OCA CONDUCTS PUBLIC INTERVIEWS – NOMINATES DOUGLAS MARSHALL FOR OPENING ON PLANNING BOARD
The Outreach, Communication and Appointment Committee (OCA) implemented its new public interview process for candidates for Town Council appointed committees for the first time on Tuesday January 22. Three candidates for a vacancy on the Planning Board were interviewed as a group in a public forum in the Town Room of Town Hall. The interviews will be broadcast on Amherst Media at a future date.
Robert Greeney, a physics professor at Holyoke Community College (HCC), Douglas Marshall, an architect and member of the University of Massachusetts Campus Planning Department, and Jacob Hirsch, a member of the University of Massachusetts Polymer Science Department each answered seven questions posed by Councilor Evan Ross (District 4, OCA chair). The candidates had received the questions prior to the interview and were able to prepare answers. Each response was limited to three minutes.
Following the Public Forum, OCA voted 4-0-1 to recommend to the Town C0uncil that Marshall be appointed to the Planning Board. Councilor Darcy DuMont, (District 5 ) abstained. Ross, George Ryan (District 3), Alisa Brewer (at large), and Sarah Swartz (District 1) voted for Marshall. The deliberations are discussed in the OCA report to the full council . The Council will vote at their next meeeting on January 27.
The process was efficient with the public forum beginning at 6 PM and ending at 6:45. No public comment was allowed. Several councilors and two Planning Board members were present in addition to a few members of the general public.
When asked why he wanted to join the Planning Board and what experience he would bring to the board, Greeney stressed his long tenure in Amherst in 1980 and his involvement in numerous organizations, such as Town Meeting, Mudpie Potters, and the North Amherst Community Farm. He participated in planning at HCC as well. He has also run for several offices such as School Committee, Select Board and Town Council. He said that as a scientist and artist he is both practical and visionary. He listed a special strength in finding common ground among those with diverse points of view.
Marshall was an architect in Boston working mainly on university projects for 25 years before moving to Amherst in 2010 to join the UMass Planning Department. He has a special interest in LEED design and living buildings. He was also chair of the building committee for the Hitchcock Center, net zero building, and participated in the renovation of the First Churches of Amherst. He also served on the University-Town of Amherst Collaborative (UTAC) when it was active. He stated that as a relative newcomer to Amherst, he sees both the strength of the town and the discrepancy between how long-term residents view it and what actually exists. He cited new construction in downtown as inhibiting the vitality of the town in the eyes of some citizens. He recommended a public process and transparency to illuminate how planning decisions are made.
Hirsch was the organizer and president of Save Historic Cushman which successfully fought the building of The Retreat, a development meant to serve 800 students, in North Amherst. He emphasized the difficulty of opposing one of the most powerful landowners in town, W.D. Cowls,Inc. They had to find an attorney from eastern Massachusetts to represent them. The project was withdrawn before the Planning Board could rule on it. He also has served on many committees and with faculty union leadership at the University of Massachusetts. He mentioned the lack of parking in downtown as inhibiting the vitality of the businesses in the town center. People go elsewhere to eat and shop because of the scarcity of parking downtown, he said.
The last two questions of the seven asked were “Can you work within the dictates of the open meeting law?” and “ Are you comfortable with the time commitment and meeting schedule entailed in being a member of the Planning Board?” Hirsch and Marshall answered briefly with “Yes” to these questions. Greeney indicated that he strongly supported the open meeting law and would push for more public comment time and posting of video recordings and minutes in a timely manner. He also said he would be willing to put in additional time to work on the revising and implementation of the Master Plan and on engaging citizens.
Before the interviews, Ross outlined the process leading up to the open group interview process. He stated that the opening on the Planning Board was posted on the town web site at the end of October. Between then and mid December, he contacted all people who had applied to be on the Planning Board in the past two years to see if they were still interested. From that pool, the three candidates remained.