None of the Above (mostly)

Click to enlarge

10:30 AM

So I can now confirm the No votes are in the lead--as is Rob Spence for School Committee.

Riders on the storm...

9:45 AM

So it's nice to see Ricky Boy Hood outnumbered in town center by 2-1. And notice Rob Spence for School Committee supporters are not, unlike Jonathan O'Keeffe, also holding a pro-override sign. Irony is if Spence gets elected the School Committee--for the first time in a generation--would have a majority of sensible center types and might actually wrestle that Sacred Cow under control thus obviating the need for Overrides.

All roads lead to...

The Ballot Box

7:15 AM So we're off. And already the Overriders have me confused. No large display ad in this morning's bricks-and-mortar Gazette. So where the heck did they spend the remaining $3,000 in campaign contributions? (60% of total raised!)

Maybe they figured out this was going down and they are saving it for round two, after Town Meeting comes back with yet another tweaked version of this Override. You know, Custer thought it was a good idea to divide up his cavalry...

Overriders current campaign disclosure

Prime location promo

Wow, the town must really be taking this election seriously as the red reminder to "VOTE tomorrow" displaced the cute Cherry Hill Golf Course logo on the town's main web page.

Left out in the cold

The Republican reports

The town spins it

Say it isn't so

So this Amherst Bully web article falls into the "You gotta be kidding me category!" 105 faculty and staff of Amherst Regional High School sign a petition supporting their boss Mark Jackson, after he made an ass of himself bullying School Committee member Catherine Sanderson at the 3/9 SC meeting.

Goes to show what lousy institutional memory they have. After all, 8 years ago that many staff signed a petition penned by ARHS journalism teacher Bruce Penniman supporting pedophile principal Steven Myers, who almost days later disappeared in the middle of the night.

And in 1999 a 17-year-old Puerto Rican girl garnered 158 signatures in one day at the High School decrying the production of 'West Side Story' as the Senior class play; she managed to convince the spineless School Committee to cancel the production--the first time in history any entity has ever banned 'West Side Story.'



ARHS The Graphic 1/25/02 Click to enlarge/read

Override is not the answer! (neither is WAR)

Springfield Sunday Republican reports

So yeah, this concerns me a tad: the highest read edition of the 3rd largest newspaper in Massachusetts publishes this routine overview article. Concerns me only because the uninformed voter may read it and think--because of outgoing Amherst School Committee Chair Andy Churchill comments--that the override is now down to $1.12 million, which of course it is not.

What town officials claim is that if unexpected tooth fairy revenues come in--as they always do--they will do as they did in the 2004 Override scenario and not tax to the full extent of the levy in the first year.. However after that one year they will tax to the full extent of the $1.68 MILLION Override amount PLUS THE 2.5% ALLOWED BY LAW.
##########################################
Original Post 1:00 PM

So I rolled through town center at around 12:30 PM and the anti-war folks, who have been on that corner every Sunday for 30+ years, outnumbered the "Vote Yes" people--mainly Ricky Boy Hood family and tenderfoot Field Marshal Clare Bertrand--three to one.

You know the drill: click photo to enlarge. The exceedingly small contingent of "Vote Yes" drones are, fittingly, on the extreme left.

A question of priorities in the People's Republic

Click to enlarge/read

Couldn't help but notice on the 2nd tier "gray area"--meaning possible restoration with an Override and unexpected state aid--sits the $61,092 LSSE "Customer Assistant Registrar."

Gotta wonder how that makes the average cop or firefighter feel when they make less than that--not to mention classroom teachers or DPW laborers.

And notice all the Cherry Hill Golf Course was willing to give up is $7,600 in Maintenance/Equipment/Supplies (must be those savings garnered from using convict labor.) But even then their Operation budget is up 2.6% next year while the Police budget is up less than 1%.

And while town officials keep trumpeting how the LSSE Recreation Empire is almost break even, like the Golf Course, they do not tell you that those figures ignore the employee benefits and health insurance costs. ($200,000 next year.)

And of course Capital items are also not included (and LSSE has a quite a fleet of trucks and vans.)

Overriders raise some serious cash

Click to enlarge/read

Unlike three years ago Overriders filed their campaign finance report with the Town Clerk on time.

So counting Ricky Boy Hood's $211.83 for payment of buttons, that makes just a a tad over $5,000 raised thus far for this Override campaign. And I'm impressed, I really am. What a hard sell that must be when hitting up folks for contributions: "Could you please donate money so that we can wage a campaign to raise your taxes?"

Since they have only spent $1991 and have an ending balance of $3073 as of 3/15 (but includes the half-page "signature ad" in the 3 /19 Amherst Bulletin with F-A-R less signatures than three years ago), prepare for a blitzkrieg over the next 72 hours

Behold the Power...

Interesting article on the Front Page of the downsized Springfield Republican about politicians using social media to connect with their constituents. They lead with local success story Catherine Sanderson's School Committee Blog pointing out posts that generated 150 comments and 10,000 hits per month.

Two weeks ago at the height of the School Superintendent A-Rod coup d'état she came within a whisker of breaking the 1,000 mark--two days in a row.

I noticed three years ago when I first launched this blog my numbers almost tripled the days immediately before the May 1 Override vote. And during the recent A-Rod affair (a story broken by me three full days before the Crusty Gazette) my numbers also more than doubled, and now have stayed there as yet another Override looms.

So I think when people really want to be informed and they want it NOW they come to the Blogosphere, Twitter, Facebook, etc. When they want to leisurely sip cappuccino and passively peruse the local news, they pick up the brick-and-mortar media.

Rope-a-dope while avoiding Overriders rage

As Rod Serling would say, "Respectfully submitted for your perusal."

In this case, the reason why angry yellow jacket No More Overrides signs will not swarm in Amherst center over the final days of the campaign. Three years ago--a day or so before the May 1 Override vote--some Nitwit woman crashed her vehicle narrowly avoiding cyclists and pedestrians who would not have made out as well as the 4,000 pound auto she rear ended.

So in the interests of public safety--especially since our Police and Fire departments are understaffed--the Amherst Citizens for Responsible Change have decided not to stand around in town center and distract drivers.
#############################################

Original Post 4/29/07


As a passive aggressive sparky school supporter was driving thru the downtown around high-noon Saturday she rolled down the window and leaned out shouting while shaking her fist: “You should be ashamed of yourselves!”

