Questions to Ask a Mayor
Questions for residents, reporters, and community groups meeting a mayor at a town hall, a candidate forum, or a scheduled one-on-one. They cover the budget, housing, permitting, public safety, and how city decisions actually get made.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What does a typical week in this job actually look like?
Why ask it
A mayor whose week is mostly ribbon cuttings and press availabilities runs a different office than one sitting in budget sessions and department reviews. The answer shows where the real work of the office sits for this particular person.
What surprised you most about the job after you took office?
Why ask it
Most mayors name one of two things: the volume of small resident complaints, or how little the office can decide alone. An answer that sounds like a campaign line usually means they have not updated their expectations since winning.
What has actually gotten finished since you started, and what is still stuck?
Why ask it
Listen for whether the finished items were started under this administration or were already funded and underway. Claiming inherited projects is the most common overstatement mayors make.
What is the biggest problem facing the city that most residents don't know about yet?
Why ask it
This pushes past talking points toward pension obligations, deferred maintenance, a pending lawsuit, or a revenue source about to expire. If they cannot name anything, they either do not read the finance reports or would rather not discuss them.
Where does the city's money come from, and how much of it is already committed before you make any choices?
Why ask it
Residents tend to assume property tax pays for everything and that the mayor can move it around freely. A useful answer separates restricted funds, state and federal transfers, and fees, and admits how small the discretionary share really is.
If revenue dropped ten percent next year, what would you protect first?
Why ask it
Forces ranking instead of listing. An answer that protects everything protects nothing, and the order they name things is a fair prediction of what happens the next time collections come in short.
What has been your hardest decision on housing, and who pushed back on it?
Why ask it
Naming the opposition is the substantive part. A mayor who can describe housing conflict without identifying a single opposing interest is either dodging or has not yet made a decision anyone disliked.
How long does a permit take right now, and what have you done to change that?
Why ask it
Permit turnaround is one of the few things a mayor controls directly through their own departments. Not knowing the current average is a sign nobody is being held to a number.
Which streets, pipes, or buildings need replacing, and is the money for that identified or still hypothetical?
Why ask it
Capital plans without a named revenue source are wish lists. Pressing on whether funding exists separates a real schedule from a slide deck.
When residents call about public safety, what are they usually calling about, and what changed as a result?
Why ask it
The gap between what people actually report, speeding, break-ins, dark intersections, and what gets debated publicly, usually staffing and budgets, is where policy quietly drifts away from the problem.
How much of what you want to do depends on the county, the state, or Washington?
Why ask it
Transit, housing subsidy, and highway money mostly sit with other governments. A candid mayor says so; one who claims full control over those levers is overselling what the office can deliver.
Which of the things you promised have you not been able to do, and why not?
Why ask it
Nearly no mayor delivers everything. Whether they can name a failure without shifting all of it onto the council or the previous administration tells you how the next shortfall will be handled.
If I have no political connections, how do I actually get an issue in front of you?
Why ask it
A real answer names a route: a department, a staff member, a specific meeting, a case number you can follow. An invitation to reach out anytime usually means there is no route.
What happens to public comment after the council meeting ends?
Why ask it
Reveals whether comment is a legal formality entered into the record or something that generates staff follow-up. Ask who reads it and what they are expected to do with it.
Who do you talk to before you make a major decision?
Why ask it
The list, department heads, a few council allies, donors, a neighborhood group, shows where influence actually sits in this administration, regardless of what the organizational chart says.
How do you tell the difference between a loud group and a widely held view?
Why ask it
Every official faces this weekly. Look for a method, such as casework volume, turnout at more than one venue, or survey data, rather than a claim about knowing the community.
What is the city doing for people living unsheltered, and how do you know whether it is working?
Why ask it
Ask for the measure, not the program. Beds funded and outreach contacts made say nothing about how many people were still housed a year later, which is the number that matters.
Which numbers do you look at to know whether the city is doing better or worse?
Why ask it
A mayor who names response times, permit backlogs, or vacancy rates manages differently from one who names press coverage or social media sentiment.
What emergency is this city most likely to face, and who is in charge on the first day of it?
Why ask it
Every place has a likeliest disaster: flood, fire, heat, ice, chemical spill. The answer should include a named role in charge and how residents would be told what to do.
What would you want the next mayor to continue, and what should they stop?
Why ask it
Separates the program from the person holding the office. Naming something that should end is the rarer half, and it is where you learn what they privately think is not working.
Getting a real answer out of a mayor
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before you go
Read the budget summary, not the press release
Most cities post an adopted budget with a two or three page summary at the front. Knowing the general fund total and the three largest line items lets you ask about tradeoffs instead of asking for a wish list.
Check the last few council agendas
Agendas and minutes show what has recently been voted on and what got tabled. A question about an item that was pulled from the agenda last month is much harder to deflect than a question about priorities in general.
Know which office actually owns your issue
Schools, transit, county jails, and state highways are often outside city control. Asking a mayor to fix something they have no authority over gives them an easy exit from the whole conversation.
How to ask in the room
One question, then stop
Stacked questions let the speaker answer the easiest part and move on. Ask the single hardest version and let the silence do the work.
Ask for a number or a date
How many, by when, and who is responsible are the three follow-ups that turn a general commitment into something you can check later.
Write down the answer
At a public meeting the record of what was promised is often just what attendees remember. A dated note with the exact wording is what lets you return to it in six months.
Reading the answer
- Shifting from I to we usually signals the decision was not theirs or the outcome was not good.
- A pivot to process, a task force, a study, a listening tour, often means no decision has been made yet.
- Blaming the previous administration is normal in year one and a warning sign by year three.
- Naming a specific staff member or department is a good sign: it means someone is accountable for the answer.
Common mistakes
Turning the question into a speech
Long preambles in a public forum give the mayor time to prepare a general response and often use up the whole slot allotted to you.
Making it partisan when it is operational
Potholes, permits, and water mains are administrative. Framing them as party issues lets the answer become a party answer, which tells you nothing about the city.
Accepting a referral as an answer
Being handed to a department is often the correct next step, but ask for the person's name and a timeline before you accept it, or the referral is where the matter ends.