Compare municipal candidates by translating each promise into a specific decision, location, timetable, authority, performance measure, and full life-cycle cost. A pledge to “speed permits,” “protect neighborhood character,” or “build infrastructure” is not yet a plan. Use the same questions for every candidate, check answers against adopted local records, and keep a clear boundary between a candidate’s stated position and an independently verified fact.
Start with the municipality’s current baseline
Campaign proposals only have meaning when you know what is already adopted, funded, or required. Before reading candidate answers, assemble the latest records for the municipality and note each document’s adoption date, amendment date, and legal status.
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- Comprehensive, official community, or general plan: record its growth assumptions, land-use designations, housing policies, transportation goals, environmental policies, and implementation schedule.
- Zoning ordinance and map: identify permitted uses, density or dimensional standards, overlays, parking rules, development conditions, and the parcels or districts to which they apply.
- Building and development-permit process: list intake requirements, completeness checks, technical reviews, public notices, decision makers, appeal steps, fees, and published service standards.
- Adopted capital plan and budget: record projects, project phase, estimated cost, funding source, debt, grant assumptions, operating implications, and maintenance or renewal allocations.
- Performance information: collect permit-volume and processing-time reports, inspection results, infrastructure-condition data, service-capacity studies, and public meeting records when available.
Local planning guides distinguish the comprehensive plan, zoning, and individual development decisions rather than treating them as one document. Nanaimo Vote, for example, frames growth through the official community plan, zoning bylaws, council decisions, housing, neighborhood character, environmental concerns, and the costs of roads, water, and sewer; those issues are local context, not a universal legal template. See Nanaimo Vote’s issues overview and replace it with your own municipality’s official records.
Keep a baseline log with four fields: document name, date, status (adopted, proposed, or informational), and the exact rule or project relevant to the candidate’s claim. A proposal to “implement the plan” is materially different from a proposal to amend it.
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Use one comparison record for every candidate
Ask identical questions, publish or record answers in a consistent format, and mark nonresponses. Separate a verbatim answer from your verification notes. The Nampa Chamber’s candidate-questionnaire page is a useful transparency model: it says responses were published as submitted, not all candidates participated, and the Chamber did not fact-check them. Publication therefore shows what a candidate said; it does not establish that the claim is accurate.
| Comparison field | What to record | Verification question |
|---|---|---|
| Proposal | The exact rule, workflow, project, budget change, or interagency action promised | Is this a concrete action or a broad aspiration? |
| Baseline | The adopted plan, zoning text or map, permit step, capital-plan entry, budget, or public dataset that exists now | Does the proposal implement, amend, replace, or merely describe the baseline? |
| Authority | What the officeholder can decide, recommend, direct, or coordinate | Does local law give this office direct control, or are council, staff, another municipality, or a higher government involved? |
| Place and people | Parcels, districts, neighborhoods, applicants, residents, businesses, or infrastructure users affected | Can the affected geography and groups be identified? |
| Timing and measure | Milestone, baseline, target, reporting interval, and accountable office | What result will be reported, when, and by whom? |
| Capacity and cost | Staff, utility, road, transit, facility, and service capacity; capital, operating, and maintenance costs | Who pays, when is capacity needed, and what recurring bill follows? |
| Trade-offs and safeguards | What is delayed or funded differently; safety, accessibility, environmental, design, and participation requirements | What consequence or safeguard does the candidate acknowledge? |
| Evidence quality | Adopted record, budget, dataset, implementable proposal, general statement, or no answer | Can a reader inspect the supporting record? |
For an editorial comparison, use four descriptive labels: specific and evidenced, specific but unsupported, general, and no answer. Explain the evidence behind a label. Do not turn a disagreement over values—such as preferred density or neighborhood change—into a claim that a candidate is factually wrong.
Make building-permit promises testable
“Faster approvals” can refer to several different intervals and several different decision makers. Ask candidates to identify the step they would change first and the legal or administrative instrument they would use.
