Say it isn't so

So this Amherst Bully web article falls into the "You gotta be kidding me category!" 105 faculty and staff of Amherst Regional High School sign a petition supporting their boss Mark Jackson, after he made an ass of himself bullying School Committee member Catherine Sanderson at the 3/9 SC meeting.

Goes to show what lousy institutional memory they have. After all, 8 years ago that many staff signed a petition penned by ARHS journalism teacher Bruce Penniman supporting pedophile principal Steven Myers, who almost days later disappeared in the middle of the night.

And in 1999 a 17-year-old Puerto Rican girl garnered 158 signatures in one day at the High School decrying the production of 'West Side Story' as the Senior class play; she managed to convince the spineless School Committee to cancel the production--the first time in history any entity has ever banned 'West Side Story.'



ARHS The Graphic 1/25/02 Click to enlarge/read

Override is not the answer! (neither is WAR)

Springfield Sunday Republican reports

So yeah, this concerns me a tad: the highest read edition of the 3rd largest newspaper in Massachusetts publishes this routine overview article. Concerns me only because the uninformed voter may read it and think--because of outgoing Amherst School Committee Chair Andy Churchill comments--that the override is now down to $1.12 million, which of course it is not.

What town officials claim is that if unexpected tooth fairy revenues come in--as they always do--they will do as they did in the 2004 Override scenario and not tax to the full extent of the levy in the first year.. However after that one year they will tax to the full extent of the $1.68 MILLION Override amount PLUS THE 2.5% ALLOWED BY LAW.
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Original Post 1:00 PM

So I rolled through town center at around 12:30 PM and the anti-war folks, who have been on that corner every Sunday for 30+ years, outnumbered the "Vote Yes" people--mainly Ricky Boy Hood family and tenderfoot Field Marshal Clare Bertrand--three to one.

You know the drill: click photo to enlarge. The exceedingly small contingent of "Vote Yes" drones are, fittingly, on the extreme left.

A question of priorities in the People's Republic

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Couldn't help but notice on the 2nd tier "gray area"--meaning possible restoration with an Override and unexpected state aid--sits the $61,092 LSSE "Customer Assistant Registrar."

Gotta wonder how that makes the average cop or firefighter feel when they make less than that--not to mention classroom teachers or DPW laborers.

And notice all the Cherry Hill Golf Course was willing to give up is $7,600 in Maintenance/Equipment/Supplies (must be those savings garnered from using convict labor.) But even then their Operation budget is up 2.6% next year while the Police budget is up less than 1%.

And while town officials keep trumpeting how the LSSE Recreation Empire is almost break even, like the Golf Course, they do not tell you that those figures ignore the employee benefits and health insurance costs. ($200,000 next year.)

And of course Capital items are also not included (and LSSE has a quite a fleet of trucks and vans.)

Overriders raise some serious cash

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Unlike three years ago Overriders filed their campaign finance report with the Town Clerk on time.

So counting Ricky Boy Hood's $211.83 for payment of buttons, that makes just a a tad over $5,000 raised thus far for this Override campaign. And I'm impressed, I really am. What a hard sell that must be when hitting up folks for contributions: "Could you please donate money so that we can wage a campaign to raise your taxes?"

Since they have only spent $1991 and have an ending balance of $3073 as of 3/15 (but includes the half-page "signature ad" in the 3 /19 Amherst Bulletin with F-A-R less signatures than three years ago), prepare for a blitzkrieg over the next 72 hours

Behold the Power...

Interesting article on the Front Page of the downsized Springfield Republican about politicians using social media to connect with their constituents. They lead with local success story Catherine Sanderson's School Committee Blog pointing out posts that generated 150 comments and 10,000 hits per month.

Two weeks ago at the height of the School Superintendent A-Rod coup d'état she came within a whisker of breaking the 1,000 mark--two days in a row.

I noticed three years ago when I first launched this blog my numbers almost tripled the days immediately before the May 1 Override vote. And during the recent A-Rod affair (a story broken by me three full days before the Crusty Gazette) my numbers also more than doubled, and now have stayed there as yet another Override looms.

So I think when people really want to be informed and they want it NOW they come to the Blogosphere, Twitter, Facebook, etc. When they want to leisurely sip cappuccino and passively peruse the local news, they pick up the brick-and-mortar media.

Rope-a-dope while avoiding Overriders rage

As Rod Serling would say, "Respectfully submitted for your perusal."

In this case, the reason why angry yellow jacket No More Overrides signs will not swarm in Amherst center over the final days of the campaign. Three years ago--a day or so before the May 1 Override vote--some Nitwit woman crashed her vehicle narrowly avoiding cyclists and pedestrians who would not have made out as well as the 4,000 pound auto she rear ended.

So in the interests of public safety--especially since our Police and Fire departments are understaffed--the Amherst Citizens for Responsible Change have decided not to stand around in town center and distract drivers.
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Original Post 4/29/07


As a passive aggressive sparky school supporter was driving thru the downtown around high-noon Saturday she rolled down the window and leaned out shouting while shaking her fist: “You should be ashamed of yourselves!”

A split second later she rear-ended the SUV in front of her. Stan Gawle, without missing a beat (after he stopped laughing) exclaimed, “God is on our side!”

"Brother Against Brother" Civil War

Hmm...a Yes and No sign on the same lawn. Perhaps a husband going one way and his spouse the other. Kind of like Select Board incumbent (with no competition thus guaranteed reelection) Alisa Brewer (Yes) and Umass Prof husband Steven Brewer (No) fighting it out over on Localocracy.org

(And yeah, I gave him 5 of my 10 ratings points to drive his comment to the top.)