New York City Council Member Ben Kallos was praised by the New York Times for his “fresh ideas” and elected in 2013 to represent the Upper East Side, Midtown East, Roosevelt Island and East Harlem along with all 8.4 million New Yorkers in the New York City Council. As an attorney and free and open source software developer he serves as Chair of the Governmental Operations Committee where he has sought to root out patronage, eliminate billions in waste, and to use technology to improve access to government. He has become a leading advocate for education, affordable housing, public health, sustainable development and transportation as well as Universal Broadband, Open Data, and Digital Democracy. He is also the founding co-chair of the Free Law Founders, a national coalition of leaders in and around government to set the law and legislative process free. His office is open and transparent, with constituents invited to decide on how to spend one million dollars on local projects in the district as well as to join him in a conversation at First Fridays each month.