Breaking "news" (9:30 PM)

Soooooo with four Precincts (out of 10) reporting we can conclude: T=P (Turnout is Pathetic)

Precinct 4: 7.9%
Precinct 5: 13%
Precinct 7: 13%
Precinct 10: 7.7%

Looks like Rhodes and Rivkin are our next two new School Committee members.

Scary race at the moment is for Amherst Redevelopment Authority with anti-development, tree hugger Rob Kusner leading former business owner, former Chamber of Commerce Director (and most importantly, Dad to Princess Stephanie)John Coull in a squeaker: 261 to 258.

UPDATE: 10:15 PM: Whew! According to the Springfield Republican John Coull pulled it out for ARA 909 to Rob Kusner's 832.

And naturally Gazettenet is reporting the School Committee race ass backwards showing Rivkin #1 with 1,454 votes and Rhodes #2 with 1,153 votes when those numbers should be about reversed:
Irvin E. Rhodes 1,564 , Steven G. Rivkin 1,240

Freudian slip?

Click to enlarge

So notice how Mr. Kusner ties his name more closely with "authority." Yes, this from the guy who as a cycling Selectman slammed his hand on a car he thought cut him off and shouted for them to pull over under his authority as "Select Man". Maybe we should issue them badges and guns; after all, we only pay them $300 annually.

Of course aligning his name with Redevelopment is a big stretch. This from the guy who received a -24 as a Town Meeting member (the lowest score in his Precinct) from 'Sustainable Amherst', those middle-of-the-road, sensible center types who want to have their cake and eat it to.

Yeah, I scored a +17, second highest in my Precinct, but then I was not in Town Meeting in 2004 and 2005 (showing support for the Charter Commission Mayor/Council initiative) so just for fun I looked up the 8 votes they rated back then and found I would have scored another 7 out of 8 in agreeing with them.

But the one where I would have been penalized is a tad troubling. The Town Meeting vote supporting the "recommendation" to the Select Board to roll back the Town Manager's sudden mid-year pay raise in order to keep up with the new Superintendent's pay jump over the previous one.

The real budget buster in this town is the pay scale and all the associated costs of employees. Just a tiny giveback from the unions can save millions (in fact completely solve the current crisis).

But when it goes public that the new Superintendent is coming in at almost 20% over the previous SUPERSTAR and another 10% over with housing/auto allowance, the union give backs are dead in the water.

So if the Select Board forces the Town Manager to take his COLA this year (which in an unusually statesman like move he decided to forgo) and Town Meeting hears a advisory article this Fall against it, 'Sustainable Amherst' would support spending more?

Doesn't sound very sustainable to me.

What if they gave an election...

Crocker Farm Elementary School/Voting Precinct 8:00 AM

(Yes, I violated my Trespass Order)

So it's going to be a beautiful day in the neighborhood--should help voter turnout, eh? Nah! The excuse will be that it was such a nice day we would rather spend it playing ultimate Frisbee, hacky sack or contra dancing on the town common.

Vote early, vote often.

So once again activist Amherst will turn out a pathetic 15 to 20% of the vote to cast ballots in the annual town election. Last November it was closer to 80%. And it’s not like the President of the United States has a big impact on little old Amherst.

The Schools spend the vast majority of our $60+ million budget so the School Committee race will be telling. Rhodes is a shoe in, as he will most likely be almost everybody’s second vote (providing they don’t “bullet vote”.) So the only question is will reformer Rivkin or maintain the status quo Rosa get in.

The Amherst Redevelopment Authority race between tree hugger Rob Kusner and former Chamber of Commerce director John Coull should also be interesting. With the power of eminent domain the ARA can be a formidable tool for development not just in the downtown but also in the North and South Amherst Village Centers.

In the League of Women Voters insert in the Amherst Bulletin Mr. Kusner highlights his experience as committee chair for the Norwottuck Rail Trail, but fails to mention his recent three year stint on the Amherst Select Board (not that they were all that distinguished.)

And as usual, nobody cares about Town Meeting as no contests exist for 3-year-seats in eight out of ten precincts, meaning 64 do-gooders (over one-quarter of the body) are guaranteed election.

Let’s hope none of these folks get to serve out their full term. Charter change for accountable government. Coming soon.

Dim all the lights sweet darling

Since the People's Republic of Amherst is the center of the universe, I'm surprised the Earth Hour folks did not use an Eastern Standard Time zone for their worldwide hour of activism.

So tonight at 8:30 PM lights will go out in Town Hall to show solidarity and fight Global Warming. Unfortunately...Town Hall is closed tonight at 8:30 PM; so maybe we will bring in a Custodian (at time-and-a-half) around 6:00 PM to turn on all the lights and then shut them off at 8:30 PM and then back on for a moment at 9:30 PM and then back off till Monday morning.

Per your request...

Poor Mr Kendrick. His altruistic trust spends over sixty years to clear a three acre parcel of all structures so the town can have an open landscaped park (now worth well over $1 million), but the town manager wants to construct a “comfort station” with $100,000 grant from the PVTA so bus riders will have bathrooms on the outskirts of town center.

Perhaps Vince O’Connor can tweak his presentation to Town Meeting about taking by eminent domain the Fiber Arts Building from Amherst College (at half price no less.)

That building is located directly on a bus route in the heart of the downtown. And the $100-K from PVTA could spruce up the bathrooms.

Citizens to School Committee: Et tu, Brute?

Nero fiddles while Rome burns

Closing Marks Meadow Elementary School, thus saving $600,000 annually combined with teachers pay raise giveback this coming Fiscal Year, thus saving $1.2 million, are simple solution to the current School budget crisis.

Yes, closing an entire school is not easy.

And after teachers discover that the proposed new Superintendent is being offered almost 20% more than the previous superstar Jere Hochman, the chances of a pay raise giveback are almost impossible.

And of course that also has a ripple effect swamping the chances of a townside (police, fire, DPW) giveback as well, which the Town Manager has already requested in writing.

Outgoing School Committee member Elaine Brighty said that Mr. Hochman was a “rare event” and the town was “spoiled” by his divine presence. He came in at controversial $135,000 to replace Gus Sayer who was making $104,000 before his sudden “retirement.”

But to his credit Hochman never accepted a raise over his five-year tenure, although he did leave rather suddenly for twice the pay to Bedford N.Y.

And Town Manager Larry Shaffer has already stated he will not be accepting a raise this coming year --although he will not be happy that the new Super will be making W-A-Y more money.

When Hochman came in with his pay boost for the position the first thing previous Town Manager Barry Del Castilho did was whine for a pay raise, which the Select Board granted mid-year, because his ego was bruised.

Considering this is the same School Committee who hired acting co-superintendents Alton Sprague and Helen Vivian for the same $135,000 we were paying Hochman and did not even bother to put in the one-year contract that if you resign your pay ends that day. So as a result taxpayers had to give them $22,500 after their sudden resignation.

One parent has already threatened that if Alberto Rodriguez’s contract is greater than $135,000 she will organize a Boston Tea Party and burn tax bills in a hibachi in front of the Superintendents office.

I’ll be there with my camera and some hot dogs—tofu dogs of course.

The Bully Reports (faster than ever)