Town Council Approves Rent Stabilization Resolution

Report on the Meeting of the Town Council, June 15, 2026, Part 2

Read Part 1 of the Report on the meeting of the Town Council here.

This was a hybrid meeting held in the Town Room of Town Hall and was recorded.

Present
Mandi Jo Hanneke (president, at large), Jill Brevik and Cathy Schoen (District 1), Amber Cano-Martin and Lynn Griesemer (District 2), Hala Lord and George Ryan (District 3), Pam Rooney and Jennifer Taub (District 4), Ana Devlin Gauthier and Sam MacLeod (District 5), and Andy Churchill and Ellisha Walker (at large).

Staff: Dave Ziomek (assistant town manager) and Athena O’Keeffe (council clerk).

Rent Stabilization
With the support of state Rep. Mindy Domb, a sponsor of the state bill, and 20 members of the public, the Amherst Town Council approved a resolution endorsing the rent stabilization policy now being debated in the state Legislature. A petition in support of the resolution garnered 142 signatures from Amherst residents and community organizations. The council resolution was sponsored by Councilors Jill Brevik, Amber Cano-Martin, and Ellisha Walker, and community sponsor Allegra Clark. It was entitled “Town of Amherst Resolution in Support of S. 1447 and H. 2328, ‘An Act Enabling Cities and Towns to Stabilize Rents and Protect Tenants.'” The council vote was 11-1-1, with Mandi Jo Hanneke voting no and Sam MacLeod abstaining.

Cano-Martin noted the “crisis in Amherst in terms of affordable housing,” adding that 25% of families anticipate leaving Amherst within five years, with most citing unsustainable housing costs as the primary reason. She stated that market rental prices in town are 50% to 100% higher than the regional fair market rent. However, she said the council was not voting to implement rent stabilization, but to support the efforts reflected in the state legislation. A 1994 statewide ballot initiative banned rent control in Massachusetts, and the state is now considering reinstating it.

“Rent stabilization is a tool in the toolbox. We already have the Affordable Housing Trust, Amherst Community Land Trust, inclusionary zoning, and we are still actively fighting for a local real estate transfer tax option,” Cano-Martin said. The city councils of Northampton and Easthampton have already passed support resolutions.

Brevik added: “For people living in low-income households, a large rent increase can mean displacement — being forced to leave the communities where people work, where they’ve built their lives, where their children go to school. We know that displacement leads to high rates of mental health issues, including depression, and frequent moves can affect educational outcomes for children.”

Most of the council discussion centered on a set of questions from Andy Churchill about the bills. Rep. Domb noted that the proposed laws are opt-in, so only communities that choose to participate will be affected. Municipalities will have six months to decide whether to accept rent stabilization and another six months to develop a local bylaw that complies with state law.

Under the current proposal, rents can be raised each year by up to the consumer price index or 5%, whichever is lower — even with a new tenant. New construction is exempt from this restriction for five years. Towns will need a rent control board to review rent increases and landlord-tenant conflicts.

Domb stated: “The intent of the proposed legislation is to ensure that rent increases are done in a stable and consistent manner that encourages affordability, but does not contain any specific provisions that would lower rents.”

In response to concerns that rent stabilization will discourage new housing development, Domb said she believed the exemption for new construction would not create a disincentive for new building, but that legislators are still debating the length of the exemption to balance the needs of tenants and developers. The proposed exemption for new construction could be as long as 15 years. She noted that July 1 is the deadline for finalizing the legislation. If the bill does not advance, there may be a rent stabilization referendum on the November ballot.

Domb emphasized: “In order for us to address the housing crisis, we have to produce units, and we have to prevent displacement. We have to do both. We’re hearing from people who want to live in our community. They can’t afford to be in our community, so they leave. That decline in population is like a death knell for a community. So, that’s another reason to be thinking about this. That means declining enrollment in schools, declining population, declining resources from the state and federal government. So, in addition to the fact that we want people to be able to live here, we want our community to be vibrant.”

George Ryan noted that the resolution the council was proposing to adopt might not necessarily support the same bill that the Legislature finalizes, but Domb said that is always the case with pending legislation. The bill will continue to evolve, but Amherst can endorse the idea of rent stabilization by adopting the resolution.

Hala Lord added a personal note to her endorsement of the resolution: “I know what it means to work hard to serve others and still feel the ground shifting beneath me because housing costs keep rising. I’m getting dangerously close to being priced out of even renting an apartment here, never mind having the wild dream of buying a home one day. I want Amherst to be a town where people across income brackets can live.”

Lynn Griesemer said she thought the state’s version of the bill is flawed, but that she would support the resolution because the legislation allows a local option that permits a discussion among stakeholders to craft a bylaw that would benefit Amherst.