A split second later she rear-ended the SUV in front of her. Stan Gawle, without missing a beat (after he stopped laughing) exclaimed, “God is on our side!”

"Brother Against Brother" Civil War

Hmm...a Yes and No sign on the same lawn. Perhaps a husband going one way and his spouse the other. Kind of like Select Board incumbent (with no competition thus guaranteed reelection) Alisa Brewer (Yes) and Umass Prof husband Steven Brewer (No) fighting it out over on Localocracy.org

(And yeah, I gave him 5 of my 10 ratings points to drive his comment to the top.)

Override ruminations

Override passes
Override fails

So yeah, I have trouble sleeping at night being the big meanie I am. Maybe that lead to the late night visit from the 'Ghost of Christmas Future' who showed me the two possible scenarios for the average homeowner after the March 23 Override vote.

"...failure to communicate."

Click photo to read lettering on the Bus

So I guess if you don't trust the professional DPW (who are, after all, at the bottom of the town pay scale) to get the job done on time-even with last minute notification, you call in the convicts.

But don't get me wrong: I believe that hard labor--chain gangs or cycling up Mt. Washington--is a good thing. And in Northampton, the Honor Court (recovering alcoholics) keeping the city clean is a great thing.

But you still have to wonder if these noble efforts by convicts could be put to better use other than sprucing up the most exclusive endeavor in recreation--golf ? (Well, #2 if you count those indoor Japanese downhill ski facilities.)

But hey, at least the Town Manager did not put them to use fixing up his humble abode on Amity Street now up for sale.

###########################################
Trial Court Community Service Program

"Our goals are to promote public safety by making participants stakeholders in the community and enrich communities by performing meaningful service."

###########################################
(key word being "meaningful")

Even the Town Mangler can't afford the Override...

Click to enlarge/read


Maybe he's moving to South Hadley.

Peyton Place/Harper Valley continued...

Click to enlarge/read (2 of 3)

"Helen" (Vivian) and "Al" (Sprague) are/were the married $125,000 interim Co-Supers who flew the coop almost exactly a year ago,four months early with full pay. "Jere" is of course the Golden Boy long-time (six whole years!) Super described by long-time School Committee Chair Elaine Brighty as a "rare event."

(Page 3 of 3)

Peyton Place meets Harper Valley PTA

Click to enlarge/read (1 of 3)So yeah, I thought twice (maybe three times) about actually publishing this. It is of course Anonymous. And over the past three years, I've gotten ever so adapted to Anons and their wild claims and obnoxious insults.

But...something about this snail mail Letter--sent to Catherine Sanderson as well--rings believable. So I've redacted the names (not necessarily to protect the innocent.)


To Be Continued...

Cherry Hill Golf Course: Municipal bloodsucker

Bad enough the golf course produces more red ink than a Chinese flag factory, but now they're sucking the lifeblood from other departments.

Because the foundering LSSE Recreation Empire is down ten$ of thousand$ they can't afford to spruce up the golf course, so the Town Manager orders the DPW Parks and Recreation Department to drop everything, run out to North Amherst and get the business ready for its Grand Opening (in two days.)

Forget the town common, the ball fields, or the soccer fields; in the People's Republic of Amherst when a White Elephant bellows--you run!

On a losing course at the half way point

Sincerest form of flattery

Three years ago Sir Richard Hood showed up in Amherst Town Center a few days before the May 1 Override vote with his Van festooned with posters ripping off the angry yellow jacket design to shout No More teachers, police, or firefighters.

Of course the problem with that hyperbole is it perfectly demonstrates the "fear factor" town officials like to use when strong-arming the taxpayers. Three years ago the Town Manager put five firefighters hired with a Federal Grant on the Override chopping block even though the terms of the grant would have caused much larger repayment to the Feds.

Three years ago I simply chalked up the copycats "sky is falling" rhetoric to the general incompetency of allowing such a naive rookie to take command of the campaign and at that point, in over his head, he simply lost his head.

But now, under new command, they went it did it again. Yikes!

A reason to miss 'His Lordship'

So Mr. Weiss must have had too much cake at his going away party preceding the Select Board meeting last night, as he couldn't even spit out a spirited counter using his taxpayer funded Bully Pulpit of his previous spot-on pubic statement that the People's Republic has been "living beyond its means."

And if my memory serves he specifically pointed out the raises and step increases granted to the town employees--mainly the Teachers Union. The concessions made to the Town Manager (Police) and now most recently the Regional School Committee are token at best.


And I believe Mr. Weiss was also the attribution/source used by that damn "anti-Override organization" disclosing the over-$1 million surplus last Fiscal Year.

A very public bribe

Amherst teachers agree to contract givebacks if override passes
By NICK GRABBE
Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 16, 2010

AMHERST - The teachers union voted Monday to turn three "professional days" into unpaid furloughs if voters approve a tax-cap override on March 23.

The vote would affect about 380 employees at the elementary, middle and high schools. It would reduce the budget impact of salary increases next year from about $1.3 million to about $930,000.

The average teacher would receive about $1,000 less than if the union had gone along with its negotiated contract, said president Tim Sheehan.

####################################

Damn! Voted on Monday and it made the Gazette already. How very bloglike of them.

So let me get this strait: If the Override passes, they still get their full raises and step increases but the teachers are going to give up three days of paid professional development and simply take them as "unpaid furloughs." But they will still take all of them as days off...probably not to engage in "professional development."

When the Override fails, 95% of them will still get their full raises and step increases AND those three paid "professional days," only there will be a few less teachers.

National Sunshine Week: T.G.F.F.O.I!

Thank God for Freedom Of Information, Public Documents and Open Meeting Laws.

From: amherstac@aol.com
To: westmorelandD@arps.org; mazurk@arps.org; hajirf@arps.org
Sent: Mon, Mar 15, 2010 9:20 am
Subject: Public Documents Request

Amherst Regional School Committee

Hi,

Could I please get copies of the evaluation materials mentioned in the Sunday Springfield Republican article on the sudden departure of Dr. Alberto Rodriguez specifically from Regional School Committee Chair Farshid Hajir: four notebooks filled with "impressions" of the Superintendent's performance created during meetings with faculty and staff which Hajir attended in his role as School Committee Chair--thus making the materials a public document.

