A Positive Spin

 Mullins Center Thursday night (be afraid of the dark)

If you threw a UMass News and Media Relations PR flack off the top of one of the Southwest Towers, about half way down he would tweet how refreshing is the air flow.  Another one stationed on the 3rd floor would announce how well he is doing ... so far.

So I guess it is not surprising that, according to UMass spokesperson Daniel J. Fitzgibbons, our higher education officials were "satisfied" with the response to the Tiesto concert, despite  the swamping of Emergency Medical Services on Thursday night for alcohol related calls.

In other words, get used to it!

So anytime the Mullins Center schedules a techno dubstep "artist" we can just write off emergency first responder service to the rest of Amherst and four other nearby towns that rely on AFD for ambulance serivces for three or four hours.

Yeah, that's a (pernicious) plan.

Amherst Firefighters respond

Tax Exempt Entity Taxes EMS

 AFD on scene Mullins Center

Just as "party houses" should not disrupt the tranquility of a neighborhood so taxpayers have to deal with the mitigation mess, neither should UMass allow the Mullins Center to host concerts that swamp our emergency medical services. 

Take last night for instance:  AFD and four other surrounding towns had to provide ambulance transport for 19 patrons of the Tiesto concert directly from the Mullins Center to Cooley Dickinson Hospital and two more from UMPD jail to CDH.

Yes, none of them were UMass students. But the Mullins Center is owned by the UMass Building Authority, sits on UMass land, cost taxpayers $50 million to build (with six digit annual operation losses), and pays no property taxes to either Hadley or Amherst.

Back in 2000 the Hadley assessor tried to partially tax the facility arguing that Ogden Entertainment was a private company and rock concerts had nothing to do with higher education. 

The Appelate Tax Board found against the town of Hadley saying Ogden was an independent contractor "merely providing contractual management services". Since certain type of concerts -- techno for one -- seem to produce a high number of ETOH (alcohol overdose) calls, Mullins Center does pay for one ambulance to stage on site.

But after the last fiasco, also a Thursday night,  Chief Nelson talked them into contracting for two ambulance crews on standby.  Last night required five. 


Dancing Peeps. Dehydration and alcohol make for a lousy mix.

When mere entertainment taxes our vital services so heavily, it's time to get serious about solutions:  Maybe the Mullins Center needs to start dancing to a different beat.

UMass will be so proud

Thumping Thursday

 All sorts of first responders on scene Mullins Center: AFD, UMPD, Environmental Health/Safety

As I write this the "Tiesto" techno concert at the Mullins Center is still going on, minus at least 13 concert goers who have been taken by ambulance to the Cooley Dickinson Hospital for alcohol related emergencies.

Ambulances have descended on the UMass campus from Belchertown, Northampton, Westfield, and South Hadley to aid the Amherst Fire Department in handling the rash of calls.

With most of our on duty firefighters dealing with drunks at the Mullins Center, it would be a lousy time for a major structure fire to occur-- like the one that took a life at Rolling Green Apartments last
month.

 
Ambulances are coming and going at the Mullins Center, UMass Amherst

Will Commemorative Flags Fly On 9/11?

9/11/11 Amherst Town Common. Photo by Greg Saulmon 

On Monday night 7:30 p.m.  the Amherst Select Board will decide if the people of Amherst can decide -- once and for all -- whether commemorative American flags can fly in the downtown on 9/11 to honor and remember the 3,000 innocent souls lost that awful morning.

By a simple majority vote the five member SB can place a question before the voters on the upcoming April 9 local election ballot.

On May 16, 2007 representative Amherst Town Meeting voted by a shameful 96-41 against allowing the flags to fly every 9/11.

Every September since the day of the attack, I have gone before the Amherst Select Board to request the 29 commemorative flags fly on 9/11.  Only twice since 2003 have they been allowed up under "compromise" proposals, first by SB Chair Gerry Weiss allowing them to fly once every three years, and most recently by Chair Stephanie O'Keeffe alowing them up once every five years, on "milestone anniversaries".

According to this schedule 2016 is the next time the flags will be allowed to fly, on the 15th anniversary.   Last summer the town received a boatload of negative press over the contentious issue.

#####

Kind of ironic that the Select Board will also discuss a request to raise the Tibetan flag ...

