$15 Minimum Wage Runaround

Amherst Select Board:  "Just say NO"

UPDATE 6:30 p.m. 
Amherst Town Counsel has concluded that even if Town Meeting passes the article and the State Legislature approves it, the powers granted to the town would then NOT apply to the University of Massachusetts, our largest employer.

Furthermore our lawyer confirms that a "motion to dismiss" if passed (majority vote) is referendum proof.  So that's what I'll do.

   Legal Advice $15/hr Min Wage

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UMass Labor Grad Student Matthew Cunningham-Cook is fast becoming public enemy #1 in the little college town of Amherst, which he has called home for all of seven months now.

First he collects 200 signatures to call a Special Town Meeting when it would only have taken 10 signatures to put the exact same article on the normal Annual Town Meeting which starts April 28th.



Then he skips the public discussion period last night at the Amherst Select Board meeting where they -- like the Finance Committee last week -- voted unanimously NOT to support his article, branded by one SB member as "amateurish".

Although he did send them this email at 3:47 p.m. where he now pitches a small business exemption for mom-and-pops with 50 or fewer employees.  Yes, as a long-time small business owner even at peak success I had less than half that number of employees, so it would exempt the vast majority of Amherst businesses.

   Email to SB: $15/hr Minimum Wage

But, if you whip up a big batch of poison, I'm not overly reassured that small businesses are exempt from partaking.  If it's that bad for small business, how can it be good for BIG business?

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Blarney Blowback

APD Chief Livingstone (officers standing in background)

Amherst Police Chief Scott Livingstone defended his department's response to the Blarney Blowout this evening to a solidly supportive Select Board and Town Manager while dozens and dozens of Amherst police officers stood behind him in the Town Room.

Police Union lawyer Terence Coles:  Understaffing hurts response capability

Unlike the day of the Blarney Blowout, where police had do deal with unruly crowds numbering in the thousands, the Chief found plenty of support tonight from the board and audience members. 

Select Board Chair Stephanie O'Keeffe was particularly effusive with her praise for the professionalism of all the public safety departments involved, pointing out how she listened, spellbound, all day on a scanner.

 

Attorney Peter Vickery:  Shut off all alcohol sales next year for Blarney Blowout 

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Solace on St Patrick's Day

Growing up less than well off in a Irish Catholic single-parent household in Amherst, you couldn't help but notably mark St Patrick's Day.  To my mother it was perhaps more important than Christmas or Easter -- two pretty sacred days for Catholics.

So I've always tried to use it in a positive way.  Seven years ago today I started this blog, now fast approaching one million unique visitors.  Two years ago I gave up drinking, and today I don't miss it a bit.

From 1992 through 2001, March 17 was the start date of training for the bike race up Mt Washington, so from St Patrick's day until the end of August a day would not go by -- no matter the weather -- without an hour training in the saddle. 

At the impressionable age of 17 -- in the summer of 1972 -- in fell in love with both karate and journalism.  For you non history majors that was the beginning of Watergate, where dogged determination by two reporters over a (too) long time period led to the downfall of the most powerful man on earth.

I founded my karate school in 1982 to distract myself from not accomplishing a goal I had set at age 17:  Becoming the #1 ranked sport karate player in the nation.  But I did manage to come in at #3 that year.

Since then, two hip and one knee replacement later, my karate skills are not nearly what they were at peak when for a brief moment I was perhaps unbeatable.  But my journalism skills are better today than at any point in the past, partially because I accepted early on the awesome power of the Internet.

For the 1982 grand opening of the Karate Health Fitness Center and the following two years, I advertised in the weekly paper I had grown up reading, The Amherst Record. In fact my father and his father before him had advertised the Kelley Plumbing & Heating business in the paper as well. 

It was one of those traditional home town weeklies where you read about the people you would see in the downtown on any given day.

The Amherst Record folded in 1984 because of normal business competition not the upheaval cause by the Internet, which now threatens the entire print industry.

