Activist Toolkit

1. What motivates you to seek this office? What skills, experiences, and perspectives would you bring, and why would those contributions be valuable in the office you are seeking?

2. When in the past have you had to balance competing interests? What process did you use? What did you learn?

3. What does transparency in government mean to you? How would you put it into practice?

4. As more of our local discourse happens in social media, what is your view on how local elected officials should communicate with and respond to constituents?

How will you engage with the breadth of the community, and not only those on social media?

5. What barriers do you see for community members who wish to engage with Berwyn’s township government? How would you work to reduce or eliminate those barriers?

6. What do you feel are the most important issues facing Berwyn, and what steps can the Township take to address them?

7. How do you define equity? Have recent events and discussions in the larger community informed or changed your thinking?

8. How do you plan to solicit feedback from people who may be experiencing Berwyn in a different way than you? What barriers do you believe may exist in this process?

9. Name an influential Berwyn community member. How did this person’s influence change Berwyn? As an elected official, what do you imagine your influence will be on the community?

10. Many Berwyn residents have expressed confusion about the disparate roles of the City and the Township, particularly in the past year as the importance of the Health Department has increased due to the pandemic. What steps would you take to increase the visibility and community awareness of the township’s mission and programs?

11. How would you evaluate the Health Department’s handling of the pandemic? What structural or oversight changes do you believe are necessary to improve the Department’s responsiveness to further crises?

12. As an elected official, what lessons will you draw from the experience of the pandemic about the purpose and role of government?