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Leadership and Innovation in Digital Transformation with Derrick Cash

In this edition of The Executive Outlook, explore how Derrick Cash is shaping the future of digital transformation through values-led innovation. With a journey that began far from Silicon Valley, Derrick has become a key player in AI strategy and IT modernization, proving that leadership built on grit, learning, and vision can drive systemic change.

 Whether you're leading a team or defining a new digital roadmap, Derrick’s insights are essential reading.

Ashley Swearengin

www.ashleyforca.com

fresno.gov/government/mayorsoffice/biography/default.htm

Twitter: @Ashley4CA

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ashleyswearengin

CityGOP interviewed two-term Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin, who ran for Comptroller of California. In discussing her political philosophy, Mayor Swearengin explains that her  views were shaped by fellow Californians Ronald Reagan and Pete Wilson. She grew up while Ronald Reagan was serving as Governor and then went on to intern in Governor Pete Wilson’s office. “In my formidable years, I saw these Republicans work as problem solvers. They were tackling tough issues and providing grounded solutions that produced results.”    

Mayor Swearengin has applied this solutions-based approach to urban policy issues. “We cannot retreat from urban centers. We have to work to improve income levels and fight poverty,” she explains.

She attributes her successful campaign in Fresno to having the necessary experience and building strong coalitions. In her ten years working in economic development, Mayor Swearengin developed the skills and background needed to win her election and become an effective mayor.  Her economic development experience involved “bridging public and private sectors and supporting private sector job growth.” 

In Mayor Swearengin’s first campaign, she challenged a city hall insider. Her campaign “pulled people together from across the spectrum – conservative to liberal.” She was focused on improving the economic conditions of the city, and her bipartisan campaign coalition translated into support as mayor “to work together to grow the local economy.” 

Mayor Swearengin quickly put her management and economic development expertise to work, overcoming an inherited $120 million cumulative deficit. She succeeded in “navigating the financial storm and keeping Fresno out of bankruptcy in order to restore the city’s financial health.” She “streamlined services, reduced overhead, and partnered with community organizations and volunteers.” As evidence to its new austerity, Fresno has paid off its internal debt and has begun accumulating a reserve fund. 

In addition to focusing on reforming Fresno’s finances, Mayor Swearengin worked to expand the job opportunities and investment in Fresno. She advocated for “increased vocational training and adult education” in order for workers to upgrade their skills. She focused on “expanding the industrial center which provides high skill/high wage jobs” and “inducing investment back into neglected parts of the city.” 

Building coalitions and talking to a broad array of people have been critically important for Mayor Swearengin. She explains, “You have to be able to talk to the other side and fashion a coalition that comes together around solutions. That is the only way to be effective.”  She recommends that potential candidates and elected officials “focus on the positive outcomes they are trying to achieve by running for office and backwards map on ways to achieve those outcomes and the coalitions that need to come together.”  Focusing on policy solutions and outcomes will “likely draw people regardless political party.” 

The Republican Party is starting to see terrific results at the local level. “There are a number of mayors and councilmembers who are winning as Republicans in non-Republican districts,” Mayor Swearengin points out. She attributes the success in part to Republicans being able to develop relationships and presenting the case that voters “need a pragmatic and business minded approach.” Mayor Swearengin adds, “The Republican Party has a terrific approach at the local level” that reflect a focus on outcomes such as keeping cities financial solvent.

Kris Hammond

www.krisforDC.com

Facebook.com/KrisForDC

twitter.com/krisfordc

CityGOP caught up with civil rights attorney Kris Hammond on the campaign trail to discuss his race for city council chairman for Washington, D.C.. Kris brings previous political experience, having served his community as an advisory neighborhood commissioner (ANCs are local neighborhood boards that advise various district agencies on issues that directly impact the residents’ communities). While running for that non-partisan office, he learned to focus on issues of concern to the residents and defeated an incumbent.

He explains, “[A] project was being built by the city using taxpayer dollars. A lot of people in the community were opposed to it. It wasn’t necessarily ideological or partisan, but the incumbent commissioner wasn’t listening to them.”