So why bring back the Amherst Record in digital form?  Because the more people shining a light on government, business and education the better -- especially in Amherst, where education is king.  And I have over 30 years of institutional memory to guide my spotlight.

I promise to pursue important stories with the same zeal and boundless determination I demonstrated in the karate ring, or while running a small business for almost 30 years.

Please join me in that quest: 

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All Blarney All Of The Time

A week later and Blarney Blowout is still front page news

So now its been a tad over a week and the ignominious day of debauchery known as Blarney Blowout is still in the news.

The entire above the fold section of the weekend Gazette; and the print edition of today's Sunday Springfield Republican also has a guest column from UMass Student Government Association President Zac Broughton branding the actions of Amherst police "inexcusable."

Of course he cites snippets of video posted to the juvenile party-all-the-time website barstoolsports who said last's year's blowout, "looked like fun."  Tellingly their support of this year's disaster has been less cheerleader-like, other than posting those videos.

Zac also asks why UMass has not come up with "alternative programming options" to preoccupy the kids.  Of course his Student Government Association was co-sponsor of just such an event on campus last October on the night of the Red Sox World Series win and, umm, that "programming option" turned into a riot.

The simple fact of the matter is students congregated into an overwhelmingly large mass, most of them under the influence of alcohol.   The disorderly crowd started throwing snowballs, bottles and cans along with other acts of vandalism, giving police no choice but to do their job:  protect public safety.

Amherst Police Department will soon be issuing video from that day on their blog.  Since their photographer was standing next to me, at one point I heard him get hit in the leg with an object thrown from the crowd, so I'm betting the video he took will be telling.

I hope they release the combat footage tomorrow -- as Monday is the start of the news cycle, and the Amherst Select Board is scheduled to discuss the Blarney Blowout at their meeting  in Amherst Town Hall.

Attorney Peter Vickery will start things off at 6:30 p.m. Public Comment period by asking the Select Board to use their powers as liquor commissioners to ban all alcohol sales next year for the Blarney Blowout. 

Another blog has a tremendous point

High Cost Of Blarney Blowout

Crowds on North Pleasant Street (note white pepper ball shot residue in road)

Besides the untold damage to the reputation of UMass Amherst, the flagship of higher education in Massachusetts, the Blarney Blowout also had real implications for hard pressed taxpayers who fund both town first responder services and UMass Amherst.

The recently announced "comprehensive review" contract awarded to former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis has a budget "up to $160,000," so we kind of know what that final bill will be.

I asked a grumpy UMass source how that much money could be so quickly consigned without a somewhat time consuming bid proposal and she replied, "By policy the University can sole source a contract."

Okay, fair enough, but that looks like it's limited to between $5,000 and $25,000 which $160,000 would seem to top that by a bit.

But at least the University did not ask the town to contribute half,  as they did recently with a  "town/gown consultant" to help map a strategy of mutual growth over the foreseeable future.  That contract has a top end limit of $60,000 with each entity paying half and was bid out in the normal somewhat time consuming Request For Proposals manner.

 

Chief Livingstone (white cap) assists officer with arrest

APD "one under, liquor law violation."  #BlarneyBlowout pic.twitter.com/Z9uCTHD02X
— Larry Kelley (@amherstac) March 8, 2014

APD Chief Scott Livingstone had to muster all hands on deck to deal with crowd control starting well before noon, with the first arrest clocking in at 10:18 a.m .  At an over time cost to his department of $12,500 plus another $1,300 for indispensable Dispatch.

Plus the $160,000 "review" will tie up more of his time and that of his top brass.

And since the finished report -- which will not result in any formal charges of police brutality -- isn't due until graduation time, the Amherst Police Department will be operating these next few months under a dark cloud.

And that's bad for all of us.

New York Times picks up the sad story

FinCom Votes NO To $15/hr Minimum Wage

 

Minimum wage to $15/hr would cost add $220K to town budget for employees!