Thanks,

Larry Kelley

The Sunday Republican reports

Even the spotted salamanders know better!

Click photo to enlarge/read

So for those of you new to the People's Republic of Amherst (living here less than 20 years and probably still pronouncing the h in Amherst) this inside joke references one of the first things I experienced as an 'Only in Amherst' event dating back to the late 1980s.

The spotted salamanders crossing bucolic Henry Street in the far reaches of North Amherst during that time of year when they get, umm, horny (early April) were getting squished by the ever-so-occasional auto. The town installed "Salamander tunnels" so the critters could safely cross under the road (Hell, at Hampshire College you would be awarded a degree for that).

But of course nobody told the Salamanders about the tunnel--even in Amherst town officials do not speak or write Salamander and do not have a Star Trek universal translator to communicate with them.

Thus to this day volunteers go out to this site in early April at dusk with flashlights to assist the little critters crossing the street.

Do-gooders herding salamanders into an expensive tunnel: Only in Amherst.

Yes, the NEW YORK TIMES (actually) reported
To this day Henry Street is not exactly "busy". Obviously the NY Times, as they say in journalism, "phoned in" this story.

And of course some of you townies will remember that then Select Board Chair (Umass History Professor) Richard Minear the year before spearheaded the socialistic takeover of the Cherry Hill Golf Course for the most money this town has ever paid out for such a heavy handed taking. And the only time the town used an obscure provision in the law making that taking "referendum proof" by the taxpayers.

No More Overrides: Even the White Elephant Golf Course agrees!

Click to enlarge/see the angry yellow jacket No More Overrides lawn sign

Ten years ago some Nitwit wrote a scathing 'Letter to the Editor' published in the venerable Amherst Bulletin complaining most vociferously about a pair of political lawn signs in this exact location promoting the election of George W. Bush for President.

Gasp! How could the People's Republic of Amherst allow town property to be used as a platform for the likes of him, a--double gasp--Republican.

Turns out, when the town snatched the Cherry Hill Golf Course from Dave Maxon in 1987 for $2.2 million (the highest price ever paid for land acquisition) using eminent domain under an "emergency measure" so that it was Referendum proof, that astronomical price did not include the nearby Maxon homestead, where his family still lives today.

And obviously they have good taste when it comes to political issues.

School bullying--even in Amherst

UPDATE: 3:40 PM Okay, so here's the prequel leading up to Principal Mark Jackson's insubordinate rant.

Notice how Maria Geryk whispers to Farshid Hajir the School Committee Chair about Mark wanting to speak. And of course, Hajir was too demure to shut down the overly aggressive Jackson when he crossed the line and attacked fellow School Committee person Catherine Sanderson. And now Maria Geryk is Mark Jackson's boss for the next 16 months. Obviously he will have it pretty good.

#####################################


So forget that Principal Mark Jackson, the second highest paid "public servant" in the People's Republic @ $131,236, is better than twice Catherine Sanderson's size, and forget for a moment that as a School Committee member she is in charge of hiring the Superintendent who can then fire Jackson, this was just plain inappropriate.

And I'm trying to figure out how he's so sure what was in those "evaluations" of the Superintendent when Alberto Rodriguez was, two days ago, Jackson's direct boss.

The 15 or 20 anonymous evaluations collected from administrative staff (including Jackson's) should have gone directly to Chair Farshid Hajir and then to the entire Amherst Regional School Committee--but nobody else.

There they go again

This time it's the staid Finance Committee disingenuously spinning figures to aid town officials in their faltering battle to raise taxes.

According to their unanimously approved manifesto, the FinCom lays the blame on Prop 2.5, which Amherst overwhelmingly voted against 30 years ago: "Even with careful management, costs for local communities to provide education, libraries,public safety and other community services increase at an inflation rate greater than 2.5 percent."

But our supposed watchdog financial consultants are conveniently forgetting "new growth" allowed by Prop 2.5. The Facilitation of Community Choices Committee recognized that in their financial report two years ago by clearly pointing out:

"Prop 2.5 allows for an annual increase in property taxes of 2.5% plus any new growth in taxable property such as new construction or additions.

Amherst has averaged 1.5% per year during the last ten years for a total average increase of 4% in the tax base."

And last I looked, inflation was below 4% over the past ten years--and in 2009 almost 0%.

Particularly troubling, rookie Finance Committee Chair Andy Steinberg (also a long-time Town Meeting member) was a member of the FCCC and present on the day the discussion of "new growth" took place.

Transparency--what a concept

From: amherstac@aol.com
To: westmorelandD@arps.org; mazurk@arps.org; gawles@verizon.net; nhoffenberg@gazettenet.com
Sent: Tue, Mar 9, 2010 10:50 am
Subject: Public Documents/Open Meeting Law Reqest

Hi Debbie,

Could I please get a copy of the discussion minutes and any votes taken during the Executive Session of the Regional School Committee last night.

Thanks,

Larry Kelley

From: Debbie Westmoreland
To: amherstac@aol.com; Kathy Mazur ; nhoffenberg@gazettenet.com; gawles@verizon.net
Cc: Tracy Farnham ; Farshid Hajir
Sent: Tue, Mar 9, 2010 1:37 pm
Subject: Re: Public Documents/Open Meeting Law Reqest

Hi Mr. Kelley:

The School Committee has not yet voted to release the minutes from last night's Executive Session; therefore, they are still considered confidential. I am not sure when the School Committee will officially release the minutes, but I will be happy to forward them to you once they do.

Best Regards,

Deb

From: amherstac@aol.com
To: WestmorelandD@ARPS.ORG; MazurK@ARPS.ORG; nhoffenberg@gazettenet.com; gawles@verizon.net
Cc: FarnhamT@ARPS.ORG; HajirF@ARPS.ORG
Sent: Tue, Mar 9, 2010 1:51 pm
Subject: Re: Public Documents/Open Meeting Law Request

Thanks Deb!

Just make sure I'm in line ahead of the Crusty Gazette (a few seconds here and a few seconds there...)

Larry

$igns, $igns everywhere $igns...

So in addition to those nickel-and-dime political lawn signs springing up around town like mushrooms after a summer rain, this Big-Boy went up yesterday on Rt. 116. Thankfully the State pays the $2,700 tab for the sign, and Palmer Paving--who won the bid--installed it.

