Fairhaven MA - new school vote

photo by mslavick

I needed to know more about the process that brought us to our upcoming votes about the new Fairhaven schools. The presentations by the School Building Committee adamantly state that the facts point only to the solution they represent, however I've heard enough opposition to warrant some research.

Complaints that the School Building Committee (SBC) had their mind made up before the process began are borne out by the Mass School Building Authority (MSBA) letter (1) linked below.

I thought I could learn a lot about the process from the meeting minutes of the SBC. My wife attended some of these meetings and was frustrated by the committee's handling of public commentary and concern.

A select few of  the SBC's minutes are available at the their website (2). But where meetings were contentious or public opposition was voiced, no meeting minutes are posted. 

The Superintendent's office informed me that the minutes of the School Building Committee could be found at the Town Clerk's office. The clerk's office does have minutes of a few of this years' meetings not available at the SBC site (3), but only meeting agendas for meetings of February 1, 15 and 16 and nothing for the months leading up to the Town Meeting in May (March April and May). These meetings were filled with resident opposition to the Board's actions and decisions. 

The clerk's office does have meeting minutes and/or agendas from June 16 through September.

The minutes from Feb. 9 mention meetings with MSBA. I've written the MSBA to try to view minutes of their meetings with the Fairhaven SBC, but have not heard from them yet.

Conclusion:
The SBC has carefully considered only one option, and their conclusion points to their one-school solution. I'm disturbed by the Fairhaven School Building Committee's continued lack of transparency and manipulation of information.

Thanks for your time

-mat coes

links

1) http://www.massschoolbuildings.org/sites/default/files/edit-contentfile/News%20And%20Events%20-%20Other/Fairhaven%20Letter%20April%2028,%202011.pdf

2) https://sites.google.com/site/fnesbuildingcommittee/home

3) http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4314588/FhvnSBC%20Minutes/FhvnSBC%20Feb1-2011%20Agenda.pdf

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4314588/FhvnSBC%20Minutes/FhvnSBC%20Feb9-2011%20Minutes.pdf

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4314588/FhvnSBC%20Minutes/FhvnSBC%20Jan19-2011%20Agenda.pdf

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4314588/FhvnSBC%20Minutes/FhvnSBC%20Jan19-2011%20nimutes.pdf

VOTE New Bedford!

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is pitting a handful of undeserved municipalities against New Bedford, Massachusetts in a bid to become the nation's top 'Distinctive Destination'.

I've been to a number of these places and, frankly, I think N.B. has an uphill battle ahead.
HOWEVER
The power is in our hands {dastardly laugh}. You can VOTE for New Bedford each and every day (but just once a day) until March 15. You'll need to register, but they seem like a benign enough organisation to give your email address to.
I can imagine droves of seekers, exiting the highway to explore the debris by the sea, getting lost and frustrated, never finding their way out and staying in New Bedford forever. A new community of distinction, forging a new, New Bedford.
Join me, and VOTE New Bedford.

While you're at it, visit New Bedford Every Day. It hasn't been updated in forever, but really, neither has the city.
And finally, congratulations to Alma Del Mar, just approved as New Bedford's newest Charter School.

all together now

In Bb (B flat)
Darren Solomon has put together a block of 20 videos from submissions all playing meandering pieces (including spoken word) in the key of B flat.

it's beautiful.

via Hacker News

Proposal: '{' and '}' to be known as openstache, closestache.

Finale.

© Valérie Berta Torales

Over at The Mudshow Diaries, Valérie chronicles the day to day of a small American traveling show. 
She takes a near-daily photo from her trailer window (a cross-country tour in itself), lots of her family, and occasionally a shot of backstage circus life that is so very, very perfect I don't have words. 
Click on the image to see it larger (recommended).

valerieberta.com

Readability

Whenever I need to read something of any length on the web I use Readability. It reformats pages and gets rid of superfluous everything.

The setup instructions are fairly clear, but be sure to get the formatting to your liking first, then drag the bookmarklet to your bookmarks bar.

The image above is from a New York Times article that looked like this.

Direct Representation

photo via brianslens

Since I became a voter, I've been in the habit of writing myself into uncontested offices, or positions that sounded like fun. Sheriff? Sure!
I encourage others to write me in to any seat that you think I would like.

This past winter I let the deadline for collecting signatures for nomination to one of my district's seats in Town Meeting lapse, and blew my chance for my first elected office.

Until election day.

There are 29 seats available in Precinct 2 in Town Meeting, and only about a dozen nominees.

You guessed it. I wrote myself in, bypassing all of the door knocking and ball-point mayhem, and I am now a card-carrying member of the Precinct 2 delegation to Fairhaven Town Meeting. For a 3 year term. With one vote.

Hail democracy.

Bike:normal

photo via Amsterdamize

"The idea that it is somehow 'dangerous' and 'irresponsible' to cycle without a helmet is a total myth. It merely puts people off cycling and contributes to the increase in the level of obesity and other inactivity-related illnesses, which kill tens of thousands of people every year. If we are to encourage people to take up cycling – with all its benefits for our health, our streets, our environment and our wallets – then we need to promote it as a safe and enjoyable way to get around for day-to-day travel, wearing normal clothes."   -Roger Geffen, UK Cyclist's Touring Club