I started attending Coupeville town council meetings even before I moved here in the late summer of 2002.

This November we have another election cycle in front of us, but the three council positions and the mayor position all have opposition to the incumbents. What an opportunity.

It is an opportunity for all of us who live or work in Coupeville to ask about how and why our town works, and if it is working in the direction that we want it to work.

So here are some questions, in no particular order, you might want to ask both yourself and those who have decided to offer their services to represent us this year.

Where have you been the past 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 years? How many town council and planning commission and design review board meetings have you sat in on in the past couple of years?

Is Coupeville a better, more interesting place to live or work than it was 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 years ago. And whether you answer yes or no, why is that?

Are the services that our tax dollars pay for in Coupeville paying off?

How is it that we have a surplus of dollars in our budget every year, despite the difficulty in raising taxes due to poorly thought out voter initiatives and the rising costs of almost everything associated with running a town?

How would you react if you owned a piece of property and a handful of people decided that you shouldn’t be able to do anything with it, despite the fact you jumped through all the hoops necessary to bring your plans to fruition?

Where does all that stuff you flush down your toilet actually go?

How amazed are you that you can dial 911 any time of the day or night in a town of less than 2,000 people and actually have a live response from a knowledgeable and caring responder in a very short period of time?

How did all of the great walking trails through and around our town come to be?

Why do those running for office really want to be elected?

How does all of this stuff get paid for?

Do you really want someone running the town who is not elected?

Who is offering solutions to problems (often before they actually become problems)?

Are jet skis water dependent?

How is it that you came to live in Coupeville and why are you still here?

How did such a small community end up with so much community owned open/green space?

David Day

Coupeville