Indy to Publish Candidate Statements and Questionnaire Responses
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The Amherst Indy has invited candidates in the upcoming town election for the town offices of Town Council, School Committee, and Library Trustee to submit comprehensive personal statements and responses to a brief questionnaire highlighting some of the pressing issues facing town government. The biennial town election will be held on Tuesday, November 7 (more information here). The Indy will post personal statements from the candidates on Tuesday, October 17 and responses to the Indy’s questionnaire on Friday, October 20. The Indy will post a list of endorsements from other community organizations on Friday October 6.
Candidates were invited to provide a personal statement of up to 500 words, describing their candidacy and explaining why they are running for office, and outlining their priorities should they be elected. Candidates were also invited to answer a short questionnaire to give voters an indication of where they stand on a few of the pressing issues facing our town.
Responses are due on October 14 for publication on October 17 and 20. The questionnaires follow.
Questions For Town Council Candidates
1. What would be your top three priorities as a member of the town council?
2. Should the town pay, or be at risk for, any more than the $15.8 million (+ $9 million in debt service) that has been authorized thus far for the Jones Library demolition and renovation project? And if so, is there an upper limit to what the town should additionally provide?
3. Last year saw several proposals sponsored by elected officials to limit public comment at government meetings. What is the best way to guarantee that the public will be heard by their representatives? Do you think the current arrangements for public comment offer too much, just enough, or not enough opportunities for public comment at government meetings?
4 .Do you think there is an affordable housing crisis in Amherst? What do you think the council ought to be doing with regard to housing policy?
5 .Should the public have the means to contest a Town Council decision beyond the current voter veto provision of the Town Charter?
Questions For School Committee Candidates
1. What would be your top three priorities as a member of the School Committee?
2. Name one or two issues that you wish the School Committee had addressed or acted on differently this year, and describe what your approach would be to them.
3. In the last year, parents, teachers, and staff have alleged that their reports concerning discrimination against LGBTQIA+ students were dismissed or ignored at the highest levels of the school administration. How can the School Committee best assess such complaints? How can the School Committee best respond to or remedy the conditions leading to complaints about the administrative response?
4. Last year saw several proposals sponsored by elected officials to limit public comment at government meetings. What is the best way to guarantee that the public will be heard by their representatives? Do you think the current arrangements for public comment offer too much, just enough, or not enough opportunities for public comment at government meetings
5. The rankings of Amherst schools have fallen precipitously over the last decade or so. Do you think that should be a concern of the School Committee? If so, what do you think accounts for this fall, and what might you as a School Committee member propose to do about it?
Questions For Library Trustees.
1. Should the town pay, or be at risk for, any more than the $15.8 million (+ $9 million in debt service) that has been authorized thus far for the Jones library demolition and renovation project? And if so, is there an upper limit to what the town should provide?
2.The Jones Library is a private entity funded increasingly by public dollars. As such, the public has an interest in how the Jones operates. What would you do to make those operations more transparent and accessible to the public? Will you pledge to support recording all trustees’ meetings and making those recordings available to the public in a timely manner?
Some more questions:
1. In 2021, Town Council was sent 18 pages of regulations used in State College, PA, detailing that town’s controls of off-campus student housing. One strategy that has been especially effective in reversing the encroachment of student rentals on residential neighborhoods was the establishment of a minimum distance between student single family rentals.
A yes/no question: Are you in favor of a bylaw that would specify a minimum distance, lot line to lot line, between single family-to-student rental conversions, as is done in some other college towns such as Wilmington DE, and State College, PA? If not, do you have other ideas to solve this problem?
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2. Amherst has a track record of funding amenities even as many of the town’s roads deteriorate to a dangerous condition. How would you re-balance the town’s spending priorities to improve the condition of Amherst’s streets and roads?