Finance Director to Serve on Building Committees, 25 Reappointed to Boards, Commissions, and Committees

In memos to the Town Clerk dated July 9, 2024, Town Manager Paul Bockelman nominated Town Finance Director Melissa Zawadski to fill openings on the Jones Library and Elementary School Building Committees, and 25 people as reappointments to town boards, commissions, and committees. The nominations were unanimously approved on the consent agenda of the Town Council at their meeting on July 15.

Zawadski assumes the positions previously held by Temporary Town Co-Finance Director Jennifer LaFountain and her terms will continue for the length of the building process.

Reappointments (date following names indicates concluding date of the appointment)

Affordable Housing Trust:

•   Allegra Clark – June 30, 2026

•   Grover Wehman-Brown – June 30, 2026

Board of License Commissioners:

•   Marian Walker – June 30, 2027

Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee:

•   Suzanne Schilling – June 30, 2027

Community Preservation Act Committee

•   Timothy Neale – June 30, 2027

Community Safety and Social Justice Committee

•   Debora Ferreira – June 30, 2027

Conservation Commission

•   Andrey Guidera – June 30, 2027

•   Michelle Labbe – June 30, 2027

Cultural Council
•   Eleanor Walsh – June 30, 2025

• Christy Anderson – June 30, 2027

Energy and Climate Action Committee:

•   Donald Allison – June 30, 2027

Historical Commission:

•   Antonia Brillembourg – June 30, 2026

•   Mikayla Rasnic – June 30, 2027

Human Rights Commission:

•   Rizwana Khan – June 30, 2027

Local Historic District Commission:

•   Nancy Ratner – June 30, 2027

•   Elizabeth Sharpe – June 30, 2027

Munson Memorial Building Trustees:

•   Alexander Niefer – June 30, 2027

Public Art Commission:

•   Dara Barrois-Dixon – June 30, 2027

Public Shade Tree Committee:

•   Shoshona King – June 30, 2027

•   Henry Lappen – June 30, 2027

Recreation Commission:

•   Sanjay Arwade – June 30, 2027

•   Matt Cain – June 30, 2027

Registrar of Voters:

•   Jacqueline Gardner – June 30, 2027

Residents’ Advisory Committee:

•   Anastasia Ordonez – June 30, 2027

Water Supply Protection Committee:

•   Brian Yellen – June 30, 2027

Biographical Profiles
The Town Manager provided the following biographical profiles of the nominees for reappointment.

Affordable Housing Trust:

•   Allegra Clark is a licensed independent clinical social worker who previously worked in a homeless and housing agency in Boston. She is currently a forensic social worker in the court system. Clark is co-chair of the Community Safety and Social Justice Committee. She has been a member of the Trust since 2021.

•   Grover Wehman-Brown’s goal in joining the Trust has been to lessen the affordable housing shortage in the town, help unhoused and housing cost burdened residents have affordable stable housing options and prevent further expansion of homelessness and housing inequity. She comes to Amherst from the Bay Area where she was employed as the communications manager for East Bay Housing Organizations. Wenham-Brown incorporates experience as a parent, a trans person, and a person with a disability to ensure those perspectives are represented in the public discourse. Grover has been a member of the Trust since 2023.

Board of License Commissioners:

•   Marian Walker is experienced in the regulatory and import requirement of international shipping. She is interested in continuing her service on the Board to finish the projects on the work plan for the Commissioners and to support the Town’s role in supporting the future health of the Town’s economy. She has been a member of the Board since 2019.

Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee:

•   Suzanne Schilling has served in many different volunteer roles with Amherst schools and sports team organizations including chairing the Amherst Regional Middle School Parent-Guardian Organization and serves on the Board of the Amherst Hurricane Boosters. In her professional life, Ms. Schilling serves as the Associate Director of Financial Aid at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In that role, she is required to determine financial aid packages of varying amounts distributed among qualified aid applicants…knowing there will not be enough aid to meet the needs of all of the applicants. She has been a member of the Committee since 2022.

Community Preservation Act Committee:

•   Timothy Neale  brings strong financial experience to the Community Preservation Act Committee, having served previously as a member of the Finance Committee (pre-Town Council) and as a member of the Council on Aging. Neale is familiar with the work of the Committee and has direct experience with municipal budgets, planning, and weighing competing interests. He has been a member of the Committee since 2021.

Community Safety and Social Justice Committee:

•   Debora Ferreira is an attorney who works at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She previously served as a member of the Community Safety Working Group and filled one of the two seats of the initial membership of the committee as a carry-over member from that Working Group. She has been a member of the committee since its inception in 2022.

Conservation Commission:

•   Andrey Guidera has devoted his professional career to conservation efforts in many capacities including as a National Park Ranger and with the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service as a Wildlife Inspector and then Special Agent. He worked in the U.S. Embassy in Lima, Peru responsible for all of Latin America for U.S Fish and Wildlife Service. Guidera is committed to the environment and is a frequent user of the town’s forest lands as a hiker, cross country skier, hunter, and trail runner. He has been a member of the Commission since 2022.

•  Michelle Labbe is a professional conservation analyst for a non-profit conservancy. She brings many years of experience with development permits, conservation restrictions and easements, and permitting processes at the state, local, and federal levels. She works as a wildlife biologist for an environmental consulting company where she conducted ecological evaluations and biological assessments for various ecological restoration projects. Labbe has a bachelor’s degree in natural resource studies as well as a master’s degree in wildlife ecology and conservation. Having grown up in Amherst and gone to school here, she is familiar with the ecology of the town and is committed to the stewardship of lands and responsible development. She has been a member of the commission since 2021.

