Oops, not so quick!

James Madison Park will have to wait . . . but hey, what a few weeks after waiting for years.

Given the responses received to date, please check if either of the following dates works for the organizational meeting for the James Madison Park Property Planning Committee (lasting approximately one (1) hour in either CCB or MMB).

May 19 (5-8 PM)
May 29 (5-8 PM)

Please respond by 4 PM on April 30 regarding your availability on these dates / times.

Read more!

Knock me over with a feather!

Is the James Madison Park Committee actually going to meet?

from Rolfs, Daniel
date Mon, Apr 28, 2008 at 4:06 PM
subject James Madison Park Property Planning Committee

Thank you for agreeing to serve on the James Madison Park Property Planning Committee. City staff is working to find a date to hold an organizational meeting that will last approximately one (1) hour in length. Staff would like to accomplish several house keeping items at this meeting including:

1) Choose a chair and co-chair of the Committee;
2) Establish a schedule of meetings to accomplish the tasks charged to the Committee (NOTE: Please bring your appointment calendars);
3) Handout and discuss background materials.

Please respond (only to me) by 4 PM on April 30th if you could be available to meet for one (1) hour during the following times:

Tues, May 6, 2008 - 4-7 PM
Wed, May 7, 2008 - 4-7 PM

If you have spoken to me on the phone, you do not need to respond to this e-mail unless your availability has changed. Please call or e-mail if you have questions.

OK - maybe not. Most people are going to need more than a week notice to be able to schedule this. Especially since the 6th is a Council meeting and pre-council briefing on the budget. The 7th is ALRC, Housing, Economic Development Commission and who knows what else.
Read more!

Madison Magazine's Version of David Blaska

Blaming the homeless for the murders, even tho the police won't publicly do it. Fact challenged. He's got it all.

It starts off like this . . . .

Pretty depressing April so far. Winter won't leave.

And neither will the predators who haunt downtown Madison. Three unsolved murders. A scorched skeleton where a cathedral once stood. And a State Street that is becoming the Boulevard of Broken Dreams.

You'll have to read the rest for yourself if you can stomach it.

Tho, watch out for this gem.

Maybe we are just plain wrong to think that we can pepper our public places with malevolent panhandlers with no adverse results. We are now seeing proof that small, tactical blunders making State Street felon-friendly are leading to a major strategic problem, as in Downtown Madison is Unsafe.

And at times, murderous.

Someone want to tell him we have laws against aggressive panhandling? And that the police work with the courts to ban people on probation and parole from State Street and W. Washington Avenue.

24.12 MENACING OR AGGRESSIVE PANHANDLING PROHIBITED.

(1) Purpose . The purpose of this ordinance is to ensure unimpeded pedestrian traffic flow, to maintain and protect the physical safety and well-being of pedestrians and to otherwise foster a safe and harassment-free climate in public places in the City of Madison.

(2) Definitions . As used in this section:

(a) “Intersection” has the meaning designated in Section 340.01(25), Wis. Stats.

(b) “Public place” or “Place open to the public” is an area generally visible to public view and includes streets, sidewalks, bridges, alleys, plazas, parks, driveways, parking lots, automobiles (whether moving or not), and buildings open to the general public including those which serve food or drink, or provide entertainment, and the doorways or entrances in buildings or dwellings and the grounds enclosing them;

(c) “Known panhandler” means a person who within one year previous to the date of arrest for violation of this section has been convicted in a court of competent jurisdiction of any civil or criminal offense involving panhandling.

(d) A conversation or gesture or both shall be construed as “threatening” if a reasonably prudent individual would perceive such conduct as intending to result in the procurement of money or goods by threat or coercion.

(e) Behavior shall be construed as “aggressive” or “intimidating” if a reasonably prudent individual could be deterred from passing through or remaining in or near any thoroughfare, or place open to the public because of fear, concern or apprehension.

(Am. by ORD-05-00116, 6-28-05)

(3) In or near any thoroughfare or place open to the public, no person either individually or as part of a group shall procure or attempt to procure a handout from another in a manner or under circumstances manifesting an express or implied threat or coercion. Among the circumstances which may be considered in determining whether such purpose or behavior is manifested are the following: that such person is a known panhandler; that such person repeatedly and in a threatening fashion, beckons to, stops, or attempts to stop passer(s)-by; that such person engages passer(s)-by in threatening conversation; or that such person utilizes threatening bodily gestures. The violator’s conduct must be such as to demonstrate a specific intent to induce, solicit, or procure from another goods or money by threat or coercion. No arrest shall be made for a violation of this subsection unless the arresting officer first affords such person an opportunity to explain such conduct, and no one shall be convicted of violating this subsection if it appears at trial that the explanation given was true and disclosed a lawful purpose.

(4) In or near any thoroughfare or place open to the public, no person either individually or as part of a group shall procure or attempt to procure a handout from another in an aggressive or intimidating manner. Among the circumstances which may be considered in determining whether such purpose or behavior is manifested are the following: that such person is a known panhandler; that such person continues to beckon to, accost or follow or ask passer(s)-by for a handout after the passer(s)-by has failed to respond or has told the person “no”; that such person engages in a course of conduct or commits any act which harasses or intimidates the passer(s)-by; or that such person utilizes or attempts to utilize bodily gestures or physical contact to impede the path of any passer(s)-by, including but not limited to unwanted touching or blocking the path or impeding the free movement of the passer(s)-by. The violator’s conduct must be such as to demonstrate a specific intent to induce, solicit, or procure from another goods or money by aggressive or intimidating behavior. No arrest shall be made for a violation of this subsection unless the arresting officer first affords such person an opportunity to explain such conduct, and no one shall be convicted of violating this subsection if it appears at trial that the explanation given was true and disclosed a lawful purpose.

(5) It shall be unlawful for any person to procure or attempt to procure a handout within fifty (50) feet of an automatic teller machine (ATM) or within twenty-five (25) feet of any open sidewalk cafe. (Am. by ORD-05-00116, 6-28-05)

(6) It shall be unlawful for any person, after having been warned that such activity is prohibited, to procure or attempt to procure a handout within twenty-five (25) feet of an intersection or within twelve (12) feet of any building that contains nonresidential uses or within twenty (20) feet of any building entrance that contains nonresidential uses. (Am. by ORD-05-00116, 6-28-05)

(7) It shall be unlawful for any person to sit or recline on a public sidewalk with an intent to procure or attempt to procure a handout.

(8) Penalty . Any person violating this section shall be subject to a forfeiture of not less than $10 nor more than $200, notwithstanding any provision of this chapter setting a different penalty.

(9) Severability . The provisions of this section are severable. If any provision of this section is held to be invalid or unconstitutional or if the application of any provision of this section to any person or circumstance is held to be invalid or unconstitutional, such holding shall not affect the other provisions or applications of this section which can be given effect without the invalid or unconstitutional provisions or applications. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the Common Council that this section wouldhave been adopted had any invalid or unconstitutional provision or applications not been included herein.

And watch for this gem too.

Student populations, especially one the size of Madison's, come with their own set of problems. But with its naïve and negligent homeless policy the city has enhanced the problem.

College students are easy to abuse. Especially female ones.

They are poor, young and without power.

We should protect them.

But the notion of Law and Order is anathema to Madison progressives. The very term sounds Draconian to them. Never mind that is one of government's first responsibilities.

