Jones Library Consultant Amps Up the Vitriol
Photo: amherstma.gov
Few would attempt to assail the integrity and commitment to justice of former federal prosecutor and onetime President of the Jones Library Board of Trustees, Sarah McKee. McKee, an occasional contributor to the Amherst Indy, has served as general counsel to INTERPOL and has sat on the board of the Massachusetts Alliance Against Predatory Lending. A 2009 Washington Post story recounts how she discovered a long-forgotten book which she returned to the Arlington (VA) Central Library along with a check for $25 and a note of apology for the book being 30 years overdue. McKee is also a vocal opponent of the Jones Library demolition-renovation-expansion project.
McKee’s public arguments against the need for the $46.1 million project and her persistence in pointing out how project leaders have failed to comply with regulations requiring a review of adverse effects to a property listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places have not sat well with Jones Library Capital Campaign (JLCC) fundraiser Matt Blumenfeld. The Indy has obtained an email sent on July 17 to McKee by Blumenfeld that could rightfully be judged as toxic.
Sarah –
You are such a goddamned nuisance and not even an Amherst taxpayer anymore, so why don’t you just shut the hell up and leave Amherst alone and in peace.
The trouble you’ve caused with your years of falsehoods, willful ignorance, and malicious accusations has contributed significantly to the delay and increased cost of the Jones renovation and expansion. I suspect you are either incompetent or simply ill.
In particular, your constant haranguing of public officials has caused real harm and damage, both to the Jones project and to the town itself in the realm of state and local politics, and to Amherst taxpayers like me.
You should be utterly ashamed of yourself, and for the good of the Town you should simply cease and desist.
With absolutely no respect at all,
Matt Blumenfeld
Blumenfeld is understandably upset that escalating costs and increasing public criticism have backed the Jones project onto the ropes. He has advised the library on grant writing and fundraising since the feasibility of the expansion project was first explored in 2014 and has invested untold hours into its viability and defense. As principal of Amherst-based Financial Development Agency (FDA), he has helped raise millions of dollars for capital projects around the Northeast, including serving as capital campaign chair for the Holyoke Public Library renovation.
Blumenfeld is a past member of the leadership team of Amherst Forward, a political action committee that advocates for the Jones Library project.
Matt Blumenfeld earns a living as a professional fundraising consultant and remains active in the JLCC which has paid more than $393,000 in fundraising personnel expenses as of July 1. Whether Blumenfeld or FDA have earned a portion of these expenses is unknown, as the JLCC has refused a public record request to disclose details of the compensation it pays.
What is clear is that Sarah McKee’s vocal opposition to the Jones Library project has provoked Blumenfeld to make an angry personal attack that neglected to substantiate charges of “falsehoods” and “malicious accusations.” Vitriol in Amherst politics has been the subject of criticism since three members of the Amherst School Committee resigned over what they felt was undue hostility by members of the community upset by allegations of transphobic and homophobic discrimination among middle school staff.
Not Blumenfeld’s First Toxic Letter
Former Jones Trustees Treasurer Bob Pam attempted to tamp down the rhetoric over the divisive library project at a May 20 board meeting when, referring to another letter widely circulated by Blumenfeld, he said,
“A strong supporter of the library chose to ascribe project opposition and delays in a widely distributed support letter to mudslinging, falsehoods, and rumor mongering. Because the writer is also a consultant to the library it was taken as reflecting the views of the library, although he stated that he was writing only for himself. Frankly, his comments were destructive to the unifying values and the immediate interests of the library. It would be helpful if we, as a board, make it clear that we do not agree with such characterizations.”
Pam’s suggestion appears to have gone unheeded by the remaining trustees.
Sarah McKee, for her part, has responded to Blumenfeld’s nastygram with restraint.
Matt,
The Jones Library project has been in violation of the Massachusetts Historic Preservation Law since the Library Director filed her closing papers with the MBLC, in or about 2016, for its planning and design grant.
Given your profession, you yourself must know that this is so.
True, I no longer live in Amherst.
It is the one assertion you make that is factual.
Sincerely,
Sarah
It is appalling that Matt Blumenfeld, a paid consultant working on behalf of the Jones Library, addressed a former Library Trustee President in such an unprofessional and egregious manner. Sarah McKee has been a thorn in Mr. Blumenfeld’s side only because she speaks truths about historic preservation that he has tried to hide from the public with PR spin. If Library Trustees have any integrity, Matt Blumenfeld will be fired.
Or if the boxing allusion (“… backed the Jones project onto the ropes…”) were taken seriously, at least metaphorically, then those who throw punches should be careful getting into the ring with those who might punch back:
https://www.techopedia.com/gambling/blog/10-boxers-who-died-in-the-ring
This unfortunate interaction perhaps can be seen as the mere tip of the iceberg of the collective anger being felt by supporters, like me, of the Library Plan, who simply disagree with the continual negative drumbeat on the pages of this website. Most of us try to keep those feelings to ourselves. Some of us do so because we hope that sometime, before our lives are done, we will no longer live in a town marked by perpetual, grinding conflict on just about every municipal topic under the sun. I must admit that I personally see such hopes flickering away. I’m exhausted by the constant combat.
I would have thought that Richard Morse might agree that disagreement and opposition are fundamental to democracy and civil society but that vitriol is something else. that undermines disagreement and civility. Mr. Morse has found opposition to the Trustees’ plan aplenty in The Indy, and he and other supporters have availed themselves of the Indy’s comments section to complain about it.
Wouldn’t it be remarkable and wonderful, though if supporters and opposers talked to each other and used the Indy as a forum for vigorous civil disagreement. Opposers of the project have filled the Indy with coverage of Trustee Meetings, with facts, figures, projections and a steady stream of information that has not once, to my knowledge, been challenged or corrected. Just complained about. Mr. Morse is right; it is fatiguing.
I am truly puzzled by Richard Morse’s comment. If you don’t like what you are reading in the Indy don’t read it. And by the way, the publication is called The Amherst Indy — Critical, Progressive, Independent. It’s right there in the banner. The first word is “Critical”.
Sarah McKee has been warning that the library would end up in this situation for years. And she was right! She didn’t make the rules, but she knew what they were, and she understood clearly what the consequences would be. But those in charge at the Jones chose to ignore this information, which was offered to them freely and for their benefit. And now that they have found out that the rules do indeed apply to them, they are taking out their anger on the person who tried to keep this situation from happening. Are we surprised?
Dear Mr. Morse,
I have always tried to be civil as well as accurate.
Do I take it that you’re willing to foster serenity here by civilly encouraging the Jones Library Trustees and the Town government to comply with the Massachusetts and, now, federal Historic Preservation Laws that apply to their Jones Library demolition/expansion project?
Both of their state grants and both of their federal grants depend on this. It’s at least a thought.