Politics & Government

Fishman: City Government Could Use More transparency

Daniel Fishman is one of five candidates for Ward 1 Councilor on the Beverly City Councilor.

Name: Daniel Fishman

Age: 45

Street: 36 Colgate Road

Family: Wife, Eleanor

Employment: Senior Software Architect, Esped.com

Political and community experience and involvement: I ran for Congress against John Tierney and Richard Tisei last fall. I'm a constant attendant at Beverly's Famer's Market and I enjoy the stellar Ober Park in the First Ward.

Why are you running for City Council?

Last Spring a couple of kids from Endicott used really good fake IDs to buy alcohol in town and went back to campus and caused trouble.  The liquor board responded by banning local bars and restaurants from accepting out of state IDs as valid forms of identification.  I think this is a terrible decision that punishes Beverly businesses when they did nothing wrong.  And at Homecoming I heard of 3 weddings that were moved from Beverly to Salem because young couples don't want to have a wedding in a place where their out of town friends can't toast them with champagne.

What is the most significant issue facing Ward 1? Facing the city as a whole? How would you address these issues?

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The most significant issue is one of government transparency. As we're seeing with the Brimbal Ave interchange, the city has not done a good job of communicating with the citizenry. I would address this immediately by instituting a city based ticketing system for complaints.  When someone enters a complaint online, they will get a ticket number so they can see the process of when their complaint is reviewed and by whom.  The city also will be able to build a database of citizen issues, making us more responsive.

Building off of that we can use the system to also make local government more transparent.  Allow citizens to see what their neighbors are complaining about.

For the first time in 20 years, Mayor Bill Scanlon is not seeking election. Do you support one of the candidates? If so, who? If not, how do you see yourself working with the new mayor as part of the City Council?

I've enjoyed getting to know all three candidates, and I feel confident that I can work with any of them.  I am first and foremost however a representative of the people of my ward, and my first concern is to represent them to the best of my ability.  Working with the new mayor is my second priority.

What is the greatest accomplishment of outgoing Ward 1 Councilor Maureen Troubetaris? What is one thing Troubetaris did that you disagreed with or would have done differently?

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In knocking doors I'm starting to think there may be two Maureens. It's the only explanation for the number of people who claim to have had face time with her in the last year. Her legacy of directly connecting with the people is one that speaks to the highest level of public service.

I did disagree with Maureen on her vote on the Ventron site -- I don't think the city should have allowed it to be rezoned.  That land could be a gem of a park for the city, right on the water. We've got enough condos on the water.

Please add anything else that you want voters to know.

I am a technologist first and foremost. Writing software for a living, I am always current about information technologies and how to leverage them. We live in an age when computing is changing everything. Beverly needs a technology expert on the city council.

I'm also a former Special Educator, having worked 5 years in Texas before moving to Massachusetts in 1994 and working two more years at The League School of Boston, before going to UMass Boston to get a degree in Computer Science.

We are applying for a job.  I encourage people to check out my work history and my patents on LinkedIn

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dan-fishman/0/796/320


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