Never mind that we added 40 police officers in the last 2 years (about 10% of our force) or that we have laws in place like these:

BEING IN PARKS OVERNIGHT ILLEGAL

8.21 PUBLIC PARKS TO BE CLOSED DURING CERTAIN HOURS.

It shall be unlawful for any person to be or remain in Link Park or James Madison Park between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., to be or remain in Berkley Park from sunset to sunrise, or to be or remain in any other public park in the City of Madison between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. This prohibition shall include bathing beaches contiguous or adjacent to public parks, but shall not prohibit passing through a park area either in a vehicle or on foot without stopping during such hours; nor,shall this ordinance apply to those parks designated by the Superintendent of the Parks Division which have regularly scheduled recreational activities which conclude after 10:00 p.m. Parks which are not closed at 10:00 p.m. due to scheduled recreational events shall be closed at 11:00 p.m. except for participants in overnight activities approved by the Superintendent of the Parks Division. The entrances of all parks shall be conspicuously posted indicating the closing hours of the park. The Warner Park Baseball Field and Parking Lot may remain open until the conclusion of scheduled minor league baseball games; in no case may any inning start after 11:50 p.m. The Common Council may by resolution permit specific parks to be open after 11:00 p.m. for designated events approved by the Common Council. Hours in conservation parks shall be governed by Sec. 8.40, M.G.O. Any person violating any provision of this ordinance shall be subject to a forfeiture of not more than $200. (Am. by Ord. 12,372, 5-6-99; Ord. 13,010, 2-08-02; Ord. 13,560, Adopted 12-14-04)

LIVING IN PARKS ILLEGAL

8.265 LODGING IN PARKS PROHIBITED.

(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to lodge, to live in for a time, or to take habitation in any portion of a public park within the City of Madison. Evidence of lodging shall include but not be limited to bedrolls, mattresses, blankets, cooking utensils, clothing, and other personal belongings.

(2) Penalty. Any person who violates this section shall be subject to a forfeiture of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25) nor more than two hundred dollars ($200). Each and every day during which a violation continues shall be deemed to be a separate violation.

I'm curious, what is our "naive and negligent homeless policy" that we have in Madison? I'd like to get a copy of it. I always thought that our policy on the homeless in the City of Madison was that we would control where homeless shelters got built and services for the homeless were up to the County, State and Federal Governments. The only money we put into homeless programs comes from those sources.

Yeah, nevermind the facts, just trash the progressives and engage in the fear-mongering. In fact, I think I heard progressives are murdering students - pass it on. Madison residents aren't that stupid to be buying this crap are they? Mr. Roach - you want a Safer Madison Week or Month - I'll sponsor that resolution. It's not going to solve any problems, but it might make people like Mr. Roach feel good. Meanwhile, people will still be homeless and sleeping on our streets. Look, our national and therefore local economy isn't great, housing isn't very affordable in Madison, we don't have immediate access to Alcohol and Drug rehab services for people who need it, we have a health care system that can't afford to treat our mentally ill and we need to help people get access to decent jobs - meaning transportation and skills. I think working on any of the items mentioned in the previous sentence are going to get us a whole lot further than "Safer Madison Week" or passing more laws for our over-burdened police department to enforce.
Read more!

Homelessness in Madison

Here's a few other perspectives.

First, I had forgotten about this Glenn Austin project from 2003. It's a look at the homeless who hung out on State Street through pictures. I think he did this around the time we had one of our other crack downs on the homeless - when they were changing the panhandling ordinance.

Second I went to Burr Jones field to see the so called "hobo jungle". (I think when Fred Mohs first used the term, this wasn't what he was talking about.) It seems, "the problem" has been solved. Move on.




Additionally, this is the report I had gotten from Captain Mary Schauf nearly a month ago.

From: Schauf, Mary
Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2008 7:29:51 AM
. . . I just spoke with the two night officers that work the entire river parkway area. They went out and walked last night, focusing on the Tenney Park portion. Not a human in sight, but did hear one waterfowl. I will forward the list to them. I am thinking a daytime assessment of several items would also be in order. Staff will need to know what enforcement actions they can take. I will talk with Tim ref. a plan since the river area extends from Brenda's area through yours. I think we can start with a parks dept clean-up of the area.

Turns out, 2 of the 3 areas of concern in a recent letter from the Friends of the Yahara River Parkway are on Alder Rhodes-Conway's side of the river between E Washington Ave. and E Johnson. The third is in Alder Marsha Rummel's district. Although, neither Alder Rhodes-Conway or I have received any complaints from our constituents in the past year.

Anyways, while I was at the park I saw three people I assumed were homeless. As I found out, one was formerly homeless. The one guy simply walked by and I saw him glance over at where the tarps previously were. Or maybe it was my imagination, who knows.

And I stopped to talk to a woman in the the Park. I told her I was on the City Council and that I was often an advocate for the homeless. I asked her how things were going. She showed (and told) me where people slept. She shared stories about where she has slept in the past. She told me how the men were protective of women on the street. She told me how she stayed at Burr Jones last fall and how they chased everyone out of the area after the man committed suicide by train. She told me stories about various homeless people who had died. I didn't ask many questions, I just let her tell me what she wanted to tell me while she smoked her cigarette. While she has a place to stay now, and a job one day a week, she told me she still stops by to check on her friends. She pointed to the third person I saw in the park who was struggling to get his blankets and backpack to stay attached to his bike. She had told me she had tried to help by giving him a bungee cord. She also told me how she worried that the men who hung here at the park and various other places that didn't have enough warm clothes in the winter and how they had to walk 3 - 3.5 miles to Labor Ready to get a job.

Third, there's the Chicago Tribune article about Madison and the homeless. I find this an amazing observation:

Is the suspicion of transient involvement in the Zimmermann slaying justified? That almost doesn't matter. In the hours after the killing, the public soon became aware of a large police sweep, rounding up about two dozen transients after officers received a tip that panhandlers had been going house-to-house that day. The tip was credible because people had been complaining for months about increasingly aggressive panhandlers.

About a dozen transients remain in police custody on unrelated warrants.

And I also find it amazing that once again, Joel DeSpain is not quoted, but everyone's favorite Lt. Joe Balles is. His fear-mongering gem this time:

"The big city has come to Madison," lamented Madison Police Lt. Joe Balles.

How'd this guy become the spokesperson for the City of Madison when it comes to homelessness?

Finally, check out my Steven Colbert post from this weekend. Will bumbots come to Madison?
Read more!

The Week Ahead

I just love the fifth days of the month - in alder speak that usually means you have a free night. This week, we have a "free" Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday! Sort of. Here's the meetings I find to be of interest.

Monday, April 28, 2008
4:30 PM BOARD OF ESTIMATES ROOM GR-27 CCB

• Renewing Dick Grasmick's contract (5 years as head of IT Dept.)
• Many union contracts (items 2 - 7)
  
• Finally getting some help in the clerks office - in a screwball kind of way.
• TIF for Allied Drive and a first time ever capital budget for CDA (This was GO debt in the budget we passed.)
  
• Draft Operating Budget for CDA (a whole lotta nothing)
  

5:00 PM ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION SUBCOMMITTEE ON 3-5 YEAR STRATEGIC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN ROOM LL-130 MMB

• "Editing" (read: re-writing) the Ticknor Economic Development Plan for the City
  

Tuesday, April 29, 2008
4:30 PM MADISON ELECTION ADVISORY COMMITTEE ROOM 103A CCB

• Polling place accessibility, assessment of April 2008 elections, training of elections officials, purchasing new voting machines, working with the schools around elections, voter registration on college campuses, preparing for fall elections and new staff for the clerks office.
  

4:30 PM WATER UTILITY BOARD 119 E. OLIN AVENUE

• Lots of reports
• The Water Conservation Plan a.k.a. Groundwater Sustainability Plan
  

Wednesday, April 30, 2008
3:00 PM COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PRESENTATION ROOM 525 CCB

• UW-Law School Class Presentation on Allied Drive, Phase II
  

Friday, May 2, 2008
8:00 AM INCLUSIONARY ZONING ADVISORY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ROOM LL-110 MMB

• Continue discussion of our recommendations for solutions for some of the issues with the Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance
  

As always, check the weekly schedule throughout the week at meetings often pop up there after the schedule shows up.

