John Arena is dedicated to changing City Council’s status as a rubber stamp for the mayor’s office by voting independently and supporting efforts to reduce outsized executive power and other entrenched influences on city government.

The new Sunshine Ordinance and similar efforts to promote transparency in city government are a good start. But the heavy resistance to allowing the inspector general to investigate aldermen is evidence that some members of City Council would rather do business in secret.

John Arena is committed to an open, honest conversation between the city and its residents about how government works. He also favors making the business of governing Chicago available online, in a searchable database accessible to city residents.