 Thank you again for participating for those of you who came in earlier for the first districts and for those of you who just come in, welcome. My name is Charlotte McLaughlin and I'm a member of the Franklin County League of Women Voters. The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan political organization whose mission is to encourage informed and active citizen participation in government. Tonight we're hearing from the candidates for the new Amherst Town Council. All the candidates have been given three open-ended questions in advance. These are based on questions we received from members of the community during our August forums. There will not be any opening statements, but candidates will have time to make short closing statements. Before we get started, I would like to thank the town of Amherst for the use of their timer, also the Amherst Schools for use of the facilities, and Amherst Media which is recording this forum for rebroadcast over the next two weeks. There is a timing clock up front here that will be visible for the candidates. You will also notice that there are some lights up here. When it gets to yellow, you have 30 seconds left, and when it gets to the red, I am going to have to stop you and move on. In the second segment, we will hear from candidates for the at-large seats on the town council who will appear on the ballots in all districts. They are Alyssa Brewer, Andy Steinberg, Jim Pistrang, Mandy Jo Hanneke, Bob Greeny, and Rob Custner. Candidates will need to wrap up quickly when they see that the clock is winding down, and I will stop you if need be. We ask that the audience silence their cell phones and remain quiet until the last closing statement. So, we are going to get started, and I am going to start with the first question, and that is going to go to Rob, and we are going to work our way to the left. The question is, the shift to a council manager form of local government is a big change for Amherst. What is one of your biggest concerns about the role of town council in this change, and what will you do to address this concern? Thank you for the question. Thank you for coming out this evening. It was a surprise to be chosen first if you figured out the alphabetical order. Think of the Society of Friends, first name basis. I wrote this in the very first League of Women Voters guide that one of the concerns I have about the new charter is that we have a curious or even disturbing conflation of the executive and legislative functions in the council, while the town manager and the department heads and staff will have the executive function of the town at their disposal. It's really the council that has the ultimate executive authority, and I think that requires us to be working on the council, the initial council, to find the appropriate balance, and I mean a balance in the sense of checks and balances on the role that the manager and the council play in guiding budgets, setting priorities for all the activities of the town that are within the council's purview. I think this balance of power issue is one that we're seeing nationally and seeing it locally play out. We need to be creating institutions within the council, committees of the council itself and committees of citizens to try to ensure that we continue to have full participation of the public in governing. Thank you. Bob? My biggest concern is that a council of unprecedented power will not be broadly representative of the diversity of this town and will not cultivate broad and meaningful participation and inclusion and decision making. The weak power of simply voting for councilors once every three or two years worries me. In the past two to three years, a radical irreversible trend in downtown development happened with little or no public input. In fact, the input I heard at public forums was contrary and in opposition to what is happening. As a councilor, I will unrelentingly insist that all major projects, policies and decisions are informed in a real and meaningful manner from the earliest stages and throughout the process and outcomes are fully inclusive of the collective wisdom of a highly engaged citizenship of this town. Thank you. Mandy Jo? So I'm excited about the possibilities presented by a new town council, especially with its ability to reshape how the government interacts with, communicates with and uses the feedback from the residents. We have an opportunity to rethink all aspects of how the legislative branch makes decisions that reflect the desires of the residents. So my biggest concern about this change is that the town council will fall back into previous processes that have been shown to leave some residents feeling left out of government. So I'm running to make sure that doesn't happen. I want to establish new ways of doing things, including where events are advertised, how government communicates to the public and with the public, and how the legislature includes residents in the decision making process. A few of the items I will push to accomplish are listservs that send out regular updates in plain English and potentially Spanish about the items being considered and discussed and voted on in the council, prompt publishing of the draft minutes so that before any next meeting the public can see what was discussed at the prior meeting. Recent informal and formal listening sessions with the public in many locations and at many times that work for students, families, workers, retirees, other constituents so that a respectful exchange of ideas can occur. A focus on transparency and inclusiveness will ensure that all residents have a voice in the decisions being made and also understand what factors were considered by the council in reaching its decision. Thank you. Jim? The town council will hold a great deal of power. Counselors must be willing to work with each other openly and when necessary be able to put aside personal agendas for the good of the town. Process matters. One of the biggest challenges of the new council will be to establish a process that is both fair and functional and establishing that process will be critical to the success of the new government. Residents must be heard in an equitable and respectful manner. Council agendas, deliberations and decisions must be transparent and follow agreed upon protocol while being responsive to voices from all segments of