Increasing Transparency in Manchester Government

🗳️One of the most important responsibilities of an Alderman is making sure residents can clearly see how decisions are being made on their behalf. Unfortunately, if you have ever tried to read through the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, or any other board or committee, meeting minutes, you know how difficult it can be to find the most important detail: how each alderman actually voted on an issue.

📑 Votes are often buried in dense sections of the minutes, scattered across the consent agenda, committee reports, or new business items. For the average resident, it is nearly impossible to get a clear picture without spending hours combing through lengthy documents. That is not transparency. It is a barrier to accountability.

🙌 Recognizing the Clerk’s Office

Before anything else, I want to acknowledge the excellent work that the City Clerk’s Office does in preparing and publishing meeting minutes. These documents are often available quickly after each meeting, and they serve as the official record of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen’s work. The Clerk’s staff handles a challenging task with professionalism and residents benefit from their dedication.

That said, while the minutes are thorough, the way votes are recorded can still make it difficult for the public to clearly see where each alderman stood on an issue. This is not a shortcoming of the Clerk’s Office, it is simply a matter of how the information is presented.

🔍 Bringing Transparency From My Career to City Hall

In my professional career, one of my core responsibilities is helping teams bring transparency to the work they do. Transparency is the foundation of trust. It ensures that organizations and stakeholders can see what progress is being made, where challenges exist, and how value is being delivered.

👥 When teams lack transparency, leaders make decisions in the dark and the people depending on the work are left guessing. But when we shine a light on the process, everyone has the clarity they need to make better decisions.

🏛️ The same principle applies to city government. Residents deserve to clearly see how their elected officials represent them.

✅ A Practical Solution

As Alderman, I will push for a simple addition to the meeting minutes, a summary table of votes. This table would give residents a clear, at-a-glance view of:

📂 Agenda section (Consent Agenda, Regular Business, New Business, etc.)

🔢 Agenda item number

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Names of each alderman

👍👎 How they voted (Yea, Nay, Absent, Recused)

📊 The overall result of the vote

👉 In addition, I would recommend that the Meeting Files section of the city website include a direct link to the full video recording of the meeting. The City already posts these recordings, but they are in a separate location maintained by Manchester Public TV. By placing the video alongside the agenda and minutes, residents would have everything in one convenient place. This would allow people to read the minutes or watch the full discussion, making government more accessible and easier to follow.

🌟 Guided by Values. Focused on Outcomes.

Transparency is not just a talking point. It is a core value that shapes how I work and how I would serve you as Alderman for Ward 9. By making voting records clear, accessible, and linked to real discussions, we can ensure residents are informed, engaged, and confident in how their representatives are leading Manchester.

🌐 Connect with My Campaign

📍 Website: TroyMicklon.com

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