 Hi, my name is Jeff Lee and I hope that you residents of South Amherst will vote for me as one of your two Town Council representatives from District 5 on September 4th. I have lived on Southeast Street for 24 years, been a Pre-Sync 7 Town Meeting representative for 10 years, and currently am serving as a member of the Amherst Redevelopment Authority. Professionally I am a software developer and former local business owner. I am married and parent of an eighth grader at the Amherst Regional Middle School. Among the goals that I will pursue as Town Counselor are 1. Maintain top quality schools and continue improvements in student retention. This past year I was privileged to serve on the Amherst School District's Enrollment Working Group. It was a profound learning experience and call to action regarding the challenges that face our public schools. 2. Locate a fire station in South Amherst to improve response times. It's a public safety issue for District 5 residents. 3. Modernize the Department of Public Works facility. We all want good roads, sidewalks and bike lanes, and I believe that the DPW needs a more functional home. 4. Advocate usage and funding of local public transportation. I would like to see the restoration of a PVTA bus stop near the South Amherst Common. 5. Explore and promote opportunities for town-gown cooperation. One creative proposal that warrants further exploration is P3s or public-private partnerships that would enable private development of university housing and commercial units on state-owned land. 6. Adopt business and patron-friendly downtown parking meter hours. Extending-core downtown parking meter hours to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. has done more harm to our downtown than good. It is unwelcoming to visitors and places our downtown businesses at a disadvantage relative to Hadley's and Northampton's. I support rolling back meter hours to 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. 7. Work to constrain the property tax rate. This will require strong fiscal management and the pursuit and stewardship of alternate funding sources, such as local marijuana tax revenues. 8. Heed resident feedback. A robust public process has long been a hallmark of Amherst's government and iChampion active community involvement. 9. Promote a successful and equitable transition to the new form of local government. Let's build on Amherst's core values, the book and the plow, cultural diversity, social responsibility, and civic engagement. My name is Jeff Lee. I welcome any ideas and thoughts you may have concerning the challenges that confront Amherst. I invite you to join me for coffee any Wednesday morning between 8 and 9.30 at Atkins Farm Market to discuss your concerns. Visit my website at leeforamherst.org. And South Amherst residents, please vote for me in the local primary on September 4th and with your support in the general election on November 6th. Thank you.