our community. I will advocate for an approach to receiving public comment and feedback that includes scheduling regular meetings at various locations in the five districts. The meeting should have clear agendas that are in sync with the council agendas and public meetings must be scheduled carefully to ensure that feedback is received by the council at an appropriate point in the decision making process. I will work with other counselors to create the rules of order to be followed by the counselor, by the council. All counselors must have an opportunity to be heard but the rule should also focus on getting things done in a timely manner. As town moderator I gained a deep understanding of the big picture, how things get done in town and the responsibilities of town staff boards and committees. I'm in a position to help guide the council towards a process that is both fair and functional. Thank you. Andy. The first council will have a considerable challenge to fulfill the mandate of the charter and the expectations of voters. There will be no precedents to follow, no established procedures. The demands of government are ongoing. Significant decisions have been held until the council is elected. Government cannot stop while the council organizes itself. The first council will need to leave this election process behind and work together for Amherst. The council must choose a president who can provide the leadership the council will require to be able to speak for the council in a town, work with the town manager to develop the agenda for the next six months and share meetings that allow expression and consideration of all relevant information and are efficient. Councils will need to respect each other and the collective value of their time. The 92nd limit for these answers shouldn't struck us about what we will be expected of us if elected. During the campaign we have talked about our visions for Amherst and our positions on issues of concern. As you assess us, I hope you will also consider whether the councilors you elect will contribute to the success of the council. Thank you. Annalisa. Thank you. One of my many, many concerns. One is that you may not have heard about is what accountability looks like. Town council's annual performance evaluation of the appointed town manager that's compliant with open meeting law is simply not going to be enough. Those performance evaluations, for example, haven't gotten the sidewalk and crosswalk build at Applewood. Having worked with six different town managers, I understand the difference between policy leadership, legislative powers and executive authority. The town council is not empowered to direct any town employees other than the town manager and the new clerk of the council, who is in fact likely to be part of an existing employee who is also under the direction of the town manager. The appointed town manager has been in charge of Amherst since 1954 and historically free to hire who he wants, when he wants and direct them as he sees fit. While the charter provides clear deadlines for the town manager to justify his department head and committee appointments in public, we're going to need to carefully construct exactly how the 13-member town council will decide whether or not to approve such appointments. Our friends in Framingham and Eastampton, which both have mayors, of course, they've struggled with their version of this process. What public input will be considered? And if no one needs to be appointed because all positions are filled, what real difference does the town council's opinion of the results of those departments make? Thank you, you all did very well with that. Moving on to the second question, there has been a lot of discussion of development in central downtown Amherst. For this question, we're asking you to consider areas that are not contiguous to downtown. Specifically, what options do you see for commercial development and affordable housing outside the center of town? What concerns do you have about these options? We're going to start with Mandy Jo and move to that end and then back around to this way. So Amherst's current zoning rules only allow commercial development in a very small portion of town. So my concern is whether these are the locations in town where our residents actually want development. Our zoning map and laws should be written to encourage specific types of development where our community wants those types of development. As many know, recently some landowners have been developing their properties under the current rules and some residents are quite concerned about how those rules may not be encouraging the types of development we want. It is time to look comprehensively at the zoning use map and decide whether it continues to meet our residents' needs and the master plan or whether there are certain areas that need potentially rezoned to encourage uses that better align with our town's commercial office and residential needs and desires. My priorities when looking at planning around town will be to figure out what our residents want and how we can write the rules to encourage that. The master plan did a great job of figuring out what the community wanted, which is development in the various village centers and commercial cores that already exist. It makes a lot of sense. We want the new housing to be near public transportation routes and near places where the residents in that housing can gather and shop without using a car. So what we need to do now is align the zoning rules with our residents' desires so that we do our best to encourage the right development in the right locations. Thank you. Bob? We strongly need a master plan forged and supported broadly by the town. The current master plan is a good starting place. This will be a good way for the new council to practice inclusion, participation, facilitation of constructive dialogue, and focusing the collective wisdom. This will be a good forum for building unity and community. It will create guidelines for how we want the downtown in areas not contiguous to downtown to develop. I expect there will be general agreement on the types of commercial development that are appropriate outside town and village centers. In my personal opinion, affordable housing is appropriate in both locations. Furthermore, I think there will be broad agreement that publicly funded student