Re-Introducing Myself: Who Am I, and Why Am I Here?

I did something like this as just a Facebook post at the end of July, so it feels like a good time to do it again! Normally when people ask about my “platform”, I direct them to the website or my social media channels.But in local politics, it’s also important to know about the person; their values and priorities. That’s what I’m interested in telling people about anyway. I don’t really have a “platform” because there are no parties, and municipal governments operate as a coalition of (in our case) 9 people with equal votes. I have no way of knowing what I will have to make a decision on in the next four years if elected, but I do know what’s important to me. Here’s some questions I’ve been getting in person and through online engagement:

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Are you from here / Aren’t you the guy from Toronto? What about your restaurant?

I was born and raised in Medicine Hat, graduated high school from McCoy, and went to MHC for two years before transferring to UofC. I then moved to Toronto for 17 years and came back in 2021. Overall, I’ve lived here for the majority of my life and have always considered myself a Hatter. I am confident in my ability to prioritize my duties if I’m elected with my responsibility to the business that my sister and I are operating. I am no stranger to navigating competing priorities and handling a very busy schedule. The hospitality world I’ve spent most of my life in is fast-paced and demanding, and I thrive at that tempo. I’m always looking for new challenges and opportunities to learn and help improve our amazing community.

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What’s your platform / Why are you running? 

This has evolved just a bit since I entered the race. At the beginning, my answer was, “I want to preserve and build on some of the things previous Councils have achieved, and not lose sight of progress. One of my main concerns is that the frustration with personality clashes between some current Council and administrative members could cause a pendulum swing away from progressive initiatives. I want to be one of many diverse voices around the horseshoe, and a voice advocating for a people-first mindset”.

I still very much feel that way, and it remains at the core of why I stepped up in the first place. But as I get deeper and deeper into it, people are telling me they’re sick of the egos, the self-interest, the lack of accountability, and the delays in decision making. If you’ve read anything I’ve written in comment sections on this site, or in my own social media posts, it should be very apparent that I am brutally honest. You may not agree with me, but you’ll know where I stand. I’m signalling early that I’m responsive, that I’ll speak my mind, and that I don’t shy away from conflict. The silence of many candidates on obviously contentious questions speaks volumes. I write with my full voice, not filtered through AI, and I will not tell people what they want to hear or pander for votes. If I get elected, it will be because of what I believe in, and I’ll follow through as the same person I am today.

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Are you part of a slate / coalition? Is the NDP funding you? Are you being “installed” instead of elected?

No. No. No. 

I am not part of any alliance or slate, formal or informal. I’ve run into and gotten to know some of the other candidates quite well, and in some ways we’re colleagues. But I’m running my own campaign, proudly independently. There are some alliances in this mix, and I genuinely hope they disclose themselves to you. Otherwise all the talk about accountability and transparency is bullshit.

I am mostly self-funded with a moderate contribution from my mom and some unsolicited donations from a few community folks. Recently, I reached out to supporters to make small dollar donations “Bernie style” to help with ad buys and door hangers. Lots of generous folks have contributed, mostly in $49 increments ($50 and over requires me to disclose their identities and addresses). The NDP has not offered to fund me, and I would not accept if they (or any other party) did.

That last one is silly, and I threw it in simply because one very misinformed but persistent person keeps saying it. It’s laughable and kind of pathetic to be so confident and so ignorant. Democracy remains intact. 

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What do you actually want to do if you get elected? Will you lower / decline the salary?

I want to support initiatives that make life better for people - more robust transit, better access to services, and policy that reflects community needs, not just financial return. To me, that’s the opportunity that municipalities present: providing services. I know the job is administrative and policy-based, and I’m approaching it with that kind of grounded realism. I believe everyone deserves dignity and respect, no matter their situation or identity.

I also want to bring a few things to the horseshoe that I think are currently missing. It seems that many of the current Councillors insist upon themselves and seem to be chewing the scenery (to borrow a theatre term). Let’s get back to just making decisions on important initiatives with a sober, calm approach, and without theatrics or performative emotion. I want to stop deferring decisions unless absolutely necessary, so we can move on to the next important thing. Meetings need to be shorter, efficient, and productive. We need to show voters why they elected us. I will not push to lower Council salary or reverse the increase. It’s the salary for the job I’m applying for. Like any other, I plan to earn it if I get hired.

