Wow, I'm somebody now!

The Valley Advocate, no less, gave me a Halo as opposed to Horn (which Town Mgr Larry Shaffer earned):

Granted, we wouldn't relish the idea of having Amherst blogger-provocateur Larry Kelley (onlyintherepublicofamherst.blogspot.com) lurking around our fence, snapping shots as we yank dandelions from the garden. But that doesn't mean that Kelley wasn't well within his rights to raise questions, and do some investigative reporting, about how Select Board member Anne Awad planned to represent the town now that she was selling her Amherst home and moving to South Hadley. Awad and her sympathizers branded Kelley's reporting "harassment," obscuring the very legitimate issue he raised.

And the winners are...

So for those of you eagerly wondering who won the great downhill “Cardboard Box Race” out at my favorite White Elephant, Black Hole, Money Pit—the municipally owned Cherry Hill Gold Course (oops, I mean Golf) on Saturday, check out the video.

The Kelley clan--Kira and Larry--smoked the competition (and an innocent young bystander too close to the Finish Line), including peacenik Select Board Chair, His Lordship Gerry Weiss and Town Manager Larry Shaffer’s stand in (or I should say sit in).



Weiss's peacemobile encountered a lot of drag. And why do I just know that if this event took place on December 8'th, 1941 we would have seen the same Spin.


Since it all happened so fast I had not realized until this morning (Monday) from the photo Cinda Jones just emailed that we were in last place coming out of the shute. But it ain't over until the Fat Lady sings. And about 10 seconds later they were eating our snow.

How hot is it?

-----Original Message-----
From: Alisa Brewer
To: Gerry Weiss

Subject: ARA Vacancy Election August 1, 2007

Hi Gerry-

If it turns out that all of the current ARA members can come at 7:00 Wednesday, I personally have no reason to prevent them from voting in a joint election. Of course, they'd need to post their meeting today -- right now -- to get the 48 hours notice. Perhaps it would be wise for them to do so, anyway, since they might have a quorum that might have some substantive discussion even if they aren't part of the election?

http://onlyintherepublicofamherst.blogspot.com/

Take care,
Alisa
-- Alisa V. Brewer
Cc: Larry Kelley ; Jonathan Tucker ; Jeanne Traester ; Nancy Gordon ; Gail Weston ; Larry Shaffer (TOWN MGR)
Sent: Mon, 30 Jul 2007 12:20 pm
#####################################################################################
UPDATE: Mon, 30 Jul 2007 7:45 pm Did the ARA post the meeting with the Town Clerk for Wednesday? Well, no.

A Gathering Storm...

Town Manager Larry Shaffer
Re: Article #20 Umass effluent waiver

Please consider this confirmation that Taxpayers for Responsible Change--sponsors of this important financial article--will appear before the Select board this Monday night October 29 at 7:20 pm to explain our Town Meeting petition article supported by well-over one hundred Amherst resident/voters.

Since the discussion will get technical, we strongly urge the presence of DPW Chief Guilford Mooring to provide his unbiased expertise on this important matter.

Thank You,

Stan Gawle
Larry Kelley

Cc: Amherst Select Board
Onlyintherepublicofamherst.blogspot.com

Sometimes a Stand Up Guy

Left to right: Shaffer, SB Princess Stephanie O'Keeffe and rookie Aaron Hayden.

So on some things Town Manager Larry Shaffer is a Stand Up Guy.

Certainly not when it comes to basic American values like a good old fashioned Rockwellian July 4’th Parade, or allowing the Boy Scouts of America unfettered access to property they have used for sixty years to sell Christmas trees, or even flying American flags in town center to commemorate the victims of 9/11.

But he did stand in support of the $20,000 in Article 18 of Community Preservation Act money to improve the landscape of the West Cemetery (you know, the final resting place of the Dickinson family including of course Miss Emily.) The article passed fairly handily 108-51.

And I assume when the recorded Tally Vote (a step up from a standing vote) is released for full-funding of the Civil War Memorial Tablets (a much closer vote at 91 to 84) he will also have voted in favor.

Town Manager Barry Del Castilho (now South Hadley’s acting Town Manager) never once voted on the floor of Town Meeting in his twenty-year tenure. And the Moderator, Harrison Gregg can--but never has--voted. I even think State Senator Stan Rosenberg could show up and vote if he wanted, but never has.

If you construct a budget, as Town Managers are supposed to do, then why would you not support individual items within that budget?

