Saturday, September 24, 2005
Downtown police officer is welcome news
The police department announced that an officer will be assigned to the downtown area full time. Good news! It's an old-fashioned idea--an officer walking a beat, knowing everything going on and everyone in the area.
I learned at a young age from my grandfather how important this is. He was a policeman in Quincy, Mass. for 38 years starting in the 1920's. Over the years he worked on a horse (there was the time the horse reared up and almost trampled him), on a motorcycle (which required a tight grip, which he blamed for his arthritis) and on foot, which I think was his favorite. He knew everyone on his beat, and when something went wrong he was right there--but more often nothing went wrong, precisely because he was there. He never liked the more reactive approach of squad cars responding to calls.
While I never feel unsafe on Main Street, there are a couple of spots that feel uncomfortable at times, with groups of people hanging out. One day I saw a guy show off his knife to his buddy. Another time I saw a fistfight break out in a crosswalk. Stuff like this can happen anywhere, but it should happen less with officer Dave on the beat.
I learned at a young age from my grandfather how important this is. He was a policeman in Quincy, Mass. for 38 years starting in the 1920's. Over the years he worked on a horse (there was the time the horse reared up and almost trampled him), on a motorcycle (which required a tight grip, which he blamed for his arthritis) and on foot, which I think was his favorite. He knew everyone on his beat, and when something went wrong he was right there--but more often nothing went wrong, precisely because he was there. He never liked the more reactive approach of squad cars responding to calls.
While I never feel unsafe on Main Street, there are a couple of spots that feel uncomfortable at times, with groups of people hanging out. One day I saw a guy show off his knife to his buddy. Another time I saw a fistfight break out in a crosswalk. Stuff like this can happen anywhere, but it should happen less with officer Dave on the beat.
Hooray for the redirect!
Visitors to www.townofgreenfield.org now get the new web site instead of the dead-end error message.
Monday, August 22, 2005
The scandal seekers come up empty
Three cheers to councilor Isaac Mass for his straightforward response to the supposed conflict-of-interest brouhaha. The ethical concerns raised by Al Norman are a transparent attempt to affect the outcome of this rezoning matter.
One could just as easily question Mr. Norman's motive, since any publicity he receives from blocking development will help him sell more books. Mr. Norman has two books for sale at Amazon.com, both drawing upon his credentials as an anti-development activist. One even has the subtitle, "How You Can Stop Superstore Sprawl In Your Hometown". Any new development project in Mr. Norman's hometown would be a strike against his credibility as an author; sales of his book sales would be likely to decline. Conversely, a well-publicized defeat of new development could help him sell a lot of books.
While I doubt that book sales are Mr. Norman's primary motivation in opposing the rezoning proposal, the possibility is at least as credible as the charges against Isaac Mass.
The ethics charge struck me as particularly strange because it goes against everything I know about Isaac. I worked with him at Channing Bete, and have been acquainted with him through mutual friends. He's a warm-hearted guy who genuinely cares about this town. I may not see eye to eye with him on every political issue, but the strength of his character has never been a concern of mine.
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UPDATE
I've been poking around Mr. Norman's web site. He doesn't just sell books, he offers anti-sprawl consulting services as well. That explains why his site is a dotcom, not dotorg. His site includes a "Victories" list, and I bet he'd like to see this zoning issue added to it.
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UPDATE 2
OK, I'm getting sucked in but this is just fascinating, and I'm home from work with nothing to do. I just want to pin down Norman's potential financial interest, since he brought it up.
Last year PBS Newshour reported, "His efforts have turned into a cottage industry for the 57-year-old Massachusetts native. His fees run anywhere between $1,000 and $3,000, but he says, 'My fees are a joke compared to what Wal-Mart pays their consultants.'"
Let's say this zoning issue means he'll gain a couple of clients if he wins, and loses a couple of clients if he loses (leaving book sales aside). At the high end of his rates that's $6k in either direction--a swing of $12k. Speculation, of course, but it's more concrete than his dirt-digging expedition against the council.
One could just as easily question Mr. Norman's motive, since any publicity he receives from blocking development will help him sell more books. Mr. Norman has two books for sale at Amazon.com, both drawing upon his credentials as an anti-development activist. One even has the subtitle, "How You Can Stop Superstore Sprawl In Your Hometown". Any new development project in Mr. Norman's hometown would be a strike against his credibility as an author; sales of his book sales would be likely to decline. Conversely, a well-publicized defeat of new development could help him sell a lot of books.
While I doubt that book sales are Mr. Norman's primary motivation in opposing the rezoning proposal, the possibility is at least as credible as the charges against Isaac Mass.
