Amherst Forward Endorsement Questionnaire
Role.
Amherst has a 13-person Town Council that hires and works with a professional Town Manager (and, through the Manager, Town staff). What do you see as the role of a Town Councilor in this system?
The Town Council is the legislative body for the Town. As such, we are responsible for advancing the town through the creation and management of our bylaws and policies. A town councilor is driven by their vision, their hopes for Amherst. This vision impacts what that Councilor works on, whether it be writing new policy or looking at where things need to be advanced. The Council should be bringing forward new legislation as it sees appropriate and updating existing policy to continue to move our town forward. It also means building and sustaining relationships with our state and federal legislators to ensure that Amherst is at the forefront of their work and consideration. Regarding our role overseeing the work of the Town Manager, it does not mean taking on the executive duties of running the town or micromanaging, but does mean establishing strong goals to guide the work of the Town Manager and staff. It means staying abreast of what is happening, but also trusting staff to execute the policies we have built. We need a symbiotic relationship which is built on trust.
Relevant experience.
In addition to serving on the Council/as a School Committee member, what other experiences - including lived, professional, civic, and volunteer - shape your approach to serving on the Council/School Committee?
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My approach to serving on Council has been shaped by my prior experience on the Conservation Commission as well as the Community Preservation Act Committee. The ConCom (as it is affectionately called) is a regulatory body, it supported me in building my understanding of how to read and apply legislation. It also deeply built my understanding of how impactful community engagement is, and how it impacts outcomes of projects. My work on CPA supported by initial understanding of town finances, as well as the delicate negotiation of competing needs.
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Outside of service to the Town, my perspective is shaped by my experiences growing up in Amherst, although I do not believe that is a requirement of being an effective Councilor. I am shaped by the fact that my mother has worked in the schools here her entire career. Currently she is at Wildwood, serving the children of Amherst in a building that is molding around her. When I returned in 2016, I built a new relationship with Amherst. This new relationship has been shaped by my experience working to ensure I am able to stay in Amherst with rising tax bills due to the reliance on a relatively small tax base.
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In addition to my work on the Council, I have been fortunate to be involved with the Amherst Democrats, serving as a Convention delegate for several years. I have closely supported candidates running for state-wide office, ensuring that they are coming to Amherst and seeing what our needs are.
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Lastly, I am one of only a few current Councilors who holds a full-time job while serving on Council. This perspective is crucial, as I am regularly advocating for boundaries, and supporting the original vision of the role as one that is accessible to anyone who wishes to take it on. While I work in organization development professionally, and that certainly shapes my work with others, it is more so the fact that 40 hours of my week must be committed to my professional life and that beyond that, having a personal life and spending time with loved ones or just “lifeing” is what allows me to be a Councilor and bring my full self to that work.
Collaborative decision-making.
Individual Councilors represent their constituents in decision-making, but to be effective, they need to collaborate to get to a majority. Give an example of when you had to collaborate with others to solve a problem. What lessons learned would you apply as a Town Councilor (or have you applied if you currently serve as a Town Councilor)?
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There are several buckets of collaborative work in being a Councilor. One way is with constituents, or non-council committees who are advocating for change. I worked closely with the Energy and Climate Action Committee on crafting specific climate action goals for the Town Manager this past year, replacing broad text which did not ensure specific actions would be taken, with concrete and manageable steps towards our climate action goals. In that scenario I served as a gobetween, pulling both sides towards an agreeable solution, but not letting up where I felt there were nonnegotiables.
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I have worked with a majority of my fellow councilors on one initiative or another, and have found the collaborative process to be refreshing and generative. We each know the values we hold at the root of the issue, and when we are able to be flexible and seek to understand the perspective of others, a creative solution often emerges which retains the core values each of us hold. There is also collaborative work that happens outside of the creation of bylaws. I am often engaging with my fellow councilors one on one outside of meetings to seek their perspective and talk through issues in a generative way, which can be challenging to do in a group of 13 and in a public meeting. There have not been any issues in front of the council where I have not had discourse with at least one other councilor regarding their perspective.
