Let's hear it for "The A Team"

Well hey, at least the town mangler designated the original July 4’th Parade Committee , you know, the Good Guys (and Gals) as the A group. Because, of course, they are.

Now there's a term you will only hear in Amherst: An "alternative" July 4'th Parade Committee.
As I pointed nine months ago, when I first uploaded this clip (turn up your volume at the very end): no desks or chaired were injured during my exit.

Golf anyone?

I gotta start arriving early for the Select Board meetings! Last week, knowing the July 4’th Parade issue was a 7:40 PM timed item, I snuck in around 7:30 PM.

And I even had someone tape the entire meeting starting at 6:30 pm and put it on a DVD so I could create the clip I posted last week. But even that did not record the little joke of the town manager testing his microphone (must have picket it up from President Reagan) about Amherst “buying another golf course.”

Of course the not so funny thing is he managed to get ink in both the crusty Bulletin and today’s highly read ‘Cries and Whispers’ column in the Springfield Republican. And both of them fell for the argument (only made by Shaffer) that the golf course has become more successful.

Currently Cherry Hill year-to-date revenue stand at an anemic $110,000. Dan Engstrom, who ran the course for twenty years until mysteriously disappearing almost two years ago, told the Select Board the easy way to estimate an entire year’s revenues is simply double the amount at Fall closing, thus a total intake of $220,000.

This year (FY09) Cherry Hill has an operation budget of $208,000 a brand new capital item costing $22,000 (lawn mower) and employee benefits and insurance hidden in another budget of $25,000. So just to break even the golf business needs to intake $255,000.

And that of course does not include the $30,000 guaranteed opportunity income from Niblick Management’s privatization offer, hastily rejected by the Town Mangler.

I even question if they will hit $220,000 because Engstrom's formulae relied on the roughly 180 to 200 Season Pass holders renewing their memberships in April and May. Rather than shell out $500 for an annual membership many of these folks may cut back and just pay the $15 day rate here and there.

So a loss of $25,000 (assuming they do hit $220,000 this year ) when you could have had a guaranteed $30,000 is...well, nothing to joke about.

Reunited

Olga (Tysz) Hagelberg, 85, peacefully passed away January 26'th at the Vermont Veterans' Home in Bennington where she spent the last few months of a long admirable life--mostly lived in Arlington, Vermont with her beloved husband of 45 years and fellow WW2 veteran Richard (Dick) Hagelberg in a classically practical New England style home he built for her.

One large window peered into the woods out back and another even larger one perpetually displayed the top of a mountain they mostly owned.

Olga was born and raised in bucolic Southwick, Massachusetts and barely out of her teens, spotted an article with photo in the Springfield newspaper of a graduation ceremony at Mt. Holyoke College in 1943 about women marines and became inspired to enlist. She proudly served in the US Marine Corps from 1943 to 1945.

And she almost never missed a reunion or Parade over these past 60+ years.

Semper Fi Auntie Olga.

And who could forget Uncle Dick

Boats against the current

The Amherst Athletic Club turns 27 today and I, twice that. We originally opened in what long-time locals still occasionally call Hadley’s “Dead Mall”—now very much alive with Wal Mart as the ultimate anchor.

And ironically enough new home to Planet Fitness, the low-cost—some would argue predatory pricing—franchise that thrives on high-volume memberships, where they hope the majority of members never actually show.

And since the rent has skyrocketed with the Mall’s revival, Planet Fitness will need a continuous flow of customers cascading through the door.

The three AAC owners huddled last night at the Irish bar out front to contemplate a strategy: do we continue limping along, or commit suicide (advertise the business for sale.) Or go for it, via a “surge.”

We chose to surge. Never surrender!

My 7-year-old daughter said she used the "cursive Y" to mimic the logo for Big-Y Supermarkets, our favorite grocery store.

Last year’s reflection

Close the loophole!

Since the state--after blindsiding local cities and towns with a mid-year retroactive Local Aid cut of sizable proportions--is now talking about local option meals taxes, and increases in the hotel/motel tax to raise additional millions to soften next Fiscal year's even more devastating Local Aid cuts, could we finally do what ‘Special Committee to Recommend Mitigation for Local Aid Cuts’, chaired by Amherst resident State Senator Stan Rosenberg (an indefatigable Umass supporter) clearly stated W-A-Y back in 2003:

“Eliminate UMASS Amherst Campus Center's exemption from hotel motel tax (that tax doesn't cost the state anything, doesn't cost the university anything, shouldn't be an edge in competition against local hotels / motels). This could be a significant ($70,000+) help to Amherst.”