The ethics charge struck me as particularly strange because it goes against everything I know about Isaac. I worked with him at Channing Bete, and have been acquainted with him through mutual friends. He's a warm-hearted guy who genuinely cares about this town. I may not see eye to eye with him on every political issue, but the strength of his character has never been a concern of mine.
----------
UPDATE
I've been poking around Mr. Norman's web site. He doesn't just sell books, he offers anti-sprawl consulting services as well. That explains why his site is a dotcom, not dotorg. His site includes a "Victories" list, and I bet he'd like to see this zoning issue added to it.
----------
UPDATE 2
OK, I'm getting sucked in but this is just fascinating, and I'm home from work with nothing to do. I just want to pin down Norman's potential financial interest, since he brought it up.
Last year PBS Newshour reported, "His efforts have turned into a cottage industry for the 57-year-old Massachusetts native. His fees run anywhere between $1,000 and $3,000, but he says, 'My fees are a joke compared to what Wal-Mart pays their consultants.'"
Let's say this zoning issue means he'll gain a couple of clients if he wins, and loses a couple of clients if he loses (leaving book sales aside). At the high end of his rates that's $6k in either direction--a swing of $12k. Speculation, of course, but it's more concrete than his dirt-digging expedition against the council.
Saturday, August 06, 2005
Pretty dogs, a covered bridge, and Lance
My Better Half and the Fractions are out of town. With no responsibilities at home, I decided to take a long bike ride. Too long, as it turned out; I'm expertly conditioned for sitting in the car and at a desk for long periods, but not for extended physical activity involving hills and sunlight.
I took a ride over to GCC, not for any particular reason, just that it seemed like a destination just far enough away that I could call the excursion "exercise". I got there and there were a ton of campers in the parking lot, and people were setting up tables and tents for some kind of event. Then I noticed that everyone walking around had one or more beautiful dogs with them. I saw a couple of Afghan hounds, a bunch of those big fluffy white dogs with curly tails, and various hunting breeds I recognize only from cartoons. A little web research tells me it was the Pioneer Valley Kennel Club's "All Breed Point and Obedience Show".
I must have been distracted by the dogs, because at this point I got the brilliant idea to keep riding instead of turning around and heading for home. I remembered a covered bridge across the Green River just a little ways away. So I rode up Colrain Road, uphill of course, and turned onto Log Plain Road, also uphill much of the way. And I kept going. And going. And stopped in the shade for some water and a breather. And kept going. I realized that my sense of distance unfortunately is calibrated to the effort of pushing the gas pedal, but this epiphany came at a time when it was utterly useless to me.
I should have known this would not be an easy trip when I started seeing, painted on the road, information for participants in tomorrow's triathlon. A particularly steep stretch (which I fortunately took downhill, as I was travelling in the opposite direction of tomorrow's triathletes) had the cryptic markings, "W.W.L.D.", explained a few yards later as "What Would Lance Do".
I finally did get to the bridge and was glad to see some kids and a dog swimming in the river. I sat on a rock for a while and took in the aural and visual gestalt of the water. Then it was back to the hills--mostly but not all downhill now. I was so spent I almost didn't make it up the little bump of a hill at the foot of my street.
I took a ride over to GCC, not for any particular reason, just that it seemed like a destination just far enough away that I could call the excursion "exercise". I got there and there were a ton of campers in the parking lot, and people were setting up tables and tents for some kind of event. Then I noticed that everyone walking around had one or more beautiful dogs with them. I saw a couple of Afghan hounds, a bunch of those big fluffy white dogs with curly tails, and various hunting breeds I recognize only from cartoons. A little web research tells me it was the Pioneer Valley Kennel Club's "All Breed Point and Obedience Show".
I must have been distracted by the dogs, because at this point I got the brilliant idea to keep riding instead of turning around and heading for home. I remembered a covered bridge across the Green River just a little ways away. So I rode up Colrain Road, uphill of course, and turned onto Log Plain Road, also uphill much of the way. And I kept going. And going. And stopped in the shade for some water and a breather. And kept going. I realized that my sense of distance unfortunately is calibrated to the effort of pushing the gas pedal, but this epiphany came at a time when it was utterly useless to me.
I should have known this would not be an easy trip when I started seeing, painted on the road, information for participants in tomorrow's triathlon. A particularly steep stretch (which I fortunately took downhill, as I was travelling in the opposite direction of tomorrow's triathletes) had the cryptic markings, "W.W.L.D.", explained a few yards later as "What Would Lance Do".
I finally did get to the bridge and was glad to see some kids and a dog swimming in the river. I sat on a rock for a while and took in the aural and visual gestalt of the water. Then it was back to the hills--mostly but not all downhill now. I was so spent I almost didn't make it up the little bump of a hill at the foot of my street.
