Town Council Drafts Evaluation and Goals for Town Manager

Report on Town Council Meeting (8/17/20)

The meeting was held via Zoom webcast and was broadcast simultaneously on Amherst Media Channel 17. The recording of that meeting can be viewed here.

The August 17 Town Council meeting was largely devoted to evaluating Town Manager Paul Bockelman and setting goals for the upcoming year. For two hours, evaluation comments of Councilors, Town Hall staff, committee chairs, and community members were read.

Shortly before the meeting, Council President Lynn Griesemer (District 2) had submitted a draft memo summarizing the comments, and most of the discussion of Councilors’ comments focused on the form and content of that memo. Darcy DuMont (District 5) said there should be more focus on specific actions rather than generalities. Alisa Brewer (At-large) objected to phrases such as “one councilor said” and added that comments from a single councilor do not express a general feeling of the Council and should not be part of the memo. Councilor Dorothy Pam (District 3) said she objected to a reference to the Town Manager’s work with the Chamber of Commerce and Business Improvement District on a downtown revitalization plan because she did not agree with several aspects of the plan, and noted that the plan was not adopted by the Council. She is, however, extremely impressed with the Town Manager’s handling of the pandemic and that “[he] made me feel safe.”

Griesemer will incorporate this feedback into a final evaluation which will be considered for approval by the Council at their next meeting on August 31. Councilors were encouraged to email their comments to her.

The goals for the Town Manager for the next year were developed at the August 5 meeting of the Government, Organization and Legislation Committee. The meeting can be viewed here. That meeting is notable for a contentious discussion of community safety and social justice that begins at Minute 50 of the recording. The full draft document produced is here. 

Most of the discussion among the Councilors and in public comments concerned the community safety section. Several members of the public, as well as Councilors Cathy Schoen (District 1) and Shalini Bahl-Milne (District 5), noted that “social justice” had been removed from a heading, although it was mentioned in the narrative. Several people commented that at the meeting, committee chair Ryan (District 3) said he didn’t think that many of his constituents feel that differential treatment of people of color is “an important issue” in Amherst. Bahl-Milne and several members of the community responded that this is insulting to the lived experiences of those citizens, and again called for a community commission to evaluate policing in Amherst and to deal with complaints.

Suggestions for additions and changes to the goals for the Town Manager will be sent to Ryan. Bockelman is working with citizen groups to develop a proposal on public safety and policing; this will be discussed at a meeting in the near future.

The meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m. The next Town Council meeting is on August 31 at 6:30 p.m.

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