Read more!

Solution to our Homelessness Problem

Steven Colbert has found it!The Bumbot, of course! (Check out the CNN account of it.)

There's gotta be a way around those pesky courts that make having a flamethrower such a hassle. Maybe Blaska can work with Gableman on that.


Oh, and no one tell the Mayor's Office, they might actually think its a good idea! Next, it'll be their solution to the Yahara River Parkway issues. There's gotta be a way to make it go off-road.

/sarcasm

Read more!

It's Coming Together

After moving the house on Sunday night and then taking a day off, the workers got right to work. Given that this is where they started, I really didn't think we'd have that house out of our street after two days of work. Or that it would be that close together when I got home last night. Here's where they started.




It looked like a slow process. Moving the house what seemed like inches at a time with the bobcat . . .


With the house on these little rollers . . . .


And after the house got moved a little, the workers made adjustments . . . I'm not sure I'd want this job . . .


And after the adjustments, they moved the house a few more inches . . .


They got the first half moved into place by the end of Tuesday and by the end of Wednesday, I was surprised to see this . . .


And by last night . . . this . . .


It appears the house will look good on the site once its dropped down . . .



And I can't believe the street is back to "normal" after them working on it for just 3 days.


Read more!

Spring is Here!

A friend of mine recently said she knew it was spring because she shaved her legs . . . I found a better way to determine that . . .

It's amazing what you can grow on a 2,178 square foot lot downtown.

small white spring flower

small blue and white spring flowers

purple crocus

pink starflower

pink primrose

hyacinth

pink starflower buds

grape hyacinth

daffodils

blue spring flowers

blue starflowers

blue starflower buds

tulip

pink primrose

blue primrose

daffodil

more crocuses

And its exciting to see the hope of things to come . . . good eats . . .

raspberries

strawberries

rhubarb

chives

And more flowers . . . on their way . . .

poppies

hollyhocks

fairy flowers (columbine)

more common columbine

There's still work to do . . .


And I don't even want to think about what to do with this after the construction last year . . . .

Ya think this tree is going to live?
That's pieces of its roots.

Somehow, I don't think this grass is coming in.

They could have at least left some soil!

Read more!

Water Main Flushing Schedule

Here's the latest.

Water Main Flushing plans beginning Friday, April 25 (all flushing is daytime unless otherwise noted)

Schedule map: http://www.cityofmadison.com/water/Documents/udf_schedule_citymap_links.pdf

North (Area 13) -- Between Sherman Ave and Harper Rd from Troy Dr to Lake Mendota/Warner Park

North (Area 15W) -- Between Pierstorff St and The Airport from Stoughton Rd to Packers Ave

West (Area16) -- Between Inner Dr and Old Sauk Rd from Gammon Rd to Jetty Dr/Ozark Trl

East (Area 25) -- Between Cottage Grove Rd and Commercial Ave from Thompson Dr to Meadowlark Dr

Downtown (Area 24W): NIGHTS -- Between Brearly St and Blair St from E. Washington Ave to Lake Mendota

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Questions: Gordon Heingartner, 261-9129

Flushing Information Line: 261-9178
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DETAILS:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AREA 13 (North): 3 to 7 runs per day

Run ID Run Description
13086 Nova Way to Lerdahl Rd. to Delladonna Way
13088 Marcy Rd. (Troy Dr - Wooward & Forster)
13089 1001 Woodward Dr. to 1025 Woodward Dr.
13090.1 Hintze Rd. (Luster & Lerdahl - Marcy & Morningstar)
13090.2 From 537 Morningstar Ln. to intersection with Marcy Rd.
13090.3 From 536 Morningstar Ln. down Delladonna Way to end of Badeau Cir.
13091 From Forster Dr. & Woodward Dr. up Cascade Rd. to Shasta Dr. to Shasta Dr. cul-de-sac
13092 Foster Dr (Troy Dr to 1334 Forster Dr)
13093 From Forster Dr. & Cascade Rd. to 1334 Forster Dr.
13094 Hovde Rd. (Troy Dr - Forster & Novick)
13095 Shasta Dr. (Cascade - Glendale Ln & Hovde Rd)
13096 Alpine Rd. from Shasta Dr. to Forster Dr.
13097 Glendale Ln from Alpine Rd. to Hodve Rd.
13098 Up Novick Dr. from Forster Dr. around to Becker Dr. & Forster Dr.
13099 Gale Ct.
13100 Gina Ct.
13101 Hanover St. from Troy Dr. to Lakeview Av.
13102 Drewry Ln. (Hanover St. to Esch Ln.)
13103 Randy Ln. (Hanover St. - Susan Cir.)
13104 Susan Ln. (Susan Cir. - Troy Dr.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AREA 15W (North): 3 to 7 runs per day

Run ID Run Description
15127 Wright St (Pierstorff to N end)
15128 Bowman - Wright Connector (W of Wright to E of Bowman)
15129 Pearson - Wright Connector (directly N of Pierstorff)
15130 Wright - Bowman Connector (E of Bowman to W of Bowman)
15131 Wright - Bowman Connector (Wright to W of Bowman)
15132 Pierstorff - Mitchell Connector (Pierstorff to N of Mitchell)
15133 Pearson Extension (Pearson to W of Wright)
15134 Mitchell St (Wright to W of Pearson)
15135 Mitchell St - Darwin Rd Connector (W of Pearson to W of International)
15136 Mitchell St Extension (Truax Munitions Complex area - 10" main)
15137 Truax Munitions Complex area (8" main)
15138 Miller St (Wright St-Mitchell St) Airport area
15139 Truax Area - Dane Co Airport (310 Mitchell st)
15140 Truax Area - Dane Co Airport (NE 3118 Mitchell st)
15141 Miller St (E.Wright St-N.Mitchell St)
15142 Miller St (Truax Area)
15143 Miller St (N.Mitchell-W.Wright St)- Truax Area
15144 Miller St (N.Wright St)- Truax area
15145 E.Wright St-N.E Mitchell St)- Truax area
15146 Wright St-N.Stoughton Rd
15147 E.International Ln-Darwin Rd

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AREA 16 (West): 3 to 7 runs per day

Run ID Run Description
16076 Carlsbad Dr
16077 Isle Royal Dr and Carlsbad Dr
16078.1 Colony Dr from Gammon to Everglade
16078.2 Colony Dr from Everglade to Horseshoe Bend
16079 Inner Dr and Everglade Dr to Everglade Cir from N. Yellowstone Dr.
16080 Horseshoe Bend
16081 Gettysburg Dr from Yellowstone to Sumter Ct
16082 Gettysburg Dr from Inner to Appomattox Ct
16083 Acadia Dr and N on Everglade to Yellowstone
16084 Acadia Ct
16085 Everglade Dr and Shilo Dr to Shilo Ct
16086 Shilo Dr from Yellowstone to Shilo Ct
16087 Shiloh Dr - Saratoga Ct

----------END OF AREA 16----------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AREA 25 (East): 3 to 7 runs per day

