By The Amherst Current Editorial Board

Now that we know the names of the candidates for Town Council and School Committee, we can start getting to know them and learn what perspectives they  bring to the challenges that Amherst faces. Here’s an update on the slate of candidates seeking elected positions and our view on what key election issues candidates should address in their campaigns.

The Candidates

There are currently 20 candidates seeking seats on the Town Council and seven candidates seeking seats on the School Committee, plus six for the Jones Library Board of Trustees. There are currently five candidates for three at-large Town Council seats, and five for two seats representing District 1. There are three candidates for two seats in Districts 2, 3 and 4, while there are only two candidates in District 5.

Two candidates, Dillon Maxfield and Allegra Clark, submitted papers for two seats. Maxfield must decide by Oct. 2 which Town Council seat he wants to seek.  Clark, who submitted papers for Town Council and School Committee seats, can appear on the ballot for both but cannot be elected to both. All told, there are 10 incumbents seeking reelection to the Town Council and three incumbent School Committee members seeking reelection, as well as newcomers vying for consideration.

You can learn the names of the candidates by visiting our 2025 Election Central page (here, and in the menu at the top of the screen).

The Issues

Most of the challenges facing the town come in three areas: money, housing and infrastructure. We’d like to see the candidates avoid platitudes and prepared statements, and instead give voters information on how they would address the key issues. Here are the issue areas that we at The Amherst Current want the candidates to address as the election campaign begins. Feel free to add your own questions in the comments!

>Money

Amherst’s budget conundrum boils down to this: high expectations for public services, high property taxes, a small commercial tax base, lots of tax-exempt land, and little certainty about state and federal aid.

We’d like to see the candidates outline their spending priorities and what trade-offs would be necessary to achieve them. They should tell voters whether they favor maintaining current services or expanding them. And, candidates should articulate how they would fund current or expanded services, and whether they support spending from reserves and/or asking voters to raise property taxes through a vote on overriding the state law limiting such tax hikes.

Amherst’s property taxes are among the highest in Western Massachusetts, and residents pay about 90 percent of them. Candidates should address whether they favor expanding our tax base, such as through encouraging economic development, or expanding revenue by seeking more financial support from UMass and the colleges.

It’s easy for candidates to say they support this, that, or the other public service and expenditure. Voters should ask them what they would be willing to give up to fund those priorities, or whether they favor asking residents to increase their taxes.

>Housing

Amherst has seen a big jump in housing prices over the last five years, and many young families and service workers can’t afford to buy homes here. Although the private sector is in charge of building and renting out housing, there are things that the town government can do to reduce the regulatory barriers or incentivize housing development.

Voters should expect to learn what candidates think about the Housing Production Plan that is currently before the Town Council, such as the plan’s suggestions for addressing housing supply for seniors, young families, students, service workers, and the currently unhoused.

Candidates should explain their positions on the plan’s recommendations to change zoning to allow for greater density of housing and reduce parking requirements, or to rezone developable areas to make use of the scarce amount of available land. 

They could say what measures they’d support to encourage accessory dwelling units and whether they think the town government should assist developers in getting state subsidies or grant tax breaks.

And, they could tell voters if they favor having student housing integrated into existing neighborhoods, clustered downtown, or in outlying developments. 

It’s easy for candidates to say they support affordable housing. Voters should expect them to explain what actions and policies they support to address our housing issues. 

>Infrastructure

We face some serious questions about public infrastructure. Despite our very high taxes, we tolerate decaying roads and buildings and have delayed making decisions about them.

Candidates should specify what they would sacrifice to undertake a long-term repair plan to bring our pockmarked roads into the 21^st century. 

We’ve known for decades that we need a fire station in South Amherst and that our Department of Public Works building is woefully outdated and in disrepair; yet we keep creating roadblocks or otherwise putting off addressing these buildings. We’d like candidates to say what they’d propose for ending this impasse.

>Schools

The town spends a whopping 52% percent* of our municipal budget on education. The community has high expectations for programs and services, district costs have been rising faster than town revenue, and – like school districts everywhere – the districts face tremendous uncertainty around state and federal aid. At the same time, enrollment has declined over 40% since 2002, and 10% since 2019.

School Committee candidates should explain why our spending keeps going up despite declining enrollment.

Voters should expect to learn whether candidates for Town Council and School Committee favor increasing the school budgets by a higher percentage than the rest of town government. 

School Committee candidates should articulate how they will approach planning in the face of uncertainty and how they will respond if funding is lower than requested. Will they cut expenses, and, if so, how? Will they seek an increase in property taxes? Will they work with the financial guidance from the town or will they ignore it? How will they approach the work with the Town Council on future fiscal planning? 

Candidates should also be asked how they expect to execute their role of supervising the superintendent. Candidates should explain to voters how they’ll fulfill their responsibility for the oversight and fiscal management of the school district while advocating for funding.

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Candidates have now stepped up and offered themselves as potential representatives of the public interest. It’s time for voters to examine their positions and try to make sense of the swirl of information and opinions around them.

Note: this post has been updated to clarify the data about municipal spending on education. 52% of Amherst FY24 municipal spending was for education, according to the budget analysis completed recently by the Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools. (See page 15 of this report prepared for the Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee.) The statement that 52% of funding was directed to the public school districts has been corrected.

See the full list of candidates on Election Central. Subscribe to stay informed and get updates in your inbox!