Stein speaks

In a message dated 6/2/08 12:05:58 PM, dstein@mtholyoke.edu writes:

So, you would like the town to spend the $ for a special election when if
she waits until with 90 days of the Sept primary, it can cost nothing
extra?
Diana


In a message dated 6/2/08 2:01:02 PM, Amherst AC writes:

Diana,
My understanding is it will still cost money even if it is placed on the September primary ballot but just not as much as the 12-K for a stand alone election. Yes, I would much prefer it be done on the September primary ballot. But, either way: she needs to step down as of June 10'th.
Larry

In a message dated 6/3/08 9:42:11 AM, dstein@mtholyoke.edu writes:

Larry,
It will be a loss to the Town no matter when she steps down as she
has served the longest and remembers the background for issues that the rest of us do not have institutional memory about. That recall of issues can save us money and time.
Diana


In a message dated 6/3/08 10:12:05 AM, Amherst AC writes:

Hey Diana,

My institutional memory goes back twenty-five years. My family's goes back five generations. Her 8 years is but a drop in the bucket.
Larry


In a message dated 6/3/08 10:54:17 AM, dstein@mtholyoke.edu writes:

Larry,
But you haven't served on the SB during the last 8 years which is
what I was referring to. Serving sharpens one's memory about related
issues. And I have lived here since 1964.
Diana


In a message dated 6/3/08 11:07:15 AM, Amherst AC writes:

Hey Diana,

Then you can always call Bryan Harvey who served forever. The landscape is littered with folks around who have served on the SB (Judy Brooks, God forbid--Harry Brooks--or Carl Seppala, etc) who would probably be open to giving advice if asked.

What you need to now consider is the image and credibility of this office to which you have ever so recently been elected.
Larry

In a message dated 6/3/08 11:38:20 AM, dstein@mtholyoke.edu writes:

Hi Larry,
I know many of the former SB members. But having someone there
while we discuss issues who brings forward relevant info from the past is very different from my calling up someone and asking. Sometimes it is not clear what questions should be asked until Anne brings up an important point.
Diana

In a message dated 6/3/08 12:56:38 PM, Amherst AC writes:

Hey Diana,
Well then I guess you will just miss her when she's gone. But get used to it--because she will be gone with the wind very soon now.
Larry

Censorship in the People's Republic

Okay, so here's a back view of next Wednesday's T-shirt for the final Amherst Town Meeting. I, of course, kept the bright red "JUST GO!" on the front (where Ms. Awad can see it clearly). (Mother) Mary Streeter sits directly behind me about a dozen rows back. Yeah, at $27 per pop this is starting to add up.

Banned in Amherst! (again)

Mary Streeter—private owner of what most people mistakingly think is the official public Amherst Town Meeting listserve—warned me on May 29 after I asked His Lordship to schedule an election to replace Selectboard partner in crime Anne Awad.

“Discussions of a person(s) will not be tolerated on this listserv. This is the only warning that will be given before removal from this group.”

And yeah, I was sorely tempted to “reply all’ with a smart ass comment thus guaranteeing my banishment from the herd. But I controlled the urge (my martial arts training) and did nothing.

Until yesterday morning, when I tried to send the listserve the Springfield Republican article about the residency fiasco embroiling Ms. Awad and husband Robie Hubley

My Yahoo account returned the following:
We are unable to deliver the message from amherstac@yahoo.com
to amhersttownmeeting@yahoogroups.com.

The email address used to send your message is not subscribed to this group.

So then I tried sending via my AOL account (figuring she’s not the very tech savvy and may not have banned both addresses) but soon received the same error code.

Looks like I’ve been given yet another “time out”. Although last time Mother Mary said it was a limited ban. This time nothing. Expelled, perhaps, forever. Banned in Amherst--the town that cherishes freedom of speech.

Funny how an exceedingly minuscule group of malcontents complain about the Amherst July 4’Th Parade banning anti-war propaganda. But here we have a deliberative, legislative body where the only thing silent is the “h” in Amherst and I’m kicked off without warning.

Well, I did get a warning…sort of. But then banning me anyway is sort of like a cop firing a warning shot--into the back of a perp’s head.

Her nose keeps growing L-O-N-G-E-R

UPDATE: 6:05 PM

So I just called (from my business) a publicly published Amherst phone number 256-1042—just to see if Mr. Hubley or Ms. Awad were home.

