What price public documents?

Shawn Williams, Assistant Director
Public Records Division
McCormack Building, Room 1719
One Ashburton Place
Boston, MA 02108

8/22/2011

Dear Mr. Williams,

First off, my sincere condolences on the loss of Director Alan Cote. He was a true champion of keeping records open and available to the general public, a thankless and--unfortunately in Massachusetts--never ending job.

I'm aware your office seldom refers matters to the Attorney General for further action these days, but I'm requesting you do exactly that with the case of the Amherst Schools obstinately defying your order to produce 13 settlement agreements with public employees costing Amherst taxpayers $200,000 over the past five years.

As I understand it only two options now exist for overcoming this willful roadblock: referring the matter to the AG by your office for enforcement of your original order, or I can bring the matter to Superior Court such as the Boston Globe has done with an almost identical case.

Unfortunately option #2 will cost me $275 plus the additional cost as an Amherst taxpayer when the schools use attorney Regina Tate at $220/hour to defend their case.

It seems the Amherst Schools are using South Hadley as an example for doing the public's business: as secretly as possible. Please, do not allow them to be rewarded for this unethical pattern of behavior.

Sincerely Yours,

Larry Kelley
596 South Pleasant St
Amherst, Ma 01002
413 256-0491

The week that was: Swedish babies to 9/11

Caroline Degel, looking like a Swedish mother

UPDATE: (Saturday morning)

So low and behold the Daily Hampshire Gazette managed an exclusive interview with the beleaguered Swedish mother in the midst of her 15 minutes of infamy, who states her time in Bueno y Sano only amounted to four minutes, not ten; and her boy is actually two years old, not one.

Since the police report only gave her surname, "Degel," the intrepid Gazette actually had to do some leg work--or these days--more like finger work on a keyboard to track her down.

The article itself reaffirms my initial reaction that the RP ("reporting person"), although in this case apparently a group of people, overreacted by calling 911 rather than seeking out the parent or simply waiting an extra minute or two for her to return.

Branding her a "bad mother" and following up with "people like you shouldn't have children" also reaffirms my initial thought that they were those ubiquitous Amherst know-it-all's who probably do not have children of their own.

If my now 4- year-old was awakened too early in her nap cycle back when she was 2, there was Hell to pay.

I also found it a tad tacky for the newspaper to simultaneously use this overblown incident in their weekly "Gazette News Quiz" appearing on the highly visible break page:

A Swedish woman caused quite a stir in Amherst earlier this week when she left what on the sidewalk for a few minutes?

(a) Photos of her marriage to Tiger Woods
(b) Five pounds of Swedish meatballs (which are illegal in Amherst)
(c) A miniature daschund
(d) Her 1-year-old son

Notice even the "correct answer" is incorrect, and they misspelled dachshund. I guess since the exclusive interview was done only on Friday, the News Quiz editor did not have enough time for checking copy.

A Swedish publication scoops the Gazette with interview of an obviously pissed off husband/dad.
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Original post: (Thursday evening)

For a weekly newspaper the greatest gift is time. When the presses do not run until Wednesday afternoon you have time to check and recheck copy for news that happened over the weekend or even timelier events occurring at the beginning of the week; an extra margin of time to ponder the perfect headline and dwell even harder about where to position the story.

Because in news, as with selling real estate, location matters.

So I waited with anticipation early this morning for the weekly Amherst Bulletin to see how they would handle the non story that sparked national and international attention: Amherst's abandoned--but only for ten minutes-- Swedish baby story.

The Daily Hampshire Gazette placed it on Tuesday's front page under a foreboding headline: "State to look into report of baby left in stroller."

But I was pleased to see the non story, although still appearing on the front page, relegated to a tiny corner, bottom right, well below the fold. Lousy placement. And the almost as important headline was changed to something far less foreboding: "Cultural differences lead to trouble in Amherst."

God knows Amherst practices cultural sensitivity. Take for example the top story they did chose to place in the prized, above the fold, lead position: "A small but devoted Muslim congregation gathers in Amherst." And later in the lengthy article disclose the group would take part in an interfaith march in Amherst on the fast approaching 10th anniversary of 9/11.

Well I'm glad they found something, umm, non controversial to bump the Swedish baby caper?

Slow news day?

Bueno y Sano: downtown Amherst, contiguous with parking garage, near busy construction site

UPDATE (Wednesday morning): This non story hit Reuters national wire early Monday evening and a few hours ago went international via a Swedish publication. Probably will not enhance Amherst as a destination spot for Scandinavian tourism.
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So my friends in the bricks-and-mortar media were all over the (alleged) abandoned baby incident over the past 24 hours, with the Daily Hampshire Gazette leading the charge, splashing it on the front page--even highlighting it further with washed out color over the entire four columns.