RECEIVED: 2/21/13 at 3:47 pm. MEETING TIME: 6:30 pm. LOCATION: Town Room, Town Hall. LIST OF TOPICS: Public Comment. Mt. Holyoke Range Advisory Committee Appointments. Food Truck Regulations Update. FY14 Budget Discussion. Town Manager, Select Board Member and Chair's Reports. Request to Place Question April 9, 2013 election ballot. Untimed Items: Request to raise Tibetan Flag 03-10-13; Warrants for Upcoming Elections; Select Board Meeting Schedule; Parking and Street Closure Requests; New Taxi Driver/Chauffeur Licenses; Special Liquor Licenses; Approve Minutes; and Committee Appointments as presented. Topics the Chair did not reasonably anticipate 48 hours before the meeting.

2nd Time's The Charm?

 
 Former location 25 South Pleasant Street town center

Scandihoovians, a Northampton men's and woman's jewelry store, will make another attempt at carving out a successful niche in the vibrant -- but some would argue expensive -- downtown Amherst commercial district.

This time they are going to occupy the only commercial space in the sparkling new Boltwood Place five-story mixed use building with a great view, sandwiched between the Boldwood Parking Garage and Judie's Restaurant. The dozen luxury apartments are already fully occupied.

Scandihoovians briefly occupied the space next to Bank of America owned by artist and author Rich Michelson, who consolidated his Amherst gallery into the Northampton location five years ago.  

Last summer Silverscape Designs, an iconic Amherst jewelry store also consolidated by closing its longtime Amherst operation and merging with their downtown Northampton location.



New location coming soon to Amherst's coolest new downtown building

Render Unto Ceasar

Echo Village:  Under New Management (and ownership)

So I guess it should come as no surprise that the first thing Eagle Crest Management does with their recently acquired $3 million property is to raise the rents, thus forcing out most of the clientele in the 24 unit apartment complex, many of them low income, Section 8 tenants.

Quite the ecosystem at work:  Jamie Cherewatti buys the property, valued at $2.1 million, from Jerry Gates who is on the Board of Directors for Craig's Doors Homeless Shelter.  Good thing the Amherst Select Board recently ignored Town Manager John Musante's less than enthusiastic support and allowed the shelter to expand from 16 to 22 beds.

When he appeared before the Zoning Board of Appeals last April to testify in behalf of his successful request to double occupancy at 156 Sunset Avenue, Jamie Cherewatti said plaintively, "I don't want to be known as the slumlord of Amherst."

So maybe he plans to invest millions in the Echo Hill apartment units and rent to upscale blue bloods.  Or maybe not.  Perhaps he will just replace the current, sometime problematic clients, with his usual Modus Operandi, students.  

These days Cherewatti seems to be diversifying his property holdings using a variety of legal entities:  He moved Eagle Crest, his real estate management company, to above one of the more rowdy bars in downtown Amherst -- Stacker's -- after buying the building.   Plus ownership of a slew of expanded rentals all over town, as well as managing a number of units that have earned my prestigious,  'Party House of the Weekend' award

No matter what his final plans are for Echo Village Apartments it's clear the 24 units will no longer be considered "affordable" by state definition.  And when Amherst is already less than 1% above the threshold for the ultimate bogeyman, a Chapter 40B development coming to town, every single affordable unit matters.

This will be used by some landlords as ammunition to try to shoot down rental registration/permit system bylaw coming to Town Meeting this spring.  The argument will be that Amherst strangles developers in red tape so no one will want to build housing in town -- affordable or market rate -- thus increasing the likely hood of falling below the 10% threshold.

Of course after the Gateway Project was scuttled by NIMBYs, perhaps a 40-B development is the only way to make serious gains on our chronic rental housing shortage.

Election Snoozer

Stephanie O'Keeffe Select Board Chair (center), John Coull,her dad, Amherst Redevelopment Authority Chair (ducking), Jada Kelley (cute kid).  Back when elections were (sort of) exciting

With contests in only half the ten town meeting precincts and only one contest for town wide positions, no pocket book Override (fortunately) or Charter change of government (unfortunately) on the ballot, the April 9 annual spring town election promises to be about as exciting as watching snow melt.