The Republican (newspaper that is) Rocks!

http://www.masslive.com/news/topstories/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1176623476180640.xml&coll=1&thispage=5

Naturally Amherst town officials gave the reporter a bad figure. Yes, Cherry Hill was scheduled to lose $35,649 of taxation in FY06 and that was the budget Town Meeting approved…. however:

Cherry Hill overspent its budget by $13,419 and missed target revenues by $10,745 more than $24,000 over original projections conjured up by Pollyannaish town officials, thus costing taxpayers $59,649 in FY06—not $35,000.

On April 3, 2006 I publicly challenged “acting Town Manager” John Musante to a $10,000 bet--with all proceeds to charity--that Cherry Hill would not intake $207,000 in FY06. He refused. Cherry Hill only generated $196,667.

I will make the same bet now with current Town Manager Larry Shaffer that Cherry Hill will NOT intake $220,000 this year. As of April 1’st (no foolin) Cherry Hill was $8,000 behind last year's revenues to date, and so far the weather has been a lot worse this April than last.

Can you imagine how much revenue is lost when it snows on a Sunday (especially on this prime holiday weekend)?

How about it Mr. Shaffer: try walking the walk.

Don't raise the bridge, lower the water.

Gotta love His Lordship Gerry Weiss's response to the high rate of negative feedback for Amherst's (not so) beloved leader, Town Manager Larry Shaffer, from town employees--you know the troops that he leads--printed in today's Gazette:

The board expressed worry about negative feedback from the 45 employees, about 16 percent of the municipal work force, who returned questionnaires. About half of these had negative comments about Shaffer's performance. O'Keeffe wrote that that could mean losing competent employees.

But board member Gerry Weiss, in his comments, noted that it is possible most negativity came from firefighters because of their lack of a contract.

Weiss suggested the board should find another vehicle to get feedback next year. O'Keeffe agreed that the board needs to improve the participation.

Yeah, readers of this blog know full well I'm not a fan of critical Cowardly Anon Comments and have to agree--and this does not happen often--with NY Times columnist Maureen Dowd, who recently closed her piece thusly:

"As Hugo Black wrote in 1960, “It is plain that anonymity has sometimes been assumed for the most constructive purposes.”

But on the Internet, it’s often less about being constructive and more about being cowardly."

But anonymous surveys of a target audience--in this case town employees--is a tad different. And anonymity is certainly required, as I do know of a Information Technology worker fired (or let go with a payoff) for criticizing his boss in an email to the Town Manager copied to the entire Select Board.

Apparently in the People's Republic of Amherst, if you don't like the message--kill the messenger.

No Wonder he's smiling...

Umass Daily Collegian
4/16/08

Larry Shaffer does think Amherst is more accepting of an event celebrating an illegal substance than other towns would be.

"Amherst does have an independent streak," he said. "We really don't want to be in anyone else's business. I see it as a matter of personal preference."

Shaffer also mentioned that marijuana is nothing new to him, and it wouldn't surprise - or bother - him to see someone enjoying the herb at an event like Extravaganja.


"Young people may find it hard to believe, but there was marijuana a long time ago," he said.

Amherst's Teflon coated bureaucrats

Former Amherst Town Manager Larry Shaffer, who suddenly "retired" and left town with a $62,000 going away present the same day his secretary disappeared with $23,000 in hush money did, finally, land another job in "public service"--city manager of Jackson, Michigan; although he took a bit of a pay cut, down from $127,000 to only $115,000.

You almost have to wonder if there's a course taught for public administration majors on how to obscure mistakes and Cover Your Ass. It's not so much that he cheated on his wife while "serving" the town, it's more that he allegedly did it with a subordinate employee at town hall (before taking up with a UMass professor more in keeping with his stature.)

Or at the very least town manager wannabes should take a primer on Public Relations. Mr. Shaffer made a bad decision right off the bat by following the Select Board's marching orders to trample the First Amendment rights of the July 4th Parade Committee by forcing them to allow protesters to march in the privately organized, non-political family event.

Since the Select Board can fire a town manager with a simply majority vote, I guess you can't blame him for covering his ass on that issue--especially since the Board at the time leaned to the left of Chairman Mao.

But to tax Boy Scouts Christmas trees after 60 years of tax-free selling was decidedly different--and perhaps more telling story--as he initiated the entire fiasco on his own without even telling the Select Board before coming up with the idiotic scheme.

And obviously he did not share with the current Board his ethically challenged personal inter office decision to allegedly have an affair (hopefully not during business hours).

