Questions for Amherst Town Council candidates
As Amherst enters another Town Council election season, facing many unique challenges of being the third smallest town in the U.S. with a flagship university (only URI and University of Maine are higher on the list), I hope we will be asking some unavoidable questions of our candidates, such as:
1. Amherst’s 40,000 population only includes 13,000 year-round residents, and our public schools are down by half. Do you see this as a problem?
2. Amherst’s taxes are 14th highest in Massachusetts, twice as high as other towns with 13,000 year-round residents. Meanwhile, the Town Council is discussing decreasing services. What would you change?
3. How (and how much) should Amherst’s leaders seek more public input?
4. What limits make sense to you, regarding building height, densification, more dorms on campus, student neighborhoods, etc.?
5. Is it good or bad that there’s so much non-local, corporate investment in student housing?
6. One-third of our roads are rated very poor (29%) or poor (4%), and cost $1 million per mile to repair — what is your plan to fix this?
7. It looks like rent control / stabilization might be on the ballot next year. Do you think that would help our affordability challenges?
8. Would you support a pause on building permits until we have responsible zoning?
9. Do you support a “residential exemption” that shifts more of the
property tax burden to non-owner-occupied properties, owned by private landlords (as in Somerville, Cambridge, Boston, Brookline, Chelsea, Marlboro, Nantucket, Somerset, Tisbury, Waltham, Watertown, and resort communities)?
10. How should we manage town/gown conflicts of interest (i.e. members on town boards that work for UMass in administration/planning and make town decisions that affect UMass)?
As we attend voter forums and house parties, please ask candidates for their views on these urgent matters!
Ira Bryck
Amherst