Sincerest form of flattery

Three years ago Sir Richard Hood showed up in Amherst Town Center a few days before the May 1 Override vote with his Van festooned with posters ripping off the angry yellow jacket design to shout No More teachers, police, or firefighters.

Of course the problem with that hyperbole is it perfectly demonstrates the "fear factor" town officials like to use when strong-arming the taxpayers. Three years ago the Town Manager put five firefighters hired with a Federal Grant on the Override chopping block even though the terms of the grant would have caused much larger repayment to the Feds.

Three years ago I simply chalked up the copycats "sky is falling" rhetoric to the general incompetency of allowing such a naive rookie to take command of the campaign and at that point, in over his head, he simply lost his head.

But now, under new command, they went it did it again. Yikes!

A reason to miss 'His Lordship'

So Mr. Weiss must have had too much cake at his going away party preceding the Select Board meeting last night, as he couldn't even spit out a spirited counter using his taxpayer funded Bully Pulpit of his previous spot-on pubic statement that the People's Republic has been "living beyond its means."

And if my memory serves he specifically pointed out the raises and step increases granted to the town employees--mainly the Teachers Union. The concessions made to the Town Manager (Police) and now most recently the Regional School Committee are token at best.


And I believe Mr. Weiss was also the attribution/source used by that damn "anti-Override organization" disclosing the over-$1 million surplus last Fiscal Year.

A very public bribe

Amherst teachers agree to contract givebacks if override passes
By NICK GRABBE
Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 16, 2010

AMHERST - The teachers union voted Monday to turn three "professional days" into unpaid furloughs if voters approve a tax-cap override on March 23.

The vote would affect about 380 employees at the elementary, middle and high schools. It would reduce the budget impact of salary increases next year from about $1.3 million to about $930,000.

The average teacher would receive about $1,000 less than if the union had gone along with its negotiated contract, said president Tim Sheehan.

####################################

Damn! Voted on Monday and it made the Gazette already. How very bloglike of them.

So let me get this strait: If the Override passes, they still get their full raises and step increases but the teachers are going to give up three days of paid professional development and simply take them as "unpaid furloughs." But they will still take all of them as days off...probably not to engage in "professional development."

When the Override fails, 95% of them will still get their full raises and step increases AND those three paid "professional days," only there will be a few less teachers.

National Sunshine Week: T.G.F.F.O.I!

Thank God for Freedom Of Information, Public Documents and Open Meeting Laws.

From: amherstac@aol.com
To: westmorelandD@arps.org; mazurk@arps.org; hajirf@arps.org
Sent: Mon, Mar 15, 2010 9:20 am
Subject: Public Documents Request

Amherst Regional School Committee

Hi,

Could I please get copies of the evaluation materials mentioned in the Sunday Springfield Republican article on the sudden departure of Dr. Alberto Rodriguez specifically from Regional School Committee Chair Farshid Hajir: four notebooks filled with "impressions" of the Superintendent's performance created during meetings with faculty and staff which Hajir attended in his role as School Committee Chair--thus making the materials a public document.

Thanks,

Larry Kelley

The Sunday Republican reports

Even the spotted salamanders know better!

Click photo to enlarge/read

So for those of you new to the People's Republic of Amherst (living here less than 20 years and probably still pronouncing the h in Amherst) this inside joke references one of the first things I experienced as an 'Only in Amherst' event dating back to the late 1980s.

The spotted salamanders crossing bucolic Henry Street in the far reaches of North Amherst during that time of year when they get, umm, horny (early April) were getting squished by the ever-so-occasional auto. The town installed "Salamander tunnels" so the critters could safely cross under the road (Hell, at Hampshire College you would be awarded a degree for that).

But of course nobody told the Salamanders about the tunnel--even in Amherst town officials do not speak or write Salamander and do not have a Star Trek universal translator to communicate with them.

Thus to this day volunteers go out to this site in early April at dusk with flashlights to assist the little critters crossing the street.

Do-gooders herding salamanders into an expensive tunnel: Only in Amherst.

Yes, the NEW YORK TIMES (actually) reported
To this day Henry Street is not exactly "busy". Obviously the NY Times, as they say in journalism, "phoned in" this story.

And of course some of you townies will remember that then Select Board Chair (Umass History Professor) Richard Minear the year before spearheaded the socialistic takeover of the Cherry Hill Golf Course for the most money this town has ever paid out for such a heavy handed taking. And the only time the town used an obscure provision in the law making that taking "referendum proof" by the taxpayers.

No More Overrides: Even the White Elephant Golf Course agrees!

Click to enlarge/see the angry yellow jacket No More Overrides lawn sign

Ten years ago some Nitwit wrote a scathing 'Letter to the Editor' published in the venerable Amherst Bulletin complaining most vociferously about a pair of political lawn signs in this exact location promoting the election of George W. Bush for President.

Gasp! How could the People's Republic of Amherst allow town property to be used as a platform for the likes of him, a--double gasp--Republican.

Turns out, when the town snatched the Cherry Hill Golf Course from Dave Maxon in 1987 for $2.2 million (the highest price ever paid for land acquisition) using eminent domain under an "emergency measure" so that it was Referendum proof, that astronomical price did not include the nearby Maxon homestead, where his family still lives today.

And obviously they have good taste when it comes to political issues.

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.

#####################################


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.