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Daily Hampshire Gazette, February 10, 2024

What’s on the March 5 primary ballot 

For the presidential primary on March 5, there are ballots for three parties available: Democratic, Republican and Libertarian. Each ballot allows the selection of a presidential preference, as well as for party committees: state committee man and state committee woman, and town committee.

For presidential preference:

■ The Democratic ballot lists Dean Phillips, Joseph R. Biden and Marianne Williamson.

■ The Republican ballot lists Chris Christie, Ryan Binkley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Asa Hutchinson, Donald J. Trump, Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley.

■ The Libertarian ballot has Jacob George Hornberger, Michael D. Rectenwald, Chase Russell Oliver, Michael Ter Maat and Lars Damian Mapstead.

There are no Democratic nominations for state committee man and state committee woman in the Hampshire, Franklin & Worcester District, which includes Amherst, Northampton, Hadley, Hatfield, Pelham, Greenfield, Bernardston, Deerfield, Erving, Gill, Leverett, Leyden, Montague, New Salem, Northfield, Orange, Shutesbury, Sunderland, Warwick, Wendell and Athol. The incumbents are David Narkewicz and Mollie Fox.

The district does, though, have competition on the Republican side, with Jay Fleitman of Northampton and Christopher Ryan of Amherst competing for state committee man, and Mary Stuart of Northampton and Sue O’Sullivan of Royalston competing for state committee woman.

In the Hampden & Hampshire District, which includes Holyoke, Easthampton and Southampton, Daniel Kelly of West Springfield is running for state committee man and Marjorie Dunehew of Holyoke is running for state committee woman for the Democrats, while Nathan Bech of West Springfield and Richard Berrena of Holyoke are competing for state committee man and Linda Vacon is running for state committee woman for the Republicans.

In the Hampden, Hampshire & Worcester District, which includes Belchertown, Granby and South Hadley, Bruce Adams of Springfield is running for state committee man and Marygail Cokkinias of Longmeadow is running for state committee woman for the Democrats, while Sidney Starks of East Longemeadow is running for state committee man and Virgina Neill of Springfield is running for state committee woman for the Republicans.

In the Berkshire, Hampden, Franklin & Hampshire District, which includes the towns of Chesterfield, Cummington, Goshen, Huntington, Middlefield, Plainfield, Westhampton, Williamsburg, Worthington, Ashfield, Buckland, Charlemont, Colrain, Conway, Hawley, Heath, Monroe, Rowe, Shelburne and Whately Sherwood Guernsey II of Williamstown is running for state committee man and Marietta Rose Rapetti Cawse of Pittsfield and Megan Elise Arvin of Pittsfield are competing for state committee woman for the Democrats, while Nicholas Boldyga of Southwick is running for state committee man and Jessica Boldyga of Southwick is running for state committee man for the Republicans.

No state committee man or state committee woman is running for the Libertarian Party in the districts.

The town committees for the three parties are elected during the primaries with members earning four-year terms and attending regular monthly meetings throughout the year and volunteering at special events.

Brian Boyd and Evan Ross, who co-chair the Democratic committee in Amherst, said the committee is tasked by the state party with organizing on the local level, including convening town caucuses each year to elect Amherst delegates to the state party’s annual conventions and supporting Democratic nominees in elections. The committee also advocates for the ideals and goals of party members by taking positions on state ballot initiatives and on occasion passing resolutions.

— Scott Merzbach

Many benefits to pairing affordable housing, conservation

Sharon Farmer, member of the Affordable Housing Study committee and the Climate/Energy committee

Kudos to the Kestral Land Trust, the city of Easthampton, Mass Audubon, Community Builders, and the anonymous donor for moving forward with Growing Green: Easthampton, which will convert 53 acres of hayfield, meadow and riparian forest into an 11acre affordable housing project with as many as 90 units and a 42-acre plot of conservation land.

There are just so many social and natural benefits to pairing affordable housing with land conservation. First, many people with low incomes currently reside in urban “heat islands”: areas with too much asphalt and far too few trees. Moving into stable housing that is adjacent towell-conserved meadows and forest will improve the physical and mental health of the residents, thereby lowering medical costs both for the residents and for the insurance companies and publicly funded social service agencies that serve them.

Second, meadows and undisturbed woodland serve as carbon sinks, absorbing carbon from the atmosphere and thus helping us to fight climate change. Third, natural meadows and undisturbed woodland help prevent biodiversity loss. The combination of climate change and human impact on the land has caused widespread collapses among mammal populations, bird populations and among the insect populations that both feed our birds and pollinate our food. Preserving land with native wildflower meadows and undisturbed forest will go a long way toward helping to reverse those trends.

And fourth, undisturbed riparian woodland helps preserve the clean water that we all need to survive. Many thanks to all of the agencies and individuals who have made this project possible. And many thanks as well to Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition and the Land Trust Alliance for highlighting the benefits of pairing affordable housing projects with the conservation of our increasingly shrinking natural spaces.

SHARON FARMER

Holyoke