A Better Life? Nyet!

Vladimir Putin on the prowl

You would think a conservative macho dude like Vladimir Putin would respect and appreciate family values; or more specifically, the value of having a family.

By enacting a ban on United States couples adopting children from his country, the  Russian President has -- for all intents and purposes -- sentenced far too many of these children to a life without love.

If he really wanted to get back at the United States for political humiliations, he should have just challenged President Obama to a wrestling match.

There's still China

Newsmaker Of The Year

Umass Amherst founded 1863

What would Amherst be without the flagship University of Massachusetts?  A lot less newsworthy, that's for sure.

Yes, in all of the top Amherst news stories over the past 12 months -- from the alleged gang rape in a dorm, the "riot" after the Superbowl, the death of a young woman from a fall the University kept secret for ten days at family request, or the weekend in and weekend out Party House winners racking up a record breaking number of $300 nuisance house tickets -- the University of Massachusetts has played a central role. 

Of course alcohol has also played a contributing role in all those noteworthy stories as well.

On the plus side, however, Amherst has a 3.9% unemployment rate compared to the state average of 6.6% ... mainly due to our beloved economic Juggernaut, UMass. 

All in all, not a bad trade off (depending on your proximity to a Party House I suppose).

The Dr. Is, finally, In

Atkinson Building, 17 Research Drive, Amherst

I first met Katherine J Atkinson (aka Dr. Kate), at a distance anyway, when she spoke before a packed church at a memorial service eight years ago for her Dad, Dr. Rollin Johnson, an orthopedic surgeon who gave a legion of patients, including me, a second chance at enjoying life via his gifted expertise with joint replacement.

The writer in me was struck by the unfairness of his sudden passing, only a year into a well-earned retirement.  His dutiful daughter directly addressed what a lot of us mourners were thinking, saying what we didn't  know is that her dad suffered a heart attack twenty years earlier, and fully recovered.

But, if he had succumbed then -- and not been able to help us overcome our debilitating ailments or to guide his daughter along the same path to becoming a healer -- that truly would have been the definition of "unfair."

So I find it both fitting and fair that after five l-o-n-g years of work, including contentious political debates before Amherst Town Meeting and the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Atkinson Building -- providing a new home to the Atkinson Family Practice --  would open for business less than a week before Christmas.

Amherst's very own, "Miracle On Research Drive."

The new building harnesses sustainable energy via solar panels on roof

Ginger, the color coordinated therapy dog

With 3,500  patients, having ten examining rooms cuts down on waiting

A "Project of the Month"

Assistance At The Top

 DPW Director Guilford Mooring (left), Dave Ziomek (Rt) @ War Memorial Pool

Town Manager John Musante gave Dave Ziomek an early Christmas present with the announcement today that Mr. Ziomek will assume the role of Assistant Town Manager starting January 1, with a raise in pay from his current $89,126 up to $97,904, an increase of $8,778 or 9%.

Of course rank and file unions have settled for around 2%, and even the Town Manager only received a 1.5% raise back in October.   Although his current pay at $142,100 will be 40% higher than his new assistant and $25,000 higher than next highest paid department heads, police and fire chiefs.

The position of Assistant Town Manager is not a new one. Michael Letcher was Assistant Town Manager from 1983 until leaving in 1991. Then Town Manager Barry Del Castilho left the position vacant for budgetary reasons, and it stayed unfilled until Musante assumed the position under Town Manager Larry Shaffer.

When Town Manager John Musante was seriously injured in a fall last year, Dave Ziomek was appointed acting Town Manager by the Select Board in an emergency meeting, and served in that role for six weeks.

The Landlord Blinks

 Gilreath Manor (3 buildings) Hobart Lane, Amherst

Based on new information -- the truth -- Grandonico Properties, LLC lawyer Lawrence Farber requested a last minute continuation at Thursday night's Zoning Board of Appeals hearing to appeal punitive fines issued by Building Commissioner Rob Morra for violation of the town's zoning by-law limiting unrelated housemates to four per single family dwelling.

