AMHERST — Increasing public investment in education, renewable energy, health care and transportation can enhance the regional economy without compromising the quality of life for residents or damaging the environment, candidates for 3rd Hampshire District state representative said at a forum Tuesday evening.
In a packed Town Room at Town Hall, the six Amherst residents seeking to succeed Rep. Ellen Story, whose district includes Amherst, Pelham and Precinct 1 of Granby, largely agreed on the need to improve the economy to benefit low-income and middle-class residents, and the many struggling with access to food and housing, but to always take actions keeping the environment in mind.
The forum was sponsored by the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce.
Solomon Goldstein-Rose, a former member of the Amherst School Committee and recent Brown University graduate, said he would like to make western Massachusetts a center for clean energy technology, observing that such initiatives could be developed at the University of Massachusetts, creating jobs and making the campus a place where patents are developed and sold around the world.
“It’s something we can do as one state and one region of a state that will have an impact beyond our borders,” Goldstein-Rose said.
For Sarah la Cour, executive director of the Amherst Business Improvement District, the focus should be on what she calls “conservation development,” which means preserving aquifers, forests and farmland, but also ensuring there are places suitable for development.
“Identify those and make sure you understand what needs to be protected and conserved,” la Cour said.
Appropriate, balanced development, la Cour said, is vital to keeping the economy strong and the tax base diversified.
Amherst School Committee member Vira Douangmany Cage, who is also a member of the state Asian American Commission, said she looks to the Hitchcock Center for the Environment and the Kern Center, both zero-energy buildings on the Hampshire College campus, as ways to balance environmental stewardship and economic development.
“I think we need to promote that and do some ecotourism to look at our community as a model,” Cage said.
Bonnie MacCracken, who works as a professional property title examiner, said it is essential to not affect the environment to improve the economy.
“We don’t want to destroy our beautiful landscape here in western Massachusetts, that’s why it’s important we forge partnerships with not only the Five Colleges, but with our local community colleges,” MacCracken said.
In fact, MacCracken said residents could benefit from development outside the district, including in Springfield and Holyoke.
Eric Nakajima, former executive director of the Massachusetts Broadband Institute, said Massachusetts has been engaging in a robust and creative exercise to balance economic development with protecting the environment, and that he appreciates the state’s prioritization of transportation, such as high-speed rail, and workforce development.
“In short, we have a foundation for a better Valley and a commonwealth that can work better for all of us,” Nakajima said.
Lawrence O’Brien, a social studies teacher at Belchertown High School who formerly served on the Amherst School Committee, said he would encourage statewide zoning changes that promote mixed-use development, protects green space and focuses on development in village centers.
“I would say let’s prioritize small businesses that are green and environmentally friendly,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien said the regional economy is one based on the Interstate 91 corridor, not just the towns that make up the district.
O’Brien said there is a desperate need to increase Chapter 70 state aid for public schools to properly educate all students, in addition to having stable funding for UMass and community colleges, and job training programs. He would also increase funding for housing and food assistance.
Nakajima said his priorities, beyond protecting the so-called safety net programs, would be maintaining Chapter 70 funding, ensuring sufficient money for higher education and job training programs.
Nakajima added that he has witnessed a rise in xenophobia and racism, evident following the election of President Obama, that has created an atmosphere for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
MacCracken cited legislation she has helped pass that protects those in the military from having their homes foreclosed on, her advocacy for a commission on the status of women and her business experience.
“I’m the only candidate who is a small business owner,” MacCracken said.
Douangmany Cage emphasized her intent to focus on progressive values, protecting immigrants and people of color from a criminal justice system that can lead to wrongful convictions and criminalization of addiction.
She expressed concern for the $1.2 million Amherst is losing to charter schools and other districts for school choice students, and noted her support of legislation that would prohibit lifting the charter school cap.
La Cour said she will emphasize key economic generators for the local economy, including agriculture, arts and culture, and affordable education, and support for legislation that encourages developing renewable energy projects and protecting the water supply.
“Investing in these things is investing in our future,” la Cour said.
Goldstein-Rose said his campaign is focusing on reducing global warming and funding education that can benefit the regional economy.
“Environmental protection is essential to have a strong economy,” he said.
But the biggest long-term benefit to the economy is education, both colleges and local public education, he said.
“We need to be investing much more in them,” Goldstein-Rose said.
He would also advocate for single-payer health care that would improve the economic climate as businesses would no longer have to pay those costs.
