In Our Opinion: Invest in Amherst

The lawn signs get it right: Vote yes for Amherst. We will know Tuesday night whether a majority of voters in Amherst is willing to pay $1,680,441 more in taxes - even if grudgingly - to temper a decline in the kinds of services that have long kept Amherst a municipal leader.

How Hairston House gives back

NORTHAMPTON - In the wake of recent announcements about Hairston House and the prospect for its continued service to the community, I have received phone calls from former residents and community supporters asking, "What next?"

Common sense lacking in contract negotiations

To the editor:

I have been reading about the superintendent of schools debacle in Amherst with growing amazement and disgust. In this world where greed seems to be the accepted practice in so many areas of influence, it is particularly disheartening to see it arise in a system that is supposed to care for children.

'No way' to senseless Amherst override

To the editor:

I am the finance advisor for an Amherst merchant, so voting on the override is an easy dollars-and-sense decision. The School Committee has shown its economic smarts by using the Great Recession as the opportunity to offer a premium salary to a Reagan-admiring authoritarian experienced in running a huge metropolitan school system with low-income and low-performing students. He immediately hired a cohort who concluded he needed another assistant and more clerical help and, yes, to keep this system viable, he thought a tax increase was essential.

Needed: override, review of administrative costs

To the editor:

Every year my daughter has been in an elementary school classroom of at least 25 students. Every year we've heard about the projects her class couldn't do, because they were too big a group. Experiments were minimized or eliminated, field trips were skipped and teachers showed their exhaustion.

Says weak economy makes override unaffordable

To the editor:

I am voting no on the proposed override due to my concern about maintaining affordable middle-class housing in Amherst for a diverse age/income population. These are awful economic times that, if anything, call for a reduction in taxes.

Uses of CPA funds incorrect in override flier

To the editor:

This weekend we received a flier from Amherst Taxpayers for Responsible Change that advocates a "no" vote on the override question. We are not writing to debate the override, but to correct some information presented in the flier.