Perhaps he has learned a lesson...or maybe Jackson, Michigan will.

Story Of The Year 2015

John Musante

The sudden tragic death of Town Manager John Musante on an otherwise beautiful Sunday morning last September, just as summer turns to fall, is my local story of the year. How could it not be?

Like a large projectile fired into a calm expanse of water the detonation created ripples bordering on a rip tide that will be felt for many years to come.

Not that he was the perfect Town Manager. Heck, he wasn't even the first choice of the Select Board almost ten years ago when they chose, ugh, Larry Shaffer over him.

But the Select Board got it right the second the time around when he was chosen (2010) without an expensive time consuming search after Mr. Shaffer suddenly disappeared. And as I said at the time, immorality is something you never have to worry about with John Musante. Or bad financial decisions.

Although his diffidence in dealing with NIMBYs did cost us greatly in losing the Gateway Project, a collaboration with UMass that could have resulted in a potential $50+ million addition to the tax rolls in badly needed commercial/residential mixed use development.

And the original solar array project on the old landfill was also sabotaged by NIMBYs, although he turned that around just before his death.

While our current form of government is inefficient and outmoded, with John Musante at the helm the good ship Amherst always stayed on a slow steady course of financial solvency.

Still, the vital asset I will miss most about Mr. Musante was his keen sense of humor. 

There he goes again...

So once again the People's Republic of Amherst has a Field of Dreams--errrrr, I mean wheat, growing smack dab in the middle of Kendrick Park.

The Kendrick Park Committee is issuing their report about what to do with the donated landscape and cheered the Town Mangler's sorry attempt at a skating rink. Last year we spent thousands in DPW labor and got only one or two days of skating out of the deal; way cheaper to have rented ice time from the Mullins Center.

Maybe this winter Mr. Shaffer should hire a expert consultant to create an outdoor skating rink.

Ironic isn't it? Larry Shaffer loves the Rockwellian idea of an open small-town public skating rink for families to enjoy, but he bullies the July 4'th Parade Committee by withholding police and fire vehicles because he wants anti-war protesters to get the free publicity paid for on the Parade Committee's dime.

Last year's fiasco

You scratch my back...

At a time when the People’s Republic is facing a $1.9 million deficit in the upcoming year and town officials desperately wished for a $2.5 million tax Override to make it thru this year, the Town Manager gifted Finance Director and Town Manager wanna-be John Musante with a new job description, ‘Assistant Town Manager’--including a retroactive raise from $90,000 to $96,000 this year and to $102,000 next year.

So how many other municipal employees will get a 7% raise next year? And where would we come up with the many millions needed to cover that?

Musante’s predecessor Nancy Maglione always acted as town Manger when Barry Del Castilho was on his frequent vacations or I-don’t-feel-like-coming-to-work days; and that was simply a part of her job description as Finance Director.

Musante collected an extra $10,000 last year (and an additional month of vacation) for acting as Town Manager when Del Castilho bailed out, with full pay of course, three months early.

At the Select board meeting of May 30 rookie Town Manager Larry Shaffer reported the Finance Committee’s Reserve Fund (supposedly set aside for “unanticipated emergencies”) was bankrupt, so the potholes (requiring about $10,000) that made Amherst resemble a B-52 carpet-bomb test range would just have to wait until July.

Of course the Cherry Hill Golf course--that both Shaffer and Musante championed--was sucking up $16,000 of the FinCom’s $50,000 emergency fund; and the Town Manager’s car/cell phone allowance of $4,200 also encumbered that fund because Musante neglected to include it when he put together his (or rubber stamped Del Castilho’s) FY07 $220,000 Selectboard/Town Manager budget.

So if Musante has trouble with a spare-change $220,000 budget, what else will he miss in a mid-$60 Million budget?

A Gateway, Guaranteed

UMass director of planning Dennis Swinford paid a courtesy call to the Amherst Planning Board on February 1st to talk about their "Master Plan" looking forward to the next fifty years, and at the end of the presentation he was queried about the Gateway Project.

You can tell by his reaction he was a tad unprepared for the question, perhaps why he blurted out the unvarnished truth.

 Dennis Swinford, UMass planning

Originally the Gateway Corridor Project was a joint development project between UMass, the town and the Amherst Redevelopment Authority. Umass would donate the 2 acre former Frat Row and the ARA would commission a private top shelf developer to build a grand mixed use project providing badly needed housing, parking and commercial business space--all of it on the tax rolls.