And those were of course 2003 dollars at the old tax rate. So if the increase does go into effect and factoring in inflation this could easily provide Amherst with an addition $100-K annually.

If the Campus Center Hotel, after a $9.2 million renovation (at taxpayer expense) wants to compete with private sector, taxpaying operations in the Valley (mostly run by Amherst native Curt Shumway) let them compete on a level playing field.

The wheels on the bus...

UPDATE: FRIDAY 1/30/09

Alison,
Yes, the bus does take an Amherst child to the Pelham school and we appreciate your stated desire to not infringe on this child's privacy. Having him ride a regular bus is a cost-saving measure; van runs for individual students are far more costly than adding a short distance to a bus route. Bus routes do occasionally change during the course of a year to adjust to changing needs. We will look into updating the description of the routes on the website.

Our bus insurance covers our buses whether they are in Amherst or Pelham. All of our drivers carry walkie-talkies and can be reached in case of an emergency.

Helen
Dr. Helen Vivian
Interim Co-Superintendent of Schools
Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools
170 Chestnut Street
Amherst, MA 01002
413-362-1823

From: Alison Donta

To: Helen Vivian ; Kathleen Anderson ; Elaine Brighty ; Andy Churchill ; Sonia Correa Pope ; Catherine Sanderson

Cc: Peter Crouse ; Tracy Farnham ; Michael Hussin ; Marianne Jorgensen ; Michael Katz ; Debbie Westmoreland ; sharickr@ARPS.ORG ; suarez-wl@ARPS.ORG

Sent: Friday, January 30, 2009 9:28 AM

Subject: Re: problem with bus

Helen...

I appreciate your reply. I would like to request a copy of the current bus route for Bus #8, as I would like to know where my own child is on his way to and from school. I am also requesting that you send a copy of the updated bus route to Ray Sharick and to Lianne Suarez-Werlein at Fort River (whom I have cc'd here so they will know to be on the lookout for the updated schedule) since they are in charge of the children on Bus #8. I am hoping that either they or, more appropriately, you inform ALL the parents whose children ride Bus #8 of the change in route.

I also cannot imagine why the updated bus route cannot also be posted immediately on the ARPS web site. In fact, none of the Fort River bus routes are currently posted on the ARPS transportation web site http://www.arps.org/node/79 which I find unusual and potentially distressing to any parent who might want to look up their child's bus route.

Additionally, I look forward to the answers to the other questions in my original email:

--Are there more children who are not attending school in our district that we are busing elsewhere?
--How many kids (not counting the ELL kids) do we bus to schools that are not their district-assigned schools?
--How much time does it add to the time of bus route 8 to make a detour to the Pelham School? (You have now told me that it is a cost-saving measure to drive one child to Pelham, but what does it add to the time the other kids spend in the bus?)
--Why isn't this route to Pelham School published?

My final question is: "since my neighborhood bus already goes to Pelham for one child, would the rest of us on the bus route now have the option of choicing into Pelham and having our children bused to and from school daily as well?" I realize that this is not likely to occur this school year but next year, would that be an option for any of us on Bus #8? Given space availability in Pelham School, of course.

Looking forward to learning more.

...Alison
###############################################################

Original Post (Wednesday)

This morning my son, a sixth grader at Fort River, complained to me that
his bus was now "always late" since they "changed routes." When
questioned, he said, "yeah, now that we have to drop that kid off atPelham
School, we are late."

Since Pelham School is NOT in our elementary
district and according to the published bus routes, his bus does NOT go to
Pelham School, I did some investigating. First of all, I double-checked
his bus route which can be found at: http://www.arps.org/Busroute/FR4.htm (route
also copied below in case the link mysteriously disappears). This was the
bus route I am familiar with. It does not list a stop at Pelham
Road.

Next, I spoke with our vice-principal who was very helpful and assured me
that the kids were not late but didn't seem to know whether or not they went to
Pelham School. She directed me to the ARPS transportation office.

I called and spoke with Peter Crouse who confirmed that this bus was not
late but did tell me that the bus did go to Pelham School. I wanted to
know why. His answer was "to drop off a child who goes there." He
further explained that the bus "had to turn around near Pelham School anyway, on
Amherst Road." According the map I consulted, the published bus route does
not actually take the bus onto Amherst Road since it leaves Harkness Road at
Stony Hill. I then asked if this child was an Amherst child or a Pelham
child. He told me it was an Amherst child. So my question to him
was, "so we are paying to bus a child who is choicing out of our
district?" He replied that "it wasn't really a choice child...more like
open enrollment...kind of special needs." He said it was "a long
story," and not wanting to infringe upon this particular child's privacy, I
didn't push the issue. (Let me be clear, my issue is NOT with this child
or what is best for that child but instead what is best for our
financially-strapped school district.)

