2025 Amherst Town Council Racial and Social Justice Candidate Questionnaire Co-sponsored by and Response of Mandi Jo Hanneke, candidate for Town Council, At-Large Thank you to Valley Families for Palestine and Western Mass Showing Up for Racial Justice for requesting information about our positions on a wide range of topics. Because support for any piece … Continue reading "I respond to the Valley Families for Palestine Questionairre"

Each year the Amherst Indy sends questions to the candidates and publishes the answers on their blog. Below are my responses. 1.      What do you think is the most pressing challenge facing Amherst residents and what would you do about it as a Town Councilor? We must address our housing crisis. And we must address … Continue reading "Mandi Responds to the Amherst Indy Blog Questions"

This year, three different organizations are hosting candidate forums / debates. I will be attending all three. The League of Women Voters is hosting their forum for At-Large candidates on October 23rd at 7 pm at the High School library. A meet and greet will begin around 6:15, the School Committee candidates will begin at … Continue reading "Three candidate forums / debates upcoming"

As in past years, Amherst Forward has asked candidates questions as they seek to decide endorsements. While they promise that they will not publish candidate responses, I have always posted them on my campaign page. Here are my responses for this election cycle: Role. Amherst has a 13-person Town Council that hires and works with … Continue reading "Amherst Forward ask candidates questions"

The Town of Amherst, on its webpage, publishes statements from all residents running for local elected office. There is a 900 character limit to the statement, which is fairly short. I started with a short 1800 character statement and narrowed it down from there. Here’s my statement for the Town’s webpage: Town of Amherst Webpage … Continue reading "My case for re-election in under 900 characters"

The League of Women Voters will be publishing their Election Guide in the near future. They asked Council candidates two questions, which each question having a 50 word response limit. Boy, is that tough. Here are my responses: As a Town Council member, what needs of the town do you hope to address? If re-elected, … Continue reading "My housing vision in less than 50 words"

Thank you! I am honored to have received the Town’s support for another 2-year term, again receiving votes from more than 50% of those who voted yesterday. It was a tough campaign, with five well-qualified, passionate candidates. I put my vision of what Amherst can be in the public sphere and you decided it’s a … Continue reading "Thank you!"

I can’t believe the last weekend of my re-election campaign has finished. I’ve enjoyed my time on the campaign trail, meeting residents, and talking about their concerns and what they are happy about. What I’ve found is that our neighborhoods are diverse, but the issues are very similar. Neighbors in all five districts are concerned … Continue reading "Approaching Election Day"

I had the honor and privilege of attending the League of Women Voters Candidate forum in October. The full video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOg5q68F5TA. At-Large candidates were asked seven questions. Below are my responses to each. Question 1 asked how we would address the issues of Latinx residents, as well as what we believed … Continue reading "League of Women Voters Candidate Forum"

I want to thank Evan Ross, Andy Churchill, Peter Demling, Sarah Forsaith of the Amherst Firefighters Local Union 1764, and Cinda Jones for writing public letters of endorsement for my re-election. Andy Churchill support me because I can “balance the head and the heart in [my] decision-making” though thoughtful, balanced leadership. Evan Ross states that … Continue reading "Evan Ross, Andy Churchill, and more publicly support Mandi’s re-election"