housing and businesses that cater predominantly to students are best placed in areas outside the downtown. The new housing projects would perhaps not seem offensive or controversial if placed in other locations. Thank you. Rob? Well, I'd like to start with affordable housing. I think the model that the Amherst Community Land Trust has been developing is one that we should use and complement to some of the more traditional models of larger affordable housing communities. This essentially means the purchase of affordability easements on single-family and duplex houses that already exist and that I think we can then include in the neighborhoods in a way that's organic and flexible and environmentally friendly. We should also, of course, incorporate public-private partnerships for larger projects, but I think these are complementary approaches and we should use them both, especially in the neighborhoods. Village-centered commercial development, the master plan calls for this. But it needs to be appropriately scaled. And it's great if it makes walkability possible, but it's not so great if it creates parking sprawl. I think all these need to be linked to neighbors that outlie those village centers with good, regular, reliable public transit. We have some of that already. We need to do better with that. And, of course, for people who are walking with crutches sometimes or in strollers and wheelchairs, we need to make sure they're good paths, even for those people on bicycles. And finally, I think we need to. Thank you. OK. Alyssa. We need to continue to be very thoughtful about placement of affordable housing and not locate it too far away from the services that any resident would need to access. Northeast Street is not contiguous to downtown, and a variety of folks are looking hard at the possibilities for affordable housing in or at the old East Street School across from Fort River School. With the right partner, East Street School could turn out to be an excellent site for well located affordable housing, perhaps for single room occupancy for extremely low income individuals with wraparound services, something we know we really need. Or for small families, all with easy access to the East Village Center businesses recreation and transportation. It is hard to know all the possible and best uses of the current Fort River School site, but that should not prevent us from moving forward on housing at the East Street School site. While it is more challenging to envision a partnership that would allow for appropriate commercial development, say where farming might be nearby and where town water and sewer are not yet available, for example, in North Amherstof 116, village centers throughout town still offer the same benefits of density of both housing and commercial space while preserving our many protected passive recreation and conservation sites, preventing sprawl, all those values identified by thousands of our residents over time. Back in 1973 in the SCOG plan, again in the master plan adopted by the planning board in 2010, we don't need to revise the master plan immediately, we need to start living with it. Thank you. Thank you. Andy. All of us have expectations of what we want from the town. We need commercial development in order to have the tax revenue to meet those expectations while not adding tax burden to homeowners. Village centers are the current logical locations for commercial development and mixed use buildings that include housing and commercial uses. There are more options for affordable housing so long as the size of the buildings do not overwhelm the surroundings and alter the character of neighborhoods. As noted by our colleagues who spoke from the district one earlier this evening, our most recent experience is the North Square at the Mill District. The developer met with neighbors and worked to design buildings and a plan that would address the concerns and be feasible. The project provided a play area and summer programs with the North Amherst library even before the departments were built. The developer asked the neighbors about what they needed, a place to buy healthy food was identified early on and the developer encouraged Atkins to open a satellite store. My biggest concern is that what has developed become an asset to the area. Communications throughout the process starting with the initial planning is essential. The developer needs to consider the concerns of people who live near to the development. They need to understand the economic and business considerations that will make progress possible. Thank you. And Jim. I believe that both commercial development and affordable housing are possible in areas that are not contiguous to downtown. The areas most suited for these purposes are those in our village centers which are located on transportation lines and have an infrastructure in place to support development and housing. One example of a possible project is the conversion of the East Street School to affordable housing. I fully support this project. The site is already owned by the town on a bus route and close to a commercial area. My concerns regarding commercial development and affordable housing in non-towntown areas are similar to my concerns for the downtown area. New development must fit into the current field of the neighborhood and should encourage foot traffic and community engagement. Regarding affordable housing, I would like to see a change in our zoning bylaws to trigger low-income set-aside requirements based on the number of units in the development. The new development of North Square and the Mill District in North Amherst is an example of a development outside of downtown that will provide commercial space, residential space, affordable housing, and tax dollars to the town. I hope to see other projects of this nature come before the town council for consideration. New development creates challenges and there will always be compromises necessary to meet the needs of both the development project and the surrounding neighborhood. The council must facilitate the process, making sure the needs are met and decisions are made that benefit the entire town. Thank you. The last question is, for this question, we're asking you to select one of your top priority goals for the new town council. What is that goal and how will you translate this goal into explicit town