Key town needs.
What do you see as the top 3 key areas the Town needs to make progress in? How would you plan to help progress happen in those areas?
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In no particular order, three key issues I believe Amherst must make progress in are climate action, infrastructure, and advancing housing accessibility. There are, of course, a much longer list than these. With regard to housing accessibility, as a Councilor I have voted in support of affordable housing projects such as those planned for Ball Lane and the repurposing of the VFW. I also co-wrote legislation in support of attainable (aka market rate) housing access which would place a property transfer fee, regulated by bylaw, on property transfers over 200% AMI, and those which will not be the owner's primary residence. This bill, which is currently awaiting approval at the state level, would provide a steady source of funding for the Amherst Area Affordable Housing Trust, as well as incentivise owner-occupant property transfers. This also supports infrastructure (the second key need), as the remainder of the funds would be divided up with one recipient being our general fund. Our town's infrastructure needs both on a “roads and bridges” level and a major capital projects level can seem daunting. As a Councilor, I have voted in support of both the Jones Library and the Elementary School Building Projects. I support following through on the original four building projects plan, and have been endorsed by the Firefighters Union, largely due to my advocacy in moving forward the new fire station. With regards to “small” infrastructure, I supported the Council President in writing testimony pushing for increased Chapter 90 funds from the state, and have supported budgets and goals for the town manager which see an increase in this spending. Lastly, climate action. I served for a year as the liaison to the ECAC, and worked closely with them to incorporate specific climate action measures into the Town Manager goals. I also recently introduced a measure for the town to adopt the Specialized Opt In energy code, pushing us to be a leader in climate action.
Council accomplishments.
What do you see as the biggest accomplishments of the Council in this term? This can include the way the Council functioned, its governance, and/or specific initiatives or needs the Council moved forward. For incumbents, what was your role in that success?
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While I do not know if other councilors would count them as “Council accomplishments”, I am incredibly proud of the legislation I wrote and passed this term, as well as the advocacy I was able to support. This includes the property transfer fee legislation, specialized opt-in code, and testimony in support of east-west rail. It also includes the addition of the Council Vice President to monthly meetings with our state legislators. This term, the Council has had a much larger voice in the State arena and I am proud of my work to get us there.
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The vote I am most proud of this term was the nearly unanimous vote for a debt exclusion override enabling the Elementary School Building Project. It was not a small vote, none of us took it lightly, and in voting as we did, moved the needle forward on the four building projects in a significant way.
Council shortcomings.
Where did the Council fall short this term? How do you think it could have done better? This can include the way the Council functions, its governance, and/or specific initiatives.
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At some point, we need to vote. We seek consensus and process to a fault, weakening bylaws and leading to months of what is effectively gridlock. As councilors, we need to compromise, absolutely. But that compromise needs to happen earlier in the process and in committees, not in full council meetings. There is a delicate balance between compromise and gridlock, and I do not believe this council has found it. To fix this, Councilors need to be more upfront with their “nonnegotiables”, and not be afraid to vote no, not be afraid to have something lose. The beauty of democracy is that our constituents elected us to vote on their behalf, and sometimes that means something fails. We need better management of the movement of legislation, with councilors bringing forward their concerns when something is first introduced, and not voting to send it to committee if they do not believe it is a good use of time, instead of waiting until it comes back to the Council for a final vote to suggest significant changes.
Motivation to serve. In 500 characters or less, what is your biggest motivation to serve as a Town Councilor/on the School Committee? (500 characters ~ 150 words)
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The work of serving on Council is trying to solve a puzzle of how to do the most good for the people who need it the most. The most good can look like prioritizing spending on roads and sidewalks, pressing forward with climate action measures, and ensuring that we are considering the impact of our legislation on the entirely of our population, not just those who know how to navigate the systems and structures to make their voices heard. When deciding whether to run for Council again, I asked myself whether I felt I was able to contribute to this and able to commit to putting that puzzle together again for two more years. My commitment remains strong and I know that if reelected, I will continue to bring a level-headed, prepared, and thoughtful approach to the work of the Council.