 Hello, my name is Alyssa Brewer. I am one of your five select board members. I hope you will vote for me as Counselor-at-Large for Amherst's first Town Council. First, some information on this unique election cycle. When you go to your usual voting precinct for the Town of Amherst preliminary election on Tuesday, September 4th, or complete your absentee ballot if you're likely to be away the day after Labor Day, you will be offered two separate ballots. One will be the usual, even-year, Democratic or Republican Party primary ballot for State Representative, State Senator, Secretary of the Commonwealth, Governor, etc. Primaries do matter, so please vote. The other will be the Town preliminary ballot for Town Council. Most of you will see two races on that Town preliminary ballot of Tuesday, September 4th, one race for three counselors-at-Large and one race for two district counselors. That's because the purpose of the Town of Amherst preliminary election on Tuesday, September 4th, is to narrow the field of candidates from a total of 33 throughout Town to a total of twice as many candidates as seats. Since there will eventually be 13 Town counselors, this Town of Amherst preliminary election will narrow each district's field to four seats and the at-large field will be narrow to six. At the Town of Amherst preliminary election on Tuesday, September 4th, you will vote for three at-large counselors and two district counselors, and then when those Tuesday, September 4th results are tallied, the highest vote-getters, four candidates from each district, six candidates at-large, will appear on the Tuesday, November 6th ballot, and you will then again choose two district and three at-large. So please plan to vote Tuesday, September 4th. You must be registered to vote by Wednesday, August 15th. Go to AmherstMA.gov for more information. I am one of seven candidates for three at-large seats. I am running because our community needs experienced, passionate, proven leadership at this historic moment in local governance. I have served in Townwide Elected Office for 16 years and can bridge the transition to a constituent-based legislature that incorporates far more than 13 people's views. My website, elissaforamherst.com focuses on three areas, local economy, transparent governance, and proven leadership. I hope you'll check it out along with my campaign Facebook page, Elissa Brewer for Town Council. My family has grown up in this amazing community over our 20 years here. We value all the things that make Amherst special and yet we know everything is not sunshine and unicorns. Change is happening and we need to manage change proactively and effectively to support the things we cherish most. We've certainly been divided on any number of issues before and identifying a clear path forward to simultaneously seek new revenues, preserve vital services, and control spending has been challenging when our residents feel they are not fully represented in the legislative or executive branches. For example, the select board has been asking a number of town managers to provide a clear path forward to address our multiple delayed major capital projects, especially the elementary schools and South Amherst fire station, as well as library and DPW needs. While the select board and finance committee have known for some time how the financing numbers add up, it's become very clear that we haven't yet engaged our entire community in a successful conversation. We can't spend without having a way to pay for it and we can't just keep asking taxpayers to dig deeper. We can't underfund regular maintenance of town buildings and our shared public spaces. In addition to having two children graduate from the now closed Marks Meadow neighborhood school, my PTO and school council service there, I also served five years on the elected Amherst and Amherst Pellum regional school committees. We need 21st century facilities for our pre-K12 students. Paying more and getting less for a dwindling school age population is a threat to our quality of life. Our new town council needs counselors who have a record of crafting workable solutions by continuously building and rebuilding coalitions with a variety of people around different issues. The purpose of town governance is not to stop things that don't seem quite perfect. It's to pursue the things that our residents value. Please contact me through the campaign website, alissaforamherst.com. Please vote for Alissa Brewer at large on Tuesday, September 4th and thank you for your time and thank you Amherst media.