“I had been active in the community and even my Democrat neighbors started asking about me running for the ANC. That is what we need - candidates who are so active and well respected that a Democrat calls up a Republican and says ‘Are you are going to run? We are tired of the incumbent,’” Kris says. He did listen and the voters did too - electing him to a seat on the commission representing a district that was approximately 97% non-Republican and 95% African American.

Kris advises prospective Republican candidates in cities to focus on three key things: “preparation, research and participation.” His advice presents a strong primer for future candidates:

Prepare ahead well in advance of an election (years if possible)

Know what the elective office entails

Research potential opponents and the relevant policies

Understand where policy contrasts can be drawn with those opponents

Based on your research, determine what policies you might want to adopt

Be active in the community well in advance of the campaign -- from rotary club and civic associations to attending local government meetings

Identify potential allies and build coalitions

Kris stresses that if candidates have more roots in the community, then residents will be more willing to listen to their ideas. “We will have a hard time making inroads in urban areas without people listening and that takes relationships, sharing common ideals, and ideally working on a civic activity that may not be political. We all must build goodwill.”

In his campaign for D.C. Council Chairman, Kris Hammond is focusing on improving public safety, curtailing unemployment, supporting education reform, and implementing accountability measures.

Kris cautions that the Washington, D.C. police department needs to hire more police officers to keep up with the growing population. He advises, “We have seen an improvement in the crime rate, but we need to keep [the police force] properly staffed.”

Kris thinks more Republicans need to understand that unemployment and education are connected. “[P]eople have not been educated properly in many areas of the city, [and] it has impacted their ability to get jobs.” Kris thinks the Republicans are doing well on advocating for education reform in cities. “People are tired of broken schools and high taxes in cities,” he summarizes.

CityGOP Leader: Nashville, TN, State Representative Candidate John Wang - Building the American Dream

John Wang

www.votejohnwang.com

www.facebook.com/JohnWang4TN 

Twitter: @JohnWang4TN

State House Representative - District 53 - Nashville, TN)

John Wang arrived in the U.S. from his native China with just $40 and unable to speak much English. Over the next twenty years, he worked hard, established a business (Music City Insurance & Finance as well as Tennessee Chinese News), and raised his family. As a leader in his community, John decided to run for Tennessee State Representative in District 53 to lower the tax burden, bring more jobs to the district, and improve the educational system.

“I came to the country looking for the American dream.” John explains. “And this country gave me the opportunity.” “After arriving in this country with so little, I worked hard, built my own business, and reached my American dream.”

Having lived and worked in District 53 for twenty years, John knows the district well, understands the residents’ concerns, and can relate to the many immigrants and families in the diverse district. “And I will do what is right for my community,” John summarizes.

As both a small businessman and president of the Tennessee-American Chinese Chamber of Commerce, John has created jobs and worked to help other companies do so too. He is sharing this experience on the campaign trail as he discusses his platform to lower the tax burden for residents and attract more jobs to the district.

His third campaign issue, education, is equally important for John. As a parent of children who attended local public schools, John believes, “a lot of money is spent on education, but the schools don’t have good results. We need education reform.”John supports school choice, “because parents should have the right to choose the best school for their child – public or private school.”

John is taking his platform into the community through extensive engagement, and he recommends the GOP does the same in order to make inroads in cities. “The GOP needs to continuing doing more engagement at the local level and talking to more city voters. At meetings, we should let everyone know that the GOP is part of our community.”

Website: susanforcongress.com

Twitter: @susannarvaiz

Facebook: Susan Narvaiz for Congress

Instagram: @susannarvaiz

For former San Marcos, Texas mayor and current Congressional candidate Susan Narvaiz, being a Republican is about faith, family, freedom, and free enterprise. She was elected mayor three times in non-partisan elections, but felt the Republican Party best upheld those beliefs. A small businesswoman, Narvaiz first felt called to public service in 1998, when she started applying her small business instincts, practices, and values to solving civic problems. Narvaiz was then elected to the San Marcos City Council in 2002 before being elected mayor in 2004, and again in 2006 and 2008.

