A Poor Decision by the BOS

Tonight, at the March 11th meeting, the Amherst Board of Selectmen, sans Brad Galinson, voted to award Chairman Bowler $2000 additional compensation for "all the extra work he did while Jim O'Mara was out on paid leave" and "for the extra work he did in researching the EMT and fire salaries."

Now, I can tell you as an ex-selectman that I, and all of my colleagues, did a lot of extra work from time-to-time on one subject or another, such as the time when we were between town administrators, and did so happily. We knew when we ran for the job, that occasionally, it would be more demanding than we bargained for.  I doubt if any of us would have considered, much less accepted, additional compensation.

But that's not the worst of it.

Several weeks ago, George Infanti made a motion for extra compensation for Chairman Bowler for the work he did while Jim was on leave.  The vote was tied, with Infanti and Grella voting "Aye," and Galinson and Brew voting "nay," and Bowler abstaining. Therefore, it did not pass.

Tonight, George Infanti came back with "additional information," saying that as well as the work he spoke about earlier, Chairman Bowler had also done the research on the fire and EMT salaries, and that was another reason that he should receive the extra two thousand dollars.

Another vote was taken, but this time Mr. Galinson was not present at the meeting, and the vote was 2:1 in favor (Infanti and Grella for, Brew against).  So tonight, with a member missing, something that failed when the board was completely present passed this time.

This is not the way things should be done in government, and certainly not the way things have ever been done before in Amherst.

I call upon the board to reconsider a very poor decision.