Following a recent canvassing shift to inform voters about our upcoming local elections, one of our volunteers reported a funny encounter when she knocked on a neighbor’s door. Her neighbor came to the door and said, “I’m sorry about my dogs barking — they’re just talking politics.”
There’s a lot of divisiveness in American politics right now, and Amherst is not immune. Some in our small town have fallen prey to the kind of mean-spirited tactics and public shaming that make many people recoil from politics. But the way we see it, most Amherst voters want a community that works together to make things better for everyone.
One thing was clear at the recent League of Women Voters forum for town council candidates: most Amherst residents agree about our town’s top challenges. Voters repeatedly point to unsafe roads and lack of sidewalks, failing public buildings, lack of affordable housing, and poor civic engagement as critical problems that must be addressed. We agree, and know that these serious challenges will take a lot of hard work to overcome.
According to Rent.com, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Amherst is about $2,200; more than 56 percent of renters pay 35 percent of their income on rent. Bad decisions made many years ago around zoning and housing development have contributed to our town having one of the highest average rental rates in the commonwealth. The result is that many local families are on waitlists for affordable rentals that are years long and cause much hardship.
Our middle school and high school have leaking roofs that pour water into libraries and hallways, cramped and outdated classrooms, and failing heating and cooling systems. Last spring, Amherst voters passed a debt exclusion for a new elementary school to replace two failing buildings, but our other schools will soon need attention, too.
Our missing sidewalks and crumbling roads force pedestrians to walk warily alongside cars swerving to avoid giant potholes. Residents across town have filed petitions to repair and replace crumbling roads and parks in their neighborhoods but there are no quick or cheap fixes. We need long-term planning and political will to make actual change happen.
These are the issues affecting many small towns across America, of course, as infrastructure and building costs increase and traditional funding sources dry up. But in a progressive community like Amherst, the lack of well-maintained public infrastructure is a violation of principles we all hold dear and betrays our equity and sustainability goals. These problems are reducing the quality of life for families at all income levels now as well as the health and well-being of our town in the future.
Over the next five years, our federal government will commit approximately $9 billion to Massachusetts so that we can transition to clean energy and upgrade our infrastructure. An estimated $373 billion in federal credits, loans, and grants have been made available through the Inflation Reduction Act, and Massachusetts was the first state to launch a Green Bank dedicated to leveraging those funds to build more affordable, decarbonized housing.
Here in Amherst, we need local elected officials who will bring their best selves to council, committee, and trustee meetings to explore all funding options and work on solutions for our urgent problems together. Electing optimistic, creative, and experienced individuals to solve these problems is critical.
Thankfully, there are talented and experienced candidates running for local office this fall who are also diverse across gender, sexual, racial, and economic spectrums. All candidates should be commended for stepping up to offer their time and energy in service to their community.
When we look at Amherst, we see a community that cares deeply about our schools, our libraries, our natural environment, and the protection of individual and collective rights. A few individuals predicted less civic engagement with our change of government in 2018, but that has not been the case. While we still have a lot of work to do, we now have a healthy electoral system with active campaigning by candidates, wherein they must share their ideas and experience with the electorate if they want their votes. This is real democracy and we are here for it.
This election, let’s not allow NIMBYism and conspiracy mindsets to take over our civic engagement. Let’s not create a local government that no one wants to participate in for fear of name calling and bullying. We have a lot to be positive about so instead, let’s turn out to vote for optimism and collaboration. We don’t have to agree on the exact solutions, but it should be easy to agree that we will work toward solutions together.
Katherine Appy is an Amherst parent and former chair of the Amherst School Committee. Adi Heller is an alum of Amherst public schools and a parent. Both are members of the Amherst Forward leadership team.