a chalkboard 6.5 million times:  "America was founded on Free Enterprise."

Water, Water Everywhere

 

The town has issued a breaking news alert, unusual in that it really is breaking news, warning of bad things found in Amherst water.  No they have not issued a "boil water" alert, and the problem seems to be isolated to a small section of the system in the southern end of town.

DPW Chief Guilford Mooring confirms, "The heat (weather) is a factor and we will probably have to chlorinate the south side of Town for a while."  But he also pointed out reassuringly, "We had very low counts of total coliform colonies in the failed samples."

Back in late October, 2010 the public water tested worse than this time around and the town came within a drop of declaring a "boil water" alert.  At the time UMass was hosting a pair of sold out Phish concerts at the Mullins Center.

The town fired up its Emergency Operations Command to deal with the potential crisis, but follow up tests showed the problem went away.

DUI Dishonor Roll

 South Pleasant Street, Amherst

I sense a pattern with a lot of the DUI arrests made by Amherst Police:  the perp usually draws attention by failing to perform routine driving tasks in a routine manner:  forgetting to signal a turn or turn on headlights, driving too fast or too slow or, of course, crashing into another vehicle.

The latter is the one I'm most concerned with.  Especially in this case, as April Lachapelle was bagged a few hundred yards from my house on one of the most well-traveled roads in Amherst.

7/13 Saturday morning (1:17 AM) 365 South Pleasant Street near golf course (also known as Rt 116)

Final Curtain

 316 College Street, Amherst

After 28 years serving families of Amherst and surrounding towns, the New England Dance Quarters on College Street is no more.

Summers are always tough in Amherst, a "college town" where almost half the population abandons ship by June 1st.

And this time of year is especial tough on high-energy fitness related businesses as most folks do not want to be indoors dancing up a storm on a gorgeous summer day.

I also have to wonder if the declining target demographic -- young families with children -- isn't also a major factor:

According to the Amherst Housing Production Plan, "Young families are rapidly declining as adults age 25 to 44 decreased from 7,323 in 1990 to 4,009 in 2010 a drop of 45.3%. The widening affordability gap will continue to present a substantial obstacle to young families being able to live in Amherst."

Meanwhile, two doors down:

Come A Little Bit Closer

 Lavina and Emily Dickinson:  still together

Fans of our most famous town resident -- "The Belle Of Amherst" -- can now get even closer to the rock star of a poetess.  The ornate black iron fence that enclosed the Dickinson family burial plot for 155 years has disappeared.

 Miss Emily receiving visitors early this evening

No, not stolen.  Amherst Town Meeting appropriated $62,000 in Community Preservation funds to have the fence refurbished, so it had to be carefully dismantled and taken off site.

And when it returns it will be good for another 155 years -- as will Miss Emily's poetry. 

Only the footings remain

Crime Analyst Renewed

 Amherst Police Department, 111 Main Street

The U.S. military relies on "smart bombs" to effectively fulfill their number one role of keeping Americans safe.

While not as dramatic as a computer/laser guided Tomahawk missile taking out an enemy bunker,  the nondescript office adjacent to Amherst police Chief Scott Livingstone will continue to host key civilian employee Amber Sullivan, thanks to another grant provided the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety & Security.

Last year after an extensive search Sullivan was hired to make sense out of a mountain of data concerning criminal activity in our little town, which has its share of big city problems.

The more you understand the who, what, when, where, and why of crime the more effectively you can marshal scarce resources to better deal with it.

The Amherst Police Department is nothing if not skilled at acquiring state and federal grants:  In FY 2013 (ended June 30) the department bolstered their a $4.3 million operation budget with an additional $362,250 in grants.

$41,250 by Executive Office of Public Safety & Security for Crime Analyst

$5,000 by EOPSS for Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety
$10,000 by EOPSS for Alcohol Enforcement initiatives
$6,000 by EOPSS for Highway Safety Initiatives

$300,000 by Department Of Justice, Office of Violence Against Women, for funding civilian advocate and an domestic violence/sexual assault investigator (expires 09/13/15)

Housing Study Preliminarliy Panned

 

Amherst Housing & Sheltering Committee this morning

The Amherst Housing & Sheltering Committee voted unanimously this morning to send a borderline inflammatory dispatch to RKG Associates, consultants working on a "Market Study Report."

The lead author of the remarks, John Hornik, even went so far as to raise the nuclear option of not accepting the final report if problems are not adequately addressed.

The $30,000 housing market study was approved by Amherst Town Meeting, but not without a fair amount of criticism along the lines of Amherst does too many studies and never seems to follow up on their recommendations.

The initial draft report was presented last month at a public meeting and as part of the contract  the consultants are required to appear at one more public hearing, probably late next month, before issuing the final report. 