When asked what she thought the voter turnout would be, Town Clerk Sandra Burgess responded succinctly: "low."

For the second election in a row, Select Board -- the highest political position in town -- incumbents Alisa Brewer and Jim Wald have no opposition, so their three year term renewal is guaranteed.  (A write in candidate has never beaten a candidate who appears on the ballot in the modern age.)

Moderator Harrison Gregg has retired his gavel after almost 20 years of service and his occasional pinch hitter over the years, Jim Pistrang, will have no opposition for the important position.

Amherst School Committee has two seats up for grabs and three candidates:  Richard Hood (incumbent), Kathleen Traphagen and Amherst College Professor Barry O'Connell.  None of them appear to be even remotely as forthright or controversial as former School Committee member Catherine Sanderson, so the campaign will be a genteel affair.

Some might even argue, boring. 

Although a dozen UMass students in the mix, including SGA President Akshay Kapoor,  could spice things up.  Or not.

 8 candidates for 8 seats (3 of them students)

Rental registration, with a concurrent permit system, will be the most contentious issue on the Town Meeting warrant.  For over a generation Amherst has struggled with too little housing and too many students resulting in high rents, substandard, dangerous slum houses, and distressed neighbors.

The Safe & Health Neighborhood working group will make a recommendation to the Town Manager on rental registration and permits.

Since it will be a General By Law change the measure will only require a majority vote at Town Meeting rather than the super-majority that is required for Zoning articles.

Town Meeting starts May 6.

Most competitive Precinct with 15 candidates for 8 three-year seats

Least competitive precinct (mine)

Always Competitive Precinct 7

 Competitive Precinct 9

 
Precinct 10

DUI Dishonor Roll

If texting while driving is more dangerous than drunk driving then what the Hell is Driving Under the Influence while texting? Staggering across a freshly laid mine field in military terms, except you are piloting a deadly weapon, so the probability of collateral damage is exponentially increased.

Yes it may have been very early in the AM when most responsible adults are home in bed, but do we really want to surrender the safe use of our streets after midnight?

After her car "crashed in a snowbank" around 3:00 AM early Friday morning on lower Main Street, and then failing a Field Sobriety Test, Amherst Police arrested Alexandra N. Jacobs, age 20, (a UMass student) for DUI, marked lanes violation and texting while driving.

Stuck!

Southwest Towers 2 of 5

With UMass Southwest high rise Towers now fifty years old, I guess it's not surprising they are having maintenance issues. And with the new Amherst Fire Department policy to respond to a stuck elevator whenever campus technicians are not on duty the runs to UMass are starting to add up.

Previously AFD would only respond if their were medical issues associated with folks trapped inside the elevator.

This past weekend over half the AFD Fire runs to UMass were for "stuck elevators" (4 out of 7 calls).  And half our ambulance EMS runs (7 of 14) were for ETOH cases (alcohol overdose).

But I'm more than certain that is better than a real fire w-a-y up there on the 22nd floor.

   AFD Weekend Runs mid Feb 2013 by   Larry Kelley

Click top line title  for a better view

Party Permit?

Meadow Street Mayhem last Spring

The Safe & Healthy Neighborhood working group is furiously formulating a rental registration and permitting system bylaw for approval at the Annual Spring Town Meeting, to deal with that age old blight on Amherst residential neighborhoods -- the Party House. 

One of the other ideas being worked on (hopefully not too hard)  is a joint effort of the town and UMass to have students pre-register off campus parties.  Presumably if a party gets out of hand, the police will be a tad more accommodating because at least the party hosts had registered the event.

But if police are called to the atypical rowdy party going full blast and the hosts have not registered the event, then police will be a little harder on the perpetrators, and have one more charge to add to the roster. 

The latter will of course be the norm.
 
Some states have tried to "tax" illegal marijuana over the years by requiring dealers to pre purchase "tax stamps" for their contraband.  If cops bust a dealer without the stamps then officials can seize their personal property, or something like that.

It doesn't work very well.  Amazingly.

Kind of like trying to keep guns out of the hands of pernicious perps. Whatever rules you impose on the vast majority of law abiding citizens will be ignored by the wackos or hard core criminals.

And it only takes one of them to do astounding damage.

