Their Move Out of Town Was Guided by Their Commitment to Amherst?

It's hammer time in Amherst. Larry Kelley is merciless on anyone who has the temerity to be elected to town government. His latest victim are a couple who serve on the selectboard but who have bought a house in, gasp, South Hadley. Anne Awad and Robbie Hubley also own a condo in Amherst, but just plunked down $310,000 for the bigger house in the neighboring town. In newspaper letters to the editor, the pair claim that they are being hatcheted by the press, and say that they are still great servants to the Amherst voters who elected them.

But Kelley will have none of that. He looks up the fine print of the mortgage application from Florence Savings Bank and finds that the document forces the couple to assert that the South Hadley home is their primary residence. Kelley publishes a photo of the letters to the editor showing the couple's lame excuses...and also publishes photos of the Florence Savings loan applictions and quotes from the text, showing that something is amiss here.

I agree, I think that if anyone on Deerfield's selectboard moved to Sunderland and then claimed to still be residents of our town, we'd all laugh at them. But in true 'slain with one's own sword' style, here is the quote that the couple printed in the letter that makes no sense whatsoever.

"We are legal residents of Amherst. Our decisions about moving to South Hadley will be guided by our commitment to the community of Amherst." Huh?

Awad and Hubley deserve all of the flack they are getting when they print this silly statement in the paper. I predict that they will not be selectboard members very much longer.