OCA RECOMMENDS SEVEN APPOINTMENTS TO ZBA

The Outreach, Communications and Appointments Committee of the Town Council (OCA) interviewed seven applicants on Thursday evening (4/16) for three vacant positions on the Zoning Board of  Appeals (ZBA) and three potential openings for associate positions on the ZBA. When all positions are filled, the ZBA  has five members with full voting rights along with up to four associate members who can fill in if a voting member is recused from deliberating or in the event of an absence or vacancy.

Steven Judge and Joan O’Meara were the only remaining full members on the committee.  They were elevated from associate status last year.  Sharon Waldman and Tammy Parks are currently associate members and are up for reappointment in June 2020.  Parks indicated her interest in becoming a full member, and Waldman wished to remain an Associate. Other applicants were Peter Berek, an Amherst College English Professor who had previously been Dean of Students and Provost at Mount Holyoke College; Robert Greeney, Physics professor at Holyoke Community College; actor and director Keith Langsdale; systems analyst Dillon Maxfield; Craig Meadows, owner of CTI Energy Services; Tammy Parks, Financial Assistant at Hampshire College; and Family Law Attorney Sharon Waldman.  (Note, information about job titles was obtained via Google as no background information was provided about the candidates and no questions about their background were allowed.)

The meeting was conducted via Zoom and was recorded and is currently accessible from Amherst Media.  All members of OCA were present for the session. They include Councilors Evan Ross (District 4), Chair,  Alisa Brewer (at large), Darcy Dumont (District 5), George Ryan (District 3) and Sarah Swartz (District 1).

The interview process consisted of Ross asking each candidate five questions, rotating among the candidates so that candidates answered in a different order with each question.There was no opportunity for the committee to ask clarifying questions.  Each candidate’s answer was supposed to be limited to three minutes, though this limit was not rigidly enforced. All candidates were visible on screen except for Craig Meadows who connected only with audio.  Following the questioning, candidates were “dismissed” from the session and the Councilors continued to broadcast their deliberations. 

In the committee’s deliberation, Ross brought up that Maxfield had been nominated by the Town Manager to serve on the Board of License Commissioners shortly before the interview process but had elected to stay in contention for a position on the ZBA as well, saying he felt he could fulfill the obligations of both positions. 

Langsdale had served on the ZBA for a total of seven years in the past, last serving in 2019.  GIven the short tenure of everyone else on the committee, several Councilors felt that Langsdale’s experience would be valuable and that the general preference to limit candidates to two terms or six years, should not be applied in this case.

In the end, all candidates were offered positions.  Parks and Maxfield were nominated for three year terms as full members.  Langsdale was nominated for a one year term as a full member. Berek, Greeney, Meadows and Waldman were nominated for one year terms as associates.  It is unclear when these terms will begin. All nominations need to be approved by the full Council, presumably at the April 27 meeting.