Open and Representative Government

By Marsha Vas Dupre

Transparecy in government processes, diversity on boards and commissions, and district elections are important to Marsha.

• The process by which each councilmember appoints a citizen to a board or commission

• The increased use of e-government on the city's website to make information readily available

• The taking of minutes for all meetings to be taken and distributed to the public

• Advocating for information to be presented on the City's Community Media Access and bilingual radio stations

To Marsha, the issue of district elections is about open and representative government. She says, "If we are to have real representation from all areas of the city and also achieve diversity on the council, I believe we must have district elections. Although well-intentioned, the alternatives to district elections put in place to get representation from under-represented areas of the city+for example the Community Advisory Board+has been a patch on the problem. The perception of people in the southwest area is that they are not represented in city government. I would support a charter amendment for district elections