With "party registrations" Chief Livingstone recently told the Amherst Zoning Board, "I'm guessing we're heading in that direction".  But he was quick to add it should be overseen by the Dean of Students office because he didn't think the students would voluntarily come to the Amherst Police Department to register their event.

Safe bet.

 Sober Shuttle for one 2/17 1:22 AM

Perhaps a reason why the 'Sober Shuttle' in downtown Amherst seems to be having a hard time attracting a whole lot of student ridership:  the presence of a uniformed UMPD officer.

Early Sunday morning the 1:20 AM shuttle had only one rider and the 2:00 AM shuttle, if it did show up, would have had zero. 

Party House Primer

Chief Livingstone

 
Amherst Police Chief Scott Livingstone paid a visit to the Amherst Zoning Board of Appeals on Tuesday to educate them about "Nuisance House" enforcement -- an important component of Town Manager John Musante's Safe & Healthy Neighborhoods initiative.

First off the Chief dispelled the myth that police officers drive around in their patrol cars looking for parties.  "We need to have to have a complainant, a valid complainant to dispatch an officer to a disturbance".

Usually easy to find in the form of a neighbor losing the peaceful enjoyment of their home.

The Chief reports that APD responds to between 900 and 1,200 quality of life (noise/nuisance) complaints annually, with only a minority resulting in action by the responding officers, i.e. a $300 ticket or arrest for TBL violation (Town By Law).

But that percentage is going up:  In the most recent year about 20% of the overall responses resulted in tickets or arrests, whereas the previous year it was only 14%. 

A lot depends on "cooperation at the door".  Meaning when officers first arrive do the responsible tenants comply with requests to tone down the rowdy behavior.  If not, and other infractions besides noise -- underage drinking, large crowds, haphazard parking of cars, littering -- are disrupting the neighborhood, then "Nuisance House" tickets are issued,  or arrests made. 

The Zoning Board of Appeals is considering tying a Special Permit (to expand the rental capacity of a house, almost always made by an absentee landlord) to "conditions" that must be met in an ongoing way.

And becoming a "nuisance house" would violate a condition, and bring with it the loss of that Special Permit.

The house would then revert back to the original capacity of only 4 unrelated tenants, a major loss of rental revenue.

Amherst building commissioner Rob Morra recently won a major victory defending the town's no more than  4 unrelated tenants in a one family dwelling bylaw.  Prominent landlord Grandonico Properties, LLC packed students into rental property on Hobart Lane, including illegally converting substandard basements into bedrooms and then tried to blame it on the student occupants.

Simply fining the noisy party house participants has not solved the problem.  Chief Livingstone stated no landlord has been fined yet since it takes a third nuisance house ticket to trip that regulation, but he declared confidently "It's going to happen this Spring."

Currently two locations on Phillips Street have two nuisance house tickets each.

Phillips Street

A dozen years ago when Amherst led the charge on banning smoking in the workplace, including bars, fines alone (issued to the bar, not the patron) had minimal impact.  Only when faced with loss of their liquor license did barowners learn the value of compliance.

Revoke a Special Permit from a slumlord for too many noise violations, thereby instantly cutting their revenues in half, and that party house will quickly go quiet.  One way or the other ...

Chinese Outsourcing

 PVCICS

The grim budget news for Amherst Regional Public Schools just got a whole lot grimmer with the surprising -- to me anyway -- news that Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Chester is recommending the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter  School be allowed to expand, at but only at the high school level.

PVCIC was founded in 2007, and briefly did business in South Amherst.   The charter school has already absorbed 52 Amherst elementary students, up from 35 in 2010, out of their current total enrollment of 280.

The Chinese Charter school petitioned the state to allow them to more than double in enrollment to 684: 240 High School students and 444 elementary. Commissioner Chester is approving the expansion to High School which will increase enrollment by 284 students to a total of 584.

Charter schools have a financial incentive to raid the public schools in the area with a higher funding, like Amherst, because they receives from the state the per student average cost of the sending district.

Thus it is far more lucrative to acquire a student from Amherst elementary system at $17,116 in profit than, say, Hadley at only $9,770, which is well below the state average of $13,361.