Run ID Run Description
25022 Open Wood Way (Kingsbridge to Meadowlark)
25023 Inwood Wy
25024 Thompson Dr (N of Cottage Grove to S of Edna Ct)
25025 Cottage Grove Rd (Thompson to W of Meadowlark)
25025.1 Meadowlark (Cottage Grove to Onyx)
25025.2 Dorfmeister Ct
25025.3 Bromley Cir
25026 Eldon Ct
25027 Thompson Dr - Droster Rd (S of Cottage Grove)
25028 Droster Rd (Thompson to N of Buckeye)
25029 Ellen - Painted Post - Ellen
25030 Ellen - Amsterdam - Painted Post - Ellen
25031 Ellen Ave (Amsterdam to N of Starker)
25032 Bay Ridge Rd - Painted Post - Ellen
25033 Painted Post Dr - Ellen Ave (Droster to N of Starker)
25034 Emma Ct
25035 Georgiana Cir (NE branch)
25036 Georgiana Cir (SW branch)
25037 Edna Ct
25038 Kalas St - Thompson Dr (Droster to Grafton)
25039 Bea Cir

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AREA 24W (Downtown): 3 to 7 runs per night (NIGHTS)

Run ID Run Description
24024 Wilson St - S Henry St
24025 E Wilson St - S Hamilton St - S Henry St
24026 S Hancock St - E Washington Av
24027 E Wilson St (S Hancock St - S Blair St)
24528 N Blount St - E Washington to E Dayton
24529 E Mani St - S Paterson to S Blount
24530 S Livingston - E Washington to E Main
24531 E Main St - Blount to Blair
24532 E Washington Ave - Paterson to Ingersoll
24533 E Washington Ave - Paterson to Ingersoll
24534 S Brealry - E Washington to E Main
24535 E Main St - Paterson to Ingersoll
24536 S Paterson St - - E Main to Spaight
24537 S Paterson St - Williamson to Spaight
24538 Spaight,Jenifer,Williamson - Paterson to Blair
24539 S Blount St - Williamson to South End
24540 E Wilson St - Blair to Blount
24541 S Blount St - Williamson to Railroad St
24542 Williamson St - Blount to Livingston
24543 S Livingston St - Williamson to North End
24544 Jenifer St - Paterson to Livingston

Read more!

An Alternative Plan for Brittingham

The Mayor released his plan for Brittingham Park last week. The Parks Commission "accepted" the plan, but was not allowed to modify it, in fact, they were told that their opinion didn't matter as this was the Mayor and Alder Kerr's plan and they were going to do it no matter what the opinion of the Parks Commission was. Turns out, the plan didn't have as much buy-in as one might have been led to believe. Here's an alternative plan, by those who are actually homeless and their supporters:

Proposal for Brittingham Park programs by Operation Welcome Home

Goals:
• To provide positive opportunities for building community, accessing services, and making self-improvement while respecting the right of people to use the park
• Create systems of accountability for people’s behavior at the park

Means:
Our basic proposal is to provide people who use and stay at Brittingham Park with a community organization to get involved in. In this capacity they can work on building interpersonal relationship skills, moving toward sobriety, obtaining housing and employment, and developing their leadership skills. People would become involved in the organization through accessing any of our 3 basic programs.

Program Proposals:

Housing First Initiative

• Provide housing with wrap-around services for people ready to make a commitment to participating in an AODA program, attending weekly organizational meetings, and participating in a weekly interpersonal relationship skills/group therapy program.
• Expand existing program to include 2 sides of a duplex.
• Hire case manager to work one-on-one with residents more intensively.

Day Labor Program

• Non-profit day labor program (not like Labor Ready) working out of a trailer at the park to provide people with short one-time jobs – based on the model of the San Francisco Day Labor Program
• To participate in job program, people must participate in weekly organizational meetings to develop their interpersonal relationship and leadership skills (thus increasing accountability)
• Program would receive calls for job requests in the morning, thus staff would be on-site at the park until noon, for example
• Such a program would be a positive influence on the park – providing people with an opportunity for self-improvement by meeting them where they are at, and hopefully keeping activities such as drug dealing outside the park
• Such a program would also boost people’s self confidence and, by putting a little money in their pockets, make resorting to petty thefts as a means to survive less likely
• For information on a similar program that works, see http://www.lrcl.org/daylabor/daylabor.asp

Deferred Prosecution Program for Park-Related Behavior

• Similar to the CCR-Prostitution’s John School, the idea is that people who receive tickets for park-related behavior such as drinking alcohol have the option of participating in a structured program to work on self-improvement and connect them with support and services through the organization
• Provides a way for people with no or little income to be held accountable for their behavior, since they have no means to pay a fine
• Opportunity for law enforcement and community organization to work together in different capacities toward common goal

Peer-led Afternoon Activities

• Over time as we develop a more structured presence in the park, we would like to provide positive activities such as meals, basketball and volleyball games, a dance group, and an exercise group
• These activities would be led by members of the community who often use the Brittingham Park pavilion – thus making other people more likely to engage in them

Contrast this with tome of the plan by the Mayor and Alder Kerr:

1. Cameras. Install wi-fi cameras in and around the park to enhance surveillance and improve deterrence.
2. Lighting. Improve and install lighting as necessary throughout the park.
3. Park Shelter. Consider modifications to the existing park shelter structure to improve general usability and decrease the likelihood of problematic behaviors.
4. Amenities & Environmental Design. Prevent the use of the electrical outlets in the park shelter except during a reserved use. Explore changes to the environmental design of the park (landscaping, children’s play equipment, etc.) to enhance the legitimate use of the park.
5. Outreach and Social Services. Utilize data collection and analysis to identify individuals with a pattern of police contact. Use this list as a jumping off point for outreach workers and social service providers. Help coordinate available resources with individuals in need. Sample resources include: AODA treatment, mental health treatment, employment counseling, housing counseling, financial education; general medical services; etc.
6. Police. Increase police presence through routine and directed patrols. Maintain high visibility and continue to enforce applicable laws, including the prohibition on the possession or consumption of alcohol. Utilize problem-solving techniques through the South District Community Policing Team to address issues at the park.
7. Investment in transitional and permanent housing. Continue the investment, primarily through our CDBG Office, in housing and homelessness prevention. In 2007 the City spent $425,000 on the capital costs for housing and homelessness prevention and $390,000 on related programming and services. This investment funded the creation of eight new housing units and major repairs to two shelter facilities.
8. Park Rangers. Utilize the additional Park Ranger resources in the 2008 budget in an effort to increase the legitimate use of Brittingham Park. Work in cooperation with service providers to appropriately train the Park Rangers before their deployment. Ensure that the Park Rangers have access to a clearinghouse of resources to address the needs of individuals they may contact.
9. Alcohol Retailers. Continue to work with alcohol retailers in the vicinity of the park to find effective means of employing best practices for alcohol licensees, including limiting access to individuals who habitually misuse or abuse alcohol.
10. Employment Training & Transportation. Work with employment service providers to coordinate access and transportation to training opportunities, short-term jobs, and permanent employment.
11. Vendors. Explore the presence of vendors in Brittingham Park.
12. Park Ban. Explore the creation of a “Park Ban” list for chronic offenders, similar to the State Street Ban that has proven so effective over time.
13. Prosecution Initiatives. Explore the use of prosecutorial tools like deferred prosecution agreements, hold-opens, and/or abeyances with regard to specific violations in and around Brittingham Park.
14. Partnership. Continue to work in partnership with advocacy groups, service providers, law enforcement, neighbors and other government agencies. Implement effective and efficient means to address homelessness, social service needs, and problematic behavior in a comprehensive effort to improve the quality of life in Brittingham Park and throughout our community.

The Mayor's plan focuses on enforcement and punishment and dispersion. The other plan focuses on a hand up - not a a hand out. Which one do you prefer?

Read more!

Clean Sweep

Here's the details . . .

Clean Sweep Household Hazardous Waste Site Announces 2008 Season Opening:
Site Open on Friday May 2nd

Madison WI, April 23, 2008 - The Clean Sweep Program for recycling household hazardous waste will open its 2008 season on Friday, May 2nd, 2008. Normal hours of operation are on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 7:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

The site is located on 2302 Fish Hatchery Road in Madison, on the corner of Fish Hatchery and Badger Roads.

