Sky High Price of Transparency

Besides outright refusal to provide requested documents and then running the risk of losing an appeal to the state Public Records Division  (although they have no enforcement powers), another way of keeping things buried is to charge a high price for fulfilling the request.

State law allows "reasonable fees" to be charged by a public institution to fulfill a request, and it really doesn't matter if you are an average citizen or legacy news organization.

Of course these days newspapers can barely afford to pay for employees coffee so an unexpected $11,000 for public documents is a little hard to swallow.

Which of course only makes you wonder, what is UMass trying to hide?

Our flagship of higher education seemed to be pretty transparent last month when they fairly quickly released total costs ($305,000) associated with the Mullins Center Concert designed to distract students from participating in the Blarney Blowout.

So what's the big deal about giving out the cost breakdown?  Will Ludacris and Juicy J be upset that Kesha was paid more? 

Or are there extra costs we don't know about?

These days public relations personnel outnumber journalists by five to one.  With UMass it's far worse since there really are no professional reporters exclusively assigned to cover UMass/Amherst, while their  "Office of News & Media Relations" has a full-time staff (many of them former reporters) of eleven.

But when you mess with one reporter, you mess with them all.  As well as intelligent readers who take transparency seriously. 

When UMass messed with me

Party House of the Weekend

2 Bridge Street in the heart of "Historic Cushman Village"

If the police come calling near midnight don't get mouthy with them, especially if you have a live band serenading the surrounding neighborhood with music they probably hate.

Click to enlarge/read

Amherst police received little to no "cooperation at the door" (as the Chief is fond of calling it) and as a result three college aged youth were arrested for violation of the town's Noise Bylaw, earning them a visit to APD headquarters at 111 Main Street and then a guided tour of Courtroom 1 in Eastern Hampshire District Court on Monday morning.

Bad Boys of Bridge Street appear before Judge John Payne

Student Town Advisory Board

Amherst Select Board voted Alisa Brewer new Chair, Doug Slaughter missed 1st meeting due to illness

Town Manager John Musante told the Amherst Select Board last night that he was bringing together student government appointees from all three institutes of higher education to meet with key town departments -- Police, Fire, Board of Health, Chamber of Commerce, etc -- to talk about issues impacting students, our #1 demographic.

Mr. Musante said he hoped the committee charge would be completed soon and the first meeting held before graduation day.  The group would meet "a couple times per semester."

The collaborative idea was not an offshoot of the $160,000 Davis Report on how to avoid another Blarney Blowout and not to be confused with University Town of Amherst Collaborative (UTAC) dreamed up by the $60,000 town/gown consultant as an offshoot of the Town Gown Steering Committee.

The Town Manger said it was the brainchild of the outgoing UMass Student Government Association President Vinayak Rao, who has been proactive with improving relations between the town and UMass students over the course of his one-year reign. 

 Vinayak Rao (rt) Amilcar Shabazz (ctr) Jacob Schissel (left)

Parking Peccadillos?

Hidden lot behind Town Hall has 18 spaces (2 of them handicapped)

For most of us parking in downtown Amherst is pretty straightforward. You drive around to find the perfect spot closest to a destination and then put money in the machine and hope you timed it correctly to avoid a $10 ticket, which if unpaid quickly escalates many times over in amount due.

Last year Parking Enforcement issued almost 23,000 tickets and the Transportation Fund -- between violations and fines -- benefited by around $400,000.

Some folks of course never have to worry about a parking ticket, and if they use the hidden spot behind Town Hall, probably never worry about finding a prime location to park.   And no, I'm not talking about special state issued Handicapped Permits (which also allows free parking).

The Town Manager's office issues parking permits to some town employees, as well as appointed and elected officials.  They are valid at any of the 538 on-street metered and public lot spaces around town.

Both the 5-member Select Board (the town's Executive branch of government) and the 5-member Jones Library Board of Trustees possess permits, although a Select Board member told me:

We do not use them while simply enjoying downtown:-)  And we have all had plenty of parking tickets -- just in case you wondered --  from the days before we had passes and for when we're currently out and about for non-Select Board work and guess our meter/machine time wrong. 

On Thursday afternoon (4/2) a walk around town center turned up 24 vehicles with the placards displayed on the front dashboard, nine of them in the secret lot behind Town Hall.  And on Good Friday I found 26, with nine once again in the lot behind Town Hall. 

Naturally none of these prized placards are issued to front line police, fire or DPW workers.

There's a movement afoot to build a new parking garage in town center, although the two most recent study/analysis reports -- one in 2008 and the other being released this week -- seem to indicate there is enough parking overall to meet demand, just not at peak periods.

Kind of like a health club that sees the trendy popular aerobic machines overbooked at 5:30 PM but in the early morning or later at night, not so much. Like most things in life, timing is everything.

At the most recent Downtown Parking Forum, Finance Committee Chair Kay Moran pointed out four expensive municipal major building projects are already in the hopper -- new Fire Station and DPW building, expanded renovated Jones Library and Wildwood School -- so any proposed parking structure darn well better be self supporting. 

Another strain on the system is meter feeders who take up prime spots for a full eight hours, or folks like the "top ten" scofflaws who forget to feed the meter and then forgets to pay the fines.  Take #1 for instance, with an astounding $18,330 owed.

 Downtown business owner gets "the boot", pays the $690 in fines within the hour

Yes, you would think a business owner would not park so near his business preferring to leave that prime spot open for, you know, paying customers.  And you would also wonder how the Hell he could rack up $18,330 in parking violations.

