Does Amherst Town Government Need a Set of Guiding Principles? Results of a Survey
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“A recent Town Council conversation concerning the relevance of beliefs about governing and democracy got snagged,” says Ira Bryck, because behaviors, but not beliefs, are seen as measurable. That prompted thoughts about the many municipalities that have devised a set of principles to help guide them in their approach to potentially divisive issues and agree upon certain town priorities. Beliefs, he points out, “are the nose of the camel, as the saying goes. Once the camel sticks its nose — beliefs — in the tent, the entire camel — behavior — will soon follow.”
Would a set of guiding principles be useful to Amherst officials, leaders, and residents in their shared quest for best practices and outcomes? What can we agree about? What would help officials, leaders, and residents establish a useful way to communicate that is efficient and participatory?
Would the next Town Council be interested creating guiding principles, just as Champagne (Illinois), Hollisboro (Oregon), and Lebanon (New Hampshire) have done? Do Amherst residents have any thoughts about what such principles might look like? (Read the guiding principles of these towns here.)
So earlier in the month, Bryck posted a survey asking residents about issues that might be part of the Amherst principles. The results, he says, give him hope that the town will embrace shared beliefs about governance to help reduce divisiveness, increase trust, and improve practices here.
The survey asks residents to share their thoughts about year-round community and economy; civility and respect; public participation and civic engagement; fiscal responsibility; conflict-of-interest and appearance-of-conflict-of-interest; working with the colleges and university for mutual benefit; advance planning; preservation and adaptive re-use; new capital projects; development and density; and working with other university towns.