Only Mandi Jo Hanneke spoke against the resolution. She felt the five-year exemption for new construction was too short and objected to the consumer price index setting the limit on rent increases, because actual costs for landlords may rise beyond that — in addition to the annual 2.5% increase in property tax costs. “Costs increase, and [the bill] takes it all out from the renter, unlike those who own their own home,” she said. “Yes, we absolutely need control of our rents. They are crazy. I’m just not convinced [this] will actually improve the ability for those who are not already housed in Amherst to find housing in Amherst. Mobility decreases, which lowers vacancy rates.” She also pointed to Beacon’s withdrawal of its proposal to build 140 units of affordable housing in North Amherst — due to residents’ opposition — as evidence that residents would not support the housing production needed.

Hanneke cast the only vote against the resolution. MacLeod abstained.

Public Comment Strongly Supports Rent Stabilization
The hour-long public comment period was dominated by poignant stories from current and former Amherst residents describing their difficulties finding and affording rental housing in town. Martin Beveridge noted that landlords set rent using an algorithm in which prices at new housing developments drive up rents at older units to match the higher level.

Karen Lederer said that in the 1980s she served on a Housing Review Board rent regulation committee that could adjudicate rents and tenant complaints. Amherst was one of only three communities in the state — along with Brookline and Cambridge — that had rent control. The state’s elimination of all forms of rent regulation in 1994 ended the committee.

Economists Michael Ash and Jessica Reyes, and Doctoral student Will Chaney, supported the resolution and rent stabilization. Ash said Amherst’s market is “increasingly monopolized. You get the odd result that rent control can actually expand the supply of market housing. You end the incentive to withhold supply to extract high rents.” Reyes agreed: “This is a monopolistic market. Letting the prices go up is not going to solve this problem. Amherst should do this to live out our values and give the power to the people, not profit-seeking landlords and corporations.”

Chaney added: “The evidence is super clear that the effects make it possible to stay in town. Not doing them leads to a lot of profits for a very small number of people.”

The only speaker against the resolution was Tom Crossman, a landlord. He said, “I appreciate and value the intentions of this resolution, but I’m here to offer an additional perspective from the profession that provides housing. There are many reasons why [rent control] was repealed in 1994.” He cited the website rentcontrolhistory.com, which states that rent control reduced rental availability and allowed wealthy renters to claim 20% of rent-controlled units. The site also asserts that rent control boards contributed to urban blight, with lower rents leading to lower maintenance and the eventual abandonment of many properties, in turn reducing property assessments.

Ya-ping Douglas pointed out that the website cited by Crossman is published by an organization called Mass Landlords Inc.

Modifications Made to Proclamation for the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence
Several councilors voiced reservations about a proposed “Town of Amherst 250th Celebration of Independence Proclamation” sponsored by Andy Churchill, Lynn Griesemer, and Pam Rooney, as well as the Amherst Historical Society, the Jones Library Special Collections, and the League of Women Voters of Amherst.
Cano-Martin acknowledged that changes made during discussion in the Governance, Operations, and Legislation (GOL) committee — to acknowledge other ethnic groups — improved the proclamation, but she still wondered whether Native Americans or African Americans, who were not included in the Declaration of Independence, would be comfortable with the language.

Brevik suggested that the word “celebration” in the title be changed to “recognition” and be omitted from the final line, which would then read: “BE IT FURTHER PROCLAIMED, that in recognition of this 250th anniversary, we, the Amherst Town Council, call upon the residents of Amherst to examine the meaning and application of the Declaration of Independence, both at that time and in today’s world, and invite residents to join an event on Saturday, July 4, 2026, to be held on the front steps of Town Hall at 12 p.m.”

Rooney noted that this ceremony falls between the town’s fireworks celebration on July 3 and the reading of Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” on July 5. She said she recognizes that the Declaration of Independence was imperfect, but that it remains an important historical event that helped give rise to the American Revolution.
Ultimately, the proclamation passed by a vote of 9-3-1. Brevik, Cano-Martin, and Walker voted no, and Lord abstained.

Banned Books Week Will Be Oct. 4–10
There was no controversy over the Banned Books Week proclamation, which passed unanimously on the consent agenda. The proclamation states: “WHEREAS, Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them.”

CPA Funds for Goodwin Memorial Church Referred to Finance Committee
A late addition to the FY27 Community Preservation Act allocations was $48,000 to repair water damage at Goodwin Memorial Church, to be matched by a state grant, enabling the church to take measures to prevent similar damage in the future. CPA committee chair Katie Zobel called the church “such an important historic landmark, especially to African American residents.”

The funding proposal was referred to the Finance Committee. Hala Lord recused herself because she serves on the church’s board.

Zoning Board of Appeals and Senior Services Director Appointments
The council unanimously approved the reappointment of Everald Henry and the appointment of Sarah Morton as full members of the Zoning Board of Appeals. Francisco Botto and Blair Nahm were given associate member slots.

Read More: CRC Recommends Everald Henry and Sarah Morton for Appointment to Zoning Board of Appeals (Amherst Indy)

Daniel Garcia was appointed director of Senior Services as part of the consent agenda.