Yes time, time, time is on my side, yes it is

So it’s safe to say nobody in the 250-year history of Amherst, has absorbed and wasted more time on the floor of Town Meeting than Vince O’Connor. But tonight was a new low, ironically enough, fairly brief.

When Article #13--Vince’s advisory article championing Governor Cadillac’s 19 cent per gallon gas tax increase--came up in normal rotation about an hour into Town Meeting, Mr. O’Connor did not have the exact wording of the motion because he has been “busy" and did not “have the time,” so he asked Town Meeting to postpone the article to come up after #20 next week.

Hmmm…So Mr. O’Connor’s time (and it's not like he has a dayjob) is more valuable than the 150 or so Town Meeting members in the room trying to get through the Warrant as quickly and efficiently as possible?

Gotta wonder if it had anything to do with PR. Next week is, after all, national bike week.

Home sweet home

Click to enlarge/read

Well I suppose if the town can buy an American flag for the Town Room (where the Select Board meets most of the time) they can spend a few bucks adding this folksy photo of the current Select Board to the main entry of Town Hall.

But did they have to use a permanent plaque to ID the current members, rather than one with slots so you could simply replace just the single name tags?

After all, Mr. Weiss is TOAST in the next election (if he has the ego to actually run.) So not only will they have to reshoot the fancy LARGE color photo but will also have to recommission another bronze plaque (at least the fancy oak frame will still work)

Guess who's coming to town?

Forget the economic meltdown, swine flu pandemonium, and boring Town Meetings--the fair starts Thursday! And nothing--except perhaps a Rockwellian July 4'th Parade--represents all that is good with small town America better than a Fair.

Take a hike

So with business failures becoming a pandemic, unemployment skyrocketing, and those who still work for a living looking at wage freezes and feeling good about it since at least they still have a job, Mr. Vince O’Connor the social activist who thinks he’s Robin Hood, wants Town Meeting to endorse Governor Cadillac’s 19 cents per gallon gas tax hike.

Thus making us #1 in the nation for gas taxes, a return to the good old "Taxachusetts" days.

If you are some poor schmuck who commutes a l-o-n-g way to your job (not within cycling distance or on a PVTA bus route) that hike alone could cost hundred$ per year, money that could otherwise go towards a health club membership, golf lessons or beer.

Maybe the Gov and Vince should institute a special tax on Swedish cars, wine-and-cheese, and avant-garde movie houses. Or liberal excess—in the People’s Republic that would generate a fortune.

Don't mess with God

So according to aging activist Vince O'Connor, somebody (a former Select Board member and long-time Town Meeting member--so my guess is Rob Kusner) will move to divide the CPA article (you already know about the Civil War tablets restoration reduction of $20,000 coming up) to cut the entire funding for the North Congregation Church Slate Roof repair.

You know, that quaint, gorgeous old building that dominates North Amherst center. And gee, the request is all of $7,000 (approved 7-0 by the Community Preservation Act Committee) And for that the town gets a legal permanent promise to maintain the historical preservation of the property.

That way no Frat House could buy it and erect neon Budweiser signs in the belfry. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

Glory, glory

Amherst's "Sacred Dead Tablets" in storage

So as Civil War battles go the losses at Fort Wagner (under 1700 total with 90% of them Union attackers) were relatively minor; like the damage done to the Empire of Japan’s capital city of Tokyo by Doolittle’s B-25 bombers only four months after Pearl Harbor.

But they both made history because of a far greater symbolic meaning. And as such should always be remembered.

The ill-fated attack on Fort Wagner led by the 54'th Massachusetts Volunteers dispelled the notion that black soldiers couldn’t (or wouldn’t) fight. And the daring air raid on Tokyo sent a message to Japan early on: you messed with wrong country.

Amherst Town Meeting will take up the issue of restoring the Civil War tablets and placing them back in Amherst Town Hall where they were proudly displayed back in the early 1900’s. Two members of the Community Preservation Committee issued a minority report suggesting the total cost to clean all six and display two tablets at $65,000 is $20,000 too high.

Hmmm…Amherst spent almost $300,000 to preserve the Kimball House in North Amherst (now dwarfed by the aircraft carrier sized house behind it) but we can’t spend one-quarter of that to restore and display these donated tablets to honor locals who served--especially those who gave their "last measure of devotion"?

West Springfield City Hall

The Kimball House in North Amherst

The only thing we have to fear...

Yes, my daughter attended her final swim lesson at Amherst College. Living in fear is no way to live. One of the great advantages of living in the greatest county on earth is that when we declare war on something, we win.

Sent: Fri, 1 May 2009 2:52 pm

Subject: Saturday Swim Lessons

Greetings from the Amherst Pool!

We will be having the final Saturday lessons as scheduled tomorrow. We are aware of the cases of swine flu on the Amherst campus but after speaking with administrators who have been in constant communication with medical personnel, we are comfortable conducting lessons as usual since none of our instructors have been affected. We are encouraging them to take all necessary precautions and to find a substitute instructor if they are not feeling well.

If you and your children are healthy we encourage you to come for the last day but if you have doubts about your health we ask that you please do not attend your lesson.

We hope to see you healthy tomorrow!

Thank you again for participating in our swim lesson program!

Sincerely,

Karin Brown
Assistant Men's and Women's Swimming Coach
Amherst College


Well I guess not everyone showed up:
Monday, May 4:

Thank you for your notification. As I'm sure with other parents, we decided
to keep our children home. We were not comfortable sending our kids after
reading all the precautions that are being taken to protect other AC
students from infection. The swimming classes have been great and it was
unfortunate that you could not have postpone the lesson for the following
Saturday.

We also were not comfortable with your statement, "We are encouraging
them to take all necessary precautions and to find a substitute
instructor if they are not feeling well."  It would have felt better if you
said something like, "Any staff who is not feeling well will not teach."
Parents need clear supportive statements.  Thank you.