The $2.3 million road resurfacing starts next month and will extend from Snell Street down to Hampshire College but skip the center of South Amherst, where my business is located.

The town "took over" (at tens of thousands in annual upkeep) this section of the state highway four or five years ago in order to redo the South Amherst center in the image and likeness of a quaint little French Village. That was years ago; thus far we did get a used traffic control signal--but no crosswalk.

And no little french bakery.

UPDATE: 1:00 PM

So back from my bike ride fertilizing the ground underneath all those green Vote Yes pro Override signs (Locked and loaded with a super-soaker squirter gun so I could fire from a public road.) I could not help but notice a second $2,7000 State sign on the other side of the 3-mile project.

And furthermore could not help but notice that they are only ONE-SIDED SIGNS. Hmm...even our overly-amateurish, do-gooder local politicos wanna be's with their loose change lawn signs figured out the value of two sided.

But not our illustrious state.

Better dead than red

You can tell Mr. Hood is a "webmaster", as he picked a lively color scheme for his lawn signs (which, unlike the green pro-Override signs, will still stand out when the grass comes in.)

I guess he learned from his boo-boo three years ago that lawn signs are an essential evil in a political campaign. Although it is a tad odd that he--of all people--a true blue, blue-state kind of guy, would use red.
Yeah as one of my Anons pointed out, he borrowed from the wholesome milk company.

The Color of Money

So Overriders picked the perfect color scheme for their lawn signs. Hey, at least this time around they were clever enough to order them. Three years ago they did not bother--one of the many huge mistakes they made under the leadership of Rick Hood, now a candidate for School Committee.

A-Rod strikes out!

Catherine Sanderson reports on the Gazette report

The Springfield Republican follows up (actually using the Gazette as a source)

UPDATE Monday Morning (quarterbacking): The crusty Gazette finally caught up with this story. Must be a tad embarrassed as they threw up a brief last night on Gazettenet, but back dated it to Saturday. And intrepid forever reporter Nick Grabbe had to resort to using persons "with direct knowledge of the situation," as sources but of course unnamed.

The Regional School Committee meets tonight in Executive Session to try to put together Dr. Rodriguez's going away present. For sure he will demand the rest of this year's salary (about $40,000) but he may ask for all of next year's as well ($158,000.) Probably will not have the gall to also ask for the $15,000 in housing/transportation. If so, let's hope the School Committee pays him off in pennies so he gets a hernia dragging them back to sunny Miami, Florida.
#####################################

UPDATE: Saturday around noon:

So sorry for not responding to all the Comments that occurred after I, finally, hit the "publish" button close to midnight last night as I then retired.

And sorry for deleting the post "We interrupt this regularly scheduled program..." which had garnered a few comments because I was sitting on this "A-Rod Strikes Out" story in draft for sooooo many hours that when I finally got the corroboration I needed for some reason it published below the placeholder, throw-away post signaling something BIG was in the offing.

So I just deleted that entire post (only the 2nd time in three years I have done such a thing.)

When someone taunted me by email about being out of touch on this story with the bricks and mortar media possibly beating me to it (and at that point it was written, the photo uploaded and my right hand was hovering over the publish button) I instantly flashed back to that great scene in "Tora, Tora, Tora" where the lowly staff Sergeant had tried to get his commanding officer to do something after the rookie commander of the USS Ward reporting attacking an enemy submarine at the mouth of Pearl Harbor, early on the morning of December 7.

The Commander, not happy about working on a gorgeous Sunday. barked "Corroboration, I need corroboration!" A few hours later he bursts into the same office with his eyes wide open and jaw hitting the floor and the lowly Sargent (busily answering the phone and stamping forms at a frantic pace) looks up, points his hand at the huge picture window overlooking the Harbor now filled with burning, dying ships and shouts, "There's your corroboration!"

ORIGINAL POST: late last night

After less than a year as the highest paid Amherst "public servant", School Superintendent Alberto Rodriguez will go the way of the previous (less than) Super, Alton Sprague who took his co-Superintendent wife, two months of taxpayer funded salary, and flew the coop.

In this case, Rodriguez will be winging back to Miami, Florida where "we play hard, hard, hardball" he bragged to the Amherst Bulletin last year, declaring he would have no trouble surviving in the People's Republic of Amherst.

Once again Maria Geryk steps up to cover as she did previously after the aged co-supers disappeared with two months left on their one-year contract, and most recently for the numerous days A-Rod took as vacation/sick time.
#########################################
SUPERINTENDENT ‑ CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT

4. TERMINATION: This Agreement may be terminated or modified by mutual written agreement of the parties. In the event that the Superintendent desires to terminate this Agreement before the term of the Agreement and his employment expires, he may do so by giving at least one-hundred twenty (120) days’ notice of his intention to the Committees. This Agreement may be terminated by the Committees prior to its expiration, for good cause, but not without prior written notice to the Superintendent of the proposed reasons for termination.

There they go again!

So ten or twelve years ago the spineless Amherst Town Manager Barry Del Castilho actually showed some backbone when Umass banned a rapist from living on-campus but did not expel him from classes, so naturally he relocated to the People's Republic of Amherst.

Barry did what many highly-paid professional bureaucrats do: he filed a memo/letter of protest, that went nowhere.

Now Umass is once again embroiled in a deja vu controversy mishandling yet again an admitted rapist, allowing him to stay on as a student. But apparently they kicked him off campus.

Amherst currently hosts 3 or 4 "Level Three" sex offenders --meaning the state in their infinite wisdom considers them "likely to reoffend" but they are still free to live and roam where ever they damn well please.

Since this Umass perp was never convicted of the rape allegation that he admitted to, he does not have to register with the local police department as a "Sex Offender."

Thus, local citizens and police have no idea of his current whereabouts.

Amazing that Umass uses the Catholic Church of twenty years ago (also a story broken by the Boston Globe) as a guide for dealing with sex offenders: just quietly ship them off to another unsuspecting community.

The venerable Daily Collegian reports

The old blame the blogosphere routine

So the Emperor hates it when anyone questions his flashy new clothes--especially as to why they do not resemble a hospital johnny.

But rather than deal with the issue of going AWOL for an entire week before filling out the mandated paperwork (Family Medical Leave Act), something that would get a teacher, janitor or bus driver fired the hot-under-the-collar Superintendent unloads on the evil Internet.