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Map the existing process
- Record how an application is submitted and what information is required for intake.
- Identify the completeness check and the point at which the municipality accepts an application for review.
- List planning, building, engineering, fire, utility, transportation, environmental, and other technical reviews that apply to the permit type.
- Note public-notice, hearing, appeal, inspection, and decision steps, including which are required by law.
- Capture published fees, correction cycles, service standards, and the office responsible for reporting performance.
Then ask which of those steps changes. A new online intake form, additional reviewers, pre-application meetings, delegation of authority, revised fee schedules, and a change to substantive review standards are different proposals with different costs and legal limits.
Require a precise time measure
Do not accept one number called “permit time” without a definition. Ask whether the target measures:
- elapsed calendar or business days from initial intake to a decision;
- municipal time after a complete application is received;
- applicant waiting time for missing information or corrections;
- the number and duration of review cycles; or
- total time from first submission through revisions, approval, and permit issuance.
Require a baseline period, a target, a reporting interval, and a named accountable office. If a candidate proposes “predictable approvals,” ask what completeness standard, review clock, escalation path, and public dashboard would create predictability. Ask how the plan handles incomplete applications, specialist capacity, appeals, and reviews that remain legally mandatory.
Check fees and transparency separately
A promise to reduce fees can shift costs to the general fund, applicants in other categories, or future users. Ask for the fee schedule affected, the cost-recovery assumption, and the replacement revenue. A promise to publish timelines should identify the data fields, update frequency, treatment of paused applications, and whether results are broken out by permit type.
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The Victoria Real Estate Board’s 2026 municipal-election questionnaire illustrates the questions voters can ask about policy, zoning, permitting, approvals, timelines, and fees. Candidate responses about reviewing permit timelines and fees or improving transparency and predictability are positions, not proof that a reform will produce a particular result. Read the questionnaire at the Board’s 2026 municipal-election page, then seek comparable local evidence.
Turn zoning slogans into a locatable rule
Every zoning promise should answer three questions: what rule changes, where does it apply, and how does it relate to the adopted plan?
Identify the proposed rule
Ask whether the candidate supports changing permitted uses, density, height, lot size, setbacks, parking, design standards, subdivision rules, accessory units, industrial protections, or an overlay. “More housing” and “protect neighborhood character” are positions until the candidate identifies the standard that would change or be enforced.
Locate the geography
Request a district, corridor, station area, parcel category, or map. A citywide text amendment, a pilot district, and a site-specific rezoning have different effects and procedures. Ask which existing applications, neighborhoods, businesses, tenants, and infrastructure users would be affected, and whether the proposal applies immediately or only after a plan amendment.
Test plan consistency and legal authority
Ask whether the candidate would implement an adopted plan or amend it first. Some jurisdictions impose specific consistency and sequencing requirements; others allocate decisions differently among elected bodies, planning commissions, and staff. Minnesota’s metropolitan planning statute, Minnesota Statutes, section 473.858, is an example of a jurisdiction-specific consistency regime. Washington’s planning rules, including WAC 365-196-415, likewise demonstrate that development sequencing and infrastructure considerations depend on local and state law. Neither source establishes the rules in an unidentified municipality, so verify your own statute, charter, ordinance, and adopted plan.
Ask who initiates an amendment, who votes, what public notice and hearing requirements apply, whether appeals are available, and what implementation staff and budget are required. A mayor may propose or direct staff under local rules but lack unilateral authority to change zoning text; a council may adopt an amendment but depend on another agency for roads or transit.
Connect growth to infrastructure capacity and timing
Infrastructure questions should follow the proposed land-use change. Ask which systems are implicated, what capacity exists, when additional capacity is needed, and how the investment will be paid for.