For those of you who think fines do not make a difference in changing behavior, take note:  Commissioner Morra issue the first fine on Monday and they will accumulate at $100 per day, unless the ZBA (at that rescheduled meeting in mid January) overturns the decision of the Building Commissioner, a highly unlikely scenario.

According to Commissioner Morra:  "Mr. Farber is requesting a continuance which must be granted tonight by the ZBA after they open the hearing.  If granted, the fines will continue and, in my opinion, must be appealed to district court within 21 days.  It is also my opinion that the ZBA is ruling on the application of ZBL Section 11.45 in this case and not the fine itself which must be heard by the court – although I am aware that all may not agree with me."

The statement submitted by UMass Legal Services attorney Carol Booth clearly demonstrates a pattern of dishonest behavior by the owners of Gilreath Manor,  carefully designed to circumvent Amherst's zoning bylaw.


Kind of appropriate I guess, for a story that started with an illegal bedroom basement fire, ends with "A Smoking Gun."

Statements of student tenants submitted by Attorney Booth to ZBA

Hobart Show Down

 Hobart Lane Gilreath Manor #28

Hobart Lane is already well known for the annual Hobart Hoedown, dating back over 20 years.  But the street immediately bordering UMass could easily have become forever burned into memory for a far more serious spectacle had the basement fire in an illegal bedroom at #28 Gilreath Manor on September 13th resulted in the deaths of residents, all of them UMass students.

Tomorrow night the Zoning Board of Appeals will hear an appeal from Grandonico Properties, LLC a "foreign limited liability company," meaning they are "organized under the laws of Delaware," the most lax state in our nation for protecting consumer rights (which is why all the credit card companies organize there).

The owners of Gilreath Manor wish to challenge the Building Commissioner's threat of fines for violating Amherst's 1990 zoning bylaw forbidding more than four unrelated occupants in a single family dwelling.  The town attorney has come down squarely on the side of the Building Commissioner with an unambiguous opinion:

"The property owner has been aware, or been made aware, of the multiple violations on the Property, and that further evidence may demonstrate that the owner authorized use of the dwelling units in excess of the allowed number of residents."

Attorney Joel Bard continues, skewering another of the landlord's defenses:  "The tenants rights of possession may not be asserted as a defense in order to insulate the property owner for liability for zoning violations on her property."

The Amherst Board of Health has NOT issued a variance for low ceilings in the basements at Gilreath Manor, so currently they can be used for nothing but storage or utility, not even for watching TV or doing homework on a computer station ... let alone sleeping.

On September 13, with inadequate fire protection and two bedrooms illegally crammed into unit #28, a disaster was narrowly averted.  Initially, town officials were slow to react to problems uncovered in the aftermath of the fire; I even went so far as to brand it a cover up.

But they seem to be fully on board now with making this a test case for the public good.

As President of the Board of Directors for the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce, Kathryn Grandonico should be setting a positive example for all Amherst landlords to follow, not acting like a carpetbagger -- putting profits over public safety.

Emails Hannah, Town Officials

Rewired WiFi

Fred Hartwell installs WiFi unit on Main Street lightpole  this afternoon

So after the spiffy new Cisco wireless routers were installed around town last month, IT Director Kris Pacunas noticed they were not performing up to promised specifications.  And when you are paying $75,000 for a new toy, promised specifications matter.

Cisco sent out a crew to try to bring the units up to speed, but could not make it happen.  Thus the town did what any consumer would do:  sent the items back for a full refund. 

The IT department then went into tech-geek mode and came up with their own "access point" gizmo's using component parts from a number of different manufacturers.  Now, according to Pacunas, the newest new system, using five antennas, is ten times faster, with three times the coverage, all for $43,000 or a 40% savings over the original system.

 Newest units could be painted black to match ornate poles in the downtown

The newest system also has "client link" (version 2.0) so it works well with smart phones and tablets, which more and more Americans use to access the Internet.

As of today 18 of the units have been installed and the entire system of 27 (possibly 28) units should be fully functioning by January 1st.  A Happy New Year indeed for all us Internet junkies.