Revenge of the Potholes

Monday night the schizophrenic Finance Committee voted unanimously to support Wednesday night's Special Town Meeting warrant article to "strongly urge" the Select board to "strongly urge" the Town Manager to reissue the Cherry Hill Golf Course privatization proposal but with a three year contract.

Yes, these are the same fiscal watchdogs that wrote in the 2004 Annual Town Report: “The Town should no longer operate Cherry Hill Golf Course. Instead, requests for proposals for outside management should be put out by the fall of 2004. If this is not done the course should be closed.”

Barry Del Castilho did put the course out to bid (telling the Select board the minimum bid needs to be $30,000) but garnered no responses. The Finance Committee then went back to supporting (losing) business as usual at Cherry Hill. They predicted a loss of $8,710 for FY06 countering the Pollyannaish outgoing town manager’s prediction of a $16,084 profit. Actual losses that year were $59,649

And last year they opposed Irv Rhodes Town Meeting article that “strongly urged” the Select board to reissue an RFP for the beleaguered golf business. Town Meeting supported it anyway and the rookie Town Manager then turned down an offer for $30,000 to $35,000 annually because the respondent wished for a three-year commitment.

Perhaps the Finance Committee feels guilty about spending one-third of the emergency Reserve Fund on golf, leaving no money for filling potholes.

Yesterday Fin Com member Andy Steinberg, in an attempt at damage control, wrote on the Town Meeting Listserve: “The $16,425 was due to costs associated with the change in management, unbudgeted increases in utilities and some additional seasonal help that was required.”

Yeah, sound like typical cost overruns to me.

Superintendent Dan Engstrom, believe it or not, made $60,000 annually running Cherry Hill for 7 months out of the year. But he was paid in $5,000 monthly installments. After his sudden resignation on March 17 (or be fired) he collected his final salary check on April 1. So his impact on the budget normally would have been $15,000 over the last three months anyway.

On August 18,2006 the rookie Town Manager issued a press release announcing that “the Cherry Hill Golf Course operation has been assigned to the Director of Leisure Services and Supplemental Education department, with Barbara Bilz assuming oversight of the course operations on a day to day basis,”

Interestingly the press piece closes with: “The town is fortunate to have Dan Engstrom, Course Manager, to continue his expertise in maintaining one of the highest quality public golf course in Massachusetts.”

Well, big old Dan continued to offer his expertise only until March 17’th, when the luck of the Irish suddenly and mysteriously ran out for him. Now if only the taxpayers could catch a break!

Breaking News Update: 2:45 pm. Turn About Fairplay

Vince O’Connor, everyone’s favorite activist and longtime Town Meeting member and member of the Public Works Committee filed a written complaint on June 1 with the DPW department with a list of streets where “potholes constitute a safety hazard to both motor vehicles and bicyclists." He closes with “Even tho the Department has expended its budget on other projects I believe these areas constitute such a hazard as to require a trip to the Finance Committee Reserve Fund”

Vince will be disappointed to learn the Finance Committee Reserve Fund is spoken for, with Cherry Hill Golf Course yelling the loudest. Now if only Vince had not been so instrumental in the original Taking Of Cherry Hill 20 years ago…

A Question of Priorities in The People's Republic

Filling potholes is one of those mundane tasks of local government that goes unnoticed until it doesn’t happen. Like forgetting to brush your teeth once to often and then having to fill a cavity or endure tooth replacement.

Mayors have lost elections because snow and ice removal was ineffective after a particularly bad blizzard, or garbage collection languished in the middle of a blistering heat wave, or because an influential individual had their luxury car’s suspension ruined by a cavernous pothole.

Town Manager Larry Shaffer reported to the Select board Thursday night that the $27,600 DPW asphalt budget was depleted, so we would have to wait until the start of the new fiscal year (July 1) for pothole maintenance.

Excuse me?

Would a restaurant in Florida wait a summer month for air conditioning repairs because their HVAC maintenance budget was expended? Divert from another budget, take out a loan or rob a bank.

I quickly asked if the $50,000 emergency Reserve Fund controlled by the Finance Committee could be tapped and Mr. Shaffer responded that it was completely encumbered.