The last day of the season will be Friday, October 31st 2008.

Please remember that leaving materials at the site when it is closed is illegal and can lead to a $2000 forfeiture.

The Clean Sweep Program provides an opportunity for residents of Dane County to safely dispose of household hazardous materials, free of charge. The Product Exchange is a program for residents to take, free of charge, the high quality and usable products brought into Clean Sweep.

The Small Business Collection Program accepts materials from small businesses and local units of government. These materials are accepted on Thursday mornings by appointment. Prior arrangements need to be made before bringing materials to the site, and there is a per pound charge for use of the program. Business owners are reminded that they need to allow enough time to request registration materials and to submit an inventory of the materials for recycling. Registration is available on our web site at www.danecountycleansweep.com or by calling Dave Radisewitz, the Clean Sweep Coordinator, at 243-0347.

Clean Sweep will also accept agriculturally generated wastes. A Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection grant underwrites the disposal costs so there is no cost to farmers, and agricultural businesses only pay half the normal business cost. All farmers and agricultural-related businesses from Dane County are invited to participate.

Agricultural Clean Sweep Program participation is by appointment only, and events are held every Thursday morning during the Clean Sweep season from May through October at the Fish Hatchery Road site. Registration is available on our web site at www.danecountycleansweep.com or by calling Dave Radisewitz at (608) 243-0347.

For more information on Clean Sweep programs, please refer to our web site at www.danecountycleansweep.com, or call our information line at (608) 243-0368.
Read more!

Committee Vacancies

I think its been a bit of a struggle to get people to serve on City Committees lately. The "rubber stamp" phenomenon and the Mayor failing to re-appoint people who don't agree with him has made it somewhat interesting. But please, don't let that stop you from applying. Here's the vacancies I think we have:

• ADA TRANSIT SUBCOM TO THE TRANSIT & PARKING COMM (majority of members are representative of disabled citizens)
• AFFIRMATIVE ACTION COMMISSION
• COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT COMMISSION
• DOWNTOWN COORDINATING COMMITTEE
• EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION BOARD
• ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
• EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES COMMISSION
• ERLANGER, JEFFREY CLAY, CIVILITY IN PUBLIC DISCOURSE AWARD COMMITTEE
• GARDENS, COMMITTEE ON COMMUNITY
• HEATING & ELECTRICAL LICENSING COM. (Subcom. of Bldg/Fire Code/License Appls Bd)
• MADISON ELECTION ADVISORY COMMITTEE
• PARKING COUNCIL FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
• PLAN COMMISSION
• PUBLIC SAFETY REVIEW BOARD
• PUBLIC WORKS, BOARD OF
• REVIEW, BOARD OF
• SUSTAINABLE DESIGN AND ENERGY COMMITTEE
• URBAN DESIGN COMMISSION
• VENDING OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
• WATER UTILITY BOARD
  

If you're interested, applications can be found here. I'd encourage you to apply for any and all committees you are interested in - even if there isn't a vacancy, as you never know when there might be one. Also, this is a Mayor that loves the resume, so attach one if you have a current one.
Read more!

Mowtown?

Where does he come up with this stuff? He definitely gets extra credit for creativity! Well, let's see if this cuts down on the complaints.

Mayor Seeks to Keep City Spruced Up with “Mowtown” Program

Madison – Mayor Dave Cieslewicz today announced the creation of Mowtown, a new multi-agency program to coordinate and enhance the appearance of city parks, medians and other areas. The program is being unveiled at the onset of the spring growing season.

“Mowtown is part of our ongoing effort to provide excellent basic city services,” said Mayor Cieslewicz. “We want to have a community that looks beautiful and well cared-for, just as we take care of our own homes and businesses. We also want to have a community that makes a great first impression on visitors, and few things are more visible than the grass in our parks, medians and boulevards.”

Elements of the Mowtown initiative include:

- Hiring seasonal workers earlier in the spring, so adequate staff are available when the grass starts growing.
- Starting mowing operations earlier, to make sure that the City is staying ahead of the issue.
- Investment in native plantings in medians, which over time require less maintenance than turf.
- Installation of GPS technology on mowing equipment, so it can be used as effectively as possible.
- Acquisition of several new pieces of modern mowing equipment.
- Creation of the Mowtown website (www.cityofmadison.com/mowtown/) to help educate the public about the issue, with a Frequently Asked Questions section and more.

Several City of Madison agencies are responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of areas ranging from 270 parks covering 5400 acres, 871 medians, and street boulevards. The Parks Division, Streets Division and City Engineering all play roles in mowing, weed removal, maintenance of boulevard plantings and general upkeep of these areas.

The City is also undertaking a number of initiatives to address environmental quality and sustainability in relation to mowing and turf management. For a number of years, the City has adhered to a no-pesticide policy for most of its park space. This reduces pesticide runoff into the lakes, and reduces exposure for people and their pets. City staff will also be making sure that grass clippings are not blown into the street, where they could enter the storm sewer and ultimately the lakes.

The City also maintains conservation parks (which seek to restore areas to their native state) and “low mow” park areas, to reduce fuel costs, energy usage and pollution from mowing activities.

Read more!

Weather Radios

Need a weather radio? Get one here! Here's the info from the Fire Department.

Weather Radio Sales Begin Throughout the City

Weather radio sales have begun at two City of Madison locations. Beginning today, residents may purchase a weather radio at the City Clerk’s office, City County Building, Room 103, 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., or at the Fire Administration Office, 325 West Johnson St. Purchases may be made during regular business hours. Quantities at these offices are limited.

Dane County has purchased “all hazard” weather radios that sound alerts when severe weather threatens. After a successful pilot project last year that got weather radios into 2,600 Dane County households, the program was more than doubled this year to help more people be better prepared.

Fifteen hundred radios have been allotted for the City of Madison. The county buys the weather radios and makes them available for sale at cost, for $22.68 per radio. That’s about half the price this model of weather radio normally sells for. The radios also come with four AA batteries.

On Saturday, April 26, weather radios will be sold at all City of Madison Fire Stations from 9 a.m. until noon. Local TV meteorologists will be at several stations to share information on weather patterns and preparedness.

The schedule for these appearances follows:
Amy Carlson/NBC15 - Station 2
Charlie Shortino/NBC15 - Station 4
Bob Lindmeier/Channel 27 - Station 6
Kelly Curran/Channel 27 - Station 7

Sales will be conducted by volunteers from the American Red Cross – Badger Chapter and RSVP of Dane County. Both agencies have committed extensive resources to emergency preparedness.

The radios will sell for $22.68 and can be programmed to cover any location in the U.S.

No cash or credit will be accepted. Checks and money orders should be made payable to Dane County.

Radio sales are limited to 2 per household.

City of Madison fire stations are located at the following addresses:
Station 1 – 316 West Dayton St.
Station 2 – 421 Grand Canyon Dr.
Station 3 – 1217 Williamson St.
Station 4 – 1437 Monroe St.
Station 5 – 4418 Cottage Grove Rd.
Station 6 – 825 West Badger Rd.
Station 7 – 1810 McKenna Blvd.
Station 8 – 3945 Lien Rd.
Station 9 – 201 N. Midvale Blvd.
Station 10 – 1517 Troy Drive
Station 11 – 4011 Morgan Way

Read more!

Common Council Recap

Do-over and refer. That was the theme of the evening.

CPR
Pre-council meeting we learned the new CPR. You know, the one where you no longer have to to mouth-to-mouth. Instead, you just get someone to call 911 and start chest compressions if someone is non-responsive. 100/minute, middle of the chest. I hear there is a picture of me practicing floating around.

