By Alex Cox || coxalexj@gmail.com

A report on the meeting of the Amherst Town Council on Monday, January 27.

Standing Committee Appointments

The Town Council postponed confirming new assignments to standing committees at its Monday meeting. 

Under the town charter, the President is responsible for making appointments to the standing and ad-hoc committees of the Town Council. Newly-reelected Council President Lynn Greisemer (District 2) prepared a list of appointments for these committees: Finance; Governance, Organization and Legislation; Town Services and Outreach; and Community Resources. However, she agreed to postpone finalization of positions for at least another day. The postponement followed a complaint by Councilor Ana Devlin Gauthier (District 5) over inconsistencies in the internal form by which councilors expressed their preference for committee appointments. 

Councilors did vote to appoint members to the Joint Capital Planning Committee (JCPC) and to the Budget Coordinating Group. Cathy Schoen (District 1), Hala Heather Lord (District 3), and Robert Hegner (District 5) were appointed to the JCPC (by a 10-1 vote, with one absence and one abstention) while Mandi Jo Hanneke (at-large), Andrew Steinberg (at-large), Lynn Greisemer (District 2, Council President), and Ana Devlin Gauthier (District 5) will serve the remainder of the year on the budget panel.

For the remainder of the meeting, Councilors workshopped the Draft Town Manager Goals that previously were approved by the Governance, Organization, and Legislation Committee. These goals are meant to provide the Town Manager and staff with discrete action items to focus on in the upcoming calendar year. They form the basis of the Town Manager evaluation process. Council is expected to continue working on developing the goals at a retreat on February 4 before voting to approve them at the following meeting. 

The next Town Council meeting will be February 10 in Town Hall at 6:30 pm. Town Council meetings are also accessible via Zoom, livestream, and Amherst Media broadcast. Meeting details, agendas, and access are posted on the Town Council webpage. If you’re interested in knowing more about upcoming Council meetings, you can subscribe to text and email updates from the Town. 

Alex Cox (he/him) is a current graduate student at UMass- Amherst studying Regional Planning (MRP) and Public Policy and Administration (MPPA). He currently serves on the Amherst Affordable Housing Trust Fund and as the Graduate Director of the Student Union Art Gallery. He has been a member of the Amherst Current editorial board since 2024.