Transparency

During this campaign, I’ve met a lot of neighbors who feel shut out of the political process. They want to know more about what’s going on and have their voices count when it comes time to make decisions, but they can’t necessarily run down to City Hall in the middle of the day to attend a Common Council meeting.

As your alderman, I will be an advocate for more openness and transparency in government. I’ll push us to use technology to involve residents in the work of the Common Council. There are emerging
web-based solutions that could help every resident quickly connect to issues of concern to them and give feedback to elected leaders, even if they can’t get to meetings.

I’ll also sponsor an ordinance that will require aldermen to file their campaign finance reports electronically. Making this information easily accessible will help us hold elected leaders accountable and put any relationships between campaign donations and policymaking out
in the open.

A city government that is open and transparent is one focused on serving the people, not big-spending donors or other influential types. I’m looking forward to working with you to shifting that focus back where it belongs.