I will advocate to share as much information publicly as possible. Dashboard tracking initiatives, showing the progress of decisions, and the flow of public inquiries & engagement. Open-book management that will restore some trust, and frankly cut down on the number of FOIP requests that waste time and money to provide information that should be public anyway. Obviously I can’t do all that unilaterally, but I’ll certainly push for it.

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Will you lower my taxes / utilities? Will you reverse [insert completed project here]? Will you terminate [a City employee]? 

These are great examples of questions that people expect “yes or no” answers to, which is something I rarely do. If you know me in real life, you know I like context and detail, and like to discuss things. I seldom give “yes or no” answers, and I try not to speak in absolutes.

In my experience, it’s very rare to see taxes of any kind lowered. They are an inevitable part of living in a society, and we are all subject to them at multiple government levels. At what rate and frequency to increase them depends greatly on what they’re being used to fund. As with any financial proposal, I would need to see a business case supporting an increase, and would push back to explore other revenue tools, cost savings, or other ways to minimize the impact to the general public before supporting an initiative. One big initiative I'd like to bring forward is to index tax increases to inflation. Regular frequency, somewhat predictable, and measured increases are much easier to stomach than unpredictable spikes and plateaus. I would also want to see Council wages indexed the same way, but that’s a whole different conversation!

I don’t think reversing completed work is efficient or financially responsible. If there are opportunities to improve a future project learning from a previous one, I would want to see that explored in the planning phase.

Councillors cannot unilaterally do much of anything, including spend money, hire people, or terminate anyone. If there is a personnel issue I’m asked to discuss or vote on, I would need to see as much documentation and evidence as possible before making a decision. The big, contentious one in front of Council right now will likely be resolved before the election. 

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Who are you trying to reach / Who do you think will vote for you?

I’m aiming to reach people who are quietly doing good work - folks in education, healthcare, nonprofits, community boards, service industries, and “blue collar” jobs. They may not be loud or forceful online, but they care deeply and deserve to be heard. I think there are lots of progressive, thoughtful, forward-thinking people here who are invested in our city’s future. I’ll tell people what my values are, and I’ll understand if theirs don’t align. But the beauty of municipal politics is the diversity of opinions and priorities and collaborating to find the best way forward. I genuinely want to get things done without a bunch of political theatrics. I’m hoping voters will see me as trustworthy and grounded - someone with integrity and the ability to respectfully disagree. I want to engage with as many people as possible in a real way, open and honest instead of transactional. I seem to have a lot of support already, but there’s more to do. Again, there is a lot of conspicuous silence from some of my candidate colleagues, and that should concern people.

There are also a lot of folks who I think are assuming they’ll walk into a seat based on name recognition alone. It’s understandable in such a large field, but I am imploring you to do some of your own homework. Politics - especially at the municipal level - is a team sport, and you have to play too. I was something like the seventh person to declare, and I had signs and a website up very early on. This was deliberate and calculated. I knew I needed to make a splash early, and now I have to carry momentum forward. Please spread the word to your network. There are LOTS of opportunities to meet me in person in the next 29 days. If you can’t do that, I’ll remain responsive and active online. Pass my info to people, encourage them to reach out, watch my interviews (compiled here and growing: https://www.adamkoch.ca/interviews-press). Request a lawn sign. Wear a button. Put a sticker on your car. 

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Who did you vote for in the last election?

This one blows my mind because it's an extremely common question that I find completely irrelevant. And in my experience so far, it comes exclusively from right wing folks who want to tee me up to answer the question “wrong” so they can be justified in not voting for me. Answer anything but the provincial UCP or federal Conservatives, and I’ve “lost” the vote I never had in the first place. I try to encourage people to learn more about candidates, to contextualize their values into what they would do for the city, and to ignore party affiliation or support. But so many people are not interested in hearing any of that. 

At the risk of being divisive here, it's frankly lazy. We're all a lot more complicated and nuanced than a checkmark on a ballot. BTW I have no formal affiliation, but I typically vote NDP. Which, if you read anything about my values and priorities, won't exactly be surprising. But I'm also a small business owner, so automatically a capitalist. And I support a MCC, which "on paper" I probably shouldn't. And I admired Mulroney more than (Justin) Trudeau, but Chretien more than Harper. 

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Please share this with your networks. Come to meet & greets. Reach out to candidates and weed out the ones who ignore you. I’m an open book, and this was all about showing that.

Trying to stay ahead of the pack,

- Adam