Mayor Narvaiz partially credits her electoral success to her business and service experience, but not entirely. She met with people around the city to listen and understand their problems, and more importantly to come up with solutions and overcome obstacles. San Marcos is a mid-sized city with many economically disadvantaged residents – nearly 70% of students in SMCISD are on a free or reduced lunch program – so being able to listen to voters and provide workable solutions is especially important.

Mayor Narvaiz’s biggest piece of advice to fellow Republicans candidates and activists in urban areas is simply to reach out to the whole community in their city. While she recognizes the value in socializing with others who share your worldview and lifestyle, Mayor Narvaiz stresses that it is the best way to engage in voters who might not normally identify with the Republican Party. Going door-to-door in San Antonio, Narvaiz met families who were surprised that someone running for Congress would take the time to knock on their door. Winning in cities also requires not abandoning even the longest of long-shot candidates. “Isn’t every candidate worthy of support in some capacity?” she asks. The support system is important to Mayor Narvaiz, although the non-partisan nature of some municipal elections makes running as a ticket more challenging. As a businesswoman, Mayor Narvaiz is used to taking risks, and the many smaller steps she is taking in her run for Congress are bringing her closer to victory.

Coming from a military family, Mayor Narvaiz’s number one policy priority as a mayor and a congressional candidate is supporting the armed forces. As the mayor of a city near several military installations, this was no small matter. Under her leadership as mayor, she led the effort to revive the annual Veterans Day parade. San Marcos devoted city resources to honoring service members and easing their return to civilian life, including assembling a commission to review and institute veterans-centric policies. Additionally, Mayor Narvaiz is committed to achieving energy independence, fighting for the Keystone Pipeline to bring cheaper energy to Texas and the rest of the country.

As to policies that should be included in a Republican plan for cities, Mayor Narvaiz recommends that other places “do what Texas does,” saying that the agenda of lower taxes, fewer regulations, and more limited public spending work as well in urban areas as they do in the suburbs or in rural communities. When she entered office, Mayor Narvaiz was running a city divided by annexation and without a strong or good perception. Midway between Austin and San Antonio, San Marcos was fighting to keep from becoming a bedroom community for the two larger cities, and Mayor Narvaiz made it her business to expand the city’s presence and image. “We brought in key areas of job creators,” she says, when discussing how her administration utilized sales tax and other revenues to change the city’s reputation. Eventually, businesses and homeowners both started investing more in San Marcos, and the city is well on its way to becoming a stronger regional powerhouse.

2) How The GOP Should Approach Blue Cities

There is a direct correlation between population density and voting patterns. The higher the population density, the higher the percentage of voters who elect Democrats; The lower the density, the greater the percentage of voters who elect Republicans. CityGOP asked Senator Paul for his recommendations on how we can work to fix this. He advised Republicans to become more engaged in cities - by showing up more, showing how the GOP would address the public policy problems that face cities’ residents, and showing that Republicans care.

He explained, “There has to be a concerted strategy, and I think the party’s doing better. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus has been a proponent of this. A lot of the places I’ve gone in urban communities, I’ve seen Reince. I was at the Urban League meeting, and Reince was there too [representing the Republican Party].”

Senator Paul explained that it’s important for Republicans to be more involved in cities and understand the policy issues residents face. “It shows that we haven't been trying hard enough, and just trying will be helpful but not enough,” explained Senator Paul. “You have to try, show up, then you have to have something to say.”

He says the GOP has improved when it comes to showing up, noting that the Party now has a Republican office in Detroit. “But I’d like to see it in every major city.” He suggests a permanent Republican office in each large city with staff from the community. “That person would visit all the churches in the community, go to the picnics, the social occasions, the local economic development council.” Unfortunately, the GOP has been out of office for quite some time in these cities and, therefore, has work to do to build the relationships necessary.

Senator Paul described how he applied this engagement in his home state, “My Senate office [there] does that as part of what we’re supposed to do. We have people who go to the Economic Development Committee for all the cities and go to not so much churches’ official functions but also go into areas that are economically depressed. We do mobile offices there, to name a few.”

