What does transparency and accountability mean to you?

My answer to “What does transparency and accountability mean to you?” from the Germantown Chamber of Commerce Candidate Forum:

Transparency is being willing to share your thoughts on various topics in a public forum. It’s being willing to engage with various viewpoints in an open manner. It’s being able to explain why you feel a certain way or, if you’ve cast a vote on something, being able to explain why you voted the way you did.

My website and all of my information and posts for the last 4 years are still out there. I have two Facebook pages - this year’s campaign page created in mid-December 2023 and my Board page which has existed since December of 2019 when it was my campaign page the first time I ran.

I have never deleted a Facebook post. I’ve never deleted a comment. I’ve never blocked anyone from accessing the page, though I understand it may be necessary when someone is being abusive, but blocking someone because they may be challenging your viewpoint isn’t transparency. Willing to share and defend what you believe in a full, honest way is transparency.

A perceived lack of transparency isn’t because you think someone should be talking about something but isn’t. Highlighting what you want to highlight and omitting the full story, isn’t transparency.

The accountability piece comes into play when the electorate gets the chance to consider what has happened in the District and the results that have followed. Our job as a candidate is to share the important items for us whether it is basically a singular topic or something that casts a wider net - like what important for students, parents, and taxpayers. When the public has a chance to listen to us in forums like this or visit our websites/Facebook pages, the electorate can make an educated decision based on what is important to them.