Monday, July 11, 2005
Check it out - Craigslist for Western Mass!
We're on the map! http://westernmass.craigslist.org/
Saturday, June 11, 2005
Website review: www.cityofgreenfield.org
Since it's out there, I thought I'd take an in-depth look at the new "'City' of Greenfield" website.
The very first thing I notice when arriving at the site is not the attractive graphics nor the navigation nor the nice content. I notice that the site hijacks my browser and resizes the window to the maximum width of the screen--an absurd and unwelcome action on my widescreen iMac. I end up with broad swaths of black on either side of the content, and I can't use my desktop the way I want, with multiple applications visible at once. The site decided what's best for me and then did it without asking. Hmm, this sounds a lot like the mayor's leadership style!
I'll set that annoyance aside and take a look at the site. I see a nice logo, handsome color scheme, very readable layout and fonts, and a welcome search box right at the top. On the negative side, there's a scrolling "news ticker" telling me to enable cookies. The welcome letter from the mayor is long.
OK, let's say I want to find out when I have to start using the pay-per-throw bags. I'm pretty sure from news reports it starts July 1, but I want to confirm this and find out where to get the bags and how much they cost.
Search on [pay per throw]. 0 results. [trash pickup]. 0. [trash] gives 5 results; trying the first one. Takes me to a list of resources with a PDF on trash and recycling, so I click that. It just tells me which materials are suitable for recycling. Back to results. Second result just follows another path to the same info. Third result takes me to two pdf's; one has transfer station fees but no pay-per-throw info, and the other is the same one I already saw. Next result: gives the phone number for trash/recycling collection. If I was going to call, I wouldn't be on the web! Final result: same info as the third result.
We struck out with search, so I'm browsing pages. Not finding it. Nothing about it on DOW page, nothing on Mayor's Office page. I did get a broken link when I tried to click on the breadcrumbs.
I did find the Economic Development office, which lists Marlene Marocco. The newspaper has been spelling it Marrocco. I wonder which is correct?
Now I've just given up on the trash question and I'm browsing around. The offsite links (such as a link to the Stoneleigh Burnham School) open inside a frame, the way About.com does it--something I find annoying, but this may just be my own hangup.
Now I'm getting curious about who designed the site. I view the page source to find www.screendesigners.com However, this site doesn't give any clue who they are or where they're located, except that the unnamed designer was born in Europe and certified in Germany. Interestingly, one of the forms on the site points to a German site: https://www.ssl-id.de/designcrew.de/ which has exactly the same content as www.screendesigners.com. Hmm.
I ran a "whois" and learned that the screendesigners domain is registered to CRONON AG BERLIN, NIEDERLASSUNG REGENSBURG in Germany! Is the mayor unaware that there are some excellent web designers in Greenfield and even more in the rest of the Pioneer Valley? Why outsource the site to a foreign company??
Now I'm noticing the spelling errors on the "Visiting Greenfield" page. There's "resevoir" instead of "reservoir" and "beautifule" instead of "beautiful". "Subsuquently" for "Subsequently". And interesting to learn that "Francis" Goddard Tuckerman was a "port". That may be true, but I'm more interested in a poet named Frederick Goddard Tuckerman!
So, in the end, my review must conclude that this website is not ready for prime time. I can't really blame the Germans for misspelling English words and misidentifying American poets. But I do think the mayor and her team should feel embarrassed about not even proofreading the text, as well as not having a local do the work. And by the way, when does the new trash policy start?
UPDATE:
The site now lists "Jennifer Weno" as designer and "screendesigners.com" as the copyright holder. The www.screendesigners.com site shows the name "Peter Weno" in the source code, and that site is identical to www.designcrew.de, which lists "Herr Peter Weno" as "Kontact" on a German web directory. Apparently some kind of family business doing business in Germany. But "Peter" is not "Pieter", and "Jennifer" is a most American name. The mystery becomes clearer yet cloudier all at once.
The very first thing I notice when arriving at the site is not the attractive graphics nor the navigation nor the nice content. I notice that the site hijacks my browser and resizes the window to the maximum width of the screen--an absurd and unwelcome action on my widescreen iMac. I end up with broad swaths of black on either side of the content, and I can't use my desktop the way I want, with multiple applications visible at once. The site decided what's best for me and then did it without asking. Hmm, this sounds a lot like the mayor's leadership style!
I'll set that annoyance aside and take a look at the site. I see a nice logo, handsome color scheme, very readable layout and fonts, and a welcome search box right at the top. On the negative side, there's a scrolling "news ticker" telling me to enable cookies. The welcome letter from the mayor is long.
