Anything for you Vince

Amherst's own Napoleon.

So along with Cambridge, the People’s Republic of Amherst experimented (in a Nazi sort of way) with “Rent Control” back in the 1980’s. Naturally this being the United States of America where supply and demand rules, it did not work.

Yet it took us this long to put a bullet in the back of the head of the 'Housing Review Board.'

Notice how former Chair Harry Brooks (still drunk on the power he once possessed) delights in retelling the story of brow beating and intimidating a women he describes as a “friend of mine”. Yikes!

Mr. Brooks is currently one of seven members of the “Town Meeting Coordinating Committee” (they come up with new rules and regulations for the antiquated body); and he’s one of three members of the Amherst Registrar of Voters (the folks who sided with former Czar Ann Awad after she moved to South Hadley but wanted to remain an Amherst town official to bolster her retirement pension benefits) and his wife Paulette Brooks, also a town meeting member, is Executive Committee President of ACTV (the cable access TV folks who consume $250,000 annually to broadcast Amherst government functions).

Double yikes!

The hardest working man in (state) politics

State Senator Stan Rosenberg paid the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School a visit this morning to talk about all things education. Stan is the hardest working politician in the state and if the entire legislature were made up of folks like him we would not be in such a dire condition today.

He had a perfect quote in the Gazette today where he was describing “revenue enhancement” measures for cities and towns and how they could—if implemented--bring in $400 million, which he described as “not a ton of money.”

And at first I thought how could you say that about $400 million? But with state revenues off by $3 BILLION, it’s not too hard to understand.

I first met Stan back in 1991 when I was elected to Amherst Town Meeting with 5 write in votes (mine, my wife and three others). Back then the (usually elderly) constables would bring the locked ballot boxes to Town Hall from all the hinterlands of Amherst and sometimes the last one would not arrive until 9:30 PM or so (polls closed at 8:00) and the results had to be tabulated.

So I’m alone in the Town Clerks office around 9:00 PM waiting for the results of Precinct 7. In walks State Representative Stan Rosenberg. I introduce myself and say “what are you doing here?”. “I’m a political junkie , he replied.

A while later the Springfield Republican reporter who covered Amherst , Mike Plaisance, showed up for the results. He asked me how I felt about winning an election to Amherst Town Meeting? “Now I know how President Reagan felt after Grenada”, I replied tongue in cheek.

After all, the island of Grenada was no match for our military and I had just been elected with 5 votes (mine, my wife’s and three others)

But I was always impressed when everybody else--including the voters--had no interest in a local election (no major contests were on the ballot) our State Representative did. And I’ve watched Stan‘s career closely ever since. And he continues to earn the moniker “hardest working politician in the state.”

Naturally this morning I followed him out to his car and mentioned that Amherst’s share of the 4% local hotel/motel tax was down $40,000 because of the Lord Jeff Inn closing. So even if we raise it to 6% (which would have generated $60,000 last year) it will not help. BUT if the Umass Campus Center Hotel would START paying the tax—even at 4%--it could raise $75,000 or so.

“We’re working on,” Stan replied. And that is a good thing.

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.