HONORING RESOLUTIONS
We started out the evening recognizing two different sets of boy scouts who were there to observe "important" city meetings to earn their merit badges. We then recognized our Public Health workers, Terry Jensen who was retiring after 33 years with the City and proclaimed the week of May 5th Public Service Awareness Week.

Next we recognized Mike Verveer for his year as Council President and did the annual thank you's to staff, Tammy Peters the Clerk and others. We also recognized Alder Bruer for his year at Pro Tem and he had a nice. short. speech. Really, I'm not kidding!

NEW COUNCIL PRESIDENT AND PRO TEM
We quickly did the consent agenda. Dispensed with the public hearings and then went into the Committee of the Whole to vote for Council President and Pro Tem. Alder Bruer was elected Council President by unanimous consent. Alder Palm nominated Alder Clear for Pro Tem and Alder Clear nominated Alder Palm for Pro Tem. We had to vote 4 times to elect Alder Clear as our Pro Tem. The votes were 10 - 8, 10 - 9, 10 - 9 and 12 - 8. After the first vote, a somewhat punchy Alder Verveer called our City Attorney Katherine Harris . . . for which I'm sure he owes the City Attorney an apology. After the first three votes, some of us wanted to table this and go on to the items that the public were there to speak to, and actually had a roll call vote (not called by me!) to table. Those voting to table and get on to the business the public was present for were: Sanborn, Verveer, Webber, Cnare, Compton, Gruber, Judge, Kerr, Konkel, Rhodes-Conway. Voting no were: Schumacher, Skidmore, Solomon, Brandon, Bruer, Clausius, Clear, Palm and Pham-Remmele. Rummel was out of the room. So the vote was 10 - 9 and we needed 11 votes. After all that, we finally got the votes. I do have to say, the "council leadership" has become somewhat of a joke as one of the main functions is meeting with the Mayor and sharing information with Council members. However, even though the "council leadership" meetings appear on the mayor's schedule, they are cancelled about 50% of the time. I suspect this trend will continue, but we'll see. The leadership, drunk with power, says it will change . . . (This is just a test to see if Alder Bruer really does read my blog!)

REFER
The reports on women, race and disability and committee appointments and management hires were both referred since we didn't have the final reports.

ATTEMPTED REFERRAL
The Minority Affairs Committee and Women's Issues Committee ordinance was not ready to be passed as there is still quite a bit of discussion about how these committees will operate, and I suspect we will change it at some point, but meanwhile, we passed it so the committees could be formally recognized.

SISTER CITIES
The report on sister city grants for this year was passed, but not without comments from Alder Compton worthy of You-Tube. I wasn't quite paying attention but there was a tea bag, a truffle, cheese and a cow involved as well as the made in China pins commentary.

LIBRARY MONEY
We debated whether or not to refer spending $8,000 for the Sequoya Library back to the Library Board. Alder Brandon chastised us for spending money outside of the budget cycle. And we had a roll call vote (not called by me!) Voting aye to refer: Sanborn, Schumacher, Skidmore, Brandon, Clausius, Cnare, Compton, Kerr, Pham-Remmele. Voting no: Rummel, Verveer, Webber, Clear, Gruber, Judge, Konkel, Palm, Rhodes-Conway. Excused was Solomon. So the vote was 10 - 9 and that motion failed. We then voted and the motion "passed" - at least temporarily, kind of.

HORSES
We spent more time than we should have on a resolution about cops and horses. Several people wanted to be added as sponsors. Alder Cnare started it all by asking to be added to support "full employment of horses". So that Mayor just couldn't resist . . . asking any of us opposed to vote "nay" . . . and then urged us to "stop horsing around". He just loves those opportunities and it comes so naturally to him!

POOL
Next we debated spending $10,000 for a water purification system for the pool. We were chastised again by Alder Brandon for spending this money. He was particularly annoyed with the "rhetoric" of "doing it for the children" and in the name of "public safety". Judy Compton revealed that she was a "health professional" and argued that we needed to do this for public safety. Apparently we aren't immunizing our children any more and that was one reason we needed to do this. Alder Cnare made some more rational arguments. One of Alder Brandon's reasons for not spending the money was that it was not required by the state legislature. Alder Cnare pointed out that we shouldn't wait for the do-nothing legislature to determine when something was or was not necessary. She reminded us that there were many important things that did not pass the legislature this year. Our IT Director, who is also filling in as our Parks Superintendent informed us that one cryptosporidium outbreak in the pool would make it even harder for the pool to break even. He informed us that it would take 10 days for chorline to kill the effects of one "crypto-dump" in the pool. Alder Brandon poo-pooed (sorry) the "diaper incidents" as us worrying needlessly over public health issues. The discussion ended with Alder Sanborn suggesting that if we were so sensitive to the health concerns raised in this discussion we should be more concerned with kids drowning and we should just fill the pool with concrete and shut it down. The motion failed as it needed 15 votes to pass to amend the budget. Voting aye were: Schumacher, Verveer, Webber, Bruer, Clausius, Clear, Cnare, Compton, Gruber, Judget, Kerr, Konkel, Rhodes-Conway. Voting no were: Rummel, Sanborn, Skidmore, Brandon, Palm and Pham-Remmele. Absent was Solomon.

LANDMARKING
Despite urging to refer at least one of the nominations until we found out what ULI is proposing for the block, we ended up landmarking several building on the square. (7 - 9 N Pinckney, 21 - 25 N Pinckney & 27 N Pinckney). Sorry I didn't take better notes, but there was lots of great testimony from the public and many, many public there in support as well as 28 registrations in support. Two motions to refer back to the Landmarks Commission were defeated. While the discussion wandered a bit and we'll have to re-visit some of the issues discussed about how much of a building is historic - the council decided to landmark the buildings in their entirety.

LIBRARY DO-OVER
We then went back to the library discussion because it was a 15 vote item because it amended the budget and we didn't take a roll-call vote on it. We then ended up referring this item back to the Library Board.

PARKS/POOL DO-OVER
They reconsidered pool issue and did some shuffle of money in the parks department. They wanted to take money out of the parks facilities improvements fund. That failed 10 - 8. Voting Aye to take the money from other projects were: Rummel, Schumacher, Skidmore, Bruer, Clausius, Clear, Compton, Gruber, Palm and Pham-Remmele. Voting no were Sanborn, Verveer, Webber, Cnare, Judge, Konkel, Rhodes-Conway and Brandon. Excused were Solomon and Kerr.

REFER
We referred placing on file the Sensitive Crimes Interview Procedures because there was no one from the police department there to discuss this issue with us.

REFER
We referred the CDA Workplan because it was supposed to come back when we had the CDA budget.

PARTY
Everyone attended the rookie graduation except three alders - Sanborn, Kerr (childcare issues) and Skidmore. Oh, and the Mayor blew us off too. We were joined by Janet Piraino, Michael May and Carole Schaeffer. By the end of the evening, we believe we may have determined what our skit for our holiday party is . . .


Note: I hope this post makes sense, had to run off to a meeting without time to proofread it!

Read more!

Let the Music Play

Seriously, Verveer is right. Let the music play or all you have is drinking and lots of expensive cops.

More on this topic at the Critical Badger. Which reminds me . . . if you get a second, check out the "focus group" at the Critical Badger. Creative. And kind of sad.
Read more!

Inclusionary Zoning Didn't Ruin the World

Seriously, it didn't! It has some flaws that need fixing, but all the dire predictions don't seem to be true.

