Candidates for Town Council need a common app. You know, like prospective students applying to 
colleges fill out.
I haven’t counted up all the questionnaires I’ve completed — someone asserted 19, but I haven’t had time to go back and check. All sorts of special interest groups want to know what candidates think about issues dear to the hearts of various constituencies. But the theme is clear: growth, development, stormwater, traffic and building height.
And that doesn’t count the numerous forums, radio and video interviews, a PowerPoint presentation and even a video selfie in which we interviewed ourselves.
Much as I wish we could each fill out one comprehensive questionnaire and let each group mine it for answers, I do understand why voters want to go deeper than the generic. They want to be able to tell us apart, and like savvy stockbrokers, see into the future to predict how we will vote on issues that will affect their quality of life.
One voter told me: “I’ve looked at all the candidates websites, and y’all have the same platform.”
There’s an element of truth to that. We may all agree on basic points: The town will grow. Climate change is real. We don’t have enough affordable housing.
But we differ significantly on how to address them, and on the details. How much will the town grow? How fast? Across which demographics? Do we spend serious money on mitigating the effects of climate change — and if so, where do we find it — or do we encourage residents and businesses to make behavioral changes? Or both? What does “affordable” mean? Do we focus only on single moms and children? Or do we expand the demographic to include grad students, modestly paid workers who do jobs we rely on, and senior citizens living on a budget?
Every decision council makes involves tradeoffs. If we spend money on one endeavor, we don’t have it for another.
All of those decisions impact the quality of life of the people who live here, or want to live here. So voters want to know — where do we really stand?
Until someone comes up with a common app, you have plenty of customized information. Come to the forums; read the questionnaires; listen to the radio interviews; watch the videos, even the selfie one. We’ve put time and thought into them, so you can tell us apart.
And breathe a sigh of relief that you don’t work in college admissions.
— Nancy Oates
