Congratulations President Hexter!

From: Alisa Brewer
Date: September 18, 2007 6:17:53 PM EDT
To: Ralph Hexter (HAMPSHIRE PRESIDENT)
Subject: Fwd: This just in to the Gazette Newsroom / Hampshire president marries 27-year partner

Dear President Hexter & Mr. Kollmeier-

Congratulations on your marriage! I appreciate your willingness to take this step in Massachusetts when you didn't really "need" to do so. I am very happy for you both.

Take care,
Alisa

Alisa V. Brewer
who met President Hexter once in a small meeting in his office about Amherst's Master Plan process, Planning Amherst Together when she was chairing the Town's Comprehensive Planning Committee -- remember the "white, masculine" hand on the flyer?!? (below)

Begin forwarded message:

From: newsroom@gazettenet.com
Date: September 18, 2007 5:32:10 PM EDT
To: avbrewer@comcast.net
Subject: This just in to the Gazette Newsroom / Hampshire president marries 27-year partner

This just in to the Gazette Newsroom
Hampshire president marries 27-year partner
By Gazette Staff

AMHERST -- The president of Hampshire College announced to faculty and staff today that he quietly married his 27-year partner, Manfred Kollmeier, over the Labor Day weekend.

The marriage, made legal by the state of Massachusetts in 2005, is a first for higher education, according to college spokeswoman Elaine Thomas.

Hexter and Kollmeier delayed their announcement until they could share it with the college community, Thomas said.

A celebration with students will be held Wednesday on campus.

"We wanted to announce our marriage to our community first," said Hexter. "This is our way of celebrating Hampshire College, which so warmly welcomed us as a couple when I was named president in 2005, and of celebrating the state of Massachusetts and all those who helped it become a pioneer in recognizing and upholding the right of gay couples to be legally married."

Kollmeier said, "Ralph and I made a lifelong commitment to one another many years ago, so marrying is not about marking a new stage in our relationship. We feel it is important to exercise the precious right we have here to marry. Massachusetts should be the first, not the only state where this is possible."

Kollmeier, a native of Munich, Germany, is retired.

Hexter joined Hampshire in August 2005 as its fifth president.

FY09 Priorities

Here's the first emailed feedback the Select Board has received re: FY09 Budget Priorities. Please come to Town Hall Thursday September 20 -- yes, this week! -- to share and to listen from 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm. I'll post anything I get electronically without the sender's e-mail address and just showing first name last initial, so you don't feel like you've missed anything:-)
============================================

Sent: Monday, September 17, 2007 8:06:46 PM
To: Select Board

First, I commend you for the approach you are initiating this year. I believe we could save a great deal of time and energy during Town Meeting if we could spend more time up front ensuring that the Town Manager's budget was, in fact, prioritized.

I appreciate the difficulty of the choices that have to be made. Here is my input for your review and consideration:

I strongly believe that we have to stop trying to do public safety on the margins. We need to have an adequately-staffed force to respond to all manner of incidents, specifically UMass's out-of-control students. The police are overworked during the school year and do not have adequate resources to address other aspects of public safety, e.g., traffic enforcement, community policing, etc.

The fire/EMS is also chronically understaffed, and many times the first responders are college students, not professionals.

UMass needs to be forced into paying what it actually incurs; I suggest we start billing them in 18 months' time for actual costs, not some PILOT shell game like we do now.

We need to adequately fund the schools. All children are being short-changed, and the effects of the past four years are going to take many years to undo. The physical plant at Wildwood is appalling - it seems the school hasn't had cleaning or upgrade since it was built almost 40 years ago. And, the design is for an educational fad that failed, leaving kids in cramped, noisy, really dreadful "classrooms."

We need a staff position that addresses two issues on a full-time basis: economic growth/development and UMass relations.

We need to upgrade all major intersections in downtown - Rte 9/116, Amity/University Dr., Triangle/N. Pleasant. They can't accommodate the traffic they should, resulting in huge impacts to residential neighborhoods.

We need to actually cut some services. You decide which ones, but we can't keep funding everything on the backs of staff who are cut.

Thanks,
Phil J

Bring your priorities this Thursday Sept 20 7:00 pm

Town of Amherst

Press Release September 11, 2007

Select Board Schedules Public Hearing to Solicit Comment on Budget Priorities

Questions Regarding Press Release:

Gerry Weiss, Chair, Select Board - 413.259.3001
Laurence Shaffer, Town Manager - 413.259.3002

At its meeting of September 10, 2007, the Select Board of the Town of Amherst decided to schedule a public hearing to solicit input on community priorities for the upcoming FY 2009 Town of Amherst Budget. The public hearing shall be held as follows:

Select Board FY 2009 Budget Priorities Public Hearing
Town Room, Town Hall
4 Boltwood Avenue
Amherst, MA 01002
7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Thursday, September 20, 2007

The Select Board intends to deliver priority guidelines to the Town Manager prior to the creation of the Town Manager's budget and simultaneous with the fiscal guidelines established by the Finance Committee. The priority guidelines will be established, in part, from input received from members of the community. The Select Board's priority guidelines may then be incorporated into the Town Manager's budget proposal scheduled to be delivered to the Select Board on or before January 16, 2008. For those who wish to comment but are not able to attend the public hearing, written comments may be submitted on or before October 15th as follows:

FY 2009 Budget Priorities Public Hearing
Amherst Select Board
4 Boltwood Avenue
Amherst, MA 01002
Or: E-mail SelectBoard@AmherstMa.gov

Gerry Weiss, Chair, Amherst Select Board said, "It is very important that the Select Board receive public comment regarding priorities on the upcoming budget before the fiscal discussion of the FY 2009 budget begins. That will allow the Select Board an important head start in the budgetary process. It will also assist the Select Board in completing its obligation to fix policy prior to the Town Manager's budget. I hope that you will be able to attend the public hearing on Thursday, September 20th."

SELECT BOARD
Phone: (413) 259-3001
Fax: (413 259-2405
E-mail: SelectBoard@AmherstMa.gov