So, my questions for you, as my elected officials are:


--Why are we busing an Amhest child to Pelham?


--Are there more children who are not attending school in our district that
we are busing elsewhere?


--How many kids (not counting the ELL kids) do we bus to schools that are
not their district-assigned schools?


--How much time does it add to the time of bus route 8 to make a detour to
the Pelham School?


--Why isn't this route to Pelham School published? Don't I, as a
parent, have the right to know the route my child is taking to get to
school? What if there were an emergency in our family and I had to track
down my son and tried to catch up with the bus on its route? I understand
that temporary detours might be required due to weather, road closings,
etc. But to permanently change the route (Peter Crouse told me that this
child had been doing this all year) and not publish it doesn't seem right.

What are the liability issues for our town? We must carry insurance
on those buses and be required to file routes. What would happen if Bus #8
got into an accident in Pelham? Would our insurance cover that since the
bus wasn't in town as it was supposed to be?

This seems to me to be another sign of lack of fiscal responsibility,
accountability, communication, and leadership on the part of our school
administration. I elected you to represent me and to make the best
decisions possible not only for my children but all children in town. As
such, I would not only like some answers but also see some action taken on this
matter.

I have cc'd the Regional School Committee members on this because I realize
that transportation is coordinated regionally and also because the same interim
superintendents are in charge of both districts. If this problem exists
for one bus, it is highly likely that similar problems exist for other bus
routes. Given the tragic accident earlier this year involving an ARPS bus,
I think a thorough investigation into this department is called for. If
nothing else, I would like the EXACT bus routes for ALL buses updated (and
published) to reflect the true routes that the buses take when transporting our
most precious cargo every day.

Alison Donta-Venman, 1 Dwight Circle

From: Alison Donta
To: andersonk@arps.org; brightye@arps.org; churchilla@arps.org; popes@arps.org; sandersonc@arps.org
Cc: farnhamt@arps.org; hussinm@arps.org; jorgensenm@arps.org; katzm@arps.org
Sent: Tue, 27 Jan 2009 3:42 pm
Subject: problem with bus

I am the God of Hellfire!

That is until he runs into the Goddess of Good: Queen Stephanie, the new--and vastly improved-- Amherst Select Board Chair. Just watch how she sorts out Larry Shaffer, the appointed Town Manager at the end of the rather brief discussion of this 'Only in Amherst' July 4'th Parade controversy.

And she was smart enough at the outset to announce that this was an internal discussion so NO comments/discussion from the general public. Two parade Committee members and two members of the League of Women Voters attended, looking 'locked-and-loaded'.

Key points: The private group who revived the Parade in 2002 (less than 10 months after the Twin Towers came down) WILL get their permit--and for the optimal time parameters, without being bullied into allowing war protesters or the KKK to march.

Don't worry about the Town Mangler babbling something about the Police Chief having concerns. In a Club for patriotic, law-and-order, stand up guys Chief Charlie Scherpa would be President.

In fact, he actually worked in uniform this past 4'th of July, and we know the Town Manager (with a much higher salary) certainly did not.

Of course Shaffer now has only two bargaining chips: use of town equipment (police cruisers, firetrucks and ambulances--you know, the kind of equipment that many other towns have unconditionally provided) and the threat from rogue elements of the League of Women Voters promoting an "ancillary" Protest Parade (with help from the Town Mangler of course).

The Select Board backed him up on the former but not the latter.

Alisa Brewer jumped in and suggested Shaffer could not deem either event the official "town parade," as to show favoritism (and we know which group he would try to anoint with officialdom).

Interestingly one of the members of the League of Woman Voters present, Robert Romer, also attended that 'Eve of Destruction' September 10, 2001 Select Board meeting where he spoke for less display of the American flag.

As a long-time, card-carrying member of the ACLU, he dubbed the original letter to the Town Manager and Select Board six months ago as "one ACLU lawyer's opinion, and is not representative of all ACLU members." Hmmm, that would be the award-winning lawyer Bill Newman, who has been Director of the Western Massachusetts ACLU forever?

And that letter had to be approved by a bevy of other ACLU attorneys before it was ever sent.

The most recent strongly worded, eyeball-to-eyeball, follow-up letter (see yesterday's upload) demanding the Town Manger stand down and issue the permit immediately--otherwise go to war--was never even directly mentioned last night; the proverbial 1,000 pound gorilla in the room that everybody tried to ignore...but whose influence was undeniable.

The Town Manager most definitely blinked.