Cultural Council:

•   Christy Anderson is an architectural historian and has taught art and architectural history at Yale University, the Courtauld Institute, MIT, and the University of Toronto. She also serves as the Editor-in-Chief for The Art Bulletin. Locally, she has served as the director of the Leverett Crafts Center in addition to her teaching responsibilities. She has served on committees for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as statewide committees on the arts. Anderson is eager to support fundraising efforts and is especially committed to reaching out to communities who may never think of applying for a Cultural Council grant. She has been a member of the council since 2021.

•  Eleanor Walsh came to Amherst with the intention of becoming involved in the community in which she was living as a college student. Her perspective has been useful for the Council as it fosters the arts in Amherst. She has been a member of the council since 2022.

Energy and Climate Action Committee:

•  Donald Allison is an attorney who brings his legal expertise to the committee. He has considerable experience in environmental law and brings the perspective of a person committed to sustainable agriculture in his service on the Board of Directors of the Biodynamic Farmland Conservation Trust, Inc. the non-profit organization which owns the land, buildings, and equipment at Brookfield Farm. He has been a member of the Committee since 2021.

Historical Commission:

•   Antonia Brillembourg  brings two passions to the Commission: art/architectural history and political science. She understands the importance of maintaining the character of a place through the remaining artifacts of the time and has a specific interest in Indigenous narratives that are not as prominent in the town’s history as they should be. She represents the voice of youth, specifically Hispanic/Latin youth, in historical preservation and will help be a liaison between Amherst College and the town. She has been a member of the Commission since 2023.

•  Mikayla Rasnic is committed to the preservation of local history and connecting history with artists. Previously, Rasnic had worked at the Humboldt County Historical Society processing and documenting archival material and assembling a public display of historical items. She also has contributed to the arts community both through her art and as a member of her local arts council. She has been a member of the commission since 2023.

Human Rights Commission:

•   Rizwana Khan: Ms. Khan is an educator who brings a passion to contribute to the community and play an active role in shaping its future. She is skilled in conducting research, analyzing data, and synthesizing information and is fluent in both English and Urdu, having previously lived in Pakistan. She has been a member of the commission since 2023.

Local Historic District Commission:

•   Nancy Ratner lives in the North Prospect-Lincoln-Sunset Local Historic District. She has served the town as a member of the Amherst School Committee and Amherst Regional School Committee. She brings an appreciation for history, the neighborhood, and extensive skills developed over the years working at Amherst College. She has been a member of the commission since 2022.

•   Elizabeth Sharpe brings a wealth of experience and knowledge about historic preservation and architecture. She has a Ph.D. in American history with a concentration

in architecture and a master’s in museum studies. She has previously served on the Historical Commission and works at Historic Northampton where she has worked with building owners on renovations that are sensitive to the historic nature of the buildings and has worked with historic preservation restrictions. She has been a member of the commission since 2023.

Munson Memorial Building Committee:

•   Alexander Niefer is a home builder, beginning farmer, and resident who also owns a nonprofit consulting business working for a local nonprofit organization. He was recently appointed to the Board of Assessors and intends to complete the training necessary to fill the role. Mr. Niefer has been a member of the Munson Memorial Building Committee since 2020.

Public Art Commission:

•   Dara Barrois-Dixon loves art and is attuned to art in public places and has been involved in art her entire life. She has worked for 30 years in art education, has organized public readings at the Jones Library, and has been the editor and publisher of a small independent press. Art serves a vital purpose, and she is moved by art that supports, inspires, enhances, and interrogates society and the community. She has been a member of the commission since 2021.

Public Shade Tree Committee:

•   Shoshona King is a life-long independent artist & activist, having spent the last decade focusing on costume design & visuals in local festivals.  She has been participating in planting events on a regular basis. She has been a member of the committee since 2019.

•  Henry Lappen is an environmental educator who performs a show called “A Passion for Birds.” He is an occasional columnist for the Daily Hampshire Gazette and Amherst Bulletin. Lappen has been a member of the committee since 2022 with a stint on the committee prior to that.

Recreation Commission:

•   Sanjay Arwade has organized Nordic skiing in town, which now has over

200 people involved in their activities. He is an organizer, user of Recreation Department services, and interested in expanding winter sport offerings. He has been a member of the commission since 2021.

•   Matt Cain: Mr. Cain has experience serving on the Board of Directors of Amherst Youth Soccer dedicating his time to strategic planning, budgeting, and the organization’s finances. His children participate in many activities offered by the Recreation Department and believes broader involvement of youth in sports activities is important. He has been a member of the commission since 2021.

Registrar of Voters:

•   Jacqueline Gardner has worked for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a program monitor, legislative liaison, and coordinator of advisory council meetings. She has been a volunteer for elections. She has been a member of the board since 2019.

Residents’ Advisory Committee:

•   Anastasia Ordonez is a formerly elected member of the Amherst School Committee. She has served for 20 years evaluating candidates for open positions and hiring diverse, qualified candidates. She brings experience from the nonprofit world collaborating with numerous community groups in Amherst and around the country. She has been a member of the Committee since 2022.

Water Supply Protection Committee:

•   Brian Yellen is a Research Assistant Professor of Geology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He holds a Ph.D. in Geosciences. He studies sediment transport and water resources focusing on dynamic coastal and river environments that

are impacted by sea level rise, climate change, and human-made changes to flow. Yellen has been a member of the committee since 2012.