Vote for a sustainable Amherst

By ANDY CHURCHILL, CLARE BERTRAND and BAER TIERKEL

Published on April 28, 2006

We've decided to call our monthly column ''Amherst Center,'' not because we live in the center of Amherst (we live in North, South, and downtown Amherst), but because we believe that, contrary to popular opinion, the majority of folks in Amherst actually live in what might be called the sensible center.

Last month, we laid out a broad set of town goals that we believe most of us share: good schools, green open space, housing affordability, and ''not soaking the taxpayer.'' This is a somewhat audacious combination of attributes that are difficult to do together, but that we must do if we want to preserve our culturally rich small-town quality of life. The question is: how can we sustain this quality of life?

We suggested four starting points for moving toward this vision of a sustainable Amherst: (1) clarify the current situation, (2) expand the pie with new revenue sources, (3) seek middle ground, and (4) vote for sustainability. The upcoming Town Meeting offers specific opportunities for progress on these.

There are two articles on the warrant that will help town decision-makers clarify where we are, so we can focus our discussions on where we want to go. (We're a little sheepish about mentioning these two, since they are sponsored by Andy and Baer, but they fit the topic and show we're walking the walk, not just talking the talk.) Article 40 asks the town manager to pull together key pieces of existing information into a concise, user-friendly ''fact book'' summarizing such areas as revenues, expenditures, taxation, population, open space, and residential and commercial development. Article 41 asks the Select Board to present spending and revenue projections for the next five years, and to propose revenue strategies for sustaining the municipal, school and library services that make up Amherst's quality of life. We believe both of these will give us a stronger foundation for building a more sustainable Amherst.

This leads to our second area of work: expand the pie. Recently, our only budget strategies have been to cut services or raise taxes. This is pitting neighbor against neighbor fighting for a slice of the pie (or going hungry because the pie is too expensive). We need to broaden the tax base to sustain the quality of life we love without soaking the taxpayers.

There are several ways to raise new revenues; they should all be considered. But the area we have the most control over is to support appropriate economic development. Clean, nearby businesses can reduce the tax burden on homeowners and renters, provide business opportunities for our citizens, provide local jobs at good wages, and reduce environmental degradation by reducing commuter traffic and sprawl.

A great example is our new Amherst Cinema Arts Center, which will be housing at least eight new tax-paying businesses and enhancing our small-town feel at the same time. This type of economic development helps sustain our town economically, environmentally, and culturally.

There are several articles on the Town Meeting warrant that would support our ability to raise new revenues. Article 21 would re-zone an area of five dilapidated rental houses at the corner of South East and College streets to the same ''Village Center'' zoning as the rest of that intersection. Article 23 would allow small offices in areas already zoned for businesses to have client visits by appointment - making these zones attractive to clean, desirable tenants such as architects, engineers, financial services offices, and the like. We should consider the benefits of these articles in the context of building a more sustainable Amherst.

Our third area of work is finding middle ground. Whether it's about schools, economic development, environmentalism, or golf courses, we need to listen, collaborate, and compromise with people who have different perspectives than our own. (Here's a suggestion: invite someone out to breakfast or lunch this week who you don't agree with on some town issues and listen to what they have to say.)

Town-wide collaboration is being addressed at Town Meeting as well: Articles 12 and 13 ask the Select Board to restore our traditional citizen volunteer protections (''special municipal employee status'') for all members of town committees. This offers a way for people with work expertise - lawyers, engineers, and others - to contribute their expertise to our town - for free! It's a common-sense way of making sure all voices are included and all expertise is tapped.

All of this adds up to voting for sustainability - thinking about what it takes to sustain our small-town quality of life, and voting for the common good. We need to make our diversity a strength, rather than a source of fragmentation. It is time to come out of the polarized corners and meet in the Amherst center.

Baer is our most recent arrival in Amherst of the three residents who write this column. When he arrived in town, he was told by neighbors that the politics in Amherst were polarized by fundamentalists that each focused on their own personal agendas. Baer said he just had to laugh. He had grown up a Jew in Georgia during the civil rights era and witnessed a good deal of violence and polarization by fundamentalists. He said, ''Fundamentalists? From where I stand, most everyone in Amherst is already in the center!''