But he trains his fire not on the legitimate folks who used the interconnected instantaneous Web to expose and question (rather subtly at first) his extended absence, but focuses on those damn snarky Anons. Although strangely, he says he doesn't read blogs--but he attacks Anon comments made on blogs. Hmm...

Well Dr. Rodriguez, if you don't read the blogs then how do you know what the Cowardly Anon Nitwits are saying?

And next time you pretend not to look at those time-wasting, evil blogs maybe you should read a tad more closely. The issue was not the legitimacy of taking "sick" time in advance for a medical procedure, it was scheduling a fair amount of "sick" time in advance with no explanation whatsoever.

And even the memo/spreadsheet tossed to the Regional School Committee on 2/9 did not have all of last week on it. Not much "transparency" there, eh?

At the 3/1 School Committee discussion Regional Chair Farshid Hajir told the Super to submit an "updated/revised" memo to reflect the unannounced disappearance over the past week and an explanation for the sick leave absences scheduled in April as outlined in the sparse 2/9 memo.

I have been blogging for three years now with over 175,000 unique visitors and only one of them came from Miami, Florida--just last week as a matter of fact, coincidentally when the Super was AWOL in sunny Miami, Florida about a half-hour after an Anon posted comments questioning his whereabouts.

And isn't this the same cocky guy who bragged to the crusty Amherst Bulletin one year ago, "I'm going to be tested, and you guys will see that it's not about that," he said. "I have the mettle to take that fire."

Looks like his mettle came up short.

The Bully reports one year ago

The Bully reports today

Thank God Amherst School Committee member Irv Rhodes is black, otherwise Kathleen Anderson (sitting on his left) would have been all over his case for daring to defend the rights of the taxpaying public (admittedly overwhelmingly none minority in the People's Republic) to question the habits of the highest paid "public service" employee in town, who just happens to be Cuban American.

Selectboard's Top Ten list (not ready for prime time)

So you can tell illustrious Amherst Select Board Chair (Princess) Stephanie O'Keeffe's only work experience was as an auto industry PR flack.

Fifteen minutes of the official tax-funded March 1 public Select Board meeting was wasted honing a "top ten" list of reasons why overburdened taxpayers should support the March 23 $1.68 million tax override.

And then they spent time discussing when the best time would be for their propaganda to appear in the local bricks-and-mortar media. Let's hope the crusty Gazette/Bulletin plays it fair and balanced and allows the Amherst Taxpayers for Responsible Change equal time.

Here we go again.

So three years ago in one fell swoop almost 100 of the 250 'No More Overrides' signs disappeared over night.

One of the nitwit teen-aged perps dropped his cell phone and a pack of cigarettes next to the mangled metal stakes and Amherst PD tracked him down. He made good on court ordered restitution--although he never gave up his band of accomplices--and the signs were replaced.

This past weekend the only sign on display in the entire town was stolen. Since I live next to the DPW I figured with winter weather the sand/salt pile garners a lot of traffic. And yes it was very, very secure--nailed into a wooden stockade fence with four large nails. Next time I'll booby trap it with C-4.

This incident has been reported to the Amherst Police Department and is pending approval Amherst Police Department 111 Main Street Amherst, MA 01002 413-259-3000

General Information Incident Type Theft Temporary Report Number T10000031 Report Date 03/02/2010 09:55 AM

There they go again with rookies in command

UPDATE: 9:00 PM So obviously Kevin's guitar strings are strung a tad too tight. Now he's up to 1,000 signatures by March 8. Hmmm...He has only managed less than two-thirds that over the past two months on a internet petition sight with no barriers whatsoever to "signing" but he's going to get a 1,000 in under a week on real paper?

I'll bet him $1,000 that is not going to happen.
#######################################
March 2, 2010

Dear Amherst Town Meeting:

I have read that, "the Select Board has proposed a $1.67m override to deal with
yet another budget deficit which is the result of the Town living beyond its
means. We need greater accountability for what and how we spend." Forcing many
residents to sell their homes?

If this is true, why have we stood by while you, the Amherst Town Meeting,
engaged in this behavior? How is that Amherst Town Meeting, who are responsible
for oversight of our governing body, the Amherst Select Board, is not
accountable for our deficit spending, forcing many residents to sell their
homes? If our elected representatives, the Amherst Town Meeting, who are
responsible for oversight, is not accountable, they should be dismissed by
town-wide referendum at the next available election.

The deadline for Citizen Petitions is March 8 and I will have no trouble
getting a thousand signatures to put the item on the agenda at Town Meeting: “Why is
Amherst Town Meeting, who are responsible for oversight of our governing body,
the Amherst Select Board, not accountable for our deficit spending, forcing
many residents to sell their homes?". Amherst citizens MUST KNOW!

This is a question that MUST be answered: “Why is Amherst Town Meeting, who are
responsible for oversight of our governing body, the Amherst Select Board, not
accountable for our deficit spending, forcing many residents to sell their
homes?". I will file a petition today.

Thank you all for your effort and hard work making our town great.

Best, Kevin Collins

cc: Select Board of Amherst
Town Meeting members, attached

##################################################

UPDATE: Tuesday 3:45 PM Gotta love his naive enthusiasm!

From: kevin@redbarnmusic.com
To: amherstac@aol.com
Sent: Tue, Mar 2, 2010 1:24 pm
Subject: Re: Why is the Select Board forcing many residents to sell their homes?

Why, Larry! I didn't know you cared!

Really, that is very nice of you. Thanks.

Kevin


From: amherstac@aol.com
To: kevin@redbarnmusic.com
Sent: Tue, Mar 2, 2010 3:19 pm

Hey Kevin,
So I'm told by an ultra reliable source that you are a "really nice" guy--"idealistic" but nice. As I'm sure Ricky Boy Hood was three years ago when he was in W-A-Y over his head, as you are now. I really don't blame you or Mr. Hood as the old rule applies: "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."

The real fault here--now and then--is with Baer 'The Turk' Tierkel, the burly man behind the curtain. He would have made a great Pentagon general during the Viet Nam conflict.

Keep in mind I only fight when I know I"m right--and I then I fight to win; however, I always play by the rules--and I'm smart/experienced enough to actually study them. You should give it a try.

Larry

Sent: Tue, Mar 2, 2010 4:12 pm
Subject: Re: Why is the Select Board forcing many residents to sell their homes?