Moments later the Town Manager championed the Cherry Hill Golf Course; but he made the mistake of releasing current revenues—$175,000—with only June remaining in the Fiscal Year. And last June they generated $28,000, so even if they do 10% better that still brings them in at $206,000. The Finance Committee declared $224,000 in revenues required for break even.

Even worse, the Town Manager projected operations at $213,000 a $21,000 overrun from the $192,385 budget approved by the Finance Committee and Town Meeting. $18,000 in revenue shortfalls combined with $20,615 budget overruns equals tax losses of $38,615 for FY07 (not counting the $17,000 Payment In Lieu Of Taxes no longer made).

So if the Niblik privatization contract had been in effect, rather than a $38,615 loss we could have had a $35,000 gain or a $73,615 turnaround, significant enough to fund teachers, police or human services.

Last year Cherry Hill lost $59,649 and the Finance Committee covered $13,419 of that from the Reserve Fund.

On Friday I called FinCom chair Alice Carlozzi to confirm the current status of the Reserve Fund. She corroborated that it was entirely tapped out and, indeed, Cherry Hill will absorb $16,500 of that—or one-third of the total fund created to cover “unanticipated emergencies.”

We can spend emergency money on golf, but not on potholes? Only in Amherst!

Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys

http://www.masslive.com/localbuzz/stories/index.ssf?/base/buzz/1180548354103830.xml&coll=3

So in spite of spelling my name wrong (it’s Kelley with two e’s) and number of appearances on Bill O’Reilly (it was exactly two, plus one on The Today Show) the article came out okay, although I find the title a little odd.

I was a little worried after I went to the The Buzz website to check out the publication figuring by the articles, ads, and hip title it targets 18-25 year olds. Not that in my graying years I can’t still relate to that dynamic age group.

Instead of mentioning “multiple times” that I’m a karate expert I should have pointed out that in the 35 years as a black belt I have never once used martial arts outside of a sporting or teaching context. Although last week I came very close to engaging a moving automobile.

I should have added to my socially liberal list that I’m pro women’s right to chose, and I alienated many of my conservative compatriots by strongly supporting the smoking ban in bars (voted most controversial issue of the year in 1999 by the Amherst Bulletin) where Amherst was in the forefront of something now considered routine.

Perhaps the title Lonesome Cowboy comes from a President Reagan reference or, of course, my final quote. Oddly when Mr. Peters first contacted me via email at the beginning of May he seemed to be doing an article on conservatives as in the pleural sense:

“Mainly, we've decided to do a story about the conservative population in Western Mass simply because we rarely, if ever, read about conservative culture in this area. We're hoping to shed some light on the conservatives that do exist in this area, and discuss their engagement with the local political process.”

Maybe I was the only one they could find? Makes me even lonelier…

Jack Wilson can take the heat

From a hundred miles away Umass is simply considered part of the town of Amherst, albeit a large busy part. They have their own zip code (01003) but you still write Amherst, Ma on the envelope.

Like most townies, I view UMass as separate from the town. Although many students are registered to vote their involvement in local politics is nil and most don’t even bother to register their cars here, thus denying the town excise tax revenues.

So when something flares up at the University—like the Red Sox riots or graduation protests over Andy Card’s honorary degree--I view it more as a reflection on the University than the town. After all, Amherst has enough PR problems of its own.

Recently students and staff denied President Jack Wilson and Mr. Card their First Amendment right to speech by creating a highly public wall of sound to drown them out at graduating ceremonies (not to mention holding up a banner to intrude on visuals), thus embarrassing the University and spoiling a happy occasion for many who worked hard for their Graduate degrees.

While the honorary degree was probably not Jack Wilson’s idea, the controversial restructuring of the UMass system with him taking a more active role in the management of the Amherst flagship sounds like him.

Since Mr. Wilson has a strong background in entrepreneurship he undoubtedly understands the 80/20 principle: 80% of your profit comes from 20% of your product line. Therefore, try to identify that lucrative niche and invest more of your time and energy there rather than less important things.

