Stuck In The Middle

Bill Fraser, City Manager Montpelier VT

In spite of pronouncing the h in Am_erst in his closing statement Town Manager finalist Bill Fraser, the 2nd of 3 candidates to be publicly interviewed by our Executive branch, put on a strong performance last night demonstrating an important understanding of how vital a vibrant downtown is to our little college town.

Plus he has experience with affordable housing, reusing a retired school building, and dealing with state government -- all of which would come in handy almost immediately.

Except his city manager contract with Montpelier, VT was renewed for a year and requires a three month notice to be released from it.

So the earliest he could start in Amherst would be August, still enough time to get a feel for the town before the floodgates reopen in September with the return of our #1 demographic, college aged youth.

With 30+ years experience in city government Mr. Fraser would be giving us the last -- and hopefully best -- years of his long career.  Whereas the previous candidate, Maria Capriola, is still in the ascending stage.

A tough choice.  And there's still one more candidate to go.

Full formal interview

Three Strikes

 Sean Young, 25, stands before Judge Thomas Estes (case continued to 5/4)

Amherst police arrested Sean Young, age 25, in the early Saturday morning hours for Disorderly Conduct, Assault & Battery on a police officer and Resisting Arrest.

 Click to enlarge/read

The police officer was coming to the aid of a woman Mr. Young was punching with a closed fist. 

Not cool dude.  Not cool at all.

Cable Contract Controversy

CAC this morning, Peter Hechenbleikner (right)

Actual sit down negotiations between the town and Comcast begin next week in a closed session that will involve two members of the Cable Advisory Committee, their attorney/consultant Peter Epstein and Temporary Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner, who expects only two Comcast representatives to appear on the other side of the table.

The CAC is only advisory to the Select Board but they have been doing the heavy lifting for the past year on the ten year contract renewal worth around $6 million annually to Comcast and $300,000 (5%) to the town for Amherst Media.

The major sticking point is going to be the one time capital request for new equipment and infrastructure improvements. 

The CAC is requesting $2.2 million and Comcast already counter offered with $450,000 -- the same amount given ten years ago and succinctly described by CAC Chair Dee Shabazz as "insulting."

Northampton just announced the renewal of their contract with Comcast and the one time capital amount went from $400,000 ten years ago to $750,000 now.

A Woman's Touch

Maria Capriola (left) and Select Board Chair Alisa Brewer

UPDATE: 5/5/16:  Maria Capriola was appointed our new Town Manager

Town Manager finalist Maria Capriola will be a hard act to follow over the next two days by the other two male counterparts -- Bill Fraser, Paul Bockelman -- and it has nothing to do with gender.

She came off as friendly but firm, bright -- but not in an overly academic sort of way -- poised and articulate. Most surprising, however, was how experienced she is at the tender age of 36.

Amherst is already used to females in a leadership roll, from the current ultra organized Select Board Chair Alisa Brewer to previous superstar, and probably someday  mayoral contender, Stephanie O'Keeffe.

Even going back to the nightmare years circa early/mid 2000s, then Chair Anne Awad ruled with an iron hand.

The main advantage Ms. Capriola has is her experience in Mansfield CT, a "college town," where the property tax base shifted from 90/10 residential/commercial to 75/25 with the construction of a downtown literally from the ground up.

Amherst's current taxbase is 90% residential, and badly in need of commercial development.

Full formal interview

Charter Commission Outreach

9 member Amherst Charter Commission met at Police Station last night

In their 3rd meeting in a 3rd different location -- "the nomadic Charter Commission" quipped Chair Andy Churchill -- the nine Commissioners first discussed the Town Meeting request for $30,000 towards overhead expenses and came to the conclusion the amount was more than justifiable.

Although they will most likely come back to Town Meeting in the fall to change the wording of the article to allow broader interpretation of what services the money can buy.

Currently the article restricts spending to a consultant and the Commission will have plenty of other expenses like mailing, printing, and advertising.

 Motion states "for engaging consulting services

 

Click to enlarge/read

The rest of the meeting was taken up with discussion of the fast approaching initial Public Hearing scheduled for May 12 at the Amherst Regional Middle School auditorium, which is also the same venue for Amherst Town Meeting.

Audience member Maurianne Adams, an unsuccessful candidate for the Commission, summed up the outreach strategy to a series of related open-ended questions:   "What do you value in Amherst?"  What would you change?  What would you not change?"; What are the major problems now facing Amherst and who would you want addressing them?"

The Commission seemed happy to let that be their guide.

Chair Andy Churchill will also prepare a brief three to five minute introduction outlining the mission of the Charter Commission (which will also appear on their webpage) since the hope is to attract a broader swath of the town rather than the "usual suspects" who live and breath town government. 

A Facebook page will allow for timely postings and public comments while the main webpage located on the town website will act as the "mother ship."  The entire Commission can be reached by email at: charter@amherstma.gov.

The first public notice for the May 12th hearing will appear in local newspapers this Friday and Commission members hope for lots of sharing on social media.

Townehouse Transformation

Townehouse west quad 2:30 PM Satruday

The final glorious spring weekend before UMass finals went well, with fewer large gatherings compared to last week where the Mill River Recreation area was trashed and the usual spots -- Hobart Lane and Townehouse Apartments -- swelled with college aged youth like an old fashioned beach party.

A ground level view

 Townehouse west quad 4:45 PM

Only Townehouse Apartments quad area grew large and loud on Saturday with a peak crowd of perhaps 1,500, a little less than last week.

A handful of Amherst police stood by most of the day to observe and interact with students coming and going but pretty much allowed the students to have fun.

UMass Community Liaison Eric Beal and APD's Neighborhood Liaison Officer Bill Laramee has spent plenty of time during the week interacting with students at the usual hot spots.

Townehouse west quad 6:30 PM

At one point late in the day a Townehouse security guard reported a bottle was thrown at him by someone who disappeared back into the crowd, but fortunately the incident did not escalate.

And, unlike last week, nobody set any furniture on fire in the middle of the quad.

 Townehouse west quad Sunday morning 7:00 AM

And The Winner Will Be?

Amherst, founded 1759, is in the final stages of choosing new Town Manager

   Amherst Town Mgr Search Schedule