All roads lead to Florida

The Republican Reports

The Gazette has a hilarious article Friday posted on Catherine Sanderson's blog about former Amherst School Superintendent Alberto Rodriguez resurfacing in Florida after his sudden, less-than-amicable departure from the People's Republic up here in the frigid hinterlands.

Turns out the "undisclosed medical condition" that prompted his unannounced trips to Florida last winter was just a--cue the drumroll--hernia. Lucky for him it was repaired Monday, although he may get another one carrying all his ill gotten gains to the bank.

A-Rod is still receiving full pay through the end of May courtesy of Amherst taxpayers--and already has landed another job as principal at Coral Shores High School in Key West. Hired by old pal Joseph Burke, former Springfield School Superintendent pretty much fired by the State Control Board two years ago.

The Springfield School Committee met in secret to extend Burke's contract but the Control Board axed it. For the good of the system, Burke did not file suit and flew south where he obviously landed on his feet.

No big surprise Superintendent Burke would embrace Alberto--after all, Burke was a reference for him when he applied to Amherst. They have concocted a good cover story for his brief tortured tenure in Amherst: the evil School Committee "criticized him about vacation and sick time." Hmm...I thought that was me and the evil blogosphere?!

Plus they cited the women who threatened last summer to burn her tax bill in front of Rodriguez's office to protest his lavish contract. Yeah, gotta watch those women armed with a lighter.

Burke, a white guy, also clumsily plays the race card by pointing out Regional School Committee members who originally hired A-Rod left their positions and were replaced by members who "were not comfortable with him."

I guess from now on whenever the Regional School Committee hires a Superintendent (and apparently that will be a year from now) they should hold a quiet retreat W-A-Y out in the woods of Pelham and, you know, get to like each other. Kumbaya.

All Roads Lead to South Hadley

UPDATE 9:00 PM So the venerable Republican did a (slow) live blog of the meeting and to no surprise the system closed in to protect itself. School Committee Chair Edward J. Boisselle cut off the first speaker saying he was being "offensive".

And when main critic Luke Gelinas publicly asked for Superintendent Gus Sayer, and high school Principal Daniel T. Smith to resign or be fired the School Chair threw him out of the meeting. By meeting close the diffident School Committee failed to take any action on sanctioning school employees for failing to protect 15-year-old Phoebe Prince.

I have a feeling this is F-A-R from over.
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ORIGINAL POST 10:00 AM

Tonight's South Hadley School Committee meeting should be nothing if not interesting--a real shootout at the OK Corral.

I'll put my money on critic Darby O'Brien--not just because he's Irish or a Public Relations pro--but because he's right. And righteousness will not be denied. The point man is usually first to draw fire.

Of course I've been there a few times myself--what with the Amherst Select Board mulling a Muzzle Larry Kelley ordinance.

What public officials the world over never seem to understand is that passionate critics--even the ones who shoot from the hip--are motivated from their very core. Perhaps, in this case, the reason South Hadley officials don't get it is because they themselves sorely lack a core.

The Springfield Republican reports

You can always go..

Why God invented the Power of the Blog

So you have to wonder how many folks at home we're still watching three hours into last week's Select Board meeting when the Town Manager gave this soliloquy.

A blog is exactly the place for this kind of "transparent" information, access to answers (not that the Town Manager ever responded on his blog) without the bother of numerous phone calls. The Town Manager started his blog over two years ago with great fanfare and managed to average 1.25 posts per month in his rookie year, falling to 1 per month the next year and now averaging 1 every three months.

But hey, what do you expect for a lousy $128,000 per year.


Mr. Shaffer's seldom used platform

NIMBYs on the attack

So the property was plenty big enough--parking included--for Harkness Road High School, a private, non-profit, co-ed day school established 1987 in what was formerly a retail poultry business situated on five acres.

They educated students in grades seven through twelve, utilizing 2,400 square feet (four rooms) of class space, and averaged approximately 20 students each year.

But now suddenly traffic is an issue with a Mosque? Especially a Mosque in the People's Republic of Amherst where attendance is expected to be two to five people coming for daily prayers, up to 10 people for night prayers and around 50 people attending Friday services, which take place at 1 p.m.

And interestingly the immediate long-time neighbor to the property is a commercial welding business.

But hey, at least the fifty or so complainers are not playing the terrorist card--at least not yet.

Space Pod lands in Hadley!

Probably about the ONLY thing that would attract the same media attention as the Phoebe Prince suicide story.

The media

travels in packs.

This was more than apparent this morning in front of the Juvenile Courthouse in Hadley Center for the arraignment of three juveniles in the Phoebe Prince bullying case that has taken on the aura of the O.J. Simpson murder trial.

Can you imagine how much it costs for those satellite vans and support staff? These days some yokel like me with a $100 point-and-shoot digital camera, $250 netbook and a Wifi connection can do it all instantaneously.