AMHERST — Participatory budgeting, an idea that would give the public an opportunity to brainstorm ideas for spending from a dedicated pot of money, will not move forward at this time.
But a commission studying the concept, in presenting a report to the Town Council recently, is suggesting that the Community Preservation Act, Joint Capital Planning and Community Development Block Grant processes allow more input from residents.
Meg Gage, the former member of the Charter Commission who put the idea of participatory budgeting in the town charter, said officials would be “tone deaf” to begin a dedicated participatory budgeting program due to the economic impacts of COVID-19, and realistically such a program can’t be done without a specific set aside of town money.
The charter required that a commission propose “a measure to adopt participatory budgeting or other similar method of resident participation in the budgeting process of Amherst.”
Still, the study commission Gage chaired wrote in its report that the town could expand engagement, with one possibility for a smaller participatory budgeting program coming with the council’s recent decision to offer reparations for Black residents, with an account that will start with over $200,000.
Jon McCabe, a member of the study commission, said the hope is that the municipal budget pie can grow so that eventually officials would be comfortable in having such a carve-out.
A blog covering Amherst news and happenings recently went live.
Known as The Amherst Current and online at theamherstcurrent.org, the website is overseen by retired Amherst Bulletin editor Nick Grabbe and Sarah Marshall, formerly a scientist at a Boston-based environmental consulting company who serves on the town’s Recreation Commission and the Community Preservation Act Committee.
While on the town’s Charter Commission, Grabbe created A Better Amherst blog where he and fellow commissioner, and now At-Large Councilor Mandi Jo Hanneke, wrote news and opinion pieces.
This is the second town blog after The Amherst Independent, also called the Amherst Indy. That website started two years ago to offer perspectives on municipal affairs.
The League of Women Voters of Amherst is sponsoring a Zoom talk with Jennifer Moyston, a staff member in the town manager’s office, titled “DEI Foundations in Amherst Town Government,” at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Moyston will be discussing racial equity initiatives the town is engaged in and will answer questions from the audience.
To register, go to lwvamherst.org.
An in-person Cuppa Joe, with Town manager Paul Bockelman joined by community participation officers Angela Mills, Jennifer Moyston and Brianna Sunryd, will be held on the North Common in front of Town Hall July 16 at 8 a.m.
Residents are welcome to drop by to ask questions and offer comments about town affairs. Coffee will be provided.
Athleta, a store selling athletic wear and focused on empowering women and girls of all sizes, recently opened at the Mountain Farms Mall in Hadley.
The Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting for the shop, which is adding 23 jobs to the local workforce.
The Rattlesnake Gutter Second Saturdays Market, featuring local crafts and arts, will be held for the second time at the Leverett Village Co-op, 180 Rattlesnake Gutter Road, on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Products for sale will include hand-carved wooden bowls, salves and creams, jewelry and handmade soaps. YouthLine, which raises funds to help provide educational opportunities for children in Malawi, Africa; and Village Neighbors, which offers support and programs for people ages 60 and over in Leverett, Shutesbury, Wendell and New Salem, will have booths set up.
The Wendell Warriors and Ann Ferguson and Paul Newlin of The Diggers Band will perform, with DJ Brian Boyles spinning records.
For more information, go to www.leverettcoop.com.
MONDAY: Town Council, 6:30 p.m., via Zoom.
TUESDAY: Community Resources Committee, 2 p.m., Town Room, Town Hall; Public Shade Tree Committee, 5:30 p.m., via Zoom.