Hi, Lare
Please don't get me wrong, I only do this for fun.


From: amherstac@aol.com
To: kevin@redbarnmusic.com
Sent: Tue, Mar 2, 2010 4:47 pm
Subject: Re: Why is the Select Board forcing many residents to sell their homes?

Hey Kevin,
Yeah, it shows.
LK


#################################
ORIGINAL POST:

Three years ago the Amherst Center types let Ricky Boy Hood spearhead the campaign to pass the 'Amherst Plan' $2.5 million Override. He should have done them a final favor and fallen on that spear a month before he sent the campaign spiraling into the abyss.

Now it's equally naive, tenderfoot, Kevin Collins--who takes credit for starting the Blank Check Pro Override Online Petition two months ago still less than two-thirds to the target goal of 1,000.

Yet he threatens Stan Gawle with getting 600 signatures on a honest to goodness hard copy petition (a Hell of lot harder than getting folks to click a mouse at their convenience) in only a week.

Well gee there Kevin, if it took you six weeks to get 600 signatures (many of them out of state, too young to vote, or anonymous) how the Hell are you now going to do that in only a week where they all have to actually scribble their names on an official form and be of-age registered voters?

Of course if Mr. Collins was not such a tenderfoot he would know it only takes ten signatures to get on the ballot for Amherst Town Meeting. Yeah, I guess even he should be able to handle that.
###################################
From: kevin@redbarnmusic.comkevin@redbarnmusic.com>
Subject: Re: Why is the Select Board forcing many residents to sell their homes?
To: SelectBoard@amherstma.gov
Cc: townmeeting@amherstma.gov, moderator@amherstma.gov, gawles@verizon.net, ngrabbe@gazettenet.com
Date: Monday, March 1, 2010, 1:27 PM

Dear Select Board of Amherst:

I read that “Out of control spending coupled with wasteful and in-efficient use
of our tax dollars is forcing many residents to sell their homes.”?

http://www.nomoreoverrides.com/

If this is true, then what kind of people are we?

And if it is not true, why have we stood by for the last two years and watched
while a Town Meeting member preyed on the fears of the elderly and less
fortunate? What kind of people are we, then?

Stan Gawles has a point and we need to do something about it! I think the
entire Town Meeting should examine this question: why is the Select Board, our
governing body, forcing residents to sell their homes?

The deadline for Citizen Petitions is March 8 and I will have no trouble
getting 600 signatures to put the item on the agenda at Town Meeting: “Why is
the Select Board, our governing body, forcing many residents to sell their
homes?”. Amherst citizens MUST KNOW!

This is a question that must be answered: Why is the Select Board, our
governing body, forcing many residents to sell their homes? I will file a
petition today.

Thank you all for your effort and hard work making our town great.

Best,

Kevin Collins
Amherst

cc: Town Meeting members, attached Amherst Bulletin

#################################################
From: amherstac@aol.com
To: gawles@verizon.net; kevin@redbarnmusic.com; selectboard@amherstma.gov; townmeeting@amherstma.gov; moderator@amherstma.gov; ngrabbe@gazettenet.com
Sent: Mon, Mar 1, 2010 9:06 pm

Subject: Re: Why is the Select Board forcing many residents to sell their homes?

Can we keep a secret and not tell this tenderfoot you only need ten signatures--not 600--to get on the venerable annual TM warrant???
Larry K

Equal opportunity flag disparager

So at least His Lordship (about to become a mere Commoner) Gerry Weiss even has problems with a People's Republic of Amherst town flag, in addition to the 29 commemorative American flags that he likes to see as little as possible unfurled in town center.

And since those US flags only cost $40 each, safe to say a new flag of the same size with the town seal (or whatever a committee comes up with) will not be overly expensive.

Mr. Weiss loved to champion the subsidy of golf at Cherry Hill and considered $10,000 in tax monies nothing when applied to that pursuit, but God forbid we spend a couple hundred on a flag.

Gotta love the cocky, self centered body language at the very end.

What are town officials afraid of?

Click to enlarge/read

So when No More Overrides! gets back up and running (and I promise never to attempt tweaking ever again) you will note the salaries for town employees including the schools, as many of them are quite notable.

The town salaries are FY10 (the current year) and the School salaries are for upcoming FY11, so they do include the COLAs and step increases that may be reduced due to a teachers union giveback--although I'm betting the amount will be pretty token/negligible.

Curiously, MIA (somewhere in Miami) School Superintendent Dr. Rodriguez coughed up the requested salary information, but ignored the other part of the request for the additional cost per school employee for benefits package, which are typically about 30% more.

Stan Gawle has filed an appeal with the Supervisor of Public Records in Boston.

The taxpayers strike back!

No More Overrides! (click here to save your hard earned dollars)

UPDATE: 5:30 PM Where's Mr. Hood when you need him? So I was trying to add a sitemeter to the website and somehow managed to republish a draft version from a month ago. Yikes! Have contacted tech support and our other webmaster, so hopefully it will be restored to the version seen above soon.

UPDATE: Saturday morning: So Ricky Boy Hood, unfortunately a shoe in candidate for School Committee, is reporting over on Catherine Sanderson's blog that A-Rod is having a medical procedure done in Miami (which had originally been planned for mid-to-late April, when of course the weather in Amherst turns rather pleasant.)

Ricky Boy does not explain the sudden change in plans, or why the Superintendent did not think it important enough to let the Regional School Committee know or why officials did not post it on the ARPS website for all to see.

Hmm...so much for "transparency."

ORIGINAL POST:
Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. Winston Churchill (no relation to Andy)

Where's A-Rod?

Click to enlarge/read

UPDATE: 2:00 PM (Friday) The New York Post is reporting that black/blind NY Democratic Governor Paterson is ending his reelection campaign because of the scandal involving interference with an investigation against one of his top advisers for sexual assault that he tried to cover up.

Gotta wonder what the People's Republic of Amherst School Committee member Kathleen Anderson, who is black but not blind (although sometimes I wonder about the latter) will chalk this one up to.
##########################################

10:30 AM So according to the memo/spreadsheet that stated, "In keeping with the spirit of transparency and maintaining our lines of communication open, listed below are the dates I have been, or will be out," a memo Superintendent Alberto Rodriguez tossed to the Regional School Committee on February 9th; it clearly indicated he was taking "vacation" from February 16 through February 19, and then on Monday February 22 a "sick" day, and then nothing more until April.

