School bullying--even in Amherst

UPDATE: 3:40 PM Okay, so here's the prequel leading up to Principal Mark Jackson's insubordinate rant.

Notice how Maria Geryk whispers to Farshid Hajir the School Committee Chair about Mark wanting to speak. And of course, Hajir was too demure to shut down the overly aggressive Jackson when he crossed the line and attacked fellow School Committee person Catherine Sanderson. And now Maria Geryk is Mark Jackson's boss for the next 16 months. Obviously he will have it pretty good.

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So forget that Principal Mark Jackson, the second highest paid "public servant" in the People's Republic @ $131,236, is better than twice Catherine Sanderson's size, and forget for a moment that as a School Committee member she is in charge of hiring the Superintendent who can then fire Jackson, this was just plain inappropriate.

And I'm trying to figure out how he's so sure what was in those "evaluations" of the Superintendent when Alberto Rodriguez was, two days ago, Jackson's direct boss.

The 15 or 20 anonymous evaluations collected from administrative staff (including Jackson's) should have gone directly to Chair Farshid Hajir and then to the entire Amherst Regional School Committee--but nobody else.

There they go again

This time it's the staid Finance Committee disingenuously spinning figures to aid town officials in their faltering battle to raise taxes.

According to their unanimously approved manifesto, the FinCom lays the blame on Prop 2.5, which Amherst overwhelmingly voted against 30 years ago: "Even with careful management, costs for local communities to provide education, libraries,public safety and other community services increase at an inflation rate greater than 2.5 percent."

But our supposed watchdog financial consultants are conveniently forgetting "new growth" allowed by Prop 2.5. The Facilitation of Community Choices Committee recognized that in their financial report two years ago by clearly pointing out:

"Prop 2.5 allows for an annual increase in property taxes of 2.5% plus any new growth in taxable property such as new construction or additions.

Amherst has averaged 1.5% per year during the last ten years for a total average increase of 4% in the tax base."

And last I looked, inflation was below 4% over the past ten years--and in 2009 almost 0%.

Particularly troubling, rookie Finance Committee Chair Andy Steinberg (also a long-time Town Meeting member) was a member of the FCCC and present on the day the discussion of "new growth" took place.

Transparency--what a concept

From: amherstac@aol.com
To: westmorelandD@arps.org; mazurk@arps.org; gawles@verizon.net; nhoffenberg@gazettenet.com
Sent: Tue, Mar 9, 2010 10:50 am
Subject: Public Documents/Open Meeting Law Reqest

Hi Debbie,

Could I please get a copy of the discussion minutes and any votes taken during the Executive Session of the Regional School Committee last night.

Thanks,

Larry Kelley

From: Debbie Westmoreland
To: amherstac@aol.com; Kathy Mazur ; nhoffenberg@gazettenet.com; gawles@verizon.net
Cc: Tracy Farnham ; Farshid Hajir
Sent: Tue, Mar 9, 2010 1:37 pm
Subject: Re: Public Documents/Open Meeting Law Reqest

Hi Mr. Kelley:

The School Committee has not yet voted to release the minutes from last night's Executive Session; therefore, they are still considered confidential. I am not sure when the School Committee will officially release the minutes, but I will be happy to forward them to you once they do.

Best Regards,

Deb

From: amherstac@aol.com
To: WestmorelandD@ARPS.ORG; MazurK@ARPS.ORG; nhoffenberg@gazettenet.com; gawles@verizon.net
Cc: FarnhamT@ARPS.ORG; HajirF@ARPS.ORG
Sent: Tue, Mar 9, 2010 1:51 pm
Subject: Re: Public Documents/Open Meeting Law Request

Thanks Deb!

Just make sure I'm in line ahead of the Crusty Gazette (a few seconds here and a few seconds there...)

Larry

$igns, $igns everywhere $igns...

So in addition to those nickel-and-dime political lawn signs springing up around town like mushrooms after a summer rain, this Big-Boy went up yesterday on Rt. 116. Thankfully the State pays the $2,700 tab for the sign, and Palmer Paving--who won the bid--installed it.

The $2.3 million road resurfacing starts next month and will extend from Snell Street down to Hampshire College but skip the center of South Amherst, where my business is located.

The town "took over" (at tens of thousands in annual upkeep) this section of the state highway four or five years ago in order to redo the South Amherst center in the image and likeness of a quaint little French Village. That was years ago; thus far we did get a used traffic control signal--but no crosswalk.

And no little french bakery.