council actions? This time we're going to start with Andy. We'll move to this end of the table and then around. Okay, Andy, you want to go first? Thank you. The issues I most frequently discuss are the need for new facilities, maintaining our quality schools, providing quality municipal services, meeting our financial needs, and a planning process that leads to development that's appropriate for Amherst. What ties them together is the financial challenge confronting our town. My experience will help the council to meet it. By seven years on the finance committee, three as chair, five years on the select board, service on other finance-focused committees, and 26 years managing a regional non-profit service organization, provided the knowledge and skills needed to address our financial challenge. We need to plan budgets and our capital projects in the five to 10-year span, review and adjust the long-range plan annually, and avoid spending decisions on a whim. Finances, our expenditures, and revenues both require continuous attention. Amherst is considered a model for other communities in how we plan and manage our finances. That is why we have earned and maintained a AA plus rating from standard and pours. The cooperation and coordination among municipal departments, schools, and libraries strengthens all of them. Careful planning, sound management, and team effort of the council and town manager will allow us to continue to be a model for Massachusetts communities. Thank you. Alyssa. Individual town counselors will have very little ability to translate their goals unless they are capable of constantly building and rebuilding relationships. As both a long-serving elected official and as someone who was elected to town meeting less than a year after I moved here when I still had very small children, one of my primary goals is to effectively translate the charter's explicit structure into actual shared norms and new practices that meet our residents' evolving expectations for inclusive representation. Finding ways to connect various communities of interest to the discussions and decisions they care about must be our daily challenge before owning the decisions we make on their behalf. It's up to residents to enforce the expectation that these new constituent-based legislators will be fully informed of developing projects as proposed by staff and by other appointed and elected bodies like the school committee or library trustees before the legislators make a policy or funding decision. We need to fully leverage the year-round nature of this new constituent-based legislature that allows us to have well-prepared legislators say, this or that proposal isn't ready quite yet while not losing sight of timely opportunities that will benefit our residents. Our norms need to include constantly asking ourselves if we've heard from everyone who needs to be represented at the table and if it's now time to act. Thank you. Now we're gonna move to Rob. My top priority serving on the council is to bring consensus-building as an approach to governing. Multiple viewpoints need to be considered. All viewpoints need to be considered and respected and incorporated into our decision-making. While we can't always attain the perfect in our decisions, we should absolutely be striving for optimal solutions to problems. For a specific example, the reconstruction or renovation of our two largest schools should proceed in that fashion. I'm very happy to see that the Fort River Building Committee is working in that direction and they're considering a variety of options from which optimal plan can be derived. My experience serving not only in the select board earlier on the conservation commission and for a decade leading the transportation committee and more recently as the person leading the effort to reconstruct the neurotic rail trail, I think it's a good example of how I would govern using consensus-building. On the rail trail, we considered viewpoints from not only the entire town but throughout the Commonwealth. Many other communities were engaged in that. And although what we got may not have been perfect, all parties were happy with it. If you're ever out there, I think you will be too. I think what we wanna strive for is excellence in our decision-making. I hope to bring that to the council. Thank you. Bob. My top priority goal for the Newtown Council will be to diminish divisiveness and to increase inclusion, participation, and trust. To build unity and community. The wisdom of the many is always superior to the wisdom of the few. Given a fresh start, a substantially different form of government could go many ways. My goal is to assure that the power does not accrete unto itself and become insular and arrogant. We have all seen this happen even with good people. Committees that are broad and inclusive, such as the current school building committee, need to be established for all major initiatives. And those committees must interact widely and often with the town as a whole. Through public fora and other appropriate means, in this manner, it is my goal that the Newtown Council exceed in performance and outcomes our former select board town meeting governing structure. Thank you. Mia DiGio. So the town council, no matter what's gonna face a long list of the tax that are required by the charter to address in a very short timeframe. So it's gonna be the job of the town council to address those while simultaneously working towards other goals that aren't in the charter. One of my priority goals that needs to be worked on immediately for me is a comprehensive plan to address the major capital improvement projects in town in a fiscally responsible and timely manner. Reaching this goal will require working with a whole lot of people, including the school committee, the library trustees, the joint capital planning committee, town manager, finance director, other committees that have been formed, other town staff. The council's gonna need to obtain a lot of information to figure out a comprehensive plan. That includes at a minimum, the current state of the buildings, how long they can be operationally maintained and for what cost, a potential cost projections for estimates for new buildings, funding sources, among other things. The council will need to inform the public about their work and then seek feedback from the residents on their