Select Board packets for September 8th
Because there was no meeting last Monday due to the Labor Day holiday, we have two packets for this week.
Packet received Friday, August 29th for the Monday, September 8th meeting:
• The agenda for the September 3rd Planning Board meeting
• A packet with the agenda for the Regional School Committee’s September 2nd meeting, minutes from its August 19th meeting, a “Focus Group Schedule” listing various meeting times and locations of different groups on September 15, 16 and 17; a memo about policies under consideration and the policy descriptions: “Instruction: Controversial Issues in Schools,” “Use of Cameras for Safety and Security,” “Evaluation of Instructional Programs,” School Committees: Self Evaluation,” “School Committee: Powers and Duties,” and “School Committee: Committee Member Resignation”
• An e-mail from Ms. Brewer with the text of the Spring 2007 Town Meeting petition article on flying commemorative flags on September 11th, and a list of the town Meeting votes on the article
• The minutes from the September 10, 2001 Select Board meeting, highlighting the vote to establish which days commemorative flags are flown
• Notice of a ZBA meeting on September 11, 2008, with Public Hearings on a Special Permit being sought for creation of a five-unit Town House on North Pleasant Street; and to transfer a Special Permit to new owners of a property and to modify the Special Permit’s expiration condition
• A September calendar noting the meeting dates for the Hampshire Council of Governments and a list of that body’s committee assignments
• A letter from State Senator Stan Rosenberg to Comcast regarding constituent complaints about moving NECN to a more expensive cable package, and requesting that Comcast reconsider that decision
• A memo from the Town Manager to the Public Works
Committee regarding proposals to reduce traffic speed and volume in the
• An invitation to an
• The September issue of the Chamber of Commerce’s newsletter
Packet received Friday, September 5th for the Monday, September 8th meeting:
• The agenda
• The motion sheet
• A taxi driver license application
• A letter requesting Special Municipal Employee status for the Town Meeting Coordinating Committee, with a copies warrant articles from the 2004 and 2005 Fall Town Meetings detailing and amending the language of the committee’s duties, election and membership terms in the Town bylaw
• Another copy of the e-mail, warrant language and vote results on the 9/11 flags, and 9/10/01 meeting minutes, as was in the 8/29 packet (above)
• A written statement submitted by Gerry Weiss (who will not be present at the meeting) about the commemorative flag issue, recommending that they be displayed on September 11th every three years beginning this year, as a compromise measure reflecting the one-third of Town Meeting members (and the assumption that they represent one-third of the community) who voted to support urging the Select Board to display the flags annually on that date
• A packet of information about Kendrick Park, with a memo describing the site’s land, surroundings, history, drainage and trees, and maps showing the zoning, property lines and topography, and location of utilities, as well as an aerial photo
• Notice of a meeting of the Public Transportation Committee and the Pparking Task Force, September 12 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in the Town Room at Town Hall
• A memo from the Energy Task Force Coordinator requesting the bagging of parking meters on Boltwood Avenue for the October 4th Renewable Energy Fair on the Town Common, an e-mail that includes the minutes of the Select Board’s vote on the same request last year, and an aerial photo of the Town Common
• Three special liquor license applications for two events at UMass and a Cruise Night at Atkins
• Draft minutes of the July 28 and August 25 Select Board meetings, and recommended edits and amendments for the August 25 minutes
• An e-mail string related to a proposed resolution from Rob Kusner for the Select Board to reaffirm support for a Town Meeting resolution supporting bike lane creation and maintenance
• A letter from a suicide prevention organization called “For the Health of It in Western Mass, Inc.” inviting the Select Board to a September 26th fundraising event, and seeking donation of a raffle item, and a photocopy of the event brochure
• Details of the Amherst Fire Department’s September 11th ceremony plans at Central Fire Station, involving assembling at 9:55 a.m., ringing a bell, lowering the flag to half staff, a minute of silence, prayer by a chaplain, “Amazing Grace” played by a piper, ringing a bell and raising the flag
• A list of committees and Select Board liaison assignments
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• A letter from the Town Manager to the Disability Access Advisory Committee regarding his intent to discuss the interim crosswalk and its eventual ADA-compliant replacement on Pelham Road by the Amethyst Brook Conservation Area, copies of the Public Works Committee’s and DPW Superintendent’s recommendations on the matter, and an aerial photo showing the crosswalk location
• Notice of a September 18 ZBA meeting and Public
Hearing to request modification of a Special Permit condition to allow the
keeping of a rooster in addition to chickens at a
• The September issue of The Beacon, the newsletter of the Massachusetts Municipal Association
My God! His Lordship supports flying the flags this year on 9/11 and three years from now on the 10’Th anniversary?! Probably the dumbest reasoning I have ever heard--but what the Hell--I will take it!