And now that PVCIC will also expand fully to a High School, how many of the 1,533 Amherst Regional High School students will they steal appropriate away at $17,916 per head?

Ironically the current Chinese charter school leadership, founders Principal Kathy Wang and Executive Director Rich Alcorn (who are married), originally offered the language program lock, stock and barrel to the Amherst public schools, but they were turned down. 

"...here for our kids"

Kathy Mazur (left) In the Hot Seat 

While they may not have carried pitchforks and torches, sixteen concerned parents showed up to voice their strong concerns this morning at a coffee hour with rookie Amherst School Committee member Amilcar Shabazz, who is also the parent of a Crocker Farm second grader.

But the session became more of a give-and-take with Superintendent Maria Geryk's right hand person, Director of Human Resources Kathy Mazur, who found herself defending the budget decisions of the MIA Superintendent.

One major complaint was the decision to promote former Crocker Farm Principal Mike Morris to Director of Teacher Evaluations and moving him to "Central Office," not that anyone was complaining about the job currently being done by co-Principals Deryk Shea and Anne Marie Foley.


 Co-Principal Derek Shea at Crocker Farm concert

To which Mr. Shabazz responded, "Crocker Farm took a hit and that has not been acknowledged by the Superintendent (Maria Geryk)"

Amherst School Committee member Amilcar Shabazz also UMass Du Bois Professor of Afro-American Studies

The move to Central Office by Morris also sank the idea of turning Crocker Farm into an "innovation school."

EJ Mills questions an $80,000 Grant Writer

Amherst has a reputation for being top heavy with administrators so it was only natural the new budget proposal, which calls for two additional administrators in Central Office but cuts teachers and para professionals, would be controversial.  

At $17, 916 Amherst has one of the highest costs per student in the state  (compared to neighboring Hadley at $9,770) and an "administration" cost per pupil 65% higher than state average.

 

Amherst Schools by the (state) numbers

The Cover Up Continues

In his FY14 budget Letter of Transmittal to his bosses the Select Board, Town Manager John Musante writes, "The 9-hole Cherry Hill Golf Course budget increases by $2,465 (+1%). In addition to offering one of the best values in Western Massachusetts it will expand its winter programming as well as introduce a disc golf program. The golf course will cover its operating and employee benefits costs entirely from user fees."

Hmm ... maybe the Town Manager needs to look up the definition of "entirely".

First of all, according to his own figures, the $2,465 increase is a 1.6% increase over last year's budget, so it would be more correct to round up to 2% rather than down to 1%.

Second of all, according to his own figures, the golf course is "projected" to intake $268,000 against semi-total expenditures of  $277,629  ($240,100 operating and $37,529 employee benefits).  In the red by almost $10,000 or $9,629 to be exact.  Thus the user fees do not entirely cover overhead.

Now I use the term "semi-total expenditures" because those two overhead costs combined leave out one other important cost of doing business in the expensive world of golf:  capital equipment. 

And in FY14 that comes to another $26,654 in lease payments on two mowers, or a grand total of $304,283 against an overly optimist projection of $268,000 in revenues, or a loss of $36,283.

Of course the real problem is the Golf Course will not take in $268,000.  In FY12 , for example, they were "projected" to intake -- guess what? -- $268,000.   But, according to the Town Manager's figures, only managed $242,569.

That year total expenditures with employee benefits and capital came to $283,106 for a loss of over $40,000 or $40,537 to be exact.

Interestingly last year the capital request spreadsheet for the golf course showed a projected total of $135,654 in FY14, the two movers plus $24,000 for a fence and $85,000 for parking lot resurfacing. 

Last year's Cherry Hill five year plan

Those two expensive items have simply been shuffled into the near future along with another BIG ticket $60,000 item, Irrigation Pond Dredging.

Even by fudging the figures Cherry Hill does not "cover its operating and employee benefits cost." And the expensive capital items -- entirely paid for by taxpayers rather than "user fees" -- over the next five years average $50,000 annually.
   

And that alone would cover the cost of one badly needed police officer or firefighter. 
  

This year's five year plan

Voting In The Digital Age

Town Clerk Sandra Burgess, center 

The nail biting time for election candidates their supporters and the media -- usually starting as soon as the polls close at 8:00 PM -- could be reduced if Amherst Town Clerk Sandra Burgess gets her lone capital item wish.

