Rachel LaPointe is a third-generation resident in the south end of Dearborn Heights, a mom of four amazing children, and a passionate advocate for the city. She obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Detroit Mercy and has worked as a communications director, while mainly using her time to volunteer. She’s ready to use her talents for research and asking questions to bring common sense and logic to city council. In her free time, she likes to try all sorts of hobbies (gardening, crochet, painting and woodworking have all been on her list this year), spend time with her family and she wouldn’t mind playing some D&D.
Rachel is passionate about getting city data into the hands of residents. We all deserve to know how much money the city has, what it's being spent on, and what we're planning on doing in the future. She wants to see a financial tracking dashboard available as well as new ordinances that outline what the city needs to track and report, including start-to-finish project trackers and a dashboard that shows progress on goals from our master plans. As part of the process of transparently reporting our finances, we also should perform a full forensic audit of the last 10 years.
In the last four years, Rachel has watched as government officials at all levels have looked at the law and shrugged. She's intent on putting an end to unethical behavior in the city of Dearborn Heights. We'll reach this goal by passing a strong ethics ordinance that demands transparency from elected and appointed officials regarding their connections with bidders, clear guidelines on when to recuse themselves, and consequences for when officials violate the law. Having these guardrails in place will reassure residents that no one elected official can "ruin" the city.
Rachel's not entirely serious, she's also a BIG fan of creating more fun in our community! She believes strongly that building up relationships among neighbors is the greatest tool we have to improve our city. Encouraging more neighborhood associations, block parties, neighborhood garage sales, and city-wide events, as well as providing financial assistance when possible to community organizations like Hype Athletics and the D7 Dad's Club, can all contribute to a joyful community that looks out for each other.
