A Stirring Symbol

What so proudly we hailed ...

Two paramount things the American flag represents -- which I hope we ALL agree on -- is the right of the People to vote on matters both great and small, and the right to petition our government for a redress of grievances.

Tonight both those qualities come in to play, as I go before the Amherst Select Board to request they place the question of flying 29 commemorative flags in the downtown every 9/11 on the upcoming April 9 town election ballot.  That way citizens can finally decide this ongoing issue, which annually brings notoriety to the town.

On the night of September 10, 2001 while a pernicious plot against our country was just starting to unfold, the Amherst Select Board voted to allow 29 commemorative flags to fly on only six occasions, some sad, some celebratory.  

Six weeks after 9/11 I asked that Select Board to add 9/11 to the permanent days the commemorative flags could fly.  They refused, but allowed them up on the first anniversary and again in 2003.

But a change in leadership ushered in a Dark Ages and the flags did not fly again until 2009 under a "compromise" that said they could fly once every three years.

That ridiculous compromise was based on a shameful May16, 2007 two-thirds Town Meeting vote  (96-41) against flying the flags on 9/11 -- ever!  In 2010 SB Chair Stephanie O'keeffe hatched yet another compromise to allow them to fly every 5th year on "milestone anniversaries". 

Tonight the Select Board will take up discussion of a proposal/promise I made to them on September 10, 2012.  I'm not a betting man, but I firmly believe they will do the right thing.

Amherst Firefighters support the flying of the flags

The infamous Fox News Report

Welcome Back!

Ladder 1, "back in service". North Station.

Tighter Housing Market

Amherst College (named after the town, not the General)

So the already squeaky tight rental housing market in Amherst, everybody's  favorite college town, will get a little tighter this upcoming school year as the construction projects at Amherst College, our #1 landowner and property taxpayer, displaces 60 students from on-campus housing.

Sure, losing 15 apartment units out of total rental stock of 5,000 doesn't sound like much, and since the apartments normally rent for $2,540 + utilities, not overly affordable for families.

But in a town with a vacancy rate of only 3.5%, described by the Housing and Sheltering Committee as "well below state and national levels and representative of extremely tight market conditions," every unit matters.

At least the neighborhood will not have to worry about rowdyism. 

Setting A (bad) Example

Katherine Appy, Amherst School Committee Chair

So it will be interesting to see if the venerable Daily Hampshire Gazette follows up on the recent expose published by my friends at the Republican, although they did not connect an important dot concerning Ms. Appy's role as a member of the Amherst School Committee.

You know, the elected folks who should be setting a good, positive example for the kids in a town where education is King (or Queen, as the case may be).

And of course the other consideration is how quickly would the Gazette have jumped on this if it had involved the school committee member Katherine Appy replaced?

Or what would have been the response on the Internet from Cowardly Anon Nitwits?  Ms. Sanderson would have been tarred-and-feathered, and then crucified with dull, extra long, rusty nails.

Just a tad out of date

A Positive Spin

 Mullins Center Thursday night (be afraid of the dark)

If you threw a UMass News and Media Relations PR flack off the top of one of the Southwest Towers, about half way down he would tweet how refreshing is the air flow.  Another one stationed on the 3rd floor would announce how well he is doing ... so far.

So I guess it is not surprising that, according to UMass spokesperson Daniel J. Fitzgibbons, our higher education officials were "satisfied" with the response to the Tiesto concert, despite  the swamping of Emergency Medical Services on Thursday night for alcohol related calls.

In other words, get used to it!

So anytime the Mullins Center schedules a techno dubstep "artist" we can just write off emergency first responder service to the rest of Amherst and four other nearby towns that rely on AFD for ambulance serivces for three or four hours.

Yeah, that's a (pernicious) plan.

Amherst Firefighters respond

Tax Exempt Entity Taxes EMS

 AFD on scene Mullins Center

Just as "party houses" should not disrupt the tranquility of a neighborhood so taxpayers have to deal with the mitigation mess, neither should UMass allow the Mullins Center to host concerts that swamp our emergency medical services. 

Take last night for instance:  AFD and four other surrounding towns had to provide ambulance transport for 19 patrons of the Tiesto concert directly from the Mullins Center to Cooley Dickinson Hospital and two more from UMPD jail to CDH.

Yes, none of them were UMass students. But the Mullins Center is owned by the UMass Building Authority, sits on UMass land, cost taxpayers $50 million to build (with six digit annual operation losses), and pays no property taxes to either Hadley or Amherst.

Back in 2000 the Hadley assessor tried to partially tax the facility arguing that Ogden Entertainment was a private company and rock concerts had nothing to do with higher education. 

The Appelate Tax Board found against the town of Hadley saying Ogden was an independent contractor "merely providing contractual management services". Since certain type of concerts -- techno for one -- seem to produce a high number of ETOH (alcohol overdose) calls, Mullins Center does pay for one ambulance to stage on site.

But after the last fiasco, also a Thursday night,  Chief Nelson talked them into contracting for two ambulance crews on standby.  Last night required five. 


Dancing Peeps. Dehydration and alcohol make for a lousy mix.

When mere entertainment taxes our vital services so heavily, it's time to get serious about solutions:  Maybe the Mullins Center needs to start dancing to a different beat.

UMass will be so proud

Thumping Thursday

 All sorts of first responders on scene Mullins Center: AFD, UMPD, Environmental Health/Safety

As I write this the "Tiesto" techno concert at the Mullins Center is still going on, minus at least 13 concert goers who have been taken by ambulance to the Cooley Dickinson Hospital for alcohol related emergencies.

Ambulances have descended on the UMass campus from Belchertown, Northampton, Westfield, and South Hadley to aid the Amherst Fire Department in handling the rash of calls.

With most of our on duty firefighters dealing with drunks at the Mullins Center, it would be a lousy time for a major structure fire to occur-- like the one that took a life at Rolling Green Apartments last
month.

 
Ambulances are coming and going at the Mullins Center, UMass Amherst