 Hello, I'm Dorothy Pam and I'm running for Amherst Town Council for District 3. I moved in 2010 with my husband Bob to become grandparents to our grandchildren, Oliver and Lily. And then I resumed teaching and I'm now an adjunct lecturer at Holyoke Community College. As a result, I know the full spectrum of ages in this community. I know the toddlers, their busy parents, the community of involved, educated, academics and artists. I participated in the co-festival and I know many of the dedicated students who are all around us here with our wonderful colleges in Amherst. I appreciate Amherst's historical, cultural, educational and social justice traditions. I love the varied residential neighborhoods mixing families, professionals and students creating community. But now Amherst is at a crossroads. Some of these community values are under attack. This infinite variety is being threatened with monolithic buildings that take up green space, block the sunlight and offer nothing in the way of affordable housing and community. If we don't commit to saving the heart of Amherst, it will be lost and we will become an anonymous town and anywhere USA with our distinctive history and culture dimmed. We must protect our social environment, our sense of community, our green spaces, our trees and our parks. Amherst must remain a town where people can walk on safe sidewalks, bike, shop, hike, immerse themselves in nature and practice and celebrate the arts. It is important that we build new elementary schools which reflect the educational research that shows that successful elementary schools are small. They are places where every child is known and loved, where brothers and sisters go to schools together, where there is fully funded pre-K education and parents find it easy to be involved in and to participate in the PTA. We must join together in funding new up-to-date buildings for the fire department and the public works department and to expand teen programs at Jones Library. I am an experienced and proven leader in community, political, artistic and educational activities. From teaching in Grenada, Mississippi and a Harlem Upward Bound Program to tenure associate professor at Uhenio Maria de Hostos Community College in the South Bronx to present day teaching as an adjunct at Holyoke Community College, I have worked with a diverse community of young people and created community. I have founded and run programs for seniors, youth in the arts and health fairs and successfully led programs to preserve historic community in Sunnyside Gardens and to fight for clean air and the end of polluting smoke. I was elected four times to serve the community as democratic district leader and state committee woman in Sunnyside Queens. I promise, if elected, to bring my independence, energy, creativity and conviction to fighting for social, educational and environmental programs here in Amherst. Thank you.