Last week we received a staff report with data about what is going on in the approval, building permit world. The program has been in existence since February 2004. Here's some of the stats of interest:

• 58 projects have been approved which required Inclusionary Zoning
• Those projects included 6,023 units
• Of those projects 70% were owner-occupied, 18% were rental. (I presume the other 2% were the life leases.)
• 695 of the 6,023 units were affordable or 11.5%
• 740 or 12% of the projects approved are future projects that are multi-family but the tenure (rental or owner) has not yet been determined.
• An average of 174 affordable units were approved per year.
• Several approved projects are unlikely to move forward. These projects in 702 units, 107 of which would have been affordable at 800 E Washington, Starkweather Square plat, Hilldale Condominiums (now hotel), and Churchill Crossing.
  
• 184 of the affordable units "bumped out" of the program because they were "marketed" for 240 days.
• So, of the 695 approved projects, only 418 or 60% remain in the program after removing projects likely not to be built and those that "bumped out".
• During the first 2.5 years, 53 of the 58 projects were approved. That was 611, or 88%, of the affordable units. This was before fixing the equity model and narrowing the marketing loophole as well as creating the complicated "offsets" program in July 2006.
• Only 5 projects have been approved under the new and improved ordinance.
• The 5 new projects have 628 units of which 13.4% or 84 units are affordable. One other project with 350 units has not determined its tenure.
• During this same time, 4 other SIP (Specific Implementation Plans) were approved but are exempt from the ordinance because the GDP (General Development Plan) were approved prior to the Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance being passed in February 2004.
• Of the 695 total affordable units, 306 have moved forward to final approval for construction and were available for purchase. That's 44% of the units.
  
• 184, or 60%, "bumped out" due to the "marketing".
• Of the remaining 122 potential units, 41 have accepted offers to purchase as of December 2007 and 18 are occupied.

The conclusion of the staff report has the following comments:

• Unfortunately, a few provisions in the original ordinance which allowed units to be marketed far in advance of when the units were actually available for occupancy and which did not require adequate marketing for sale of units, as well as the equity sharing formula resulted in many of the affordable units being rolled out of the program.
• In July of 2006, comprehensive amendments to the original ordinance were adopted by the Common Council. These amendments replaced the incentive point system with a "revenue off-set system". (The incentive point system was also widely criticized by builders and developers as being confusing and unworkable.)
• Ordinance revisions regarding the marketability and complex equity-sharing formula were proposed 15 months after the original ordinance was adopted, based on poor buyer response to the complex formula and the easy roll-out provisions . . . After the Council adopted the new equity formula (pro-rated share times the value, minus 5% bonus for the buyer to accommodate improvements) the program experienced more buyer interest and sales.
• Staff believe that there continues to be a flaw in the current program: open marketing of the inclusionary zoning affordable units in a manner that represents the interests of the target buyer population. This is partially a structural problem and professional practice issue in general real estate brokerage industry itself. Buyer-brokers who serve the buyer are paid through a commission shared with the seller's broker, or through a fee paid to the buyer. In the inclusionary zoning situation where the purchase price is fixed, the developer/builder can refuse to split the commission with the buy-broker (as some have), and the buyer must either pay his/her broker out of pocket, or find another home. Since inclusionary zoning target buyers generally have fewer discretionary resources and developers/builders price the inclusionary zoning units at the maximum sales price level, the inclusionary zoning buyers have less flexibility within the housing market to hire a buyer-broker and thus depend heavily on the developer's agent for guidance with inclusionary zoning.
• The City adopted the original Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance during an up market and has administered it during one of the weakest markets in decades. Since Dane County housing market appears to have experienced the same increases and decreases during the same period, it would appear that the ordinance did not generate the kind of adverse market impact that some predicted would upon adoption of the original ordinance. Instead, growth continued, with increases and declines in approximately the same pattern, reflecting more macro-economic forces than the ordinance itself.
• The City is seeing the first affordable units occupied by income-eligible households with 18 units now occupied and another 41 units with accepted offers to purchase. The revised ordinance has been in place for 1 - 1.5 years. Unfortunately, the downturn in the housing market has resulted in only a few projects being approved. This is combined with the fact that some projects approved have a long lead time from approval to actual construction of individual units. As a result, very few units have been marketed under the new ordinance.
• Staff have heard that a number of developer/builders are currently waiting to see what will happen with the current Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance given that the potential sunset date of Jan 2, 2009 is rapidly approaching. Given that the housing market has slowed, there is a larger inventory of exiting losts to build on which, in turn, means that some builders/developers can work off of this existing inventory before deciding whether to proceed with new residential development projects in 2008 or to wait until 2009. Because of the very small number of projects approved under the July 2006 revisions to the Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance, and the very small number of units actually being marketed under the new ordinance, it is difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of the ordinance revisions at the present time.
  

The report, which I don't have electronically and isn't available on line, has several tables and other information of interest as follows:

• 53 projects with 5,042 units of which 611 were affordable were passed Feb 2004 - July 2006. However, only 5 projects with 980 units of which 84 are affordable were passed July 2006 - Dec 2007.
• 2,523 units were exempt because they were Conditional Uses or Specific Implementation Plans
• 863 units were approved since the ordinance passed in Feb 2004 that were exempt because they were approved as conditional uses.
  
• 1,660 units were approved since the ordinance passed in Feb 2004 that were exempt because they were approved as General Development Plans prior to the ordinance passing, but had to come back for Specific Implementation Plans.

• Approximately one-half of the projects with inclusionary dwelling units have been located on the periphery of the City with the other one-half being located in redevelopment projects in the dowtown and built-up areas of the city.
• The 18 occupied units are distributed as follows:
• 6 on the near east side
• 5 on the north side
• 3 on the near west side
• 2 central area
• 2 southwest side
  

• 1990 - 2003 41% (Average of 1,556 units per year) of the units built in Dane County were inside the City of Madison. 2004 - 2006 42.8% (Average of 1,807 units per year)of the units built in Dane County were inside the City of Madison.

There is likely more of interest in the report and hopefully it will be available electronically soon.


Read more!

Dude, There's a House in My Street

Well, half a house.

This is what the street looked like before the move.


And where the house was being moved to.




We were told several things about when they would be moving the house and when our electricity would be off. I went to hear Baghdad Scuba Review play their 4/20 Show at the High Noon around 10:30 and came home around 11:30 to find this on Blair Street. Good thing I knew what was happening or I would have thought I have one too many Guinness.





Here's them moving the first half of the house.









And the second half. Which they had to back onto the street.









Oops, stop right there . . .



That looks like a good place to leave it for the night!

Here's what it looks like this morning.






Not much sleep last night. But I bet I slept better than this guy . . .



Ya think that was a nervous smile?
I have tons more pictures, this is just a sampling.

Photos of the progress are here.

Read more!

The Week Ahead

Well, this is a little messed up this week, but here is what I've got.

Monday, April 21, 2008
4:00 PM TAX INCREMENTAL FINANCING POLICY AD HOC COMMITTEE ROOM LL-130 MMB

• This meeting was cancelled last week, so I'm not sure why it is still on the agenda.
  

Tuesday, April 22, 2008
4:30 PM DOWNTOWN HOTEL FEASIBILITY STUDY COMMITTEE 1 JOHN NOLEN DRIVE, DANE ROOM

• This is the first meeting of this committee
• Note, there are materials to be reviewed for this meeting, but they are not linked.
  