OK, let's say I want to find out when I have to start using the pay-per-throw bags. I'm pretty sure from news reports it starts July 1, but I want to confirm this and find out where to get the bags and how much they cost.
Search on [pay per throw]. 0 results. [trash pickup]. 0. [trash] gives 5 results; trying the first one. Takes me to a list of resources with a PDF on trash and recycling, so I click that. It just tells me which materials are suitable for recycling. Back to results. Second result just follows another path to the same info. Third result takes me to two pdf's; one has transfer station fees but no pay-per-throw info, and the other is the same one I already saw. Next result: gives the phone number for trash/recycling collection. If I was going to call, I wouldn't be on the web! Final result: same info as the third result.
We struck out with search, so I'm browsing pages. Not finding it. Nothing about it on DOW page, nothing on Mayor's Office page. I did get a broken link when I tried to click on the breadcrumbs.
I did find the Economic Development office, which lists Marlene Marocco. The newspaper has been spelling it Marrocco. I wonder which is correct?
Now I've just given up on the trash question and I'm browsing around. The offsite links (such as a link to the Stoneleigh Burnham School) open inside a frame, the way About.com does it--something I find annoying, but this may just be my own hangup.
Now I'm getting curious about who designed the site. I view the page source to find www.screendesigners.com However, this site doesn't give any clue who they are or where they're located, except that the unnamed designer was born in Europe and certified in Germany. Interestingly, one of the forms on the site points to a German site: https://www.ssl-id.de/designcrew.de/ which has exactly the same content as www.screendesigners.com. Hmm.
I ran a "whois" and learned that the screendesigners domain is registered to CRONON AG BERLIN, NIEDERLASSUNG REGENSBURG in Germany! Is the mayor unaware that there are some excellent web designers in Greenfield and even more in the rest of the Pioneer Valley? Why outsource the site to a foreign company??
Now I'm noticing the spelling errors on the "Visiting Greenfield" page. There's "resevoir" instead of "reservoir" and "beautifule" instead of "beautiful". "Subsuquently" for "Subsequently". And interesting to learn that "Francis" Goddard Tuckerman was a "port". That may be true, but I'm more interested in a poet named Frederick Goddard Tuckerman!
So, in the end, my review must conclude that this website is not ready for prime time. I can't really blame the Germans for misspelling English words and misidentifying American poets. But I do think the mayor and her team should feel embarrassed about not even proofreading the text, as well as not having a local do the work. And by the way, when does the new trash policy start?
UPDATE:
The site now lists "Jennifer Weno" as designer and "screendesigners.com" as the copyright holder. The www.screendesigners.com site shows the name "Peter Weno" in the source code, and that site is identical to www.designcrew.de, which lists "Herr Peter Weno" as "Kontact" on a German web directory. Apparently some kind of family business doing business in Germany. But "Peter" is not "Pieter", and "Jennifer" is a most American name. The mystery becomes clearer yet cloudier all at once.
Letter to the Recorder
Today I dashed off a letter to the editor at The Recorder after reading more about the city/town thing. I reused a few pieces of last week's post.
To the editor:
For some reason, Mayor Forgey and her personal lightening rod Ms. Marrocco have decided to make political waves by declaring Greenfield a city, which it technically is in the eyes of the commonwealth. But as Barbara Tillmanns pointed out in a letter to The Recorder, the charter expressly confers the name "Town of Greenfield" on the municipality.
Forgey and Marrocco already have dismantled "www.townofgreenfield.org" in favor of a citified web address; hapless visitors to the old site only get a message stating "No web site is configured at this address." No explanation, no link to the new site, nothing. Yet, dozens of sites on the web continue to point to the old address, including Yahoo!, The Recorder, the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Mass.gov).
The new website is lovely, but could someone explain how it will help Greenfield if no one can find it? In trying to make a point--that this decision has been made, and if you're not on board you're out of luck--the Disconnected Duo have only made things worse for Greenfield. Governing by decree didn't work with the bus stop, and it's not working here.
Importantly, the question of whether Greenfield should even change the charter remains to be considered. My dictionary defines city as "A center of population, commerce, and culture; a town of significant size and importance." Greenfield's population of 18,168 ranks it as the 100th largest city or town in Massachusetts, behind such powerhouse municipalities as Wareham, Somerset, and Milford (but dozens of residents ahead of Hudson, Norton and Rockland).
City? Come on. Boston is a city. Philadelphia is a city. Even Worcester is a city. I've lived in cities. Cities have been friends of mine. Greenfield is no city.
Sincerely,
Bill Denneen
Greenfield