This time King Salomon cut the baby in half, well... thirds.
I don't know much about the legislative history of this request but in my ignorance I will say that the SB chair punted because it was a no win. It went through Town Meeting where 1/3 supported the idea. Rather than read that as a "no" vote, the chair read it as a 1/3 approval and rendered the decision as 'one in three years'. I imagine, they are hoping, they have gotten you, off their back.
What is the formal process involved when the SB deliberates a Town Meeting vote? Does the Town Meeting vote to create the formal policy or does the chair accept their vote as food for fodder and he'll decide what it means, or will there be a SB deliberation discussion and vote?
I'm interested in the process. I'm sure I'll be able to read about the detail here thanks to Stephanie's values of open and transparent government.
Well, what is fascinating is that less than a week before the actual article came up at Town Meeting (5/16/07) the Select Board voted--as they always do--to recommend or not recommend all of the articles on the Town Meeting warrant.
The "fly the American flags on 9/11" article came up immediately before the Select Board voted unanimously--with no discussion-to fly the Rainbow Flag in front of Town Hall to commemorate the Massachusetts judicial system allowing gays the right to marry.
As I said on the floor of Town Meeting, the Amherst Select Board goes out of their way to celebrate the gay lifestyle but will not fly the American flag to commemorate their deaths (as more than a few gay folks died that awful day—most notably Father Mychal Judge of the NYFD who died in the lobby of the North Tower while administrating to a fallen firefighter and Mark Bingham who perished trying to take back Flight 93—the only improvised weapon that did not hit it an intended target that awful day.
I support the flying of the flags on September 11. What I envision the day evolving into over the years is a celebration of the sense of duty and obligation that we share for those in trouble. I'm not sure what form that will take, perhaps eventually a day to celebrate police, fire, and emergency personnel, especially those who have died in the line of duty.
But for Amherst's purposes, we could certainly take a more expansive view for now. On September 11, we saw ordinary Americans who got up to start their lives like any other day, and very quickly found themselves having to put themselves in harm's way in order to help others. We saw them answering the call on the ground in New York and Washington. And we later learned that others recognized their duty to act in the air on United 93. There was very little time to think and calculate. These people did so out of an instinctive sense of duty and obligation to others to which they had to respond immediately.
I continue to resist the cynicism that seems to grip Amherst about "all things American". I think the collective action of many Americans on 9/11 constitutes a fine example of a wider American phenomenon, here seen compressed into a short horrible span of time. In Amherst and elsewhere in America, we have many citizens who make enormous sacrifices of time and energy because they perceive a duty that must be met. They volunteer; they serve in town government; they have protested, somtimes at some risk to themselves, their government's policies; they have spoken up for human rights around the world. They have seen that fellow human beings are in trouble, and they have responded with acts of conscience, just like untold, unsung others did on 9/11.
That's why I support flying the flags on 9/11. It's not "hooray for the USA"; it's not about victimization; it's not about the war on terrorism. For me, and I hope, for others, it's about the sense of duty and obligation we feel almost instinctively toward others.
It's as good a day as any to celebrate the American Conscience.
Surely, we can come together on this. Can't we?
Richard Morse
No, it is most certainly not "hooray for the USA"; because on the morning of 9/11--like the morning of December 7--we were caught completely unprepared.
Our government failed us on both those mornings. And as a result thousands died. We must never, never, never forget.