Stow the colors

Big Y doesn't look the same without Old Glory

While most people prepare for a hurricane by invading the local grocery store to wipe out supplies of bread, milk, and batteries, the Big Y in Amherst prepared for Irene by taking down their massive American flag to protect it from the wind whipping of a lifetime.

The town of Amherst also took the same precautions, including the UN flag nearest to Town Hall.

Town Hall sans American or UN flag

Batten down the hatches!

Amherst DPW workers prepare for the worst as hellacious Hurricane Irene bears down on the Happy Valley. Scary when you consider "the barn" is already built like a proverbial brick outhouse.

On Top Of The World

High atop Mt. Washington

Ten years ago today the immediate future could not have been more promising: My martial arts/fitness business of almost twenty years had just completed its best one ever, my time up Mt. Washington was a personal best on this--my tenth consecutive climb--and the cortisone shot in my left hip, administered on June 11, the day domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh was put to death by lethal injection, seemed to have turned the tide in my debilitating battle with arthritis.

Although Dr. Johnson warned me not to celebrate until after three months had passed. Thus I anxiously looked forward to September 11, hoping it would come quickly and go painlessly.

My Amherst Bulletin monthly column that last Friday in August, published a day before the Mt Washington Road Race, was a patriotic pitch for continuing to fly 29 small American flags in the downtown. As columns go it pretty much wrote itself, as words flow easily when defending true beliefs.

Amherst's Veterans Agent had purchased the commemorative flags that summer with Town Meeting approved tax monies. But, this being Amherst, the usual gang of left-wing zealots were appalled that Amherst would dare to resemble an All American small town right out of a Rockwell illustration, even if only for special occasions.

Town Manager Barry Del Castilho had reacted to the brewing controversy in typical bureaucratic fashion by placing on the Select Board agenda a public discussion for when and how long the flags could fly. After all, the five-member Select Board is in charge of "public ways" and even though the lightpoles acting as flagpoles were privately owned by Western Mass Electric, they were set in town property.

Since the Select Board did not meet around Labor Day the next available night for this routine Amherst drama to play out was September 10, the 'Eve of Destruction'.

That evening, after a spirited two hour discussion, the board decided to keep the flags down and to allow them up on only 6 annual occasions. The next morning, after watching those shimmering towers disappear in an enormous cloud of smoke and debris, a familiar throb returned to my left hip. A double dose of pain on the day I had hoped for no surprises.

UMass professor Jennie Traschen provided the best known sound bite (dubbed the "Ill-timed quote of the century" by the Wall Street Journal) from that still innocent long ago evening in Amherst Town Hall, when real world realities were already bearing down on Ivory Tower illusions: "Actually, what the flag stands for is a symbol of terrorism and death and fear and destruction and repression."

Ten years distant I would edit Ms. Traschen's incendiary words ever so slightly: "Actually, what terrorism stands for is death and fear and destruction and repression." And it requires our constant vigilance.
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(Now at age 56 with both hips and one knee fashioned from titanium--the same material as my bike frame--all working together perfectly, I've envisioned ascending Mt Washington one last time before that final fade to black, but not coming close to my 1:32 finish ten years ago. Last weekend, however, at the 39th annual Mt Washington Hill Climb, Ned Overend won the race with an almost record time of 55:03. He did it on his 57th birthday. So who knows, my personal best from a decade ago may yet fall.)

A Bright Future for Solar in Amherst?

It will be interesting to watch how UMass deals with NIMBYs this time around--after the Gateway setback--on the solar farm project announced for 15 acres of former farm property just off Valley Lane where neighbors have already circled the wagons to cast shadows over the sun catching project.

Naturally the $10 or $12 million project, which will provide $200,000 in energy savings annually, will be tax exempt if constructed on UMass property, unlike the BlueWave proposal for the old landfill, which will be roughly the same scope but would pay around $175,000 in property taxes annually and provide low cost electricity to the town.

A far brighter deal for Amherst taxpayers.

A Crushing Experience

Amherst Farm Winery puts its best foot forward to attract attention

Wine connoisseurs who frequent the Amherst Farmers Market can now combine their hobbies by visiting the new Amherst Farm Winery now open at the former site of Season's restaurant, or if you go way back as an Amherst townie, the Rusty Scupper.

Four Star Town Manager

Town Manager John Musante, SB Chair Stephanie O'Keeffe

Tonight the Amherst Select Board gave a sneak peak at the Town Manager's rookie year evaluation and it could not have been much better, garnering "outstanding" check marks for budget related items, high marks for media relations and mostly "commendable"--but no less than "satisfactory"--in his dealing with staff and personnel relations. Chair Stephanie O'Keeffe in her introductory remarks called his overall performance, "stellar."

A far cry from his predecessor Larry Shaffer, who suddenly retired last year under the cover of an Executive Session on the very night his evaluations were to go public. Those evaluation forms, since they were never presented in a public meeting and had to do with job performance, then became immune to a pubic documents request.

Perhaps the only discordant note would have come from Committee on Homelessness Chair Hwei-Ling Greeney, the only spectator in the audience, who came to the meeting wondering if the evaluation her committee submitted would become public. It did not.

The Committee on Homelessness is in a pitched battle for survival with the Select Board/Town Manager as town officials wish to terminate the committee over its zealous advocacy for the homeless.

Safe bet their evaluation of the Town Manager sang a starkly different song.

What price public documents?

Shawn Williams, Assistant Director
Public Records Division
McCormack Building, Room 1719
One Ashburton Place
Boston, MA 02108

8/22/2011

Dear Mr. Williams,

First off, my sincere condolences on the loss of Director Alan Cote. He was a true champion of keeping records open and available to the general public, a thankless and--unfortunately in Massachusetts--never ending job.

I'm aware your office seldom refers matters to the Attorney General for further action these days, but I'm requesting you do exactly that with the case of the Amherst Schools obstinately defying your order to produce 13 settlement agreements with public employees costing Amherst taxpayers $200,000 over the past five years.

As I understand it only two options now exist for overcoming this willful roadblock: referring the matter to the AG by your office for enforcement of your original order, or I can bring the matter to Superior Court such as the Boston Globe has done with an almost identical case.

Unfortunately option #2 will cost me $275 plus the additional cost as an Amherst taxpayer when the schools use attorney Regina Tate at $220/hour to defend their case.

It seems the Amherst Schools are using South Hadley as an example for doing the public's business: as secretly as possible. Please, do not allow them to be rewarded for this unethical pattern of behavior.

Sincerely Yours,

Larry Kelley
596 South Pleasant St
Amherst, Ma 01002
413 256-0491