The Torch will be passed (Thank God)

Perhaps if he spent more time on town affairs?

His Lordship Gerry Weiss, venerable Chair of the illustrious Amherst Select Board will lose his royal aura Monday night as rookie member (and you know how those young rookies can be hungry) Stephanie O’Keeffe will lead a coup d’état by forcing a mid-year “reorganization” of the five-member board.

The vote will be 3-1-1 (with former Chair Weiss having the good sense to abstain, and his water carrier Diana Stein voting against)

What an auspicious evening! The Facilitation Committee will turn over its Final Report calling for a ‘Level Funded, Core Budget” thus making it impossible for town officials to use as cannon fodder for a property tax Override this coming year.

But with this Select Board reorganization and the rise of the “new majority,” perhaps the town will start operating more efficiently, lessening the need for a taxpayer bailout.

The Bully reports (sorry I missed it live)

Cruch Time

7:15 PM Bangs Community Center Final "working" meeting of the Facilitation Committee as their Final Report is due Monday night before the Select Board (and if they don't get this done the SB may send them to bed without their supper).

7:20 Let the arguing begin. Irv Rhodes vs Kathy Feldman: about having the University cooperate with an accounting study of how much money they cost the town. Kathy (A Umass employee) says no way in hell (in so many words) will Umass cooperate and pay half the cost of that.

7:33 Bob Saul, co-chair, is worried they are getting into micromanagement with some of their suggestions for "closing the budget gap." Stan Gawle had suggested cutting some of the over $2 million in Capital spending and throwing the lions share of it to the schools (the town tries to keep Capital spending at about 7% of the overall budget).

7:37 Rich Spurgin wants them to recommend that town officials " develop a plan to reduce the pension and retiree health care costs." The motion passes unanimously.

8:07 Now discussing the many suggestions from private individuals that came out of the survey of almost 500 residents. Some FCCC members to keep the Committee's recommendations very general, but these suggestions are very specific (damn public!).

8: 12 Kathy Feldman does not like the Committee making official suggestions based on a sample that may not be representative of the population.

8:15 John Musante suggests all the suggestions from folks be placed in an appendix to the report.

8:20 Some are having second thoughts about the official recommendation to the Select Board to consider cutting Capital expenditures and reallocating it to operations (especially the Schools).

8:23 Alison thinks they are being "inconsistent" If you are going to "micromanage" the Capital budget then why not look at some of the other areas of the budgets and micromanage them (as in make very specific, concrete suggestions based on what respondents said in the survey).

8:27 Martha Hanner makes a motion "to let the open comments (from the survey) speak for themselves." Hey, it works for blogs!

8:36 Bob Saul wants to extract from the survey comments "just the facts" and include those in the Final Report. The word "sanitize" gets thrown around a lot. Martha wants to see it in writing before approving it. Stan suggests they meet on Monday morning to look that over.

8:40 Martha's motion to let the entire comments stay in the Final Report fails. Alison moves to have Bob reduce these 'mini recommendations' to their essential pieces.
#################################################################################
That's all folks (battery is dying)

Blind Justice

So the “Justice For Jason” roadshow came to Amherst ‘s taxpayer funded Bangs Community Center this evening for one of those organizational –community-activist- outreach –strategy- sessions. First of all, they could use some work on their signage.

Only a handful of folks attended compared to the mob that marched on District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel’s office last Wednesday to publicly pressure her into dropping charges against Vassell.

Yeah, now there’s an antic even PT Barnum would have had second thoughts about. Trying to physically intimidate a female DA while searching for self-styled justice reminds me of that old anti-war slogan from the 60’s: “Killing for peace is like Fu_king for chastity.”

Whatever happened to “give peace a chance”?

This and That (and not enough of either)

So I see by yesterday’s Springfield Republican that South Hadley may appeal the state Architectural Access Board recent ruling that their WalMart quality, quickie golf Clubhouse out at 'The Ledges' does indeed require handicapped access, but they will let them slide with just a $50,000 wheelchair lift installed by 2010.

A dozen years ago KidsSports fitness center in Hadley, now home to the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School tried to get around handicapped access law and lost; and they also ended up installing a vertical wheelchair lift—that certainty was cheaper than installing an entire elevator. So it would be a tad unfair now if the state treats the town of South Hadley any differently.

In fact they should come up with a new rule: if you appeal a decision and lose you not only have to abide by the original decision of the Architectural Access board but you also pay a $10,000 fine. Maybe then folks would think twice about appealing these decisions.
########################################################

I see by today’s Gazette the Amherst School Committee is questioning the Chinese language program (financed by a three year Federal Grant), now in its third year at Wildwood Elementary School.

