 Hi, I'm Darcy Dumot and I'm running for Town Council in District 5. District 5 is all of South Amherst, also known as Precinct 7 and 8. If you vote at Munson Library or Crocker Farm School, I'm especially interested in talking to you. As a single mom, I moved to Amherst from Boston in 1995 to be closer to my parents and to enroll my two kids, Elizabeth and Aiden, in the fantastic Amherst Public Schools. They attended Crocker Farm in the middle and high schools. I live in a small solar powered house on Ponview Drive. Because I'm so concerned about the climate crisis, I do everything that I can to live sustainably. It's an advantage that I've never been part of town government. I haven't been mired in the various divisive town campaigns. I have a lot to offer the council, my expertise in legislation, my passion for accessible open government, and my vision for Amherst as an affordable, innovative community for all. As far as experience, I've worked as a lawyer, a grants administrator, and a teacher of art in fifth grade in Holyoke Public Schools for 17 years, including working in the very stressed downtown schools. I lobbied for mental health and climate legislation on the state level. Since retiring five years ago, I've worked as a volunteer climate advocate. I'm on the steering committee of Climate Action Now and co-chair the legislative work group and work very closely with mothers out front, Pioneer Valley. I helped write and pass Amherst Model Zero energy bylaw and several town resolutions to move us toward a clean energy economy. I'm running because I want Amherst to model municipal leadership that will counter some of the backward policies at the national level. I'm running because I have knowledge and proven leadership to make Amherst a model of environmental sustainability. That's what basically sets me apart from other candidates. For example, I'm very excited about a new adventure I helped start called Community Choice Energy Plus. We're joining with other towns to consider creating local renewable energy. The goal is to dramatically reduce our carbon footprint and to lower energy costs. This will be good for the town, businesses, homeowners and renters and would basically be energy democracy. One of my first acts as town councilor will be to vote to authorize this. I'm also running because I'm concerned that high property taxes make it difficult or impossible for low and moderate income people to rent or own in Amherst. Because of that, I'm committed to finding ways to broaden our tax base. But I want to be clear that I won't be pledging to fast-track building proposals on behalf of developers. That's why I didn't answer the questionnaires sent to all of the candidates by Amherst forward. What I will do is work hard with my colleagues to come up with sustainable and equitable solutions and will make sure we maintain the character of our community. I'm running to be a strong advocate for racial and social justice in our town council too and to continue our commitment to welcoming immigrants and refugees. As district five councilor, I'll do my homework. I'll be responsive and accessible. I know how our excellent schools are top priorities for district five residents and will promote increasing affordable housing. I'll listen and I'll ask the hard questions. I'll have a lot of conversations with my constituents about new town buildings including plans that would affect Crocker Farm School and our other elementary schools. There are groups working on this and I'm looking forward to seeing the results of their studies. I'm very much in support of the plan for a new zero energy fire station which will be in South Amherst and I also support a better DPW building which is much needed. I would support revisiting proposals for village centers at Atkins Farm and Pomeroy Lane if constituents are interested in doing that. And I'm interested in partnering with Hampshire College and the Hitchcock Center in any of our South Amherst projects. Since I only have five minutes in this video to tell you about myself please visit my website at DarcyForDistrict5.org to find out more about what I stand for as your District Five counselor. Please vote for Darcy Dumont for Town Council District Five on September 4th. Thanks very much.