Current minimum wage in Mass is $8/hr (proposed to go up  $11 by 2016)

Saying pretty much the town of Amherst should not go it alone, the Finance Committee, trusted advisers to Amherst Town Meeting, voted 5-0 last night to oppose the only article on the March 19 Special Town Meeting warrant which would allow Amherst to raise the minimum wage from $8/hr to $15/hr.

When Town Meeting votes down the article, labor activist Matthew Cunningham-Cook has threatened to obtain the 880 registered voters signatures required to place the question on a town general election ballot to overturn the Town Meeting vote.

That would then require an insurmountable 18% of the current 17,596 registered voters (3,167) to agree to overturn Town Meeting and approve the measure, otherwise the endeavor fails.

Since a stand alone election costs the taxpayers $12,000, I will make a "Motion to Dismiss" the article on March 19 and when that passes (by simple majority vote) there is nothing an election can do to change the outcome.

Although I did offer Matthew Cunningham-Cook, who moved to Amherst less than six months ago to join SLAP -- the Student Labor Action Project at UMass -- a deal:  If he and his group submit a check to the town for $12,000 I will stand down with my motion.

And if the article miraculously passes, so no election will be called, I would simply give them back their money.

It's one thing when a grade school teacher suggests school children write a Letter To The Editor as a civic exercise, since that doesn't cost taxpayers a dime.  It's quite another when an academic project will cost taxpayers $12,000 and a large group of volunteer citizens an entire night stuck in the Middle School Auditorium.

Let's hope Town Meeting passes my motion, and slaps down SLAP.

Cost to another prominent Amherst business

More Blarney: From UMass President Caret

Police clad in riot gear make an arrest on Fearing Street near Frat

UPDATE:  UMass announces "comprehensive review" of police/town/university response to Blarney Blowout.  No BIG surprise (sarcasm).

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Bowing to pressure brought to bear by 100 kids holding a good old fashioned "protest march" and snippets of video posted on the web, UMass President Caret is calling for a full investigation of the Blarney Blowout including how heavily outnumbered police handled the sordid situation.

 Objects were throw from 3rd floor roof of Frat

He also complained to a Springfield Republican reporter about the Amherst bars being allowed to open early that day, and that those businesses bear some responsibility.  Except of course the bars were NOT open early that day, as the Select Board stopped allowing that a few years back because of the problems it caused. 

Perhaps the President just wants to look like he's doing something -- since the Blarney Blowout is receiving such blowout national media attention -- but he picked the wrong people to cast aspersions upon.

Interestingly President Caret hyped a "performance review" issued today that gave the highest rating ("Excellent)" for the goal:  "Admit high-quality students, striving to increase the academic profiles across all campuses."  Not the greatest timing in light of Blarney Blowout BS.

Amherst Firefighters just released a statement strongly supporting the actions of the Amherst, UMass and State police who had to rein in the largest out-of-control crowds this town has ever seen.  Firefighters reportedly faced "repeated aggressive and assaultive behavior."

Crowds THAT large, under the influence of copious amounts of alcohol, are a danger to themselves as well as innocent bystanders.  By many, many accounts (mine included) bottles and cans were hurled at police officers before the pepper balls started flying.

If President Caret wants to call for a full investigation, how about looking at discipline meted out these past few years for the hundreds of students arrested for rowdy off campus behavior?  Or why UMass doesn't provide on campus social events to preoccupy kids?

55 APD arrests vs only 3 UMPD arrests underscores the battles were all fought off campus. 

Amherst police will now be seconding guessing their use of any force over the next few months, just when the weather turns warm and partying escalates exponentially.

It's going to be a l-o-n-g spring.

Last year's preparation:  Also didn't work

Downtown bar owners ask for early opening hours in 2011

Police on North Pleasant Street, town jurisdiction, 12:10 p.m.