To recap: A mother from Sweden goes into a busy take out restaurant in busy downtown Amherst around 2:00 PM on Friday to order food while leaving her baby boy snugly wrapped in a carriage the Swedes refer to as a "pram," just outside the establishment--but well within view via a window(s).

A Good Samaritan passerby calls police from his cell phone to report a baby in a carriage without parents in sight. APD responds, finds the child healthy and happy; but as a "mandated" authority, they report the mother to Department of Children and Families via a 51A .

The mother casually responds that it's a common practice in Sweden (even in the dead of winter), and she was watching periodically through the window. Since DCF has no enforcement authority anyway, chances are they will issue a letter outlining how things are done here in America and that will be the end of it.

The recent terrorist mass murder in Norway--many of the victims young adults--is still vivid in our minds, and since most Americans mix up Sweden and Norway anyway, why not go all tabloid over a non story concerning child safety that questions the rearing habits of Swedish mothers?

Maybe because next time the media goes ballistic on a far more deserving child abuse story, readers will be a tad less prone to pay attention.

Seen any wolves lately?

Springfield Republican also reported

Rainy Days & Mondays

I'll be the roundabout (test pilot)

Bad enough when one driver gets confused and tries to use a roundabout still under construction, even worse when the car behind him follows along for the ride.

According to Amherst Police (around 1:00 PM Saturday): "Two vehicles got onto the rotary that is under construction--most likely westbound off Bay Road--and as they exited they nearly caused an accident with the reporting party. One elderly gentleman in a Cadillac. No description of second vehicle."

Let's hope upon completion (sometime next year) the state installs a plethora of signage to mitigate confusion.

Call in the Cavalry

Alan Cote, Supervisor of Records
Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth
McCormack Building, Room 1719
One Ashburton Place
Boston, MA 02108
8/15/2011

Dear Mr. Cote,

I am requesting further assistance from the Public Records Division concerning my previous public documents request of the Amherst Schools for employee settlement agreements over the past five years with a value greater than $5,000.

In a 7/20/2011 letter to the Amherst schools your office, responding to my 4/7/11 appeal request, found in my favor saying, "The school has failed to show that the responsive separation agreements include personal information sufficient enough to withhold the agreements in their entirety under Exemption (C)."

On 8/2/2011 I met with Amherst School Superintendent Maria Geryk and Human Resources Director Kathy Mazur to pick up the documents. The Amherst officials, however, refused to provide any of the 13 settlement agreements, offering instead a "summary" with no names, job titles, dates or any other information besides the total amount of each individual settlement (document attached).

Could your office please issue another administrative order clarifying for the schools how to properly comply with your original order to provide the settlement agreements in question? As always, thank you for working to maintain transparency within our government.

Larry Kelley
596 South Pleasant St.
Amherst, Ma 01002

Settlement Agreement Summary

Gateway is Gone

The Gateway Corridor Project, born September 1, 2010, died Wednesday August 4, just shy of age one, after contracting an all too typical case of NIMBYism.

The ambitious Gateway was conceived out of an optimistic, rare partnership between Amherst and UMass, as an urban renewal project with a mixed-used commercial development of high end student housing, commercial retail, and office space, a signature building or two plus significant green space, to revitalize the corridor connecting downtown Amherst with our flagship University.

The Amherst Redevelopment Authority adopted the infant and acted as nursemaid.

But the generational pessimism ingrained in the nearby neighborhood by seasonal waves of rowdy students, combined with overly inclusive public officials who allowed self interested "stakeholders" to hijack the public process, inflicted a heavy toll.

Gateway supporters were so concerned about negotiating the Town Meeting gauntlet--where a two thirds vote is required for zoning changes--that they watered down the project immensely, thus alienating a major player.

On August 4th UMass rescinded the offer to transfer ownership of Frat Row, the Gateway's crown jewel, a two-acre swath of open land dubbed a critical "catalyst" by ARA consultant Gianni Longo. The prime piece of property that ignited the very idea of a "Gateway."

With its heart and soul gutted the grand idea is gone. Now, Gateway belongs to the ages.



9/1/10

Todd Diacon, UMass deputy chancellor (center). During the intensive design charrette he was seated at the only table of ten that came up with a "minimalist" plan for Frat Row: keeping it wide open and green. They called it, "King Philip Street Park."

They got their wish, for now

The Springfield Sunday Republican reports