Ms. Burgess made her obligatory appearance this morning before the Joint Capital Planning Committee, the initial gatekeepers for all capital items purchased across all town departments for Fiscal Year 2014, starting July 1st.

The JCPC simply makes recommendations to Town Meeting, who holds the ultimate granting authority,  but a negative recommendation is the kiss of death.

Ms. Burgess made a modest proposal, only $8,850 for a GEMS computerized voting tabulator system that includes a (Dell) laptop , software, licensing and comes with a two year warranty.

The system would speed up the 10 precinct tally on voting night thus speeding up the breaking news of who won what position.  Equally important, the new system would also improve accuracy.

The results would still be "unofficial," however, as write ins and provisional ballots are  counted by hand the next day. Each election would cost an additional $175 in programming.  Average election cost in Amherst is around $14,000.

JCPC is using a target of 7% of the overall town budget as a spending guide, but not necessarily in a uniform manner across all departments.

The Town Clerk's operation budget for FY14 is $190,153 so a 7% share would come to $13,310, thus this request is well under her theoretical ceiling. 

The Town Clerk closed her presentation saying this system represents "The final step ... It would bring it all together for us."

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

DPW digs away at large pile of snow in front of Town Hall today

What's in a name?

Town Manager Musante, SB Chair Stephanie O'Keeffe, Pat Kamins at yesterday's meeting

"Permit," "license," or "business certificate" -- call it what you will, but the success of the much needed rental housing bylaw coming out of the endless meetings of the 'Safe & Healthy Neighborhoods' working group comes down to that simple concept.

Rental registration and licensing go together like auto registration and licensing.  Can you imagine the problems if anyone, regardless of license, could drive a car simply because the vehicle was properly registered?

Member Pat Kamins (a mid-sized local landlord) sarcastically asks his fellow members to think about businesses in Amherst "that require licenses or permits that can be revoked if their customers act inappropriately."

Well first of all, think about all the businesses that are not in Amherst because their customers could act inappropriately:  Strip bars, porn shops, head shops, etc. 

In fact, the Board of Health crushed the 'Smoking Ban in Bars Revolt' (by the more rowdy bars) a dozen years ago by threatening to revoke food handling permits for not enforcing the smoking ban.  Since alcohol licenses are tied to food handling permits, the bars quickly caved.

The rest, as they say, is history.  And the town is immeasurably better for it.

 
Crowd of 20 showed up for last night's meeting Safe & Health Neighborhoods working group

U Drink & Drive? U Lose!

This lad drove his car onto active RR tracks, got stuck, and was then arrested

I thought about using the title "Law & Order" because this important public document shines a light on the seamless follow up to Amherst Police Department's all too numerous arrests for the dangerous crime -- people still don't take seriously enough -- of drinking too much and then sitting behind the wheel of a car.

But I figured the text lingo would get the attention of my pre-gray-hair target audience -- not that DUIs in Amherst are solely the province of college aged youth, or people with hair for that matter.

And I thought about using "Don't drink and drive in Amherst" as a lead; but then I would have to quickly add, "Don't drink and drive anywhere!"  So I'll just go with this delayed lead:

In 2011 Amherst police arrested a whopping 144 drivers for DUI.  In 2012 even more, 155!  (And yes, I seldom use exclamation points!)

Let's hope in the current year it starts to go down.  And one good reason for that is District Attorney Dave Sullivan.  He takes drunk driving very seriously.  I present exhibit A:

Amherst Drunk Driver Conviction Rate by Larry Kelley

This 87% conviction rate (for completed cases) is better than the overall state average of 77% found in a major study released in 2012 spanning 57,000 cases over 45 months.  But that study also uncovered a major problem: "When judges consider the merits of OUI cases in a bench trial, 86% were acquitted."  86%!

Jury trials were also problematic, as 58% were acquitted.

In this snapshot of Amherst DUI cases I can't help but question if the "2 not guilty" and "3 dismissed" would have turned out differently if the state changed the absurd rule making inadmissible as evidence in a trial the refusal to take a breathalyzer.

