Riot house of the weekend

202 College Street, Amherst

Amherst police could have used a couple of Texas Rangers this weekend as all available units were not enough to quell a "disturbance" (apparently UMass officials get queasy over the word "riot") at 202 College Street when a party of around fifty got out of control very early (3:47 AM) Saturday morning.

UMass police, naturally, were too busy to respond to our mutual aid call but Amherst College and Hadley PD each provided two units for back up and assisted with transporting the uncooperative perps to the Amherst Police Department jail, located only a half mile away.

One perp is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon as he struck an Amherst Police officer with a stick. And yes, most officers wear a bullet proof vest to protect their mid torso but the officer was struck below the belt. Ouch.

Arrested for "Riot, failure to disperse, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest":

Zahir Ajam Delrosario, 130th St, Harlem, NY, age 23
Jose Picot, 111 Franklin St, Northampton, MA, age 27


Arrested for "Unlawful noise":

Eric Cameron, 202 College St, Amherst, MA, age 23
Stephen Halliday, 17 Katherine Rd, Rehoboth, MA, age 21

Property ownership card for 200/202 College Street

Jones Library aftershock

Jones Library 11/1/11 Closed after the Halloween weekend storm

Just when I thought the library had gone back to normal, meaning non controversial, there's this: On Wednesday Jones Library Trustees will discuss spending $10,000 to purchase a seismograph so Jones patrons can participate in the "Boston College Educational Seismology Project," and become one with earthquakes.

Currently the program has 33 participants--all of them schools located around Boston.

While I don't doubt the educational value of learning about earthquakes, I do question whether the library should be the lead agency in town to take on the project, since all the other participants are schools.

And then there's the matter of the $10,000 cover charge, plus potential time commitments from employees who could be shelving books. But hey, when your endowment stands at $7.85 million, perhaps $10,000 is mere chicken feed.

South Hadley: Repeat offender

South Hadley officials need the lesson in "respect"

So yeah, with my staunch Irish Catholic upbringing I understand the turn-the-other-cheek principle, and everybody deserves a second chance routine, but for God's sake can somebody remind Gus Sayer that a sweet, vulnerable child was pushed to the point of killing herself under his watch?!

Why NOW does a mother--concerned about her daughter being bullied in a school already internationally known for such things--have to turn to an Internet petition to get South Hadley officials to address the problem?

As I've said before, Gus Sayer, like school officials at Penn State, protected a pedophile for the good of the system. Well, that's a system that needs to change. Now!

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UPDATE: Sunday morning

Jennifer kalvinek, Petition Organizer updated at change.org:

"We have gone past 4000 signatures. that is awsome !

Kevin Mccallister emailed me last night . he wanted me to stop the petition because he had too many signatures from people. they are listening! keep it up. LETS MAKE A DIFFERENCE!"

Some things never change

UMass McGuirk Stadium (pre-expansion)

God how I wish Amherst Town Meeting had been half as smart as the UMass faculty union back in 1987 when we spent a whopping $2.2 million--an astounding $4.4 million in today's dollars--to buy a golf course we could have had for free. Although interestingly enough, it was a UMass professor, Richard Minear (then Chair of the Amherst Select Board) and fellow history professor Ron Story (a few years prior to Ellen Story becoming State Representative) who led the ill fated charge.

As usual, a 159 neighbors had signed a petition supporting the purchase to, as usual, stop development; and town meeting used the sacred power of eminent domain--the political equivalent of detonating a nuclear weapon--to steal the property away from a developer who had a legal agreement signed--at far less than $2.2 million--with owner Dave Maxon.

If only Town Meeting said to the selfish neighbors: "Sure we will take the property, as long as you come up with 80% of the funding," what a different history I would now write. And the town treasury would be so better off because of it.

Of course UMass football making the big jump to FBS will make Cherry Hill look like a Powerball lottery win by comparison. The jump (the shark) has already cost $1 million with the buyout for coach Kevin Morris and staff and next year scholarships alone will cost an addition $2 million. And of course there is that $30 million to expand McGuirk Stadium that the faculty union is now wisely trying to sack.

All this for a football program that lost millions last year. Yikes!

Merry Maple: Grand but subtle glow

Merry Maple (especially happy to have survived the Halloween weekend storm)

South Amherst town common

Meanwhile, two miles away in sleepy South Amherst, a more traditional multicolored evergreen proudly brightens the common. And since it sits resplendently in front of an ornate church it's probably even called a Christmas Tree.

