Bad Omen?

Town Meeting standing vote last night (which will be negated with electronic voting)

After a somewhat contentious 1.5 hour discussion Amherst Town Meeting narrowly approved hiring a $85,920 Economic Development Director, the pride and joy of Town Manager John Musante's FY16 budget.

The Tally Vote (another thing that will be negated by electronic voting) was 99-88. So if only a half-dozen people had changed their vote ...

I actually thought about voting NO simply because I think UMass should cover half the salary of this position since it was one of the main recommendations of the $60,000 Town/Gown consultant that UMass contributed $30,000 towards.

But I'm certain that the vast majority of NO votes represents the dyed-in-the-wool Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything (BANANA) crowd.

Which is a bad sign for the other favorite articles promoted by the Town Manager: Articles 21, Affordable Housing Property Tax Incentives and Article 22, Inclusionary Zoning which requires 10% of units in developments bigger than 9 units be "affordable."

The pro-business "sensible center" types (of which Town Meeting has far too few) are already being told to vote No on Article 22 (IZ)  if the tax incentives in Article 21 fail. 

Article 22 is a zoning article that requires a two-thirds vote so it stands little chance of passing if Article 21, which requires a majority vote, fails.

And with left wing ringleaders like Vince O'Connor, Mary Wentworth and Carol Gray portraying the tax incentives as "corporate welfare" it could get dicey -- as in hacked to pieces. 

Smoke and Mirrors Savings?

Amherst Pelham Regional School Committee 4/28/15

The Amherst Regional School Committee spent the better part of two hours hearing a presentation and then discussing the financial aspects of expanding the current four town grades 7-12 Region all the way down to pre-Kindergarten.

The presentation assumed all four towns (Amherst, Pelham, Leverett, and Shutesbury) agree to expand the Region, a pretty BIG assumption, and the bottom line savings presented -- a BIG incentive it would seem -- came to $662,113.  Or did it?

 Powerpoint slide presented to RSC

Both the $300,000 in "Medicaid Reimbursement" and the $55,000 in "New Choice-In Revenue" is money that comes to the town of Amherst anyway, so it's not "new" revenue.  

Since the state does not reimburse non-regional entities for transportation costs the $286,695 in "New Transportation Reimbursement"  is indeed "new money." 

Even the $75,800 in "New Bonus Aid" comes with a caveat:  It's only for five years and diminishes over that time:

Year 1 - $75,800 

Year 2 - $60,640
Year 3 - $45,480
Year 4 - $30,320
Year 5 - $15,160

So when all is said and done the real savings in year one of Mega-Region (3,385 students) comes to $307,113 or less than $100 student on an average per pupil cost of over $20,000. Providing of course all goes according to plan and you can avoid Murphy's Law.

Representatives from Pelham and Leverett also presented testimony to the Regional School Committee that painted a desperate picture of their elementary school's current financial condition.

Chair of the Regional Agreement Working Group (and now Amherst Select Board member) Andy Steinberg echoed that gloomy scenario saying he is concerned that someday soon our partners in the current 7-12 Region will choose to support their stand alone elementary schools at the expense of the Region. 

Amherst beware: A major deal based on pity often goes astray. 

No Means No!

Fade post (needs more up votes!)

In the early morning hours of Saturday, March 28 UMass police responded to a reported sexual assault that occurred on Phillips Street, immediately adjacent to the campus.

Because the victim, a college aged female, was also ETOH (overly intoxicated) she ended up at UMass Health Services and, as a result, required transportation by AFD to Cooley Dickinson Hospital.

Since the (alleged) assault occurred on Phillips Street, which is town jurisdiction, UMPD instantly turned over the matter to APD.   Although my reliable source seemed to doubt the victim would file a criminal complaint, partially because of the alcohol involvement.

And that's seems to have been the end of it.

   APD Public Doc Rejection

Yes, this horrendous act occurred on the very weekend the jury was still out deliberating the fate of Emmanuel Bile, accused of participating in a gang rape at a UMass dorm, where the victim was clearly intoxicated but could still telegraph the concept, "No!"

After an outstanding job by the prosecution Bile was found guilty, in spite of the prominent role alcohol played in the horrific incident.

So I find it beyond appalling that a major corporation with an advertising budget as BIG as a third world country's GDP would highlight/promote the more nefarious aspects of alcohol consumption.

An insulting ad campaign that endangers women by painting a giant target on them, with Bud Light being used as the weapon of choice.   

And even insulting to men by suggesting the only way they can successfully find a sexual partner is if she's out of her mind drunk.

#Fail

Show Me The Money

The Amherst Police Supervisor's Union staked out Amherst Town Meeting

The 13-member Amherst Police Supervisor's Union picked the perfect night to picket Amherst Town Meeting.  Opening night is always the most highly attended (191 checked in out of 240) and the majority of members use the northern most entrance to the Middle School. 

 Passed unanimously

Although it had nothing directly to do with the public protest, Town Meeting did vote early in the evening to reopen the police budget from last year and add $29,200 for "anticipated costs" associated with the contract settlement.

If that does become the exact amount needed it represents a 2% raise. 

The current contract is almost two years expired and it's the last remaining municipal labor contract still outstanding.

Most other municipal unions received around that 2% figure for a raise.

 Leaflet distributed to Town Meeting members

A Less Destructible Dash

Dash with partner, officer TJ Clark

click to enlarge/read

DUI Dishonor Roll

 Colm Dunphy, age 20, stands before Judge Payne on Monday morning

This could be one of the first local DUI cases to be impacted by the moratorium on breathalyzer results called by District Attorney David Sullivan. 

Although safe to say the state will have sorted out the problem by the time Mr. Dunphy returns to District Court for his pre-trial hearing May 27th.

Interestingly UMPD just had their breathalyzer machine sent out for calibration a few weeks ago. 

A Matter of Respect

I did an interview yesterday with a couple of UMass journos working on their final project and one of the questions they asked was, besides Blarney Blowout or Hobart Hoedown what other kinds of things do UMass students do that causes friction with the locals.

I brought up the incident a few years ago where a throng of students descended on Puffer's Pond beach just before graduation and left it a pig pen.  And the time or two students have been seen or arrested for urinating on the Emily Dickinson fence along Main Street.

But had I been aware of this incident I surely would have used it as an example:  I grew up a couple hundred yards from this l-o-n-g time business on lower Main Street, and they are a symbol of everyday hard working small-town business. 

 Click to enlarge/read

Brian Hurley, age 20, stands before Judge John Payne on Monday.  His case was continued to May 27 so he can hire a private attorney