UPDATE: 1:00 PM

So back from my bike ride fertilizing the ground underneath all those green Vote Yes pro Override signs (Locked and loaded with a super-soaker squirter gun so I could fire from a public road.) I could not help but notice a second $2,7000 State sign on the other side of the 3-mile project.

And furthermore could not help but notice that they are only ONE-SIDED SIGNS. Hmm...even our overly-amateurish, do-gooder local politicos wanna be's with their loose change lawn signs figured out the value of two sided.

But not our illustrious state.

Better dead than red

You can tell Mr. Hood is a "webmaster", as he picked a lively color scheme for his lawn signs (which, unlike the green pro-Override signs, will still stand out when the grass comes in.)

I guess he learned from his boo-boo three years ago that lawn signs are an essential evil in a political campaign. Although it is a tad odd that he--of all people--a true blue, blue-state kind of guy, would use red.
Yeah as one of my Anons pointed out, he borrowed from the wholesome milk company.

The Color of Money

So Overriders picked the perfect color scheme for their lawn signs. Hey, at least this time around they were clever enough to order them. Three years ago they did not bother--one of the many huge mistakes they made under the leadership of Rick Hood, now a candidate for School Committee.

A-Rod strikes out!

Catherine Sanderson reports on the Gazette report

The Springfield Republican follows up (actually using the Gazette as a source)

UPDATE Monday Morning (quarterbacking): The crusty Gazette finally caught up with this story. Must be a tad embarrassed as they threw up a brief last night on Gazettenet, but back dated it to Saturday. And intrepid forever reporter Nick Grabbe had to resort to using persons "with direct knowledge of the situation," as sources but of course unnamed.

The Regional School Committee meets tonight in Executive Session to try to put together Dr. Rodriguez's going away present. For sure he will demand the rest of this year's salary (about $40,000) but he may ask for all of next year's as well ($158,000.) Probably will not have the gall to also ask for the $15,000 in housing/transportation. If so, let's hope the School Committee pays him off in pennies so he gets a hernia dragging them back to sunny Miami, Florida.
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UPDATE: Saturday around noon:

So sorry for not responding to all the Comments that occurred after I, finally, hit the "publish" button close to midnight last night as I then retired.

And sorry for deleting the post "We interrupt this regularly scheduled program..." which had garnered a few comments because I was sitting on this "A-Rod Strikes Out" story in draft for sooooo many hours that when I finally got the corroboration I needed for some reason it published below the placeholder, throw-away post signaling something BIG was in the offing.

So I just deleted that entire post (only the 2nd time in three years I have done such a thing.)

When someone taunted me by email about being out of touch on this story with the bricks and mortar media possibly beating me to it (and at that point it was written, the photo uploaded and my right hand was hovering over the publish button) I instantly flashed back to that great scene in "Tora, Tora, Tora" where the lowly staff Sergeant had tried to get his commanding officer to do something after the rookie commander of the USS Ward reporting attacking an enemy submarine at the mouth of Pearl Harbor, early on the morning of December 7.

The Commander, not happy about working on a gorgeous Sunday. barked "Corroboration, I need corroboration!" A few hours later he bursts into the same office with his eyes wide open and jaw hitting the floor and the lowly Sargent (busily answering the phone and stamping forms at a frantic pace) looks up, points his hand at the huge picture window overlooking the Harbor now filled with burning, dying ships and shouts, "There's your corroboration!"

ORIGINAL POST: late last night

After less than a year as the highest paid Amherst "public servant", School Superintendent Alberto Rodriguez will go the way of the previous (less than) Super, Alton Sprague who took his co-Superintendent wife, two months of taxpayer funded salary, and flew the coop.

In this case, Rodriguez will be winging back to Miami, Florida where "we play hard, hard, hardball" he bragged to the Amherst Bulletin last year, declaring he would have no trouble surviving in the People's Republic of Amherst.

Once again Maria Geryk steps up to cover as she did previously after the aged co-supers disappeared with two months left on their one-year contract, and most recently for the numerous days A-Rod took as vacation/sick time.
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SUPERINTENDENT ‑ CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT

4. TERMINATION: This Agreement may be terminated or modified by mutual written agreement of the parties. In the event that the Superintendent desires to terminate this Agreement before the term of the Agreement and his employment expires, he may do so by giving at least one-hundred twenty (120) days’ notice of his intention to the Committees. This Agreement may be terminated by the Committees prior to its expiration, for good cause, but not without prior written notice to the Superintendent of the proposed reasons for termination.