Neighbors, fearing a revival of the Animal House Frat Row days, lobbied long and hard, meeting after meeting to abort any part of the plan concerning housing. They brow beat town officials into altering the grand vision to an unrecognizable shell of its former self. UMass withdrew the offer of Frat Row.

On the night Deputy Chancellor Todd Diacon broke the bad news to the ARA he stated reassuringly, UMass had no plans to build on the property "for the next five years."

Chancellor Holub and Town Manager Larry Shaffer signed a "Memorandum of Understanding" at the 9/1/10 community breakfast (in front of 400 witnesses) jump starting the grand Gateway Corridor plan. Shaffer would later run off from his wife and the town to Michigan, Chancellor Holub was run off by the by the rough and tumble Boston pols, and Deputy Chancellor Todd Diacon just found another job with Kent State University.

And Gateway will become townhouse apartments (like North Village Apartments) and a signature building at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, North Pleasant Street, and Butterfield Terrace.

Now neighbors will get the devil they don't know.

A Question of Priorities in The People's Republic

Filling potholes is one of those mundane tasks of local government that goes unnoticed until it doesn’t happen. Like forgetting to brush your teeth once to often and then having to fill a cavity or endure tooth replacement.

Mayors have lost elections because snow and ice removal was ineffective after a particularly bad blizzard, or garbage collection languished in the middle of a blistering heat wave, or because an influential individual had their luxury car’s suspension ruined by a cavernous pothole.

Town Manager Larry Shaffer reported to the Select board Thursday night that the $27,600 DPW asphalt budget was depleted, so we would have to wait until the start of the new fiscal year (July 1) for pothole maintenance.

Excuse me?

Would a restaurant in Florida wait a summer month for air conditioning repairs because their HVAC maintenance budget was expended? Divert from another budget, take out a loan or rob a bank.

I quickly asked if the $50,000 emergency Reserve Fund controlled by the Finance Committee could be tapped and Mr. Shaffer responded that it was completely encumbered.

Moments later the Town Manager championed the Cherry Hill Golf Course; but he made the mistake of releasing current revenues—$175,000—with only June remaining in the Fiscal Year. And last June they generated $28,000, so even if they do 10% better that still brings them in at $206,000. The Finance Committee declared $224,000 in revenues required for break even.

Even worse, the Town Manager projected operations at $213,000 a $21,000 overrun from the $192,385 budget approved by the Finance Committee and Town Meeting. $18,000 in revenue shortfalls combined with $20,615 budget overruns equals tax losses of $38,615 for FY07 (not counting the $17,000 Payment In Lieu Of Taxes no longer made).

So if the Niblik privatization contract had been in effect, rather than a $38,615 loss we could have had a $35,000 gain or a $73,615 turnaround, significant enough to fund teachers, police or human services.

Last year Cherry Hill lost $59,649 and the Finance Committee covered $13,419 of that from the Reserve Fund.

On Friday I called FinCom chair Alice Carlozzi to confirm the current status of the Reserve Fund. She corroborated that it was entirely tapped out and, indeed, Cherry Hill will absorb $16,500 of that—or one-third of the total fund created to cover “unanticipated emergencies.”

We can spend emergency money on golf, but not on potholes? Only in Amherst!

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)

Water update 12:51

No, we don't have the results yet. Town Manager Larry Shaffer just arrived at the DPW office and they are hunkered down awaiting the results. The emergency phone system will kick in either way to spread the news: good or bad. Let's hope it's good.

3 Secret School Meetings: Minutes Revealed

Current Regional Public School includes Amherst, Leverett, Pelham, Shutesbury grades 7-12

Interestingly enough the Amherst Regional School Committee never met in Executive Session to finally approve the $120,000 payment to former math teacher Carolyn Gardner and $60,000 to her esteemed attorneys.

But they did discuss the situation under the protective cloak of Executive Session three times prior to the sealing of the lucrative deal.

 Regional School Committee went into Executive Session at 8:00 PM last night

And of course they had to meet in Executive Session last night to approve those Carolyn Gardner related Executive Session minutes after my Public Documents request.

   Ex Sessions: Amherst School Committee

And I was glad to see secretary Deb Westmoreland and HR Director Kathy Mazur take far better notes than the Amherst Select Board did a few years back when former Town Manager Larry Shaffer suddenly flew the coop.