Senator Paul notes that “cities are harder to campaign in, because there are so many people that you have to meet, and you have to have enough money to engage them through media like television.” That can be hard for under-funded candidates whose donors are wary about the likelihood of a Republican winning in a city. However, he doesn’t undercut the value of meeting lots of voters. He has spoken with candidates who have talked to thousands of voters. “That’s what it takes to beat somebody who’s an incumbent - you have to out-hustle them and out-raise them.”

He explained that many in cities vote Democrat because they think Democrats are the ones that care about them. He says we need to change that - we need to show them that we care, then show them that we have policy solutions and something to say.

That’s why when he speaks to urban audiences he talks about solutions that impact them, like “criminal justice reform, school choice, education reform, economic opportunity, and economic freedom zones.” “I think those make a big difference.” He emphasized criminal justice reform, noting it is direly needed and has a big impact on residents in cities.

He added, “Lowering taxes in Detroit would help poverty,” and that “while education is the great equalizer, public schools aren’t always giving you a good education in most of the big cities, and the GOP has policy solutions to these address and improve these issues.”

A Conversation With Senator Rand Paul On Cities And The GOP

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has been at the forefront of the GOP’s effort to be more inclusive and embrace cities. Senator Paul was kind enough to take the time to sit down with CityGOP and talk about the importance of the Republican Party in cities, and how they benefit each other. As we learned, his perspective is well-founded on a broad and deep base of knowledge about numerous factors that impact cities and Republicans in cities. Because he had so much to share, we decided to break up what we learned from him into three parts. The first part is on criminal justice reform.

  1) Why Criminal Justice Reform Matters In Cities

Senator Rand Paul argues that criminal justice reform is an important issue for Republicans to address in urban communities. Criminal justice reform is necessary, particularly in cities, as outcomes of the criminal justice system may be variable depending on a person’s legal resources.

Senator Paul recommends examining the penalties for nonviolent crimes. For example, he explained that prior to the passage of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, the disparity in penalties for those charged with possession of crack cocaine versus powder cocaine was 100:1. That changed in 2010, when the ratio became 18:1. The L.A. Times notes that the original reason for the disparity was “just panic as the crack epidemic swept the nation's cities.”

However, Senator Paul noted that, due in part to the “racial divide in which the illegal drug was being used,” a person sentenced for crack cocaine would more likely be black than one on trial for powder cocaine. He would also be less likely be able to afford a good attorney, as the “legal resources [of people in his position] are [likely] much more tenuous.” This all means he would receive a much longer sentencing for crack cocaine than if he was sentenced for powder cocaine.

Senator Paul is working to end the disparity and make the ratio 1:1 with his Reclassification to Ensure Smarter and Equal Treatment (RESET) Act.

Other disparities exist too.

For example, in some situations, the sentencing is based on weight - which has had unintended consequences. “The other day, I noticed a kid on television. He was faced with life in prison for selling pot brownies. 99% of the brownie is food, and 1% or less is the drug - but they put the whole weight in as the drug. And the way the law’s written, he’s facing life in prison,” explained Senator Paul.

He noted that ingesting any drug is far from a good idea, but the punishments should be evenly applied, more sensible, and focused on rehabilitation. “I would not suggest putting him in jail. Instead, I would make him do some community service, and if he has a drug problem maybe he has to do some drug testing… I also think drug courts or local courts are a much better way to approach this.”

He also explained the impact criminal justice reform has on employment, noting “you can't be a barber in Baltimore if you have a felony. The felony could be you smoked pot when you were 20 years old. And now you're thirty, you’ve reformed, you want to get a job being a barber or an esthetician or any of these things that require licenses - you can’t get them,” explained Senator Paul. “I’m in favor of reforming licensure laws. These are regulatory reforms that are more oriented with criminal justice, so people can get back to work.”

Senator Paul noted that Timothy Sandefur of the Pacific Legal Foundation has done some great work to reform occupational licensing. (In addition, the Institute for Justice has also worked towards occupational licensing reform).