AMHERST — Town Moderator Jim Pistrang gaveled the final annual Town Meeting to a close last week and as longtime participants look ahead to a new town council form of government, many say camaraderie is probably what they will miss the most.
Some have served as representatives in the town’s legislative body for 50 years.
“I really enjoyed working together to solve the problems of the town with a lot of my fellow citizens, neighbors and friends,” said Barbara Ford of Flat Hills Road.
Ford, 84, began serving in the late 1960s. A representative for Precinct 2, which includes portions of North Amherst and Cushman village, she said she has viewed her role as doing the best for the community at large. “Town Meeting has kept us focused on what we could be, and what we should do, as a town.”
The change, longtimers say, will create more distance between residents and town leaders and reduce institutional knowledge.
Lewis Mainzer, 90, of McClellan Street, said he was attracted to becoming a Town Meeting member when he arrived in Amherst more than 50 years ago, describing running for a seat as a way to participate directly in the political realm.
“It gives us a chance at a kind of citizenship that we can’t know much of,” Mainzer said. “For localities, cities and towns, to have an invitation to be a citizen legislator was a very interesting, challenging and valuable experience.”
Margaret “Peggy” Roberts, 90, of Hills Road, has sought to improve the legislative body over the decades she’s been part of the 240-member Town Meeting. She was instrumental in establishing the Town Meeting Coordinating Committee, which held forums to review the Town Meeting warrant and disseminate information.
“There’s no way the people doing the new government are going to have the time to do all the things we’ve done,” she said.
While Roberts notes that residents can read about Amherst affairs in newspapers or from online sources, including the town website, she said this won’t replicate getting an opportunity to understand their town by being directly involved.
“People aren’t going to be able to know as much about local things,” Roberts said.
What has struck Isabelle “Billy” Callahan over the more than 50 years she has served on Town Meeting is how residents of all ages and backgrounds are able to discuss important municipal affairs. She’s also impressed by the intelligence these citizen politicians bring to the proceedings.
“I just think they are amazing,” said Callahan, 91, adding that most of the time she has chosen to listen to others rather than offer her own input. “I really think the residents who serve work very hard to come up with their suggestions, and sometimes get abused by people quick to criticize.”
Alice Swift, who now lives at Applewood Apartments in South Amherst, first got elected to Town Meeting in the late 1970s representing the Orchard Valley section.
“I like being able to participate in how decisions are made at the town level without being an elite,” said Swift, 78. “Town Meeting is a way for what I would say ordinary people to participate and understand how decisions are made, and why.”
She points to the decision to purchase the Cherry Hill Golf Course to preserve the land from a housing development in 1987. While some residents have criticized the deal made more than 25 years ago, the particulars of the arrangement included discussing how it would reduce costs for future municipal services.
In addition to Town Meeting, Ford has been on numerous town committees, including the Zoning Board of Appeals, but she says these have a more narrow focus. She likes the broader scope Town Meeting has.
“It’s really been a good working group,” Ford said. “Sometimes we’ve prevented the town from making mistakes, and other times we’ve probably made some mistakes.”
Mainzer said he knows that Town Meeting has faced criticism for challenging the viewpoints of elected officials on the Select Board and School Committee, or those who serve on appointed boards such as the Finance Committee and Planning Board, who have sat at the front of the Amherst Regional Middle School auditorium during the sessions.
“I tended to be more respectful to the folks up front. I don’t think it’s shameful to defer to them,” Mainzer said.
These longtime representatives see replacing Town Meeting with a 13-member council as the wrong approach. The town manager position will be retained.
“I don’t think changing Town Meeting was a good thing,” Callahan said. “I don’t see where the knowledge of 240 people and the discussions are something that can be overridden by a group of 13. I don’t see that as representative of the feelings of the town or what is best for the town.”
Swift agrees. “I like the idea of having more people involved and having a decision,” she said. “I think the council is too small.”
Ford said she wouldn’t try to predict how the new government will work out, though she worries that it will cut down on participation by regular people.
“Because of Town Meeting, we have many voices who can tell us what’s going on,” Ford said.
She added that many town officials have come up through the ranks of Town Meeting, which has served as a sort of a farm system for boards and committees.
“I worry that committees may have trouble getting people already interested and aware of issues,” Roberts said.
Though she intends to remain involved in town affairs, Ford said she would relinquish that if more people showed the same passion she has for government.
“If other people step up and take their turn, I’d be happy to retire,” Ford said.
Mainzer remains a part of the Friends of the Jones Library and liaison to the library trustees, but said he found joy in representative Town Meeting.
“I feel sorry to see it end, but feel fortunate to have been part of it,” Mainzer said.
“I’m not in despair, but I do feel that we had a gift given to us and have thrown away that gift for self government.”
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.