Transparency
Transparency Matters
Residents should be able to see how their money is being spent, what their elected officials are discussing, and how decisions are being made.
Transparency in local government matters. Residents should be able to see how their money is being spent, what their elected officials are discussing, and how decisions are being made — across all boards.
The Village of Holly already does a lot of this well. Meetings are shared on YouTube. Council packets are posted online and include the Village's monthly checkbook ledger. From the Village website, residents can access the Document Library, which includes 16 years of audit reports, budgets, meeting information, and other public records. Staff directories are available, and with one click on “Contact My Legislator,” residents can reach the people elected to represent them.
Room to Improve
Is there room to improve? Absolutely. We still have years of historical records that need to be digitized, including cemetery records. Those are big projects, and like many small communities, we don't have unlimited staff or unlimited dollars to throw at every problem.
April, Amber, and Shannon have already begun conversations about partnering with local colleges and universities to bring interns into the Village. There may also be opportunities for local NHS and IBB students to earn community service hours while gaining real-world experience helping preserve and digitize Holly's history. After a Meet the Candidate event at the Holly Township Library, we learned the library has resources to help us get these records digitized too.
This saves taxpayer dollars, gives young people valuable experience, and helps make even more of our public information easily accessible to residents.
The Bottom Line
Transparency doesn't mean the government will make every decision you agree with. It means you should be able to see how and why those decisions were made.
Holly has years of audits, financial records, meeting packets, and public meetings already available for residents to review. Can we modernize? Yes. Should we keep looking for affordable ways to do even better? One hundred percent.
Meeting Videos
Every Village meeting is shared on YouTube for residents to watch, live or after the fact.
Council Packets
Posted online ahead of every meeting, including the Village's monthly checkbook ledger.
Document Library
16 years of audit reports, budgets, meeting minutes, and other public records.
Contact My Legislator
One click from the Village website connects residents to their elected representatives.
See It For Yourself
Transparency should be easy to use, not just easy to claim. Here's exactly where to find Council packets on the Village website.
Where to Find Council Packets
Campaign Finance
Keeping Our Campaign Local
We truly appreciate everyone who has reached out wanting to support us. We believe small town elections should be powered by the people who actually live, raise families, own businesses and invest their lives in this community.
For us, that means keeping our campaign local. When political money starts coming into a small community from other areas, neighboring communities or even other states, it raises an important question: Why? Whose voices are actually shaping our local elections?
The same is true when outside voices begin dominating the conversation about our community. The Village of Holly has real challenges. We need to talk honestly about roads, infrastructure, taxes, public safety and the future of our downtown. However, those conversations should be driven by the people who will live with the consequences of those decisions. When local services are weakened and businesses, banks, pharmacies and other community institutions disappear, Village residents are the ones left living with the results.
We aren't interested in outside agendas or turning Holly into someone else's political battleground. We're three neighbors committed to doing the hard work for our hometown.
Neighbors not politicians. Local voices. Local decisions. This is our home.