Civic Academy · How to Evaluate
How to Build Your Own Dream Team
D · Draft — not verified Not line-checked against the Navajo Nation Code. How we verify →
Good government starts as a hiring decision. This lesson teaches a method — matching what candidates have actually done against what each office actually requires — so you can assemble your own slate. Yours, privately. The site never computes one for you.
What this lesson is not
The covenant, applied
No candidate is scored, ranked, or recommended here. A “dream team” built by a website would just be someone else’s opinion wearing a calculator. The only slate worth voting is the one you build with your own eyes open.
Step 1 — Start with the job, not the person
Every office has actual duties. The president administers; delegates legislate and oversee; boards govern their institutions. Read Offices & Qualifications first — you can’t judge a hire without the job description.
Step 2 — List what each job needs most right now
Not in general — right now. If the referendum passes, the next Council reorganizes a government. If healthcare 638 contracting expands, boards need people who can read a budget and a compliance report. Write your own top three needs per office. That list is your measuring stick, and nobody else’s.
Step 3 — Match demonstrated experience, not promised intentions
Promises tell you what a candidate wants you to hear; records tell you what they’ve done. In the comparison record and each profile, look for: things actually built or run, budgets actually managed, laws actually drafted, disputes actually resolved. The lens question: “What in this person’s record shows they’ve done something like this job before?”
Step 4 — Check how they answer, not just what
A dream team is people who answer directly under pressure. Run their interviews through Did They Answer the Question? — evasion in an interview predicts evasion in office.
Step 5 — Think in complements
Governments, like teams, need different strengths: a builder, an accountant’s eye, a diplomat, a watchdog. As you fill in your private Ballot Notes, ask: does my slate cover the skills the next four years will demand — or did I pick five of the same person?
Step 6 — Assemble it — privately
Your ☆ saves, your lens checks, and your assessments already live on your device. Your Ballot Notes is your dream team, drafted by the only person with the right to draft it. Take it to the polls July 21. Your team assembles itself in My Civic Journey → My Team.
Your voice: today’s Corner question · all surveys, by subject · the data so far.