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Inventory the affected systems
- Roads, bridges, sidewalks, traffic signals, and active-transportation connections
- Drinking-water sources, treatment, storage, and distribution
- Sanitary sewer, stormwater, and flood-management systems
- Transit routes, vehicles, stops, and maintenance facilities
- Schools, libraries, parks, emergency services, and other community facilities
- Digital, energy, waste, and other utilities where the municipality has a planning or coordination role
For each system, ask for the capacity study, service standard, trigger, or project milestone the candidate relies on. “Build first” is incomplete unless the candidate identifies which project, in what phase, before which development or occupancy threshold.
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Classify each promised project as planned and funded, planned but unfunded, under design, under construction, or not in the adopted plan. Record the proposed funding source—user charges, property taxes, development charges, grants, transfers, reserves, borrowing, or another source—and test whether the source is legally available and sufficient.
The City of Vancouver describes its 2027–2030 Capital Plan as a four-year investment plan for maintaining, renewing, and upgrading infrastructure and amenities people rely on every day. Its exact wording is: A Capital Plan is a 4-year investment plan that helps maintain, renew, and upgrade the infrastructure and amenities people rely on every day.
This is Vancouver’s description on its 2026 election capital-plan page, not a universal legal definition; consult your municipality’s own plan and budget at the City of Vancouver capital-plan information page.
Include the long-term bill
Construction is only one financial commitment. Ask for expected operations, staffing, utilities, scheduled maintenance, renewal, rehabilitation, replacement, and debt-service costs. A proposal that adds roads, pipes, parks, or facilities without identifying who will maintain them may create a future service gap even if its construction funding is available.
Ask candidates to state the trade-off: which project moves later, which service level changes, whether taxes or charges rise, and what happens if grant or development revenue is lower than forecast. Separate one-time capital spending from recurring operating and maintenance spending in your comparison record.
Verify who can deliver the promise
Write the authority question beside every proposal. Use local law to classify the candidate’s role as one or more of the following:
- Direct decision: an action the office can take under the charter, ordinance, or delegated authority.
- Recommendation or budget proposal: an action requiring council, a board, a commission, or a public vote.
- Administrative direction: a change staff can implement only within existing law, contracts, and civil-service rules.
- Intergovernmental coordination: an action dependent on a neighboring municipality, regional authority, utility, school system, state or provincial government, or national government.
Ask the candidate to name the first formal action: executive order where lawful, staff directive, ordinance, plan amendment, capital-budget amendment, interlocal agreement, legislative request, or public referendum. This exposes promises that sound immediate but require several approvals.
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Compare different approaches on identical axes
When candidates offer competing strategies, put each answer through the same seven tests.
| Axis | Questions to ask |
|---|---|
| Permit speed and predictability | Which step changes, what legal reviews remain, what is the measured baseline, and how are delays reported? |
| Zoning clarity and scope | What text or map changes, which locations are covered, and what development standards follow? |
| Relationship to adopted plans | Is the proposal implementation, amendment, or a departure requiring a new process? |
| Infrastructure capacity and sequencing | Which systems are affected, what trigger or milestone controls timing, and who confirms capacity? |
| Capital, operating, and maintenance funding | What is the source, when is money needed, and who pays recurring costs? |
| Transparency and performance reporting | What data will be public, how often will it be updated, and which office is accountable? |
| Decision authority | What can the office do directly, and what requires another body or government? |
Do not treat “faster approvals,” “more infrastructure,” or “protect neighborhood character” as measurable positions until the candidate supplies steps, standards, places, and consequences. A candidate can legitimately choose a different value—such as more public review or lower taxes—but the implementation and trade-off should still be explicit.
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- Which step in the current building-permit process would you change first, and what baseline, target, reporting schedule, and accountable office would show whether it worked?
- Which adopted plan or zoning rule do you support changing or implementing, and in what locations?
- How would you coordinate the timing and location of new development with available water, sewer, roads, transit, and community services?
- Which infrastructure investments are priorities, what is their status in the current capital plan, and what funding source would you pursue?