The discussion this article has stimulated on Facebook is nothing if not interesting, perhaps even more so than the original article.  (Keeping in mind Kurt Geryk is the husband of School Superintendent Maria Geryk.)

Render unto Caesar…

After 60 years of tariff-free trade on a ritual that marks the transition into the Christmas season for generations of Amherst residents, the Grinch has finally gotten his due: $1 per tree.

Yes, Town Manager Larry Shaffer got mugged by Umass in the ‘Strategic Agreement’ and walked away from $30,000 in annual rent for a municipal golf course that will cost taxpayers that amount this year, but--by God--put him at the table with Boy Scouts of America and he takes no prisoners.

Operated entirely by volunteers, the Amherst Boy Scouts Christmas Tree Sale on Kendrick Park raises money for hometown Troops 500 and 504 to help offset scout related expenses, including scholarships for those who can’t afford the required summer camping.

So it’s not like this is a BIG business generating profits surreptitiously slipped in a back pocket, or applied towards a new Lexus.

The 40-50 Amherst and Pelham Boy Scouts do plenty of volunteer work for their merit badges including food collection for The Survival Center, clearing our extensive Conservation Trails, or helping distribute 3,000 candles on the first anniversary of 9/11.

And while a dollar may sound trivial on trees priced at $35 or $40, last year former Scout Master Bill Hart estimated the entire month-long endeavor generated between $4,000 and $6,000 in net profit. So Amherst’s cut of $775 in rent, amounts to a tax on “profits” of 13%!

Doing ones duty to God and country shouldn’t be so taxing.

Anti-Charter Cheerleaders

Typical TM demographic:  Older, white, with 2 much time on their hands

If this is material that passes for a hatchet job these two country bumpkin impersonators may want to start patronizing a better arms dealer. 

First off they need better props.  Who in Amherst still reads a newspaper?  Yes an older crowd for sure, which is the prime make up of Amherst Town Meeting.  But invoking that particular demographic is pretty much preaching to the converted.



Over one-third of the registered voters in our little college town are "college aged youth," and they have not picked up a newspaper since the last time they used a phone booth.

And if you're going to call out people by name at least get their names right.  "Suzie" la Cour, the Business Improvement District director, may have been a cheerleader in her youthful past but her name is Sarah.

And her husband Niels left Town Hall Planning Department for UMass, at least according to former Town Manager Larry Shaffer's announcement on the floor of Town Meeting, because he got a $10,000 raise.  So who wouldn't leave?

Just as one must assume Hope Keenan recently left her marketing gig at the Business Improvement District in favor of a UMass job because of better pay.

Or maybe it was just to have less dealings with entitled socialistic has-beens-and-never-weres who wish for our downtown to stay forever locked in the Eisenhower era.

When asked why he frequented a fixed game the gambler responded, "Because it's the only game in town."  Which is why of course 13-of-20 Amherst For All Steering Committee members are Town Meeting members.

And anyone who has spent so much as one night in Town Meeting knows all too well how outmoded, cumbersome and naive it is.

Can you imagine a multi-million per year corporation being run by a group of 135 or so (out of the 240 who bother to show up) rank amateurs who come together 10 or 12 nights per year to run things?

Apple Inc would be in the business of selling real (organically grown) apples.

The other laughable charge directed at Amherst For All Steering Committee is that they are  "All white, with no disabled and no low income."  Talk about the pot calling the kettle of color.

Anyone looked around the floor of Town Meeting lately?  (Or anytime over the past 256 years).

Amherst Town Meeting counted standing vote May, 2014

Amherst For All is now over two-thirds of the way to target goal of 3,215 signatures of registered voters who agree it's time to study our current form of government and come up with a better one.

Thus these two Town Meeting cheerleaders will someday soon be out of their obviously all too coveted volunteer job.

With a reference like that

Since it was a forgone conclusion assistant town manager John Musante would ascend to permanent town manager to replace the suddenly departing Larry Shaffer, I figured why bother weighing in with an opinion even though I was recruited at the last minute to donate my analysis for Localocracy

The Select Board public "discussion" contained this hidden gem: a former Select Board Czar who moved to another nearby town but wanted to maintain her Amherst elected position and lied in a letter/statement published in the Amherst Bulletin about the status of her Homestead Declaration (positive proof she was no longer fit to serve in Amherst) took the time to write a recommendation for Musante.

I'm not sure what is more frightening: Our new town manager being heartily endorsed by the likes of her, or that Princess Stephanie "considers it to be a very important letter."