Harrison Announces Plan To Improve City Government

Councilman-at-Large and candidate for mayor Duncan Harrison announced his plan to make Trenton’s municipal government more transparent and accountable to Trentonians. Harrison’s plan focuses on improving access to government officials, providing better training for city employees, and ensuring that everyone who works in City Hall is well-qualified and held accountable to provide the best service for Trenton.

“City Hall has let Trentonians down too many times. That cannot continue,” Harrison said.

Harrison drew on conversations with people from every section of the city to design a plan to make the bold changes City Hall needs by:

• Instituting open office hours with the mayor and all department heads so that residents can ask questions and give their leaders suggestions face-to-face.

• Implementing an online accountability system where Trentonians can log complaints online and track City Hall’s response.

• Improving training for city employees and requiring that everyone who works in City Hall participate in professional development courses.

• Opening an Office of Business Retention and Recruitment to support small businesses in Trenton and strategically market Trenton’s resources to start-ups and large companies looking to expand.

• Hiring the best candidates instead of filling City Hall with political appointees.

• Holding Trenton Water Works accountable to keep our water safe.

Harrison believes making Trenton’s government more transparent and accountable to Trentonians will pave the way for other changes which include:

• Jumpstarting an economic revolution in Trenton by bringing in new businesses, expanding training programs for Trenton’s workers, and opening up new educational opportunities for students.

• Revitalizing Trenton’s neighborhoods by repairing and improving abandoned buildings, cracking down on illegal dumping, and creating a Community Clean-Up Squad to pick up litter.

• Improving public safety and building trust in communities by hiring more police officers from Trenton, building better relationships between officers and the communities they serve, and expanding ShotSpotter and other technology to reduce violence.

• Increasing access to PreK, opening community libraries, and collaborating with colleges and universities to create a university center downtown.