 I'm Evan Ross, and I'm running to represent District 4 on Amherst New Town Council. I'm a lecturer at UMass, a trained environmental scientist, and a democratic activist. I first came to Amherst seven years ago to pursue graduate school at UMass, where I researched the impacts of climate change on water resources. I stuck around, taking on a full-time faculty position at UMass, training science students how to talk about science to lay audiences. My goal is to produce scientists that can and do engage in the public discourse around science, especially about climate change. Before coming to Amherst, I worked in state government for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. I worked on invasive species issues, and it was this experience that shaped my view of public service. I worked with stakeholders and communities to identify and solve problems. I built coalitions across nonprofits and citizen groups and universities to develop new monitoring and management plans and start new citizen science initiatives, because I knew that tackling environmental challenges required bringing people together and thinking and working collaboratively. I learned through this experience that if we focus on our challenges, think creatively and work together, we can solve them. And this is the mindset I want to bring to Amherst Town Council. Amherst is facing a number of challenges, and I want to be part of the solution. My priorities are affordable housing, high-quality services, better schools, and a sustainable community. I've been a renter since I first moved to Amherst, and I know the struggles facing both student and non-student renters. Vacancy rates in Amherst are low, and rents are high. It's difficult for renters to find available, affordable, and acceptable housing. I know this problem. I've experienced it personally, I've grappled with it, and I know too how it affects our broader community. I've talked to folks on North Whitney Street and on Gray Street who worry about the changing character of their neighborhoods as family homes are converted into rental units. And I've seen how it affects Amherst School Enrollment as fewer and fewer young families settle in Amherst. We need to fix our housing problems, and we can do so by building up the rental stock, by utilizing tools that we have to ensure that new housing meets the needs of our low and moderate income residents, and by pursuing new options such as form-based code so that new development in Amherst fits with the historic character of our town. We need to fix our schools. We have great staff and teachers working hard, and I support the innovative solutions that Amherst Schools have pursued to deal with the changing demographics of our student body, like our dual language program that's proposed. But as an educator, I know that the physical classroom environment affects student learning outcomes. And in that regard, the Wildwood and Fort River School buildings are failing our students. We need new school buildings that provide suitable classrooms for all of our students, especially our special needs students. We need high-quality services. We need solid infrastructure, including roads without potholes and sidewalks that are maintained. And we need up-to-date facilities, including our library system and our public works building. But these cost money, and Amherst is already one of the highest tax towns in the region. We lean heavily on our residential taxpayers, and we cannot continue to increase property taxes to pay for these things. We need to expand our commercial tax base by promoting smart growth in our village centers to generate revenue, pay for needed services, and relieve some of the burden on our residential taxpayers. And finally, we need Amherst to be a sustainable community. We need public transportation and transportation options. We need to pursue complete streets so that folks can get around Amherst by bus, by car, by bike and by foot with ease. We need to conserve open space, and we need to protect farmland. And we need to both tackle and prepare for climate change. We need to continue being a leader in clean energy. But as we face more frequent summer droughts and more intense storms, we also need to build up our green infrastructure so that we're prepared for the impacts of climate change. These are my priorities. These are the issues that have driven me into this race. We are facing many challenges, but I believe if we work together, think creatively, and pursue new and innovative solutions, that we can tackle them. My name is Evan Ross. I'm running for Council in District 4, and I'm asking for your vote in the September 4th preliminary election and the November 8th general election. And if you want to find out more about me, you can go to www.Evan4, the number 4, Amherst.com. Thank you.