Nezam's answers

Hello Philippe.  Nice to hear from you again.

I opted for a web site without a blog primarily due to my own time constraints.  Also I do not have the support needed to create and maintain a blog.  As you know, I am not accepting financial contributions to my campaign.  This meant I had to go with a simple web site that was rich in content.  I am not sure if you are offering to help with creating and maintaining a blog but, if you are, I am game.

The answers to your three questions are yes, yes, and yes.  I see no reason why that has not been done - or why it can not be done.  That work could be done by staff, consultants, volunteers, or a combination.  I do not know why you have not been provided with information that you believe is available or can be developed with relatively little effort by staff.  As you know, staff work for the mayor (not for the council) and I make a point of staying out of administration at city hall because that is the responsibility of the mayor and city administrator.

I hope you noted the points that I make on my web site (go to the “Focus as Mayor” page and review the 2nd and 3rd bullets under the “Performance” heading) about creating a “culture of customer service” at city hall.  I am quite serious about doing so as mayor and I think most city staff would sign up for it because it will lead to greater professional satisfaction for them at work.

You may post these answers at your web site if you wish.  I would be delighted to do an interview as soon as possible at a mutually convenient time.  Thank you for the offer.

Nezam

P.S.: I hope you found the material on my web site interesting and informative and I would love to have your feedback on the content that you found.  Thanks.    

In a second email Nezam gives some precisions about the financing and organizing of his campaign and aks if I could/would post this information on Voice of Bainbridge. No problem!
Nezam only read the most recent posting about the campaign, not the first one where (at the very end) I wrote:
"Nezam Toolee has not chosen the full reporting option. The mini-reporting option he chose means he does not intend to raise more than $3.500 and will not accept contributions of more than $300. It also means he will not report any of those to the PDC.
Same for Michaels Berry."

Philippe:

After responding to your questions, I checked your web site and noted that in your story about money you do not say anything about the the unusual campaign that I have chosen to wage.  So, I thought it may be useful for you to have the following response that I sent to the Buzz in response to their question on this subject.

In my case, I have made a conscious decision to wage a “clean campaign” with no financial contributions as a matter of principle not due to lack of supporters.  When I ran for council, my campaign raised and spent about $17,000 and more than 60% of the contributions were under $100.  In other words, my financial support was from many individuals from all walks of life not from a few wealthy donors.

I thought $17,000 was way too much for anyone to have to spend in any local election (then I found out that when Darlene had run for mayor she had raised and spent nearly $30,000).  So, I decided to find out if grass-roots democracy (people talking to friends and neighbors) could work in running for mayor in this progressive community.  We will see and learn something about ourselves in the process.

I would appreciate it if you could represent my views (both what is above and what is below) on your site.

Nezam