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Issue analysis

Know what your district is arguing about before you knock on the first door.

What this gets you

  • The handful of issues your district returns to, ranked, instead of a guess.
  • Which of them your council keeps deciding and which it keeps deferring.
  • The words residents use for each one, beside the words your council uses.
  • The gap between the two, which is usually where a campaign has something to say.
  • A brief you can hand a volunteer before they knock on a door.
Example: four rows of an issue brief
  • Governance and procedure39
    In the record
    procedure bylaw amendment
    In public
    how they voted, closed doors
  • Towers and development34
    In the record
    development approval procedures
    In public
    towers, traffic, who decides
  • Housing14
    In the record
    unit mix and minimum sizes
    In public
    somewhere my kids can live
  • Parks and recreation13
    In the record
    parks and recreation master plan
    In public
    the pool, the fields, the trails

An example. Counts are divided votes on each subject across one council term, and the two word lists are the gap a campaign writes into: a council says development approval procedures and a resident says towers.

Where it comes from

A full term of council minutes and agendas, the local outlets over the same period, and the public community groups where residents raise things themselves.

Every line in the brief carries the meeting or the article it came from, so a claim about what the district cares about can be opened and read.

What it does not include

A sentiment score, a poll or a projection. This counts what was said in public and names where. It does not tell you what a district thinks, and anyone selling you that number from social posts is guessing.

Private groups are out of scope. Public sources only, and each one is named in the brief.

Price

Price
$750 to $2,000
Turnaround
One to two weeks.
What sets the price
The length of the term, and how many outlets and groups cover the district.