A Conflict of Interest?

 Interim Town Manager Dave Ziomek, SB Chair Alisa Brewer

Attorney General Maura Healey
Division of Open Government
12/28/2015


I wish to file a formal complaint about the 12/21 Amherst Select Board meeting that was chaired by Alisa Brewer, who shows up in the UMass/Amherst People Finder as a UMass employee, as does her husband, Steven Brewer.

Ms. Brewer did not publicly announce her potential conflict of interest when the Select Board voted unanimously to allow Interim Town Manager Dave Ziomek to sign a 3.5 year, multi-million dollar "Strategic Partnership Agreement" with UMass, her employer, that is a sweet deal for the University, a sour deal for the town. 

I'm not suggesting she or her husband gained financially by this deal, but I do strongly believe the better way of handling it would have been for her to abstain on the matter and certainly not to act as chair for the very brief time period allowed for Select Board discussion. 

I believe our state law suggests public officials avoid even "the appearance of a conflict of interest."

I would ask the Select Board be ordered to do a "do over."

Larry Kelley

At the 9/25 Select Board Cable Ascertainment Hearing Ms. Brewer did publicly announce she was married to Steven Brewer before he testified in his role as Amherst Media Board President

What's Yours Is Mine

Modular classrooms back in March

Yesterday

UMass, acting as The Grinch, gave Amherst an early Christmas load of coal by destroying the town owned $215,000 portable classrooms installed behind the School of Education, aka the former "Mark's Meadow Elementary School."

Interestingly the town is still paying off the ten year $215K loan on the classrooms, which were never actually used as classrooms.  Clueless Town Meeting almost unanimously authorized the expenditure in 2007, but Mark's Meadow closed down in 2010.

According to Superintendent Maria Geryk the downsizing saved $850,000 in the town's elementary budget, but was bitterly opposed by parents and some town officials with children attending Mark's Meadow.

School Committee member Catherine Sanderson became a combination Wicked Witch of the West & Joan of Arc (aka burned at the stake) for her leadership role in shuttering Mark's Meadow.

But these days even Superintendent Geryk uses it as an example of why the town should consider mothballing the Middle School building and relocating/consolidating students into the High School.

On Monday night the Select Board, with no input allowed, approved the Interim Town Manager signing a "Strategic Partnership Agreement" with UMass that for the first time in history pays something towards the 56 children from tax exempt UMass housing attending our public schools, at an estimated cost of $1,267,000.

Of course that something is a lousy $120,000 or less than ten cents on the dollar.

Early School Budget Prognostication

Sean Mangano and Superintendent Maria Geryk at Four Towns Meeting earlier this month

In addition to the hour or so discussing the Wildwood School project -- and unanimously authorizing a hurried $2,500 survey of all staff and educators in the elementary school system about which expensive school renewal they favor -- the Amherst School Committee also heard a brief report from Business Director Sean Mangano about the state of FY17 budget (which starts July 1st).

Interestingly the elementary budget is in almost the exact same boat as the four town Regional system (and neither of them are taking on water):  At the Four Towns Meeting earlier this month he pegged the Regional level services budget at a $460,000 deficit and he told the Amherst School Committee the elementary budget is currently $480,000 in the hole.

 Click to enlarge/read

According to Mr. Mangano:

"As I mentioned last night, the three drivers of the budget increase are three more classrooms than anticipated, steps/colas for all staff, and an increase in the net charter assessment. Each town department was allocated a 2.5% increase which equates to $546,746 for the elementary school.

Since the Town pays charter costs on behalf of the schools, it deducts the increase in charter tuition from our increase. The net charter increase in FY16 is projected to be $282,651 which leaves an allowable increase of $264,095 for the schools.

There are some other adjustments for school choice but the end result is the schools get a 1% increase in their operating budget. Interestingly enough, the large increase in the net charter assessment is driven mostly by declining reimbursements. DESE projects an increase of charter 5 students which is $89,640 of the increase. The other $193,011 is due to insufficient state aid to fund the reimbursements. DESE projects Amherst will get 24% of the total reimbursement. 

And lastly, the projected reduction has improved and now stands at $480,000. "

 Those damn Charters!