priorities in order to complete and then publicize a comprehensive plan to address the needs. Only then should the council begin to the work of actually funding the projects and putting shovels in the ground. I believe that by the end of the council's initial three year terms, at least one if not more of these major projects can be started. Thank you. And Jim. One of my top priority goals is that the council formulate a plan to manage and support our large capital needs and then implement that plan. The most critical capital projects are the elementary schools, a new South Amherst fire station, a new DPW facility and library renovations. There are many variables and moving pieces that must be considered. The plans to be put in place for these projects depend in part on factors that are outside of the control of the council. What the council can do is advocate for these projects, influence other boards and state agencies to move the projects forward and prepare the financial plans to support the projects when they become actual proposals. These projects do not necessarily need to compete with each other. Due to our reserves, borrowing capacity and excellent bond rating, we are in a position to fund multiple projects. When proposals are ultimately heard by the council, there must be a clear process in place for educating the public and reaching out for questions, opinions and comments. The proposals may be controversial, but my hope is that the council can take action to minimize the acrimony that we have seen in the recent past. This can be done by respectfully listening to comments, researching and answering questions with facts and deliberating in an open and transparent manner. My hope and vision is that when the council finally votes on these projects, the outcomes will be understood by all to be carefully determined and in the best interest of the town. Thank you. Each candidate now has 45 seconds for a closing statement. And this time we're gonna start right here on this side with Alyssa, and we'll go right down the row. She'll talk really fast. As you vote early over the next two weeks or on November 6th at your traditional polling place, please vote for experienced, passionate, proven leadership at this historic moment in local governance. The disadvantage of running based on your record in my case five years on the school committee and 11 years on the select board is that you have a record that people can read about, but it's also that you know very well that issues are never as simple as they appear. Our goals as individual candidates are useful signals, but what really matters is the ability to work together to pursue the things our residents value. Please read more about all of us at a variety of places, including at the league's website and elsewhere. And check out elicitlarge.com, vote elicitlarge, and thank you all for participating in our community this evening. Andy? It has been an honor to serve Amherst for more than 20 years, most recently as a member of the select board. I thank the voters that twice elected me to that board. I've been working to address the issues currently confronting us and we'll be doing so as a member of the select board until December 1. If you elect me to serve on the council, I will provide experience and continuity between our present government and the one that will take office on December 2. If I have that honor, it will be great to have 11 partners at least, 11 partners who are not on the select board with me and will provide the new energy experience and knowledge. All council will benefit from the experience of this campaign. Thank you. Jim? Thank you to the league and thank you to Amherst voters for taking the time to carefully consider all candidates. The new council must take prompt action to deal with our pressing needs. There will always be some who disagree with the outcomes, but there should be a broad belief that a fair and transparent process has been followed. My experience as town moderator has taught me the value of listening to and respecting all voices in town. And I believe that I can play a critical role in reducing acrimony and polarization while fostering an atmosphere of safety and trust. I hope that you will visit my campaign website at JimforAmherst.org to learn more about me, ask questions and send me your comments and that you will cast one of your votes for me in the upcoming election. Thank you. Mandy Jo? Thank you also to the league for sponsoring tonight's event. If elected, I will promote open, transparent and inclusive decision making that gives a voice to all of Amherst residents and keeps everyone informed of what's going on. My experience and leadership both in the government, including as vice chair of the charter commission and the community not only demonstrates that I can make it happen, but will serve the council well as it forges a new way forward. You can find more information about my positions on my website, votehanneke.org. Voting has already started. So please vote for me, Mandy Jo Hanneke during the early voting period or on November 6th for town councilor at large. Thank you. Bob? Unity and community, inclusion and participation. We are facing a radical and irreversible trend in downtown development. This should not continue unless the town as a whole desires this change. It is easy to say you will get used to it. You will learn to like it. The truth is soon, if not already, you will have no choice. Think positive. Think creative. Let us together build the town that expresses our highest values and captures. Thank you. Rob? It's nice to be the closer, especially tonight. Remember that neither baseball nor governing has no clock, but I have one. Look, I pledge to bring an independent, thoughtful, I hope consensus building vision to the council. And I wanna make sure that all of you, all of you way out there remain engaged in governing the community. We've had a wonderful system of committees and self-governance for eight decades. I hope we can make that transition to the council. I thank you all for coming out tonight. Hope you'll vote for me. Bring your friends, 10 or 20 of them. And thanks to the league for sponsoring this. Good night. Thank you very much. Thank you all for your participation tonight. We will now take a short intermission and resume at 8.05 with the candidates from district four and five.