Housing and Sheltering Committee members pointed out the consultants used the term "Pioneer Counties" as opposed to "Pioneer Valley," making it seem like they are unfamiliar with Amherst; and they use industry jargon like "Main Street USA", "exurbanites" or "laptops and lattes" which will turn off local readers unfamiliar with the trendy terms.

Committee Co-Chair Greg Stutsman thought the consultants were confusing "demand with desirability."  Obviously in a "college town" high demand for student housing is a given.  What the committee would like to see is a plan for attracting a more "desirable" demographic (in addition to students) with recommendations as to how to make that happen.

Town planner and liaison to the sheltering committee Nate Malloy agreed they "Can drive the report by asking the consultants to give recommendations for particular demographics." 

Ideally the consultants would come up with both a zoning and physical design blueprint that allows for a high-density development accommodating students, families, low-and-moderate income levels, as well as town employees.

Of course even if the consultants conjure up this Utopian design, it would require the exceedingly hard to acquire two-thirds majority vote of Amherst Town Meeting.

Maybe they can also recommend a good Voodoo priest.

Food For Thought

Food For Thought Books 106 North Pleasant Street, Amherst

Yet another floundering downtown business has sent up an emergency flare hoping consumers will throw them a lifeline.   And soon.

This time it's iconic Food For Thought Books, one of only two worker owned collectives in the downtown, and a mainstay for academic types -- or just plain book lovers -- since 1976, when Gerald Ford was keeping the White House safe for Republicans.  

 Funky exterior side wall

By now the story is all too familiar:  changing habits brought on by the Internet leave many a business high and dry.  Video rental stores, record shops, travel agencies, etc.  

In the case of local independent book stores it's a double whammy as they still have to deal with big box stores like the nearby Barnes & Noble, with plenty of free parking. 

The adjacent business, Souper Bowl, just went out of business but may soon become home to "All Things Local" a coop local food and crafts market.

The building is owned by downtown business mogul Barry Roberts, so no doubt the book business has been afforded every opportunity to remake itself into a sustainable operation. 

DUI Dishonor Roll

Amherst is currently on a record setting pace for DUI arrests

Despite July 4th weekend being the peak period nationwide for drunk driving arrests, Amherst had zero this past weekend, or even the entire past week.  I'll drink (coffee) to that.  

But before we get all celebratory -- and just to rule out APD may be slacking on the enforcement end -- arrests to date for the year 2013 stand at 80, or on pace for a record breaking 160-170.   

In 2011 APD arrested 144 drunk drivers; in 2012 it  had escalated to 155. At the 2012 half-way  point (6/30) arrests stood at 74 compared to today's 80.  

Unfortunately, when it comes to drunk drivers, it only takes one to unleash unforgettable devastation.

Public Documents Runaround

(click to enlarge/read)      Public Records appeal response:  late and stingy

Well that only took four months, relatively quick by Public Documents standards -- at least when dealing with the Amherst Public Schools.  And as usual the grudging response is pretty anemic.  Downside for the taxpayers of having a $225/hour school attorney is they have an economic incentive to be obstinate with these simple requests. 

Attorney Regina W. Tate

From: Larry Kelley
To: pre <pre@sec.state.ma.us>; donald.white <donald.white@state.ma.us>
Sent: Sat, Mar 2, 2013 10:20 am
Subject: Public Records Appeal of Amherst Schools

Shawn Williams, Director

Public Records Division

One Ashburton Place, 17th Floor

Boston, MA 02108

Dear Mr. Williams,

I wish to once again appeal the decision of the Amherst Regional Public Schools to stonewall my public documents request for legal settlements that have cost Amherst/Regional taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

As you may remember, your office sided with me last year on a previous complaint regarding ARPS settlement agreements with terminated employees totaling over $200,000.  The schools obstinately continue refusing to release those documents.

Now I wish to appeal the 2/26/13 decision of Rob Detweiler, Director of Finance and Operations, to withhold settlement agreements totaling $229,300, from recent "Special Education" legal cases. 

Obviously I understand certain information -- names of students for instance -- should be redacted to protect privacy, but certainly with that much settlement money involved the taxpayers have a right to know how many cases it represents and the details of those cases.

Even if the money was paid by an insurance carrier a Hampshire Superior Court judge found the settlement agreement between the Phoebe Prince family and South Hadley Schools were still a pubic document even though the $225,000 payout came from liability insurance. 

Your office has also repeatedly struck down the concept of "non disclosure agreements" citing Washington Post ., 690 F. 2d at 263 ( a government agency cannot circumvent the Federal Freedom of Information Act with a private agreement).

Please remind the Amherst Regional Public Schools that the general public has a right to know.

Sincerely,

Larry J. Kelley