WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Bilal Ansari is running for Select Board in a campaign based on "Accountability, Belonging, and Compassion," he announced in a news release on Wednesday.

 

His vision of Williamstown emphasizes accountability in all financial and management aspects of governance; enhanced quality of life for elders and our youth; and more support for low-income families and people who wish to acquire homes affordably. 

 

"We need ideas from all the people of Williamstown," Ansari said. "If we all intentionally work together, we can better identify and solve public policy issues."

 

Ansari is running for one of the two open seats on the Select Board.

 

He said he hopes to hear from the town's elders and youth, business owners and farmers, tradespeople and academics, and those struggling in any way day by day. His message is that this is their town, their government, and their livelihoods so their voices are essential.

 

"I hope to increase public feedback and participation on town committees and subcommittees of residents from all walks of life," Ansari said. "When we truly welcome and hear all the voices, the harmony begins."

 

Ansari was a proponent of 2020 Warrant Articles 36 & 37 and was instrumental in their overwhelming approval at the August 2020 annual town meeting. 

 

Ansari has more than a decade of experience leading groups and shepherding change. He works as the assistant vice president for campus engagement in the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Williams College. Prior to his current position, he was a Muslim chaplain in a variety of settings and regions including director of chaplaincy at the Hartford International University for Religion and Peace in Connecticut.

 

Ansari has ties to Williamstown through his great-grandparents, the Logans, who were active in both the college and the town since 1923. He has continued in that tradition, serving as a founding member and president of Higher Ground, a disaster relief organization that responded to the needs of residents of The Spruces who were forced to abandon their homes in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene.

 

He was an original member of the Diversity, Inclusion and Racial Equity Advisory Committee. DIRE tackled some of the thorniest problems the town has been grappling with since the 2020 revelations of anti-Black and anti-Semitic incidents and sexual harassment at the Williamstown Police Department. He also served as a member of the Affordable Housing Committee for three years and was the recipient of The Northern Berkshire Community Coalition's 2021 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service Peacemaker Award.

 

Earlier this month, Ansari and 70 others attended a conference, hosted by the U.S. Department of Justice, reimagining the community's relationship with policing. The event culminated in a brief but positive speech by both Bilal and Officer Brad Sacco, who had orchestrated a 2020 police union letter which expressed disappointment in the level of support for law enforcement officers among public officials. 

 

The annual town election will be held on May 10 at Williamstown Elementary School.