All politics is local

Yeah, that’s our antiquated almost-extinct Amherst Town Meeting, with over half the members already having one foot in the grave. The illustrious Select Board moved back the start date from November 5 to November 10 because they figured everybody would be soooooo tired from campaigning on November 4 and watching the election results that they would need a reprieve.

Of course if McCain wins, about half of Town Meeting will succumb to heart attacks thus making it hard to get a quorum.

The decline of downtown Amherst

UPDATE: 9:00 AM Wednesday

Talk about prescient headline. This morning’s crusty Gazette has a banner headline announcing the Jeffery Amherst Bookshop—a downtown institution for over two generations—calling it quits.

Interestingly Barry Roberts said he had two bookstores as tenants (must be the other two) and they seem “to do well”. Well, I guess they will do a little better now.

Original post: Tuesday 10:30 PM

If all roads lead to Rome then you better have ample spaces for folks to park their chariots.

Hometown developer Barry Roberts drove home that message in a 1.5 hour discussion with the Amherst Redevelopment Authority, a quasi-state agency with the power of eminent domain made up of four locally elected members and one Governor appointed.

Barry was the guest speaker at our meeting tonight (also attended by rookie Select Person Diana Stein) And since the undersized downtown parking garage was the last project the ARA had any involvement with, his message hit home.

He noted “A significant change in the atmosphere of the downtown,” for commercial rental property (a fair amount of which he owns.) “There’s just not the demand like 10 or 15 years ago. Most of the people are looking to open restaurants.”

But he noted that Amherst College and Umass are doing a better job with food service, so the students no longer flock to the down town as they did in the good old days (at least not for food anyway)

With downtown business overly centered on restaurants we simply “Don’t have a great mix of stores.”

Barry’s advice? “Amherst has to figure out how to be that special place” (that attracts people to the downtown.) And they will want to park.

There they go again...

Amherst Town Center 8:00 PM
So yeah, once again I’m not overly worried a sitting President or retired President has died because with Amherst College flying the US flag at half-staff could be anything: the death of a lunch lady, or Pulitzer Prize winner.

Their prominent flag spends so much time at half staff most local folks no longer even notice when it is down in the position of mourning (that only a US President or Governor can order).

Belchertown gets it!

Override saber rattling begins

A Modest Proposal?

Mr. Jackson mistakenly referred to the May 1, 2007 amount as a “modest million”. Actually it was for an immodest $2.5 million. He also suggests s the need for a $3 million Override now and even then that would only amount to $3.3 million in five years. Of course the math he does not do is five years down the road the town will have had over $15 million in additional revenue if Mr. Jackson’s Override passes this spring.

He also mentions the “almost $5 million” we currently have stashed in reserves (not including the over $1 million the Regional School has stashed in their reserves) but, curiously considers that amount “unrealistic to think we can use it to bridge the budget gaps in any substantive way going forward.”

Well if the budget gap for next year is only $2.7 million and we have almost twice that amount stashed in savings accounts then that is a pretty easy gap to bridge.

Curiously on May 1, 2007 our reserves stood at $4.3 million. And the projected revenues shortfall back then was $3.7million (as opposed to the modest $2.7 million we hear about today) and of course after the Override failed the Regional Schools ended up the year with a $1 million surplus that they instantly spent on one-time big-ticket items.

Note to Phil: the sky is not falling and the wolf is not among the fold.

Mixed Message

Yeah, and we know how those folks who dress in white sheets just love Obama. Yikes! Or better yet--Only in Amherst!

UPDATE 4:35 PM Since my long-time subscriber Neil briefly wondered if I were a red neck, racist schmuck let me point out: the photo is what it is--located on a very high profile public entryway to town center.

As fifth generation Irish born and raised in Amherst I’m quite comfortable discussing “race issues.” Remember, as a teenager Emily Dickinson whimsically wrote to her brother requesting he come home and deal with all the Irish that had washed ashore and flowed inland to Amherst (for work on the railroad) suggesting, “To kill some—there are so many now, there is no room for the Americans.”

Yet in her later years she became so impressed with the work ethic of her Irish domestic servants that she requested they escort her to her grave. A role my great, great grandfather was proud to fulfill.

As someone who prides himself on Public Relations and concern for the image of his town or country, I can’t think of anything worse than Mr. Obama becoming a victim of violence (as happened to Dr. Martin Luther King, or John and Bobby Kennedy)

Yeah, watch that criticism

This from tomorrow's Bulletin (headline 'Select Board discusses town manager evaluation'

This year each of the Select Board members will be writing reviews for Shaffer. This is a change from last year , when Weiss synthesized the comments, taking the other beard members' written comments and merging them into an overall review.

Weiss said he hopes this tactic will make the Select Board members increase the precision in their commentary and be more respectful in their criticism"

Hmmm...So I take it last year some Select Board members were disrespectful in their criticism?

But 'His Lordship' does not want to hear a Minority Report from the Facilitation of Community Choices Committee. I guess he considers that committee plain old pawns rather than Bishops or Rooks.

No voices of dissent?

So this from the October 3 Amherst Bulletin:

Select Board Chairman Gerry Weiss said he has been pleased with the work of the subcommittee (FCCC), which has been meeting regularly since April. Weiss said he and Andy Churchill, who are co-chairmen of the Budget Coordinating Group, deliberately selected the 11 members of the panel to represent diverse viewpoints, with people both in favor of and opposed to tax-cap overrides or deep budget cuts.

"I think the committee has gelled and it's in sync," Weiss said.

This is perhaps best demonstrated, Weiss said, in that he doesn't expect there to be a minority report filed by the committee. Both the Bulletin and Daily Hampshire Gazette will feature coverage of this presentation and public reaction in future editions.

We really don't need a committee that is in lock step--errr, I mean "sync" with each other on a fundamentally critical issue like this. What we need is for folks who have a core to stand up and be counted (and I'm not so sure the Gazette/Bulletin is up to covering that in a fair and balanced way).
State slashes CPA funding to Amherst

Umass takes a hit as well