One riot, One ranger

Security guard in front of Bank Of America, Amherst

Since the sneak invasion by a mob of young protesters, who migrated from UMass to briefly occupy Bank of America and the TD Bank, this lone security guard has staked out the front of BOA in the heart of downtown Amherst.

You have to wonder how much of a difference he would make if those 50-60 occupiers returned, although--unlike the protesters--he looks pretty serious (and employed).

Although somebody should probably tell corporate headquarters that the Amherst police station is only a stone's throw away.

Let the Attorney General decide

Dear Ms. Coakley:

I wish to file a follow up complaint with your office over the manner in which the Amherst Regional School Committee entered Executive Session at their 11/22/11 joint meeting with the Amherst School Committee, specifically, failing to get a "second" to the motion and the motion--at the time it was made--lacked any reason for entering Executive Session and failed to cite the specific chapter and verse of the Open Meeting Law.

In a response to my complaint (that used the form provided by your office) and copied in writing to the Amherst Town Clerk, the Chair of the Regional School Committee stated in writing:

Hi Larry,

I stated at the beginning of the meeting that we would be going into executive session for the purpose of contract negotiations. It also says so on top of the agenda:

http://www.arps.org/node/3473

It is not required to state it in the motion; it is only required to state it at some point during the pubic meeting before the exec session.

Have a great turkey day.

Rick

From: Rick Hood Sent: Wed, Nov 23, 2011 7:44 pm To: BurgessS (Amherst town clerk)

I find that response to be woefully inadequate. Yes, now that I have watched a rebroadcast of the three hour meeting (that was aired live), Mr. Hood did state casually at the very beginning of the meeting that they would be entering Executive Session to discuss "collective bargaining," but over the course of three hours members of the general public who tuned in a few minutes late would not have heard it.

While I have no problem with the reasons for the Regional School Committee to go into Executive Session, I strongly believe that it should never be taken lightly and the discipline shown by using proper procedures exhibits the due diligence expected of our public officials.

Perhaps this incident will provide a perfect "teachable moment."

Larry Kelley




11/23/11 4:54 PM

According to the somewhat newly revised Open Meeting Law I am supposed to file my complaint with you and the town clerk over the incident last night where the Regional School Committee went into executive session without clearly stating the reason for doing so and without a proper second to the motion.

Please excuse the somewhat weird formatting as I downloaded the PDF complaint form from the AG website.

Larry Kelley

OPEN MEETING LAW COMPLAINT FORM

Organization or Media Affiliation (if any): http://onlyintherepublicofamherst.blogspot.com/

Are you filing the complaint in your capacity as an individual, representative of an organization, or media? Media

(For statistical purposes only) Individual Organization Media x

Public Body that is the subject of this complaint: Amherst Regional School Committee

City/Town Amherst County Hampshire Regional/District State Mass

Name of Public Body (including city/ town, county or region, if applicable):Amherst Regional School Committee, 170 Chestnut Street, Amherst, Ma

Specific person(s), if any, you allege committed the violation: Rick Hood, Chair of the Regional Committee and Irv Rhodes Chair Amherst School Committee
Date of alleged violation:11/22/11

Description of alleged violation: Irv Rhodes made a motion to go into Executive Session "never to return" but with no explanation/reason for the action, and Mr Hood allowed it without having a proper second from another member.

Describe the alleged violation that this complaint is about. If you believe the alleged violation was intentional, please say so and include the reasons supporting your belief. No, not intentional--just careless.

What action do you want the public body to take in response to your complaint? Apologize, promise it will never happen again. After school detention.

Review, sign, and submit your complaint
Read this important notice and sign your complaint.
Under most circumstances your complaint will be considered a public record and be available to any member of the public upon request.
I understand that when I submit this complaint the Attorney General's Office cannot give me legal advice and cannot act as my personal lawyer.

I certify that the information contained on this form is true to the best of my knowledge.

Signed: ____Larry Kelley_______________________________________ Date:___________________________11/23/11
First Name:Larry Last Name:Kelley Address:596 South Pleasant City:Amherst
Phone Number:256-0491 Email:amherstac@aol.com
State:Mass Zip Code:01002

Mr. Hood