The Amherst Current is presenting two debates featuring candidates for the Town Council shortly before the election on November 4. We invite the community to join us for these events on October 24, 6:30-8:30 PM and on October 27, 7:30-9:30 PM, in-person at the Bangs Community Center or online through our livestream.

We recently wrote that we’d like to see candidates give voters information on how they would address the key issues facing our town. Instead of hearing prepared statements, we’d like voters to hear real dialogue among candidates about how they would work together to solve problems and implement new ideas in our community. We decided to host this series of events to do just that.

We’ve engaged Stan Rosenberg, former state legislator, to facilitate the dialogue. Stan served in the House of Representatives from 1987 to 1991 and then the Massachusetts State Senate, where he served in several leadership roles, including president pro tempore, majority leader, and president of the Senate.

This will not be a forum in which candidates read prepared statements. The format of the two debates will resemble other forums in that the moderator will present questions and candidates will respond within a set time limit. The moderator will ask a question to one candidate, who will have two minutes to answer. The moderator will then open the floor for each other candidate to respond to what the first candidate said, or to build upon the responses of the others. The process will repeat until each candidate has been the initial responder to a question. Each candidate will then be invited to provide a one-minute closing statement.

Candidates will not receive questions in advance and questions will not be repeated at either event.

The first debate, featuring At-Large and District 1 candidates, will be Friday, October 24 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM in Room 101 of the Bangs Community Center and on Zoom. All four at-large candidates–Andrew Churchill, Allegra Clark, Mandi Jo Hanneke, and Ellisha Walker–plus District 1 candidates Freke Ette and Vince O’Connor have agreed to participate.

The second debate will be Monday, October 27 from 7:30 to 9:30 PM in the Bangs Center’s Large Activity Room and on Zoom, featuring candidates from Districts 2, 3, 4, and 5*. District 2 candidates Jason Dorney and Lynn Griesemer, District 3 candidates Patrick Drumm and George Ryan, District 4 candidates Dillon Maxfield and Jennifer Taub, and District 5 candidate Ana Devlin Gauthier have agreed to participate.

Livestream links are above and on our Election Central page. The livestream will be recorded and published following the events.

The Current invited School Committee candidates to a third debate, but only incumbent Sarah Marshall accepted the invitation and we canceled that event.

The Amherst Current will not be endorsing any candidates for election and is not currently, nor ever has been, affiliated or connected with either of the PACs in Amherst (Amherst Forward and Progressive Coalition of Amherst). Andy Churchill, candidate for Town Council at-large, is a former member of our Editorial Board but stepped off of the Board in August 2025. Bryan Harvey, spouse of Town Council District 2 candidate Lynn Griesemer, is a member of our Editorial Board but recused himself from any part of the planning for these candidate debates.

Additionally, voters have other opportunities to meet candidates at events open to the public. The League of Women Voters of Amherst is hosting candidate forums on Wednesday, October 15, featuring Town Council candidates in Districts 1-4, and on Thursday, October 23, featuring at-large candidates for Town Council and for School Committee. Both forums will be from 7:00 to 9:00 PM in the library of Amherst Regional High School and will be preceded by receptions starting at 6:15 PM.

The Amherst Current debates are co-sponsored by the University of Massachusetts School of Public Policy’s Graduate Student Organization.

*Note: this post has been corrected to add District 5 candidate for re-election, Ana Devlin Gauthier, as a participant on Monday, October 27.