UMass is the gem of higher education in Massachusetts. If anyone can identify places to invest more time and money for better returns it’s Jack Wilson. And while Chancellor Lombardi has been good for the University, a more hands on approach from a talent like Jack Wilson will be great for the University and by extension great for the town.

Considering the faculty now voting “no confidence” in Jack Wilson are probably some of very same who denied him the right to speak at last week’s graduation ceremony, I have little confidence in them.

Entering Amherst from the west

Appropriate on any day of the year, this shining symbol atop a hill, but ever so appropriate today.

Road Rage In A School Zone

I can’t even remember the last time I bent both knees just subtly enough to enhance balance to set for the potential launch of shuddering force into another human being. Today’s incident, however, I will long remember.

On Friday’s, Crocker Farm Pre School dismisses at noon. The school sits atop a slight hill a ways up from the access road on Rt. 116, a busy highway.

As I started to drive down from an upper parking lot immediately adjacent to the school with my five-year-old daughter safely strapped in back, I had the window open to circulate air until the AC could kick in.

The unmistakable whine of a motorcycle and a car both gunning their engines caught my undivided attention as a bright yellow bike and a dark two-door passenger car whizzed down the hill towards the stop sign at Rt. 116, with the motorcycle parallel and dangerously close to the driver side of the car.

The speeding vehicles came to a stop just in time and Evel Knievel initiated a heated exchange with the car’s driver. Suddenly the stationary car erupts in REVERSE speeding all the way back up the hill until directly in front of the school easily hitting speeds two or three times that allowed in a school zone.

He then shifted back into forward and once again gunned his engine and hurtled down the hill passing me a tad too fast to get off a well-placed sidekick into his passenger window as I yelled, “It’s a school zone pal!”

The potentially catastrophic aspect of this irresponsible stunt is that it occurred during the busiest time of the day for children, parents, or guardians as well as school personnel.

Since it was so busy witnesses may provide the license plate number to Amherst Police (many of whom were at Umass backing up UMPD in case there is any graduation disruptions over Andy Card’s honorary degree) so they can track down the culprit.

I, for one, would love to have a brief chat.

Let the riots begin

Northampton, our sister city to the west, ADDS seven police officers bringing NPD to 63 or a ratio of 2.1 officers per 1,000 Amherst last night decided to SUBTRACT two cops reducing APD to 48, or a ratio of 1.4 per 1,000.

According to the FBI, the national rate of full-time law enforcement employees to inhabitants is 3.5 per 1,000.

Now yes, his Lordship, the new Select board Chair Gerry Weiss will cite Umass’s police force of 60 and then add them to Amherst’s police department as though the two could become one seamless entity.

Override buster Stan Gawle tried to increase the budget by $150,000 to retain the two officers and add back in overtime for riot control and 4 bulletproof vests. The voice vote was so overwhelmingly negative nobody had the nerve to suggest a standing vote.

Former long-time Finance Committee and Select Board member (considered part of the “sensible center”) Eva Schiffer offered a neat compromise motion, using the $100,000 the Select board freed up last Monday that would have at least saved the two officers.

Like the vote against flying the flags on 9/11, it was not even remotely close. By a greater than two-thirds margin, Town Meeting voted (133-60) to make Amherst a more dangerous place to be. Like the vote against flying the flags on 9/11, it was shameful, irresponsible and downright embarrassing.

Unfortunately, far too many jaded Amherst Town Meeting members view American flags and police identically: as symbols of tyranny and oppression.

Interestingly, the next budget discussion concerned the Department of Public Works where the Select board wanted to spend 10% of that $100,000 previously banked savings on road line painting, because according to Ms. Awad the crosswalks were so faded that pedestrians were simply using “their memory” to attempt safe passage.

The DPW chief then reported that within weeks all the lines and crosswalks would be painted (using this year’s budget money) and the paint lasts two years. Even the Select board could do that math.

His Lordship immediately admitted to being “embarrassed” and Ms. Awad rescinded the Select Board motion to add $10,000 for the redundant item.

Yeah, that’s our exalted leadership--throw money at unnecessary items while cutting Job One for any government: maintain public safety.

When government loses its way this profoundly, it’s time for a new government.