Abracadabra: vanishing tax $

Frat Row Then: (when privately owned)
Total amount property tax paid Amherst in FY07: $32,309.44




Frat Row Now: (Publicly owned by Umass)
Property tax Amount will pay in FY08 and the rest of eternity: $00

Stick THAT up your "strategic agreement."

A shortsighted (blind as a bat) editorial

Perhaps I should stop referring to the Gazette as “crusty” (a term I stole from reporter Mary Carey). Yesterday’s editorial was hardly supportive…amazing! Most newspapers consider Conflict Of Interest and Open Meeting laws sacred.

And crusty--I mean the Gazette--has yet to weigh in on the ridiculous circumvention of Open Meeting Law by Umass Trustees powwowing at a private "retreat."

The editor seems to buy the spin generated by the Umass Public Relations Department (most notably former Gazette political reporter Pat Callahan) and they continue to use the $140,000 per year as the net “unanticipated revenues,” failing to factor in the loss of $37,800 with the effluent water waiver.

But the real loss is FAR greater than that. Umass paid Amherst $37,800 last year for the effluent used in their tired old steam plant (to provide heat in the winter). The new Super Plant will provide both steam heat AND year-round electricity. So their use of Amherst effluent will AT THE VERY LEAST DOUBLE.

And Amherst just increased across-the-board the water rates by 25%, so even if usage stayed the same Umass would pay $50,000 next year. But since usage will now DOUBLE the Select board with their 3-2 vote on 9/17 flushed down the toilet $100,000 per year for the next five years.

Hadley charges top water users $4.85/100 cubic feet or better than 50% more than Amherst charges Umass. If our illustrious water/sewer commissioners simply decide to institute that rate for high-end users in Amherst, Umass would pay us an ADDITIONAL $500,000 for potable water and $150,000 for effluent water this year.

Now that would really encourage conservation.

UPDATE (9/28/07): The Umass Trustee's saw the light and decided to open to the public their upcoming "retreat". Maybe Crusty had a little to do with it as they at least mentioned the controversy on Page One not to long ago (but their editorial department was asleep at the wheel)

A stinky case of conflict: the pressure builds

So the crusty old Gazette is keeping up. And I love the placement of the two related stories in today’s edition (both above the fold): ‘Early Call on Amherst gap: $1.9M’ and my conflict of interest story: ‘Complaint Widens On Board Vote.’

Yeah, it all comes down to money. And nobody in bureaucracy (that runs on tax dollars) seems to give a damn about the taxpayers.

For instance, Town Officials insist on using the $140,000 figure as an annual net gain from the Umass “strategic partnership” completely ignoring the $37,000 in effluent water freebies they gave Umass in return.

Duh! So according to this taxpayers math, Umass is only paying us $100,000--on an annual impact of well over one million.

The first question reporter Scott Merzbach asked was why I filed another expanded complaint? Well...since I did bet the Town Manager on this blog on Saturday that the state would overturn the 3-2 Select board vote of 9/17, I am simply hedging my bet in the million-to-one chance the reticent Town Manager actually takes my bet.

Now there are three good reasons that vote needs to be redone: Ms. Brewer did not file her disclosure with the Town Clerk , Ms. Brewer made the motion that night and it was seconded BEFORE she whispered her public disclosure, and NO MATTER WHAT Professor Kusner should not vote PERIOD.

And if the Select board is not trying to cover its tracks and rewrite history then why did Ms. Brewer and Mr. Kusner sneak into the Town Clerk's office two days ago to file the disclosure form they should have filed on the 17’th? I use the word sneak because if they thought there was nothing wrong with that then why not call a press conference for the occasion? This blogger would certainly have covered it.

In their own words: A conflict of interest.

State Ethics Commission, Enforcement Division
One Ashburton Place
Room 619
Boston MA 02108
September 24, 2007

Dear Sir or Madam,

I wish to amend and expand my original complaint filed 9/20/07. About an hour after I faxed the document the Amherst Town Clerk called to say they had found a third disclosure form filed by Selectman Kusner dated 4/19/05, (unrelated to the Umass effluent water issue voted 9/17/07). Mr.Kusner also filed another form today thus bringing his current total to four.

Curiously, in his public disclosure on 9/17/07, Mr. Kusner claimed to have a single “blanket disclosure on file” (with the town clerk). The one he filed today does have a caption "Categorical Disclosure."

I also wish to expand my complaint to include Selectman Alisa Brewer because her husband is a full-time employee at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Ms. Brewer acknowledged (although not very clearly and barely audible to the television audience) her potential conflict at the Selectboard meeting 9/17/07 but only after she had already made the motion and it had been seconded by Select Board chair Gerry Weiss (both who later voted in favor) and only after prodding from Selectman Greeney (who voted “no”).

And on 9/21/07 at http://alisaforamherst.blogspot.com/ she admitted, “While my written disclosure is not yet on file at the Town Clerk's office (and yes, of course I agree it would have been ideal to have it there already), it will be soon.” She, too, filed her (first) form this afternoon.

Since this admission shows a violation of the “appearance of potential conflict of interest” I would also ask the Ethics Commission to void Ms. Brewer’s vote taken 9/17/07.

Sincerely Yours,

Larry Kelley,
460 West St, Amherst, Ma. 01002
Amherst Town Meeting member, Amherst Redevelopment Authority, http://onlyintherepublicofamherst.blogspot.com/
CC: Amherst Town Clerk, Amherst Select Board/Town Manager

Kira's BIG day

Couldn’t ask for a better day to celebrate a milestone for my little girl, as she turns six. Donna (the red head) and her "visiting scholar" Christine (Chinese name Zhengxin) put icing on the cake.




Muddy Brook Farm’s (and ubiquitous homegrown developer) Barry Roberts leads a wagon ride around the farm next door.



What do you expect as a gift from parents who own a Health Club? We test rode around the barriers on Lincoln Avenue (just kidding). And yes, she ALWAYS wears a helmet.

Wanna bet?

So the lapdog Town Manager seems to think the State Ethics Commission will absolve the Select board of any conflict of interest and allow the 9/17 3-2 vote to gift Umass $200,000 in effluent water to stand. Okay, I’ll bet you $10,000 that the vote is negated (all proceeds to charity of course). What say you Mr. Shaffer?

http://www.masslive.com/hampfrank/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1190446477244660.xml&coll=1

Let the chips fall...

So my “sensible center” friends (meaning they lean to the left but not enough to fall over) are suggesting I pick my battles more carefully. Hmmmm.

While Town Meeting is exempt from state conflict of interest law (because of a large membership) I would still abstain from a vote on the school budget if I were a teacher, or the public safety budget if I were a firefighter or cop. That’s just the way I am. In fact, anytime I speak against Leisure Services recreation empire I always remind folks that I run a private sector health club business—you know the kind that pay taxes to the town rather than consumes them.

But is this whistle blowing purely political? Am I targeting Mr. Kusner for political extinction? And could it backfire by generating a groundswell of support for the poor math professor (who absent mindedly forgot to file the disclosure form with the Town Clerk this time)?

No, no, and no way in Hell!