How can voters know if a candidate will do what they say they will? (Emeryville City Council Edition)

At a community meeting this weekend, one of the participants asked us:

How can voters know if a candidate will do what they say they will? Why should we believe what you say on the campaign trail?
(paraphrased)

Sadly, there’s no good way to know for sure what levers powerful people can find and pull for any public figure in the future. There’s huge resources that go into blackmailing and manipulating us. No one is totally invulnerable.

For the sake of Emeryville voters choosing their votes right now: you can skip straight to How to See Who Donated to Emeryville City Council Candidates.

Green and Red Flags for Political Candidates

But there are some green and red flags voters can use to do their due diligence.

Green Flags	Red Flags
🟩 Transparency Clear policy goals Documented history of political actions and stances Speaks to constituents and press openly Willingness to talk about mistakes	🟥 Lack of Transparency Few specific policy goals or ideas Little accessible historical information Only speaks to specific audiences or off-the-record Denies or tries to hide mistakes
🟩 Answers Questions Directly Clear yes or no answers when possible, or sufficiently detailed “grey area” answers. Speaks openly to the press, even when they may be oppositional. Shows up to meetings when able, on time and prepared.	🟥 Dodges Questions Talks about unrelated things without actually answering questions. Avoids talking to the press or selectively gives some outlets more respect than others. Late, unprepared, or a no-show at meetings.
🟩 Follows Campaign Finance Rules Files documents in a timely manner Openly shares their supporters	🟥 Doesn’t Follow the Rules Misses filings or files late Evades questions about supporters
🟩 Cites Reliable Sources for Claims Shows receipts in accessible open ways (ideally without being asked) Discloses influences for political philosophies and community participation	🟥 Baseless Claims Makes accusations or claims without showing proof. Refuses to disclose backroom dealings or personal influencers
🟩 Unprofitable / Unpopular Positions It’s far less suspicious to be anti-big money than pro-big money. History of comfort being the lone voice standing up for something they believe in.	🟥 Status Quo or Profit-seeking Messaging Most calls for “common sense” policies is hand-waving to maintain the existing status quo. Policies that benefit business, real estate investors, banks, or other established powers.
🟩 Few or No Scandals Lives openly, warts and all. No history of unresolved scandals or questionable associations.	🟥 Habitually Scandalous Lives in a way they’d be strongly motivated to hide if blackmailed. Has a history of scandal or association with scandals

Green Flags

Red Flags

🟩 Transparency

Clear policy goals
Documented history of political actions and stances
Speaks to constituents and press openly
Willingness to talk about mistakes

🟥 Lack of Transparency

Few specific policy goals or ideas
Little accessible historical information
Only speaks to specific audiences or off-the-record
Denies or tries to hide mistakes

🟩 Answers Questions Directly

Clear yes or no answers when possible, or sufficiently detailed “grey area” answers.
Speaks openly to the press, even when they may be oppositional.
Shows up to meetings when able, on time and prepared.

🟥 Dodges Questions

Talks about unrelated things without actually answering questions.
Avoids talking to the press or selectively gives some outlets more respect than others.
Late, unprepared, or a no-show at meetings.

🟩 Follows Campaign Finance Rules

Files documents in a timely manner
Openly shares their supporters

🟥 Doesn’t Follow the Rules

Misses filings or files late
Evades questions about supporters

🟩 Cites Reliable Sources for Claims

Shows receipts in accessible open ways (ideally without being asked)
Discloses influences for political philosophies and community participation

🟥 Baseless Claims

Makes accusations or claims without showing proof.
Refuses to disclose backroom dealings or personal influencers

🟩 Unprofitable / Unpopular Positions

It’s far less suspicious to be anti-big money than pro-big money.
History of comfort being the lone voice standing up for something they believe in.

🟥 Status Quo or Profit-seeking Messaging

Most calls for “common sense” policies is hand-waving to maintain the existing status quo.
Policies that benefit business, real estate investors, banks, or other established powers.

🟩 Few or No Scandals

Lives openly, warts and all.
No history of unresolved scandals or questionable associations.

🟥 Habitually Scandalous

Lives in a way they’d be strongly motivated to hide if blackmailed.
Has a history of scandal or association with scandals

I’ll add more here if I think of good ones, but you can also see my How I Vote post for more details.

For incumbents: I check their voting record or their actions to see if they match their rhetoric.

Emeryville City Council Campaign Finance Info

I didn’t even know about this until running for office, but anyone can use Emeryville’s “Laserfiche” Public Portal to see what each candidate has filed.

How to Find Useful Info

Go to https://portal.laserfiche.com/Portal/Welcome.aspx?repo=r-7d9b110e
In the top menu, click Browse
Navigate through the folders that should be clearly named to find the candidates you care about.
1. For example, to find mine:
  City Clerk > FPPC Forms > Candidates > Public > Frydlewicz, Corry > Election Year 2026
2. All Emeryville City Council Candidates: https://portal.laserfiche.com/Portal/Browse.aspx?id=790166&repo=r-7d9b110e

Sadly, the Search function on the homepage of Laserfiche isn’t very useful in my experience. But feel free to try that out too.

Screenshot of Emeryville Laserfiche with all of Corry Frydlewicz's FPPC filings as of 10/19/2026. The list includes two Form 410's, one Form 460, and one Form 501 — Screenshot taken 10/19/2026

FPPC Document Types

Once you’re in here, the documents are probably confusing. You can learn about what each FPPC filing means on their official website, but here’s the basics as I understand them:

Form 501: The initial statement of candidacy we have to file with the city to be on the ballot.
Form 410: Initial declaration of who our Treasurer(s) are, our bank account info for the campaign, etc.
Form 460: Mandatory updates to funding and spending disclosures during the campaign.
Form 497: Discloses large political contributions. (candidates without these may not have accepted large donations)

Forms 460 and 497 are often the most interesting one for voters in my opinion.

Sample Form 460

We can see a list of any donor who spends $100 or more. Specifically on the page labeled Schedule A. There’s other info about spending and such here too, in other sections.

Screenshot of the first page of Corry Frydlewicz's Form 460 Schedule A showing donations between $100 and $1200 from individual donors and herself. — This is just the first page of one of my 460s, as a sample.

Sample Form 497

Big donations are the most important ones to know about for any candidate. They tell you which influences may be strongest in their actions in office.

I don’t have a 497 to display here as a sample because I’ve refused all donations from PACs and corporations, but you can browse the Laserfiche to find candidates who do.

Emeryville City Council FPPC Forms

Red Flags in Emeryville

If you see donors you feel have goals opposed to your own, you may want to question why they support the candidate. Especially if the donation is large.
If you can’t find these documents filed for some candidates while others already have them, they likely missed their deadline, which deprives voters of information that can guide their choices.
- Form 460 Deadlines: 7/31/2026, 9/24/2026, 10/22/2026
- FPPC Deadlines: https://www.fppc.ca.gov/learn/campaign-rules/when-and-where-to-file-campaign-statements/state-and-local-filing-schedules/ –> “Committees Primarily Formed to Support/Oppose Local Candidates for Local Office Listed on the November 3, 2026 Local Ballot (PDF)”
- Direct PDF Link (may not work on mobile)

The Type of Candidate I Aspire to Be

I try to uphold these ideals in my own campaign, and to set a good example for others running for office. If you want that kind of thing in your local politics too, make sure we win when you see us running. Vote November 3rd!