New Appointments to Amherst Historical Commission and Local Historic District Commission

In memos to the Town Council and the Town Clerk dated August 4, 2025 Town Manager Paul Bockelman recommended appointments to the Amherst Historical Commission and the Local Historic District Commission. These appointments were endorsed unanimously (4-0 with one absent) at the August 7 meeting of the Town Services and Outreach Committee (TSO) and will come before the full Town Council for final approval at their meeting on August 21, 2025.

Amherst Historical Commission
Nominated for three-year terms ending June 30, 2028:

George Baitinger of Sheerman Lane
Joel Greenbaum of Lindenridge Road
Mackenzie Landsittel, of High Street

Nominated for one-year terms ending June 30, 2026:

Patricia Auth of Middle Street (reappointment)
Robin Fordham of Taylor Street (reappointment)

Read about the work of the Amherst Historical Commission here.

Biographical Profiles
The town manager provided the following biographical profiles of the nominees.

George Baitinger recently retired from the University of Massachusetts and is interested in utilizing his knowledge, skills, and abilities to help the community. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in natural history and worked for the National Parks Service for nine years doing historical interpretations. He worked in university management for thirty years, most recently as a grant and contract coordinator doing budgets for research projects and managing fiscal resources. Locally he has been a member of the town’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).

Joel Greenbaum grew up in Amherst and has lived the majority of his life here. He has a passion for local history, architecture, construction, and development. He has been restoring old houses in and around Amherst for many years and feels he has a good eye for and understanding of what works and what doesn’t. After many decades of living and working in the town, he believes it’s his time and responsibility to give back to his community.

Mackenzie Landsittel recently relocated to Amherst to take a job at Historic Deerfield. She has a master’s degree in history from Clark University and has worked at the Museum of Worcester, Salisbury Mansion, and Historic New England. Her master’s thesis was on the preservation and history of two historic houses in the City of Worcester. She then began working as a preservation intern for the City of Worcester where she conducted research on historic districts, created map progressions, wrote walking tours, and attended the local historical commission meetings. 

Patricia Auth is a licensed social worker. She has served on the commission since 2018 and will continue to serve due to the lack of candidates.

Robin Fordham is the Chair of the Amherst Historical Commission. She has served on the Commission since 2018 and will continue to serve due to the lack of candidates.

Local Historic District Commission
Nominated for a three-year term expiring June 30, 2028:

Ben Lynch of Lincoln Avenue
Nicole Miller, of Old Farm Road  (reappointment)

Nominated for a two-year term expiring June 30, 2027:
Rizwan Ayub, of Barrett Hill Drive

Nominated for a one-year term expiring June 30, 2026:
Greta Wilcox, of Lincoln Avenue (reappointment)

Read about the work of the Local Historic District Commission here.

Biographical Profiles
The town manager provided the following biographical profiles of the nominees.

Ben Lynch is a landscape architect who served on a similar historic district commission in the City of Cambridge. He also worked for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection in the Division of Wetlands and Waterways as the Waterways Program Chief reviewing permits. His undergraduate degree is in architectural history and he has an interest in keeping historic neighborhoods intact.

Nicole Miller is a member of the Realtor Association of the Pioneer Valley and will fill the realtor’s seat on the commission. She is a licensed realtor in Amherst and has been involved in the community through her children’s school and activities. Prior to her work in real estate, Miller was a social worker for over twenty years, facilitating the Vermont Suicide Prevention Coalition for several years. She has been a member of the commission since 2022.

Rizwan Ayub is a student at Amherst College who developed his interest in local history after studying the East Gables affordable housing project for his class “Housing, Urbanization, and Development”. His particular interest is in the relationship between the development of affordable housing and the desire to preserve the town’s neighborhoods and architectural heritage. At Amherst College, he served on the Committee on Educational Policy.

Greta Wilcox lives in the North Prospect-Lincoln-Sunset Historic District and is committed to its preservation as an important part of the community that enhances the beauty of the town. She has served on the commission since 2019 and will continue to serve due to the lack of candidates.