AMHERST — An appointment process that has been shrouded in some secrecy since beginning under the new town charter in late 2018 will become more transparent when three residents are publicly interviewed for a seat on the Planning Board Wednesday evening.
While the names of those who have applied for specific boards and committees, including the Planning Board, will continue to remain confidential, the Outreach, Communication and Appointments subcommittee of the Town Council is beginning a new process in which finalists will be interviewed at a public meeting.
The three candidates to be interviewed, starting at 6 p.m. at Town Room at Town Hall, are Douglas Marshall, Jacob Hirsch and Robert Greeney.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the subcommittee is expected to make its recommendation to the Town Council for which applicant should fill the seat left open by the resignation of Pari Riahi. The appointment will bring the panel back up to its full seven members.
Previously, there was a controversy in the appointment process last May when three incumbents and newcomer Janet McGowan were installed on the Planning Board, meaning that Gregory Stutsman, its previous chairman, was left off.
Because town officials consider community activity forms as personnel documents, it was not known publicly whether Stutsman had applied or was interested in remaining on the Planning Board.
Before the adoption of the charter, appointments to the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals were made by the town manager, with interviews conducted out of the public eye. The Select Board would then decide whether to ratify these appointments.
The councilors who are part of the outreach committee will ask questions provided in advance, but there will be no public comment Wednesday.
Greeney, a physics professor at Holyoke Community College, said Monday that he would like to serve so the Planning Board can be both a regulatory agency, overseeing projects that come for site plan review, and a visioning panel.
Greeney, who ran unsuccessfully for Town Council in 2018, has stated previously that the mixed-used buildings being constructed in Amherst center are causing “radical and irreversible” changes.
He said that Amherst’s small-town charm can be preserved through though collective wisdom.
“I can bring a perspective that needs to be more present,” Greeney said.
Efforts to reach the other candidates on Monday were unsuccessful.
Hirsch, surface analysis facility director for polymer science and engineering at the University of Massachusetts, was active in town affairs several years ago when The Retreat student housing was proposed for woodland in the Cushman section of town, a project that was abandoned.
At the time, Hirsch said the town shouldn’t adopt rezoning to benefit developers, but should aim any rezoning toward helping those who buy their own homes.
Marshall, a project planner in campus planning at UMass, is a registered architect.
Marshall served on the University/Town of Amherst Collaborative, an advisory council to the UMass chancellor and Amherst town manager on topics such as identifying sites for mixed-use development, creating a so-called ”anchor strategy” that encourages UMass spinoff businesses to locate in town, creating public-private partnerships that lead to taxable housing on state-owned land, and creating incentives for faculty and staff housing to be built in Amherst.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
