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Date: 6/13/2023
AMHERST — Town Manager Paul Bockelman was joined by Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Director Pamela Nolan Young and Assistant Director Jennifer Moyston for a laid-back discussion of community concerns, interests and the latest happenings within their department.
This latest installment of Bockelman’s Cuppa’ Joe w/ Paul gatherings was hosted inside the Town Room at Town Hall and was attended by a few members of the community and local government.
The intimate discussion began with a rundown of upcoming events in the community including Race Amity Day and the Juneteenth Jubilee and celebrations.
Young explained to the group their efforts throughout the year to conduct DEI workshops with various town departments including Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service and their plans to offer workshops first in-house for staff and then to members of the community.
“The staff only workshops give the staff an opportunity to really be with their peers in an environment where there’s a little less scrutiny,” Young said. “And we wanted to create a really safe space for people to learn and grow, and that has worked out really well,” she added.
Young also told the group that the DEI’s Core Equity Team, designed to create an inclusive and assistive government, has increased from five or six members to as many as 15 who meet on a monthly basis.
There was agreement that the establishment of a calendar of cultural events would have a positive effect as several of the recent activities proved to be quite popular.
Young also said examination and discussions of a Youth Empowerment Center and a Resident Oversight Board are ongoing and will continue within the department and the community.
“We don’t think there is opposition in Amherst to a resident oversite board, but I don’t know if the vast members of the community have an understanding of what it is or what it would do,” she said.
Questions regarding the search and recruitment process for a new police chief were addressed by Bockelman after a discussion about police traffic stops as a possible form of racism and current traffic stop protocols within the town.
“The interesting thing about traffic stops, I got an email this morning asking for more traffic stops from a neighbor because they’re upset about speeding in their neighborhood,” Bockelman related. “So, we get it both ways.”
Bockelman informed the room that the town is engaging a firm to help conduct outreach in communities to gather feedback in the search for a new permanent police chief. The research is to ultimately lead to a search committee, one-on-one discussions and public meetings.
“[We’ll have] neutral people coming in who do this as a profession, the company we’re looking to contract with is doing Somerville’s police chief search right now,” he said.
Bockelman said they hope to launch the process by the end of June which would follow with the formation of a search committee as required by the town charter.
“We want to do everything right,” Bockelman said.
Moyston agreed that making sure the community is aware and involved is important as the search process unfolds.
“I think perception is part of that too, having a full understanding, that can help change the perception,” she said. “To be out and letting folks know the schedule of how things are happening so when that happens that might help change some of those perceptions, I think people have a more negative one when they don’t know,” she added.
An open discussion followed on the dissemination and real time availability of information in the town through the current status of in person and online meetings of the council as well as other departments and the benefits and challenges of both systems.