Amherst League of Women Voters to Hold Two Candidate Forums for Local Election

The Amherst League of Women Voters will hold public forums on Wednesday, October 15 and Thursday, October 23 for candidates in the November 4 local election. Only candidates for contested races will be invited to participate. Those candidates will be empaneled together and each have an opportunity to answer the same questions. Both forums will be held at the Amherst-Pelham Regional High School auditorium, 21 Mattoon Street, with a “meet and greet” period at 6:15 p.m. in the foyer outside the auditorium and the forum itself from 6:45 to 8:45 p.m. Note that the forum previously planned for October 8 has been cancelled.

Candidates in non-contested races are invited to join the “meet and greet” sessions held prior to the candidate forums, with District 5 Town Councilor, Housing Authority, and Oliver Smith Will candidates invited on October 15, and Library Trustee candidates on October 23. The two scheduled forums are:

October 15 Wednesday – Candidates for Town Council Districts 1, 2, 3, and 4

October 23 Thursday – Candidates for School Committee and Town Council At-Large

Each forum will have a trained moderator. During each forum, the audience will be invited to submit questions on index cards for the candidates to answer. Each candidate will have 90 seconds to respond to questions plus a one-minute wrap-up statement. The event will be recorded by Amherst Media.

Audience members can submit questions ahead of time to lwva@lwvamherst.org, or on an index card at each forum. Volunteers will select from them to reduce repetition, ensure that the questions are suitable for all candidates to answer, and cover as wide an array of topics as possible in the allotted time.

The lobby of the auditorium will have several tables for candidate materials and will be available for candidates preceding the forum. No electioneering is allowed inside the forum.