 #####

According to my legal advisor:  

 “Nolle pros” is shorthand for “nolle prosequi”, which is a filing by the Commonwealth (DA’s office or AG) indicating that the Commonwealth is not going forward with the case.  This is usually based on a decision by one or more prosecutors that there is not enough evidence in the case, or that the witnesses have disappeared. It does not rule out the future prosecution of the case, especially if filed prior to a trial date, but I must emphasize that is rare. It is a unilateral action by the Commonwealth which is not reviewable by the Court. The Court merely accepts the filing and tells the defendant he or she can go.

Out of Africa

 Africa we hardly knew ye

The last remaining vestige of former Select Board Czar Anne Awad was briefly on display last night as our current Select Board members discussed dissolving -- due to a lack of interest -- the Nyeri Sister City Committee, the single handed handiwork of Awad back when she was at the height of her ruinous reign.

Awad had breathlessly reported to her Select Board underlings (who unanimously approved the Sister City relationship recommendation to Town Meeting) that she received paparazzi-like reception at the Kenya airport.  Apparently at the time Ms. Awad had a daughter-in-law living in Nyeri and her ego was such that that alone was reason enough to tie Amherst into a Sister City relationship.

Amherst has two long standing, active, Sister City relationships, one with  La Paz Centro in Nicaragua and the other with Kanegasaki, Japan.

The Nyeri article passed Town Meeting but not without a fair amount of discussion (scroll down to article #14).

Awad came to power in 2000 as the "fusion candidate".  The turnout that year was higher than normal (20.4%) due to a non-binding referendum that demanded local police  "deprioritize" marijuana enforcement, which Awad strongly supported as did the voters.

As a result College students actually turned out to vote for a change.  Although they supported the wrong candidate.

Awad crushed her opponent incumbent Hill Boss 2189 to 1429 and she spent the next few years orchestrating a behind the scenes power grab which was finally realized on March 31, 2004.

She of course was the lone dissenting vote on the night of September 10, 2001 when the Select Board voted 4-1 to allow the commemorative American flags to fly only on six occasions in the downtown.  She only wanted the flags to fly but once, July 4th.  

I call Awad's reign "the dark days," and the minutes of that meeting where she was unanimously elected Czar, I mean "chair", perfectly illustrates my point.  That night the Select Board voted 3-1 with (Eva Schiffer voting No and disillusioned member Carl Seppala MIA) to cut $85, 270 from the budget for two police officers.

A few moments earlier they voted unanimously to "support Cherry Hill" even though the golf course was at that point in the middle of a multi-year $100,000 annual losing streak.  So yeah, lets cut $85K for two cops but continue to squander more than that on the expensive game of golf.  

Another fitting reason for the term "dark days" is because Awad was cited a number of times by the District Attorney, responding to my complaints, for violation of the Open Meeting Law, and using email to carry on discussions (attempting to sabotage the July 4th Parade) that should have been in the bright light of a pubic meeting.

Of course the ultimate symbol of her to-Hell-with-transparency attitude was the fact she was married to fellow Select Board member Robie Hubley for over a year (and obviously had been dating prior to tying the knot) before bothering to tell the voters.   

And let's never forget how she tried to cling to power even though purchasing and quickly moving into an expensive home in South Hadley, where today she lives in obscurity. 

Ah, the bad ol' days ...

DUI Dishonor Roll

Mass had 114 drunk driving deaths in 2011; and 122 in 2010 according to MADD 

One benefit from the Governor banning traffic during the major snowstorm is a major reduction in DUIs.  After all, no driving = no drunk driving.

But there was one potentially killer incident to report earlier in the week.  Worse yet, this is her second offense, on an early Wednesday morning no less.  Once again underscoring how lenient Massachusetts court system is with drunk drivers. 

At 1:12 AM early Wednesday Amherst Police stopped Ashley Anne Strickland, age 26, for an expired inspection sticker not far from town center.  Her good judgment was also expired as she failed the Field Sobriety Test and was  arrested for Driving Under the Influence. Strike two!

Let The Sun Shine!

 Amherst Old Belchertown Road:  Ye Old Landfill

I just love documents with the heading "Confidential:  Not a Public Document."   But yes, Amherst is the home of "Open Government To The Max" initiative, so they even release documents with such a secretive heading even before I get around to a public documents request.

