I'm sorry that Dolly Jolly has decided not to run for re-election to the Select Board at least partly because of an email sent to her by Town Meeting member Alan Root. Sorry, but empathetic. In that email, Mr. Root suggested that some anonymous "group" was preparing to attach and embarrass Ms. Jolly, and mentioned using excerpts from the tape of Select Board meetings for that "campaign." I can easily understand why a citizen who wants to contribute her time, energy and talents to serving the town is unwilling to wake up every morning wondering "what's next" as the result of a concerted effort to publicly embarrass her. If this is what board members can expect from people who disagree with their votes, why would any normal person want to run for the office? Anyone who is a member of the Select Board, or School Committee, or Library Trustees, or Finance Committee, is providing a service to all the rest of us citizens, who don't have the inclination or the time to do it. No one among this group of public servants deserves to suffer from attacks or threats. I anticipate hearing denunciations of this personal attack on their colleague by other members of the town's elected boards. .
I also look forward to an informed and informative election season in Amherst. I, for one, am really curious about the positions of the candidates. We are collectively facing major decisions with a difference of about $6 million between the "needs" budgets presented by the town and school departments, and the financial resources we can expect to have. What should we do? What do the people running for office propose that we do?
There seems to be a division in town now between those who describe themselves as "progressives" and those they might call "the establishment" or "old-fashioned liberals" or even "conservatives." The "progressives" are clearly unhappy about how town government is functioning, but it's not entirely clear to me what their agenda is. As far as I can tell, they generally want Town Meeting to have a bigger role in government; they think the Town Manager is too powerful, does not deserve the respect with which he is regarded by three members of the Select Board (and many other people), and is paid too much; and they favor delaying infrastructure improvements (and maintenance?) during difficult fiscal times. I think many also oppose efforts to attract and keep businesses in town. A group of people who supported Anne Awad in her campaign for Select Board, and subsequently opposed the Charter, asked Robie Hubley to run and supported his election. From what I've heard, they have now recruited Gerald Weiss as a candidate. I hope all the principals involved in this united effort will identify themselves and make clear what their goals are, so we as voters can know what the real issues in the election are.
The biggest issues involve the budget. For example, some people on the Select Board and in Town Meeting have said their first priority for the town is public education. What does this mean exactly? About 60% of our local budget currently is spent on our schools; what percentage do these people think is appropriate? How much of the budgets for other programs are they suggesting we give up in order to continue funding schools at what level? What programs or services are people prepared to sacrifice?
The Town Manager has proposed consolidating some positions, in order to "do more with less"; some people have expressed skepticism that these changes will work. Do they propose to increase the town's budget in order to keep those positions?
All the union contracts are up for renewal; last month I discovered that local contracts were "more generous" than the contracts at the University. Given fiscal realities, do candidates want to see increases in pay scales similar to those in the past three years? Even at the cost of laying other employees off to save enough money to pay the raises? Or do they suggest smaller or no pay increases for the next year or two? The details of contracts are the responsibility of the administrators of the town and schools, but elected officials set the tone and general direction.
Amherst is a very well run town, and the financial reserves carefully built up over years have protected us from the full effects of the recession just compare our situation to other towns and cities in the region. The UMass campus needs to borrow $430 million for major building projects, much of it the result of "deferred maintenance" in difficult financial times. Amherst has avoided that mistake. I think the Town Manager deserves much of the credit, and that he is certainly "worth" what we pay him; but that doesn't mean I think it was wise to vote a significant raise last month. Similarly, I've heard only excellent things about our new Superintendent of Schools, but I don't think the School Committee should have been so generous with his contract. What do the candidates think?
I look forward to learning the answers to my questions and others.