- How would you account for maintenance and renewal costs when deciding whether to add infrastructure or approve growth?
- What decisions can the office you seek make directly, and which require council, staff, another municipality, or a higher level of government?
These questions cover the recurring dimensions used in local candidate questionnaires. Strong Towns Ottawa, for example, used a six-question 2026 mayoral and council questionnaire addressing infrastructure, housing, transit, and related issues; that count describes its local questionnaire, not a general standard. See the questionnaire for an example of a focused format.
Build an evidence-led voter worksheet
Create one row per candidate and one column for each comparison field. Store links or document titles in a separate evidence column so interpretation does not get mixed with the source.
- Copy the candidate’s answer verbatim or summarize it with a clear notation that it is a summary.
- Attach the adopted plan, zoning section, map, permit report, budget page, or capital-plan entry that describes the baseline.
- Record missing information as “not stated,” rather than inferring a cost, deadline, authority, or geography.
- Mark whether a statement is a proposal, an existing fact, a forecast, or a value judgment.
- Check whether the same candidate gives consistent answers across permits, zoning, infrastructure, taxes, and maintenance.
Use the labels “specific and evidenced,” “specific but unsupported,” “general,” and “no answer” as a reading aid, not as a mathematical candidate score. A proposal can be well documented yet conflict with your priorities; that is a policy choice, not an evidence failure.
Warning signs and useful follow-ups
“We will cut red tape”
Ask which form, review, approval, or staffing bottleneck is meant; whether the requirement is local or imposed by state, provincial, or national law; and how safety, accessibility, environmental, and public-participation protections remain in place.
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Ask for the zoning districts, permitted forms, density or height standards, approval path, infrastructure triggers, and timeline. Then check whether the adopted plan already authorizes the change.
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“We will build the infrastructure first”
Ask for the project list, design and construction phase, capacity threshold, funding source, delivery date, and maintenance plan. “First” should refer to a documented sequence, not a slogan.
“Developers will pay”
Ask which charge or agreement is authorized, what it covers, when it is collected, whether it can fund maintenance, and what share remains for existing taxpayers or ratepayers. Do not assume a development charge can legally finance every related service.
“The city will make approvals predictable”
Ask how incomplete applications, revisions, appeals, specialist shortages, and legally required hearings are treated in the published measure. A single average can conceal very different experiences.
Final checklist before you decide
- Have you used the same questions and response format for every candidate?
- Did you identify the current plan, zoning map and text, permit workflow, capital plan, budget, and performance data?
- Can you state exactly what each candidate would change, where, and through which formal action?
- Did you separate intake-to-decision time, municipal review time, applicant waiting time, and total time including revisions?
- Did you connect proposed growth with roads, water, sewer, transit, facilities, and community services?
- Did you identify capital, operating, maintenance, renewal, and debt costs, plus who pays?
- Did you verify which promises the office can deliver directly and which require another decision maker?
- Are candidate statements clearly distinguished from adopted policy and independently checked facts?
- Did you mark nonresponses and missing numbers instead of filling gaps with assumptions?
The strongest comparison is not the one with the most confident language. It is the one in which every promise can be traced to a decision, a place, a responsible authority, a measurable milestone, and a credible plan for both today’s construction bill and tomorrow’s upkeep.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I compare candidates by who promises the shortest permit timeline?
No. Compare the definition of the timeline, the current baseline, the steps that would change, legally required reviews, staffing capacity, reporting method, and the cost of achieving the target.
Can a mayor change zoning alone?
That depends on the municipality’s charter, ordinances, delegated powers, and state or provincial law. Treat the mayor’s role as a question to verify locally; zoning amendments commonly involve a council or other formal process.
How do I tell whether an infrastructure promise is funded?
Locate the project in the adopted capital plan and budget, identify its phase and funding source, and ask separately about operating, maintenance, renewal, and debt-service costs.
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