Back when the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School was fighting to get a charter from the state (becoming only one of five finalists to survive the process that year) the Amherst Public Schools used their (part-time) Chinese program as a weapon to say that the (full-time) Immersion School was unnecessary because Amherst had this “pilot” program starting at Wildwood, one of four elementary schools in town.

Of course my concern then was that the program was only guaranteed for three years, and because of budget constraints may not continue after the Federal money runs out. And since the person who originally wrote the Grant Proposal—Wendy Kohler—has now retired, it’s unlikely another grant will be forthcoming.

Today’s Gazette article makes it sound like the program may indeed not continue after this year. Although one parent had a good suggestion: collaborate with Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School (who has already made overtures to Hadley).

Nice way to show there are no hard feelings over the previous war.

#####################################################
The Facilitation of the Community Choices Committee met this morning to hone their Final Report, due December 1, to the Amherst Select Board about what they will recommend for next years budget (besides a level funded "core budget" that reflects absolute priorities) and the following four years worth. Ouch!

Amazingly, for an Amherst committee, they have actually endorsed concrete revenue enhancement ideas that could (if anyone listens) make a BIG difference:

Formalize Payment In Lieu Of Taxes with the BIG three educational institutions--Amherst and Hampshire Colleges and Umass. But first commission an independent accounting audit to ascertain how much these tax exempt institutions cost the taxpayers of Amherst and then craft a PILOT to cover those costs.

Request the town seek legislation to require the Campus Center Hotel at Umass to stop circumventing the Local Option Lodging Tax that according to a committee Stan Rosenberg chaired would bring the town $70,000. And the committee also recommends town officials request the state increase that tax from its current 4% level.

The Committee also endorses the concept of a Local Option Meals Tax that will probably raise the hackles of restaurateurs (but hey, they have not been rankled since the 1999 Smoking Ban in bars war--so I guess they're due.)
################################################################
Couldn't help but notice over on the (privately owned) Amherst Town Meeting listserve Robie Hubley responded to an email sent to Rob Kusner thinking it was intended for him (the original sender accidentally hit "send all"). Yes, this would be the same Mr. Hubley who resigned from Town Meeting as of 8/31 because he was now ensconced in South Hadley (golf anyone?).

So he's still part of that listserve--but I'm banned? Hmmm...

Who knows why in Hell the bells toll?

So at high noon the bells, bells, bells of Grace Church directly in downtown Amherst pealed 8 or 9 times and then fell silent. In the distance I could hear the bells of St. Brigid's, perhaps a 1,000 yards north, still pealing to announce the end of Catholic mass. Hmmm...

But a moment or two later Grace Church started clanging once more--and this time a tad more forcefully--with a quicker rhythm (maybe the bell ringer was trying to keep warm as my auto's temperature gage read exactly a freezing 32 degrees). Yeah, this must now be the protest against Global Warming, 150 rings no less.

Of course ringing church bells at high noon on a Sunday is kind of like letting off fireworks on the 4'Th of July--par for the course. So I wonder how many people in downtown Amherst who heard the bells ring at noon-plus-3-or-4 minutes realized this was a Global Warming protest?

Last year the Grace Church faithful jumped into the waters of Puffers Pond in early December to protest Global Warming. At least that had a bit of contrast--so you could figure out something less-than-normal was occurring.

Next year they should invite Al Gore to see if he will get naked and jump into Fort River, Mill River or Puffers Pond. Now that would turn heads (if only to vomit.)

November 22'nd

I guess the downside of blogging is that, like cable news it, becomes a twenty-four/seven, 365 days a year blank canvas with space to fill (at least for some of us). And certain days of the year call for comment--or at least remembrance. This is one of them:

What more can I say?

Six of one, A half dozen of the other

The Facilitation of Community Choices Committee meeting this morning attracted the same seven-of-ten members who attended Tuesday’s meeting. Thus nothing changed. The declarative statement essentially saying no way in Hell attempt an Override this coming year has been watered down like cheap wine.

The Committee, however, voted 6-1 to support “Level Funding” as opposed to “Level Services,” with Level Funding meaning what you see is what you get: state aid plus regular property tax revenues that stay within the limits of Proposition 2.5.

Level Services of course would require an Override.

So why they would not underscore the “Level Funding" recommendation by spelling out the obvious—No Override—is a mystery.

The Committee also agreed that sometime over the next five years an Override would be necessary, BUT they endorse the use of a “Menu Override” where each item or department is individually spelled out so a voter can support some but not all the expenditures.

Call it a private sector concept: when products compete they get better.