May Day! May Day!

I can't really quite believe that it's actually May already. The rainy and cold spring has not been pleasant, more like a cruel tease than a season of renewal. Even those hot, hot days we had in April had a touch of meanness to them, for being too hot, too soon.

But the leaves are sprouting on the trees at a furious pace and we're trying desperately to figure out what the kids will do this summer. And another sure sign of spring happens this weekend with the Jackson Street School Spring Gala. This is a great fundraising event that will take place on Saturday at the Northampton Center for the Arts. Good food, good people, and great items to bid on in the silent auction.

Of course, this fundraising comes during one of the worst years, budgetarily speaking, for the schools and the City of Northampton. Override talk has been growing steadily over the past few weeks, and tomorrow night the City Council will take its second vote on whether to put the override question on the ballot.

I'm not happy about the need for an override, mainly because I can't shake the feeling that we're all fighting over crumbs. The problem is much bigger than the budget gap the City faces right now--it has to do with how Massachusetts distributes local aid and how the biggest budget item the City has--the school system--is funded. But I'm going to vote for the Override, and as part of the Vote Yes! team, I will be encouraging you to do the same, because while an Override won't solve all of our problems, it will give us, I hope, more time and money to figure out a way to solve the problem.

Of course, it's always possible that someone will bid $6 million for the Look Park Family Pack that will be available at the auction on Saturday.