DUI Dishonor Roll

Amherst police arrested and charged three drivers with drunk driving over the weekend -- all of them women.  In Eastern Hampshire District Court on Monday all three lawyered up and had their cases continued until next month.

All three also took the legally admissible Breathalyzer test back at APD headquarters, so their chances of outright winning a trial are pretty close to zero

Interestingly Meaghan Shea initially seemed like she wanted to settle her case immediately, telling Judge Payne, "I know I'm guilty."  But he had her talk to the prosecutor and she then opted to have a public defender assigned to her.

Meaghan Shea, age 29, arraigned before Judge Payne

 Click to enlarge/read.  Note BAC is 3x legal limit!

Heather Pew, age 21, stands before Judge Payne

Carrie Holmes, age 22 (and father) stand before Judge Payne

10 Cents On The Dollar

Let's not talk about the mega-millions UMass has squandered on football

So no I'm not surprised the new l-o-n-g overdue (3 years) UMass/town Strategic Partnership Agreement is a lousy deal for the town, which is probably why John Musante did not jump at the chance to sign it when it first landed on his desk well before his tragic untimely death.

The $257,000 payment for hotel/motel tax is simply money that was owed us, collected, and put in escrow.

Since Senate President Stan Rosenberg clearly stated he wanted the Campus Center Hotel to pay the 6% local option tax when he filed special legislation a few years back, safe bet UMass was told in no uncertain terms to pay the hell up and keep paying it from now on.

Sort of like a homeowner withholding a year's worth of mortgage payments and then suddenly making it current before the bank forecloses.

The status quo payment for public safety are also grossly inadequate:  AFD spends 20% of their time dealing with on-campus calls while APD spends 20% of its time dealing with off-campus students, so with a $10 million public safety budget that comes to over $2 million for both departments.

In return UMass is paying us less than $500,000 for AFD services only.

 Click to enlarge/read

But the biggest booger is the payment for education of 56 students living in UMass tax exempt housing attending our expensive public schools.  Superintendent Maria Geryk told Amherst Town Meeting last spring  that alone amounts to $1,267,000.

Thus an annual payment of $120,000 amounts to less than ten cents on the dollar.  At a time when the Regional School budget is $600,000 in the hole.

You would think a bastion of public higher education would put more value on, you know, public education.

3.5 Year Strategic Partnership Agreement

Town owned $200,000 Mark's Meadow portable classroom were demolished by UMass

Signed, Sealed & Registered

Attack of the drone

I was very pleased to see the FAA drone regulations did not include night flying on the list of banned practices.

Click to enlarge/read

Some of the neater photos I've taken were of the town fair at night (both Amherst and Belchertown), or more recently the Merry Maple Christmas tree in town center.

Amherst  Town Fair 5/30/15

Belchertown Fair September 2015

It's actually a lot easier to keep your drone in "line of sight" at night because of the flashing lights against a black background.  

I was also most pleased the entire registration process took just under five minutes (online) and was FREE.

They did charge $5.00 to my credit card but that will be instantly rebated for all registrations done within the next 30 days.

Now all I have to do is to continue flying safely.

Western Mass News Reports

 Merry Maple

3,457

Amherst Town Meeting lovers may soon be in mourning

The final certified signature count to force placement on the ballot a question about forming a study group -- aka Charter Commission -- to come up with a new & improved local government came in 242 signatures over the 3,215 threshold.

And it's all or nothing, so as along as a formal challenge does not negate 243 of the signatures, the question will appear on the March 31 ballot. 

In addition 9 Charter Commissioners will be elected on that same ballot and already five citizens have taken out nomination papers, which require 50 valid signatures:

Cheryl Zoll, Irv Rhodes, Aaron Hayden, Stephen Schreiber, and Janet McGowan are the brave souls who have stepped forward thus far, but now that enough signatures have been certified to make the ballot other candidates will no doubt soon enter the fray.

 Amherst For All celebrates in the hallway in front of Town Clerk's office this morning

Since the Select Board can also place a non-binding advisory question on the ballot they should also do what a previous Select Board did a dozen years ago and ask the voters if indeed it's time to lay Town Meeting to rest.

That way the Charter Commission can focus on the real solution:  Mayor/Council.