About the only newsworthy thing in this litigation update (at the half-way point in the Fiscal Year) is entry # 3, the status of the lawsuit by ten NIMBYs opposing the solar array at the old landfill.  Looks like the lawsuit is deader than some of the things buried in the old landfill.

So let's hope construction of the solar array commences soon.  Too bad it cost Amherst taxpayers over $8,377 to clear this legal hurdle. 

Legal costs, however, have been fairly low this year -- as evidenced by this rather brief half-year update. The other PUBLIC document being discussed tonight at the Select Board meeting is the half-way point budget update.  Legal Services has only consumed $28,157 out of an annual budget of $110,000.

Although I'm now told that the actual amount as of today is $40, 536 ... still, pretty low at the almost half way point.  The law firm of Kopelman and Paige have a minimum retainer of $44,000 with the town, so it' s not like they are ever going to starve.

Attorney Joel Bard, the face of Kopelman and Paige, at a recent ZBA meeting

Scott Brown: A Lively Conversation

 Scott Brown at the podium, Amherst College Johnson Chapel

Private citizen Scott Brown's reception on a return visit to Amherst was a radical departure from his first visit 18 months ago as US Senator where a hoard of activists treated him rudely, some to the point of disrespect, and attempted to hound him all the way up Bare Mountain, although the vast majority could not match his brisk pace to the top.

Of course it was a "republican" group who had invited him to speak today, and about 75 mostly college aged youth answered the call.  The night-and-day difference was not lost on the former senator who pointed out this speech represented,  "The first time I have not had any protesters".

 Good crowd, mostly college aged youths, came to hear Scott Brown speak at Amherst College

Perhaps remembering that exact Amherst incident he continues, "I'm a moderate -- the most bipartisan senator in the senate and I'm being protested?!  But that's what makes our country so wonderful:   We have ability to have that free speech. We have that ability to question authority, to make a difference." 

Moderate indeed:  Brown touched on his socially liberal beliefs from campaign finance reform to supporting gays serving in the military,  and a woman's right to choose.

Which brought on perhaps his most exasperating moment, remembering the bitter campaign just ended, only his first loss in a dozen elections.  "I'm a pro-choice, moderate, bipartisan republican ... and I'm going to help take away women's rights?  Really!

He continues earnestly, "I'm from a house full of women.  I have three of the most hard charging, high powered women in my life and apparently I'm going to change -- just like that."

Scott Brown with his "hard charging, high powered" wife, Gail Huff

Brown repeated the word "bipartisan" over and over, saying that would be the key to his credibility now as a critic of the status quo.  We all need to "work together as Americans first."

He went on to poignantly remember the height of cooperation that made him "most proud" of the US Congress, when members from both sides of the isle stood together, some arm in arm, on the US Capitol steps and sang "God Bless America" on the late afternoon of 9/11.

But those days a l-o-n-g gone.

We have moved away from "tolerance and cooperation and the ability to work as Americans first ... We're in deep trouble.  What do I mean by that?  Economy is flat, unemployment is up, $16.5 trillion national debt.  When I went down there it was $11.95 trillion.  $16.5 trillion now!"

Turning to a post mortem on his recent senate loss he started with a forthright, "I wouldn't change a thing."   Because as a Republican he had an amazingly steep climb right out of the starting gate.

In a state where only 11% of voters are registered republicans, fighting a contest in a presidential election year with a peak turnout, competing for a seat that was formerly owned by a Kennedy, a family name in Massachusetts only one step down from God on the reverence scale.

Yet he lost by only 7.5%, while Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney -- a former Governor no less -- lost the state by a whopping 23%.

Scott Brown left the rapt audience with a challenge:  "Are you going to be a part of the go-along-to- get-along crowd or are you going to be a leader at the college.  Are you going to make a difference?"

Considering the obstacles he has overcome, Scott Brown provided them a timely role model.

Tony Melendez, who plays guitar with his feet, also provided an inspirational talk and musical demonstration of how the human spirit can overcome adversity.

Amherst College Johnson Chapel, under a majestic American flag, provided a bright cozy setting for uplifting talks

Mass Daily Collegian managed to muster a reporter (what say you Gazette, Republican, Ch 22, Ch 40?)