By Nick Grabbe

Amherst voters have seen more competitive races, and election turnout has been much higher, since the change in our form of government in 2018. But we need more people to step up and become candidates in the November 4 town election.

With democracy teetering at the national level, you can support it locally by  seeking elective office right here. It’s a great way to participate in our local government, and there are stipends to compensate you for your service.

If you have questions about Amherst’s high taxes or bumpy roads, consider running for Town Council. If you think our schools should be doing better, run for School Committee. If you want a say in how the Jones Library is run, become a candidate for the board of trustees.

So far, 22 people have taken out nomination papers for the 18 seats on the Town Council and School Committee. Six incumbents are seeking reelection to the library board, and there are two candidates for Housing Authority. You can follow the candidates as they take out papers and submit their signatures on The Amherst Current’s Election Central feature.

In the three elections since the new charter changed our form of government, we have averaged 26.3 candidates on the ballot for the 13 seats on the Town Council and five on the School Committee (or 1.5 candidates on average per seat). There has been less competition for the other elective offices. The turnout has averaged 36% of registered voters.

Between 2006 and 2016, the number of candidates on the ballot for Town Meeting was slightly greater than the number of seats available (an average of 115 candidates per year for 107 seats, or 1.1 candidates per seat). In some precincts, all you had to do to become a Town Meeting member was sign up.

The average voter turnout for town elections was 15.7% in those 11 years, less than half of what it has been since the new charter was approved.

One could argue that participation in town government was greater with Town Meeting because there were 240 seats (though typically only 180 to 200 members showed up to Town Meeting sessions). But there are now more choices for voters, and they have responded by turning out on Election Day in much greater numbers.

I was a member of the Charter Commission that recommended the new form of government, which was approved by 58.5% of voters. In urging a “yes” vote, I argued that if voters had more choices of candidates, they would pay more attention to positions on issues, the Town Council’s decisions would be more likely to reflect the citizens’ will, and more voters would participate in elections.

That hope was vindicated in the 2018 election, in which there were twice as many candidates as seats available in all five districts and for the three at-large seats, and voter turnout soared to 43.2%. Perhaps because of the pandemic, we pulled back in 2021, with only two candidates for two seats on the Town Council in three of the five districts and minimal choice in the other two districts (though there were six candidates for three at-large seats). In 2023, we did better, with one district having only two candidates for two Town Council seats.

This year, I’d like to see a return to 2018, with at least four candidates on the ballot for the two Town Council seats in each of the five districts and at least six candidates for the three at-large seats. I’d like to see eight to 10 candidates for the five seats on the School Committee and some non-incumbents run for the library board.

The current candidate lineup is complicated by the number of people who have taken out nomination papers for more than one seat. If these people file papers for more than one seat, they have until October 2 to decide which seat they want to run for on the November 4 ballot. They can’t run for two seats.

Several people have asked if I would consider running for Town Council. I have  already attended several lifetimes’ worth of Town Hall meetings since I started following Amherst politics in 1980, and am content to leave the field to younger residents. The Charter Commission has been well represented since 2018 by At-Large Councilor Mandi Jo Hanneke, who was its vice-chair, and Commission Chair Andrew Churchill is a candidate this year.

Nomination papers are available at the town clerk’s office on the first floor of Town Hall. The deadline for filing signatures is September 16.

So please think about running for local office. You can say that you are taking a stand against the anti-democratic forces that have become all too prevalent in Texas and on the national level.

Nick Grabbe, co-founder of The Amherst Current, was a newspaper editor and writer based in Amherst for 32 years.