Or why the town didn't keep the boot on until those monies (owed from another vehicle) were paid, although I'm told the town had him sign an installment agreement to start making payments.  If not, the Select Board could fail to renew his liquor license.

Although, lately, the Town Manager and Select Board have been a tad fawning with the downtown liquor establishments, probably not wanting to fan the flames of an "anti business" reputation that has been smouldering for over a generation. 

Just one day after the March 23 booting of the pick up truck, he earned two more tickets in the downtown:

The Select Board is also generous with allowing downtown events -- Taste of Amherst, Extravaganja, The Sustainability Festival -- to temporarily take up prime parking spots as a staging area with no charge.

Yet when the Lord Jeff Inn requests meters be set aside for guests of a wedding reception, they pay $5 per meter bagged.

Meters reserved 3/24 Boltwood Ave for Lord Jeff wedding reception @ $5/bag

Since the town will soon be hiring a $70,000 Economic Development Director, perhaps their first order of business should be to address the parking situation in town center.  In as cost effective manner as possible. 

And don't give him/her a free parking pass until they figure it out!

   Parking in Amherst

$40.00 an hour?

 Town Hall SEIU payscale steps 1 thru step 10

Pumpkin Fest Goes PFFT

Keene State Pumpkin Fest riots October, 2014

The world -- or at least regionally -- famous Keene New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival will not live to see its 25th year.  Killed off by the international bad press generated by riots that broke out last year strikingly reminiscent of our own Blarney Blowout.

Although in our case BB was not attached to any particular Town or University sponsored event, as it was simply a juvenile promotion conjured up by downtown bars to stimulate business.  Ending up with a little more stimulation than they wished for.

But if Blarney had been associated with a legitimate event, the tragedy that just occurred in Keene's City Council chambers would be sort of like our Select Board pulling the permit for the Taste of Amherst or -- God forbid --  the celebratory pot festival, Extravaganja. 

According to the only Keene City Councilor (out of 14) who opposed denying the permit:  “We’ll be known as the city of the pumpkin festival riot. Keene State College will be remembered as the college that killed off the Pumpkin Festival.”

Yikes!  Can you imagine if UMass became known as the college that killed off Extravaganja?

Let this be a lesson boys and girls:  the misdeeds of the very few can significantly impact the reputations of the very many.

Hopefully our college aged youth will remember that over next four weekends leading up to graduations.  

I wonder if they will hire Mr. Davis to do a study

A Fitting Investment

UMass undergrad Commencement Ceremony, May 8th

If UMass can spend a little over $300,000 on three "artists" for a free musical concert at the Mullins Center to attract students away from a boorish Blarney Blowout style of celebration, I sure don't have a problem with paying Neil deGrasse Tyson $25,000 (plus expenses) for this year's Commencement speech.

As I've mentioned more than once, last year's Blarney Blowout cost the University and Town more than a million in bad PR.  And had this year's event stumbled down the same sorry path, you could have easily doubled that amount.

College graduation is a once in a lifetime event.  Let's hope Mr. Tyson presents a memorable, out of this world, speech.

Globe story alone is worth a couple bucks

A Bridge Request Too Far

 Mill Street Bridge connects State Street and Summer Street

Last night the Public Works Committee voted unanimously to oppose the citizens petition article brought to upcoming Town Meeting by North Amherst resident Vince O'Connor to partially reopen the Mill Street bridge and allow two-way vehicular traffic via one lane using the center area of the closed bridge.

State inspectors deemed the bridge "dangerous"

In March of 2014 the Public Works Committee had also voted unanimously to support the same option eventually approved by the Amherst Select Board: to renovate the bridge for one lane vehicular traffic (yet to be decided which way) with a side order of bike/pedestrian path.

 Mill Street Bridge has been closed since summer of 2012, but still open to pedestrians and cyclists

That reconstruction project is scheduled to start in the 2017 construction season and will be paid for with state money.

Outer beams rusted and concrete foundation is washing away

Mr. O'Connor admitted the bridge is currently unsafe for two-way traffic and cannot support the weight of Amherst Fire Department emergency vehicle, but he pointed out it's the outermost steel beams on each side that are the problem, so the middle part of the bridge could support one car via one-way traffic.

 Vince O'Connor was unsuccessful with his pitch to the Public Works Committee last night

DPW Chief Guilford Mooring pointed out that you would need to place jersey barriers to keep cars from traveling on the unsafe areas thus taking up even more space making it tight for AFD vehicles or pedestrians and cyclists crossing at the same time with vehicles.

During the meeting Mooring texted Fire Chief Tim Nelson about the bridge who instantly responded, "I wouldn't even think about using it"

Long time Town Meeting member and North Amherst resident Hilda Greenbaum also complained to the Public Works Committee that more traffic is now funnelled through the main North Amherst village center intersection, which is a tad quirky.

Greenbaum threatened PWC Chair Christine Gray-Mullen  with  a lawsuit if she were injured or killed in a car accident in North Amherst center.

 N. Amherst intersection upper center: Montague & Sunderland Road split off

Committee members repeatedly suggested there was "nothing new" in the presentations coming before them now, considering the extensive public hearings they held over one year ago.  When they cut off discussion because of that, O'Connor stormed out of the meeting.

The Public Works Committee then voted unanimously (3-0 with 2 absent*) to strongly oppose the Town Meeting warrant article to reopen the bridge because it was "unsafe, costly to implement and still would not support the weight of an AFD emergency vehicle."

 * The PWC is currently looking for a new member.  With meetings like this, how can you go wrong?

 Bridge provides perfect perch to view Puffer's Pond waterfall