Today is February 25. And now I hear (from two reliable sources) Dr. Rodriguez is staying in sunny Miami until March 8th. Hmm...

Interestingly an Anon posted a Comment on this blog at 8:46 AM questioning his current whereabouts. At 8:55 AM--about ten minutes--later I get a hit from somebody in Miami, Florida doing a Google search for this blog. Hmm...

Click to enlarge/read

I had forgotten that only four out of nine Regional School Committee members voted in favor of his salary/benefits contract (one now gone and another stepping down--and both of them championed the modular classrooms costing taxpayers $215,000 at Mark's Meadow School that never hosted a class of students.)

Umass, Town, ARA team up for development

Thursday update: I live-blogged this last night and participated as an ARA member so please excuse the quirky writing style.
#####################################
7: 30 PM
First meeting in forever: All 5 ARA (Amherst Redevelopment Authority) members are present, four members elected one appointed by the Governor, a quasi state agency with the power of eminent domain. Aaron Hayden, Jeanne Treaster, John Coul, Margaret Roberts and me (or is it I?).

First up election of officers: John Coull Chair, Larry Kelley Vice Chair, Clerk Jeanne Traester (the Governor's appointee who's term is up soon.)

Town Manager Larry Shaffer making a presentation: Concept of a "Gateway Redevelopment District" near the University of Mass. He's been approached by two large corporations who wish to build large upscale student housing projects ($80 million worth) and a luxurious Hotel project ($25 Million worth.) Umass is talking about increasing student population by upwards of 3,000 students.

Downtown is split up between a few heavy hitters. These new folks require 2 to 5 acres of contiguous property for their projects. UMass may convey property to the town (or ARA) the former "frat row" on North Pleasant Street, now just level open space.

ARA could bundle or assemble these properties for the developers. We want the property to be taxable, and close to the downtown so they provide business for our merchants. Grow our tax base (currently 2 billion) by 10%.

7:40 PM Town Manger wants ARA to be "lead agency". Actually had 2 developers talking about hotels--each requiring about 2 or 2.5 acres of property. Frat Row is 1.8 acres. Construction costs are at historic lows. He's been in touch with all the local heavy hitter (Jones family, Barry Roberts etc) but just can't "puzzle our way" through it. Too many property owners each with too small a piece of the overall pie.

Umass would give up Frat Row to the ARA, with conditions (about the projects undertaken). Umass thinks it will not be a problem to convey the property. Looking at taking a Sorority just north of Frat Row and the University Lodge (20 unit hotel owned by former ARA member Curt Shumway) just south, both contiguous with what once was the 4 rowdy frathouses to make for a larger contiguous property.

Private developers need the help of the town (to keep the NIMBYs at bay).

7:55 PM: Rezoning would be required: two thirds vote of Amherst Town Meeting...ouch!

8:20 PM: Jonathan Tucker (Planning Director): In order to go forward you need a plan and the state has to approve it.

8: 30 PM Unanimous vote of the ARA to "prioritize the Gateway Redevelopment District" as a near and present project.

ARA would shape the project and then put it out to RFP (Request For Proposals bid) and let the private sector do the actual project.

Next Meeting March 10 with Umass officials (some of it will be in Executive Session)
Big green spot in middle is former Frat Row: church and commercial hotel immediately below and sorority above.

Previous post on Frat Row.

Public safety held hostage

So first we had Jones Library Trustee Chair Patricia Holland boasting that closing Friday afternoons would inflict the most damage to the public for the least amount saved ($8,575): "This will be an argument for the Override," she naively declared.

Now we have the Town Mangler telling the Select Board to place the snuffing of street lights back on the death row Override list (saving $40,000 if 400 are doused due to Override failure) because it will scare the Hell out of old people who vote, and anal cyclists like former Select Board member Rob Kusner, who may still have a friend or family members who vote.

I have been teaching self-defense for over 35 years and the best advice I can give people is not to be there when trouble arrives. And trouble thrives under cover of darkness.

Street lights help to prevent rape, assault, and other crimes too numerous to mention. Threatening basic public safety to score political points is fearmongering at its worst. Only in Amherst--and Iran.

The Blunders Continue

The Internet Petition to support the Override is still floundering, only garnering 631 signatures in six weeks (many from "name not displayed," or kids too young to vote, or folks from outside the state.) Recently Select Board member Aaron Hayden signed on:

12:11 pm PST, Feb 19, Aaron Hayden, Massachusetts
This year the override is a sound investment in the value of our homes, the quality of life in Amherst, in our children and for our safety and well being. This investment is equal to the cost of a cup of coffee each week - it is hard to be wise because it is easy to taste that cup of coffee right now while we don't need the Fire Department's help today and won't need to return our library books for a few weeks yet.

Hmmm...

So, 52 cups of coffee divided into the cost of the Override for the average homeowner at $264 works out to over $5 per cup.

Amherst College must pay Mr. Hayden really, really well.

I'll drink to that!

So the illustrious Amherst Select Board last night approved placing on the town meeting warrant this spring an article increasing fines for all things alcohol related in the People's Republic from around $50 per infraction to a whopping $300. Now that should get the attention of those damn students!

After two late night ride-alongs with Amherst PD over the last nine months I would guess well over half of all the activity garnering police attention related to drinking. So this bylaw fine escalation should be a Hell of a money maker.

The same coalition committee of Umass folks and town officials are also considering a by-law before Town Meeting (who has to approve the fine increase on open container, nuisance party houses anyway)enacting fines for "public urination."

What an entrepreneurial concept! Generate municipal revenues via the chaotic byproduct of alcohol via open container and noise infractions and then even more fine revenues for public urination, another natural byproduct of alcohol consumption.

The Umass student newspaper otherwise known as Daily Collegian scoops the crusty Gazette

Transparency indeed!

Even the Crusty Valley Advocate gets on board

So the crusty Daily Hampshire Gazette/Amherst Bulletin finally exposed the story of Amherst's highest by far salaried public employee taking advantage of the Schools "generous as compared to private industry" sick leave benefits.

Interestingly, reporter Nick Grabbe quotes snarky anonymous Internet comments and attributes the controversy picking up steam via Catherine Sanderson's School Committee blog, when in fact she has never posted a word about it (other than to say no comment) and refused to comment when the reporter called her for an interview.

