Joseph Jayne and Priya Atyolil Recommended for Finance Committee Resident Slots 

Report on the Meeting of the Governance, Organization, and Legislation Committee, July 15, 2025

By Maura Keene

This meeting was held over Zoom and was recorded.

Present
Freke Ette (acting Chair, District 1), Lynn Griesemer and Pat DeAngelis (District 2), Hala Lord (District 3). Absent Ana Devlin Gauthier (District 5).

Staff: Athena O’Keeffe (Clerk of the Council).

After conducting interviews of the three candidates for the two open positions as resident nonvoting members of the Finance Committee, the members of the Governance, Organization, and Legislation (GOL) committee recommended that Joseph Jayne and Priya Atyolil be appointed for the two-year terms. Jayne is the Executive Director of Planned Giving for UMass and served on the Finance Committee from 2015-2018. Atyolil is currently on the Finance and Capital Planning Committee in the town of Warren, but plans to relocate to Amherst in the next few weeks. She established a bioelectromagnetics lab at UMass and has experience in mathematics and accounting. Steven KaCey, a Hampshire College student who has worked in the Finance Department and in the Assessors Department in three towns also applied.

GOL member Lynn Griesemer declared that she served with Jayne when she was chair of a committee for a new fire station and DPW building in 2006 and that she knew KaCey when he was a town employee. 

All three candidates stressed the importance of public input into the town’s financial management. KaCey stated that public opinion is very important, because the members of the public are the stakeholders in the town. Jayne noted that when he previously served on the Finance Committee, there was Town Meeting and incorporating public opinion was very organic, because the committee heard from a large number of community members. He added that most of Amherst’s revenue comes from taxes paid by residents. Atyolil stressed that there are “things you can know better from real life than from looking at a spreadsheet.” She pointed out that the measure used to calculate unemployment makes it seem like the rate is low, but from talking to people and looking at social media, it is apparent that there are a lot of people looking for jobs.

Jayne stated that it is important to consider people in different positions in the community and to think about those who might be marginalized when making financial decision. Atyolil stressed the value of having a mathematician on the committee.

Atyolil explained her past history growing up with little money and having to work from the age of 14 to help support her family. She graduated from UMass with degrees in mathematics and bioengineering and then went on to earn three master’s degrees. In addition to running her lab at UMass, she serves as accountant and treasurer for the Amherst Women’s Club. 

KaCey said that he would bring a fresh outlook to the Finance Committee in that he has the energy and is civic minded. He also said that he enjoys looking at budgets, especially in the historical context. Jayne said he is a long-term resident and plans to live in Amherst for the rest of his life. He said he cares about the town and is a stakeholder. He said he will always be involved in the town. He is currently on the board of the Rotary Club. 

Councilor Discussion
Although Atyolil and Jayne were the clear choices of GOL members, both were subject to scrutiny. Jayne admitted that he might have difficulty making the 2 p.m. meetings of the Finance Committee because he often has meetings and travel for his work. Griesemer was especially concerned that Atyolil was not yet a resident of Amherst, and wanted to delay voting on recommending her to the Town Council until her residency could be verified. 

However, Council Clerk Athena O’Keeffe stated that delaying the second appointment might seem awkward for the remaining two candidates. She also pointed out that verification of residency status was not required of other candidates for committees. She suggested that GOL recommend Atyolil for appointment to a term to begin with establishment of residency in Amherst. The committee members agreed and voted 4-0 for Jayne and Atyoli. 

Griesemer and Pat DeAngelis pointed out that KaCey was recently appointed to the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA), which DeAngelis stated was a complicated committee that he would need to learn about. Committee members thanked him for his applications to the Planning Board, ZBA, and Finance Committee.

The council is expected to take up the recommendations for nonvoting members of the Finance Committee at its July 21 meeting.