(47th in a series of posts on candidates for election)
Election Day is May 21
That’s 6 days from today!
Be sure to review the Gadfly series of Q&A’s with candidates, the like of which you can get nowhere else, on these pairs of posts in the candidates series: 45/44, 36/35, 31/30, 26/25, 24/23, 20/19, 17/16.
The second question the Bethlehem City Democratic Committee (BCDC ) asked of all the candidates on May 6 was about transparency:
“Transparency, especially in terms of fiscal matters, is incredibly important to Bethlehem residents. What initiatives do you support to keep the City government accountable?”
Candidates for the one 2yr. seat
Grace Crampsie Smith: “We need to improve accessibility . . . the City web site . . . significant advance notice of meetings . . . very important to consider rotating City Council meetings throughout the City.”
Will Carpenter: “We need you to pay attention . . . We both need to do our part . . . [The City needs to] put more information out there [in local papers] so you don’t have to seek as much.”
Candidates for the three 4yr. seats
Paige Van Wirt: “making sure people have access to meeting agendas and data way in advance of the meetings . . . continue to make the meetings available online . . . all public meetings after 6 o’clock . . . remove any impediments to [participation].”
David Saltzer: “more people coming in and voicing their opinions is going to allow us to do a better job . . . open door policy is also a great thing.”
Carol Ritter: “One of the things that is important to me as a representative of you if I am elected, when I am elected that I am an active listener . . . Transparency is not only about the Administration and City Council but also about the staff.”
J. William Reynolds: Talked about his Open Bethlehem (open data), Fair Accountability Incentive Reporting (FAIR), and the Connecting Bethlehem Survey projects.
Michael Colon: “We’ve taken major steps these last few years to make sure people have access to these meetings . . . I’ve always tried to respect everybody’s opinion and never discourage anyone from wanting to come out to City Council meetings or discourage anyone to make their opinions known.”
Candidate responses to BCDC’s third general question coming soon.
Be sure to review the Gadfly series of Q&A’s with candidates, the like of which you can get nowhere else, on these pairs of posts in the candidates series: 45/44, 36/35, 31/30, 26/25, 24/23, 20/19, 17/16.
Vote and vote informed!