Obviously the issue first broke on this blog--although I was smart enough to simply post the public documents without any editorial comment, knowing the racism charge would quickly follow.

When I submitted what turned out to be my final column for the venerable Amherst Bulletin in 2004 railing against the High School becoming the only one in the nation to allow teen aged girls to perform the 'Vagina Monologues' editor Nick Grabb told me I couldn't use a particularly devastating comment posted on Masslive Amherst Forum because Gazette policy did not allow use of unattributed anonymous sources.

Fortunately I knew the person, former Jr. High School principal John Burruto, and he gave me permission to attribute the quote to him. And it stayed in the column. Maybe the venerable Gazette has loosened their standards in the past six years.

But being an official reporter for a bricks and mortar newspaper has its advantages as the Superintendent took reporter Grabbe's call while in Florida at his other home: "I'm a victim of transparency," Rodriguez whined. "At what point does transparency creep up into my rights?"

Naturally School Committee member Kathleen Anderson was quick to play the race card: "In U.S. culture, there's a tendency to see the same behaviors in a person of color differently than a person of European descent."

I wonder if some school principal or lower level teacher took that many sick days in advance and casually slid a memo/spreadsheet to their boss showing they were taking those days with no further explanation; would they get away with it? Probably not, no matter their color.

If Alberto Rodriguez owned his own company he could do as he damn well pleased. But he works for the taxpayers of Amherst (and to some extent Leverett,Pelham and Shutesbury.) Since the Regional School Committee hired him and can fire him, he should have been a tad more respectful by providing them a bit of explanation for that "transparent" 2/9 memo.

Arrogance goeth before the fall.

The Bulletin Reports (finally)

Winter morn

UPDATE: 2/18 Off to Disney for a few days

The benefits of Benefits

SCHOOL COMMITTEE BENEFITS POLICY FOR PRINCIPALS

Vacation Time: The Principal is entitled to twenty-two (22) days of vacation annually to be scheduled through and subject to approval by the Superintendent. Unused vacation shall be cumulative to a maximum of forty-four (44) days. Upon completion of fifteen (15) years of administrative service in the local school systems, the Principal will be eligible for twenty-seven (27) days of vacation annually, cumulative to a maximum of 54 days. Should the Principal request 30 or more vacation days for use at one time, she/he will submit such request to the Superintendent at least 6 weeks in advance of the date on which such vacation use is proposed to begin.
Holidays: The following days shall be recognized as legal holidays:

New Year's Day Patriot's Day Columbus Day
Martin Luther King Day Memorial Day Veteran's Day
President’s Day Independence Day Thanksgiving Day
Labor Day Christmas
Sick Leave:
a. Sick leave is intended to provide insurance against loss of income due to personal illness. An Administrator shall be entitled to eighteen (18) days of sick leave with full pay per contract year. Each eighteen (18) days of sick leave shall exist as of the beginning date of contract, provided that the administrator is present to assume his/her contractual obligations. In the event of non-appearance caused by accident or illness, the administrator's pay may be withheld, with due notification to the person, pending the assumption of contractual responsibility. Sick leave shall be cumulative to 240 days.

b. Absence by reason of death or critical illness in the immediate family shall not be charged against sick leave.

c. An administrator who has completed fifteen (15) or more full years of service with the Committee, may upon retirement or the administrator's estate upon death, be compensated for that portion of his/her unused accumulated sick leave in excess of 120 days, at the rate of $20/day for each unused accumulated sick leave day in excess of 120 days.

11. Personal Leave: Up to three (3) days per year of personal leave will be allowed for each full-time administrator. Such personal leave will not be charged against sick leave. Additional personal leave, up to a combined maximum of eighteen (18) days per year may be granted by the School Committee. Such additional leave is normally charged against sick leave at the discretion of the School Committee. Personal leave will be used to take care of problems or business for which absence is not authorized under any other portion of this contract and will be granted without reference to the specific nature of the request. Personal leave shall not be used to gain extended vacation time, and personal leave shall not be cumulative.
##############################################

So the Superintendent gets the same benefits package as do the Principals and the document entitled "School Committee Benefits Policy For Principals" was attached to Alberto Rodriguez's original contract. But there's something else called Family Medical Leave Act:

This is a federal law which entitles anyone who has worked in a job for a year to twelve weeks unpaid, intermittent sick leave to support a family member or oneself if validated by a licensed physician.

There are forms (FMLA) that must be completed to be granted this. For sake of consistency, the Amherst Schools use these forms as validation of an illness even if someone, like Dr. Rodriguez, has not worked here a full year.

Furthermore, the Schools permit staff to use 10 of their own sick days in a school year to support family illness, so they suffer no loss in pay. They permit staff to accrue up to 245 total sick days. (In general, staff get 12-15 sick days annually.)

In Superintendent Rodriguez's case, he has not been here a year--but was instantly granted 20 sick days upon signing his contract last spring. All staff, regardless of their length of service, are required to complete the FMLA paperwork if they have either a planned sick leave or an unexpected sick leave which is more than 3 consecutive days.

So Dr. Rodriguez's 2/22 "sick day" does not trip the FMLA paperwork--because it's only one day--and neither does the April 15th and 16th sick days; but 4/20 to 4/23 will because it is 4 days.

UPDATE: 1:00 PM Reliable sources confirm that Nick Grabbe, forever reporter with the venerable Daily Hampshire Gazette, is on the story.

And according to this puff piece in the Bully, he can take the heat.

Amherst School Super's super contract

Click boxes to read


Wikipedia:
Paid sick days, sometimes referred to as sick leave, guarantees workers time off to stay home when they are sick without losing pay or their jobs. Some paid sick days policies also allow paid sick time to be used to care for sick family members, to attend doctor or medical appointments or to address health and safety needs related to domestic violence or sexual assault. Nearly half of workers in the private sector (48 percent) do not have a single paid sick day to recover from illness or to care for a sick family member. As a result, they face difficult choices: lose a day's pay or even their jobs, or go to work sick and risk infecting coworkers and customers. Parents who lack paid sick days are often forced to choose between their jobs and their sick children. Nearly half (49 percent) of working mothers miss work when a child contracts a common illness. Three in four low-wage workers (79 percent) do not have a single paid sick day. These workers are least able to afford to take unpaid time off or risk losing their jobs.