The Platform

Accountability & Transparency

What Daniel Will Do

  • Continue to improve the way elected officials and the city communicate and disperse information.
  • Continue holding town halls and listening sessions both in-person and virtual to gather feedback on what is important to you.
  • Remain open an available to all businesses and residents.
  • Continue to find ways to improve how the Board of Mayor and Alderman operates, and find ways to be more effective, efficient, and accountable. We should constantly be evaluating ourselves internally seeking opportunities to improve.

What Daniel has done

While this says “What Daniel Has Done,” it is essential to acknowledge that we do not work in a vacuum and cannot accomplish anything individually. It takes working together as a Board, through our differences, and finding ways to compromise. Achieving our goals also requires leadership and dedication at the staff level. It would be unfair to claim any of these accomplishments as solely my own.

drafted the board of mayor and alderman policies and procedures manual

Whether it is for-profit, non-profit, or in the public sector, every successful organization implements and follows a set of best-practice policies and procedures. As an elected body, we have an obligation to direct and reach the taxpayers’ goals and those of the city organization itself. We should do this in a way that avoids imprudent or unethical behavior or actions that put the taxpayers and the city at risk. Board policies and procedures help achieve this objective by defining values and methods that direct how we conduct ourselves and the city’s business.
  • Successfully advocated for adding an item to the agenda to "approve the agenda" giving your Alderman the ability to add discussion items with the support of the majority of the board.
  • Defined equitable procedures that ensure each Alderman has the ability to get their discussion items on the agenda prior to the eve of the meeting with a co-sponsor. Previously getting an item added to the agenda lacked a clearly defined and enforceable method.
  • Defines procedures to prevent an elected official from monopolizing city staff's time for personal agendas not supported by the full board.
  • Holds elected officials accountable for their conduct during the meetings. We are there to do the business of the city. The board room is not a place for politics or self-promotion.

Accountability through transparency

To steal a quote from Agustín Carstens, former Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, “Transparency ensures that information is available that can be used to measure the authorities’ performance and to guard against any possible misuse of powers. In that sense, transparency serves to achieve accountability, which means that authorities can be held responsible for their actions.”
  • Held over 46 town hall sessions, an average of one per month, on various topics designed to keep the public engaged and informed.
  • Held over 100 Facebook Lives to present information on upcoming board meetings, policy changes and updates, information related to economic development, and COVID related information.
  • Wrote and delivered several educational series that introduced and explained how our local government is formed and to explain the roles and responsibilities of the various moving parts.
  • Held himself accountable by opening up surveys on himself to give the public the opportunity to provide feedback on trust levels, job performance, and ways to improve.