Of course I get voice mail and hang up (actually I was hoping the message would say “this number has been changed to a South Hadley number”)

About 5 minutes later my business line rings and it’s Mr. Hubley asking if I just called his number. “Hey Robie! Yeah, I was just calling to see if you were actually living in Amherst”

All-in-all the resulting “conversation” lasted about 10 minutes. Mainly consisting of Mr. Hubley yelling in a shaky voice about “leaving me alone”, or “it’s a personal matter” and “I hope you go to confession because you are an evil person”.

He refused to explain why he would purchase a $310,000 home in South Hadley while supposedly still living in an Amherst condo half that size and half that price--one that is currently up for sale.

Or why he took out a Homestead declaration on the South Hadley home that identifies it as his and her “primary” residence. Or why they lied in the Amherst Bulletin Letter to Editor saying they had switched the Homestead back to the Amherst condo.

And he sounded real nervous about potential Federal bank fraud charges over the FDIC mortgage that requires them both to live in the South Hadley home by June 10.

And any time he used the phrase “it’s a personal matter,” I would respond with “then why is this all available on a official Massachusetts state database?

At that point he yelled something slightly unintelligible and slammed down the phone.
############################################################

6:55 PM: So Mr. Hubley just called me back at my personal home phone number (only available to Amherst Town Meeting members) and wanted to “apologize for losing his temper”.

Apology accepted. But when he insisted, “he was not hurting anyone” I tried to interject that he was shortchanging the voters in his precinct.

Once again he accused me of “tormenting” him and then hung up (although a tad less aggressively).
#############################################################
6:45 AM (original post)

So now it’s the old “residency is in the eye of the resident,” or like ‘Ultimate Frisbee’ where the players act as referees, or Hampshire College where there are no grades.

Obviously the Amherst Town Manager has been hoodwinked: “If she declares her residence (to be here). I take that to be true.”

But Ms. Awad also declared:

“The homestead declaration, cited frequently by this newspaper (Amherst Bulletin) as proof that we are already living in South Hadley, was an error on our part. We were unaware that such protection can only apply to one’s primary residence. We removed the homestead declaration as soon as we realized the error. It now applies only to our Amherst home as it has for years."

Oh really? A check this morning at the Registry of Deeds shows she has not “removed the homestead declaration” on their spacious South Hadley abode or reapplied it to their (up for sale) diminutive Amherst condo.

So Mr. Shaffer, if she can't tell the truth about the Homestead declaration--how can we the voters take anything she says to be true?

And don’t you just love His Lordship Gerry Weiss’s defense of Robie Hubley: "He goes to every meeting"? So does Frank Well’s cat!

Bad news for Pinocchio

What you lookin at

No sense of humor

Bully drops a bomb
So His Lordship Gerry Weiss sent a routine housekeeping message over the privately owned (so she can trample First Amendment rights anytime she wants) Town Meeting Listserve, and I of course used the opening to ‘respond all’:

To: amhersttownmeeting@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thu, 29 May 2008 10:18 pm
Subject: Re: [AmhTownMtg] 20B and procedure

So, ugh, it sounds like Town Meeting will drone on beyond June 10'th. And on THAT DAY, according to a legal FDIC mortgage, Ms. Awad and Mr. Hubley (although by a Homestead decree signed April 10 he has ALREADY vacated the town of Amherst) become "primary residents" of South Hadley.

Could you please do your job and schedule an election to replace Ms. Awad--preferably when it will not cost taxpayers a ton of money. Thanks.

Larry Kelley
Precinct 5
Legal and Spiritual resident of Amherst

To: amhersttownmeeting@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thu, 29 May 2008 11:45 pm
Subject: Re: [AmhTownMtg] 20B and procedure

A reminder to everyone that this forum, especially the poster of the
last message:

Discussions of a person(s) will not be tolerated on this listserv. This
is the only warning that will be given before removal from this group.

Mary Streeter
Group Moderator

The Pounding continues...

Click to enlarge: Article over on right above the fold.

So Bully for the Bulletin for continuing to question this sad story of aging, arrogant, political has-beens who desperately cling to their “power.”

The first thing I learned in Journalism 25 years ago (News writing and Reporting 101 at Umass) is always check the spelling of a source name. Although most readers will not notice a misspelled name the person you interviewed sure will and they will wonder what else you screwed up.

And the second thing I learned--even more important--was NEVER LIE TO A REPORTER!

At this point (with the Registry of Deed’s office still showing no change in the Declaration of Homestead being South Hadley) I’m starting to question the couple’s sanity.

Unfortunately, the Amherst Town Government Act does not have a provision requiring town officials undergo psychiatric review.