VOTE JOHN DACOMBE FOR COURTENAY COUNCIL

What questions should you ask all municipal candidates, including me?

Before voting, ask tough questions and do research. The choices you make at the ballot box will affect your wallet and community for decades to come, long after the next Council has retired.

  1. Where is their written, detailed platform? If they don’t have a written, detailed platform (preferably one not written by AI), how can you hold them to their promises? (Saying “I’m going to lower taxes and reduce crime” isn’t a detailed platform. Candidates need to explain exactly how they’re going to do those things.) Me: Even my critics would be hard pressed to suggest I’m not thorough with my platform.

  1. Who is funding their campaign? I’m a big believer in “Cui bono?” or “who benefits?” when it comes to who is funding political campaigns. Me: I’m running a low-cost, self-funded campaign, so I’m only beholden to myself and the voters of Courtenay.

  2. Do they live in the City of Courtenay, or at least in the Comox Valley? Elected officials should be affected by their own decisions, not driving in from Nanaimo or Victoria a few days a week. Me: I live in the City of Courtenay, year-round and full-time, and have since 2021.

  3. Do they understand their powers as a municipal councillor? If their platform says they will “protect parental rights in schools”and “secure trade deals”, they do not understand their role, because they’re not running for school trustee, provincial MLA, or federal MP, and so have zero power to do any of these things. Me: I am an experienced, hard-nosed realist who understands the powers and limitations of all three levels of government.

  4. Are they working hard during this campaign? The campaign period is a 40-day long job interview. Any candidate not working hard during this period – not attending debates, not meeting voters – is probably going to underperform after they are elected. Me: Love me or hate me, I’m clearly a hard worker.

  5. Do they have the time in their schedule to be an effective Council member? This is a big commitment: meetings, committees, community consultation, and lots and lots of reading. Me: I have set aside all my volunteer activities for the duration of the campaign, and my term if elected. And I’m technically retired, so the biggest time-crunch will be me baking fewer chocolate cakes and cookies at the Dacombe household.