The ABQ Accent | EP 45 - Ethan Watson

 Happy National City Clerk’s Week! CABQ City Clerk, Ethan, is a calming, distinct kind of presence and the first person to join us for a second episode, with good reason. (Check out Ep. #28 to listen to our first episode together.) Here we learn more about him and the awareness he has of our larger information systems and the efforts he makes to improve both processes and public education. With a 70% increase in Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) requests, the Clerk’s office staff is feeling the pressure. Ethan describes how this also impacts all requesters in the amount of time they have to wait for a response. Out of state revenue-driven requests are a huge portion of requests and the public is paying the price. Clerk’s staff balances many inquiries with their capacity and Ethan is plays a pivotal role in helping the public understand that balance and also innovate around changes to the larger process. Locally, Ethan is part of a legislative task force to review IPRA and will be working with Clerks in other states to better understand the situation at hand. Nationally, Ethan presents best practices at conferences and has received the CMC certification (the first service CABQ Clerk to do so) and an Excellence in Governance Award. Ethan’s department also supports elections, the public financing program, and hearings. One fun note is that the Clerk’s office supports the process of speed citations being taken care of via community service – reflected by over 20,000 hours being put into our community. Enjoy this episode to level up your understanding of this important office and the wildly intelligent gentleman at the helm. See the new IPRA report here: https://www.cabq.gov/clerk/news/out-of-state-requests-consume-disproportionate-staff-time Speeding citation? Sign up for community service here: https://www.cabq.gov/automated-speed-enforcement/community-service-information CABQ City Clerk: https://www.cabq.gov/clerk