6:30 PM COMMON COUNCIL ROOM 201 CCB

• Go ahead, try to find this agenda, as of the time I'm writing this, its not in legistar, its not on the weekly schedule and if you download the packet, well, its from April 8th.
• Luckily, staff sent us one link that is right.
• Items of interest are
• Electing new Council President (Tim Bruer)
• Electing new Pro Tem (Mark Clear and Larry Palm running)
• Report on women, race and disability and committee appointments - I'd link it, but the reports are wrong so it will likely be referred.
• Report on women, race and disability and top management hires - Same deal, link is to reports several months old.
• Report on sister city grants for this year.
• Amending budget to buy parkland for Phase I of Cherokee.
• And phase II
  
• Landmarking several building on the square. (7 - 9 N Pinckney, 21 - 25 N Pinckney & 27 N Pinckney)
  
• Sensitive Crimes Interview Procedures
• CDA Workplan - likely referred since the CDA budget is not on this agenda
  

Wednesday, April 23, 2008
2:00 PM CCOC SUBCOMMITTEE TO REVIEW CITY HIRING PRACTICES AND POLICIES ROOM 417 CCB
4:30 PM URBAN DESIGN COMMISSION MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING ROOM LL-110 MMB

• W Wash Hotel
• W Wilson & Bassett McGrath Project
• Pinkus McBride Project
• S Henry Cliff Fisher Project
• Phase II of the Sequoya Library - Residential
  

4:45 PM LANDMARKS COMMISSION ROOM LL-130 MMB

• Garver Feed Mill
  

Thursday, April 24, 2008
12:00 PM COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY ALLIED DEVELOPMENT SUBCOMMITTEE ROOM LL-130 MMB

• No links
  

4:30 PM BOARD OF EDUCATION - COMMON COUNCIL LIAISON COMMITTEE ROOM 417 CCB

• If we have this committee, why do we need a new committee to work on the relationship between the City and the Schools?
  

Friday, April 25, 2008
12:00 PM COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY COMMUNITY DEVELOMENT SUBCOMMITTEE ROOM LL-110 MMB

• Villager Mall (no links)
  
• Truman-Olson Site
• Lakepointe (no links)
  

Read more!

Worst House In Madison Contest Returns

Below is a message from the Student Tenant Union, it includes information on Tenant Education Week as well as the Worst House in Madison Contest:

Hey UW students,

Do you think you have the worst landlord in Madison? Does your roof leak?
Has nothing been replaced in your apartment since before you were born?
Does it feel like you live in a third world slum? Lead paint peeling of
the walls? You name it...we want to hear about!

What you have to do to win: Submit a narrative description as well as
pictures or video that explain why you think your landlord is the worst in
Madison. Submit entries either by emailing Student Tenant Union directly
at <stuuwmad@gmail.com> or by going to our website at
<http://studenttenantunion.rso.wisc.edu>.

Why would you want to do this: You and every other student on this campus
deserve more than a crappy apartment...and you certainly pay for way more
than you get. Let's show Madison landlords thart it is time for them to
clean up their act. And it will be fun!

What you get if you win: Most importantly, you'll have the joy of
publicly humiliating your landlord. Student Tenant Union will hold a
press conference outside the house or building of the winning entry. When
bad landlords are exposed, student renters take note (for an example from
2002 when ASM ran the Worst House in Madison Contest, visit
<http://badgerherald.com/news/2002/04/25/doty_residence_wins_.php>).
Secondly, Student Tenant Union will document the problems with the
apartment, and call the Madison Building Inspector on behalf of the
winning tenants. In acknowledgment of a full year spent living in
horrible conditions, the winning entry will also receive some small prizes
including 4 gift certificates to Hawk's Bar & Grill.

What do you get if you don't win: All entries will receive a response from
Student Tenant Union volunteers that outlines the parts of tenant/landlord
law that apply to their situation. Additionally, all entries will be
saved in our database, and can be viewed by future prospective tenants who
want to know about past problems people have had with a certain landlord.

Questions about the contest? contact Student Tenant Union at
<stuuwmad@gmail.com> or call Jason Wargolet at 414-840-5595.

What can you do about your crappy living situation?

Come to Tenant Education Week sponsored by the Student Tenant Union,
UW-Madison and Students for Social Welfare. All week we'll have housing
counselors on hand to help you with your questions and concerns and to
help you prepare for moving into your next apartment. We'll also hold
Renters' Rights Presentations at both Memorial Union and Union South.
This is a great opportunity to learn about your rights and get involved.

Housing Counseling: Direct assistance on problems you're having with your
landlord.
Monday--Memorial Union, 10-2
Tuesday--Union South, 9-1
Wednesday--Union South, 10-2
Thursday--Memorial Union, 12-4

Renters' Rights Presentations: Learn what you need to know about topics
such as tenant protections, moving into your new apartment, how to
document problems, what to do about repairs, or what can and cannot be
deducted from your security deposit.
Tuesday, April 22nd, 7PM-8:30, Memorial Union TITU
Thursday, April 24th, 6PM-7:30, Union South TITU

Questions about Tenant Education Week? Want to find out how to help/get
more involved?

Join our face book group: search for "Student Tenant Union"

Read more!

The Homelessness Debate Drags On

One more growing tiresome response to the fact-challenged Blaska and a thought about the Mayor's recent comments.

Just a few comments:

I did Mitch Henck's Outside the Box radio program Tuesday morning. Sure enough, Brenda Konkel called in. Mitch and I had a devil of a time getting Brenda to admit that there was any kind of problem. The alder even posited that the Bassett neighborhood predators are not homeless. Perhaps they leave their homes in the morning for their daily aggressive panhandling shifts. Gotta go, honey. Get the kids off to school.

Odd that the police would call them "transients."

I said the problem is aggressive panhandling. I won't say that it is all homeless people mooching off "the system" that are aggressive panhandlers. There is an important distinction. As I told Mitch in an email after the show. Aggressive panhandling is bad. Aggressive panhandlers are not all homeless. Homeless people are not all aggressive panhandlers. I'm sorry that isn't a good enough answer for you, but its the truth. You can't just lump everyone together. Remember, the dude they caught knocking and entering homes on the day of Zimmereman's murder was one of Cliff Fisher's tenants - i.e. aggressive asking for money but not homeless. I'm not sure if this is one of the people the police consider "transient" but we can't just lump all these behaviors together and say they're all homeless people.

Later, in talking with city staff, it seems that the police are estimating it is about 2-3 dozen people causing problems. There are thousands of homeless people that use our shelters every year and that is a small percentage of that number.

Oh - and Mitch emailed me and asked me to call in.

Late Tuesday afternoon, I attended the homelessness pow wow at the WilMar Neighborhood Center on Jenifer Street. Who else cross-pollinates like Blaska's Blog?

The stated subjects were: "hunger, homelessness, and profiling."

Profiling? After a very decent interval, wherein all present had an opportunity to get their thoughts jotted down on a giant Post-It sheet, I ventured this topic: "behavior."

Brenda, who runs the Tenant Resource Center, objected. "Where would we put it?" I suggested that Joe Lindstrom, one of the facilitators, was a bright fellow and could write it wherever he wanted.

Nice characterization. We had three note pads for listing solutions. The categories were education and outreach, policy and program. I simply wanted to know what category he wanted it placed in so that it was where he wanted it. It was placed under "program" and he kept saying we refused to write it down, but Linda politely pointed out she had written it on her flipchart.

I have been frustrated with the Left's unwillingness to come to terms with the behavior issue. But Ed Jepsen, who was with Friends of Yahara River Parkway, offered up a carefully worded critique about "making public spaces accessible to all people."

We see the people who live in the parks … and transient behavior that some people interpret as anti-social and scary behavior they don't understand.

Some people interpret? Put me down as one of those "some people." Ed, understanding scary behavior doesn't make it any less scary. Given what we are learning, understanding that behavior ought to scare the bejesus out of all of us.

I thought we were getting somewhere and not lumping everyone together, but I see he quickly slipped back into his stereotypes. Homeless people living in the park must be those aggressive panhandlers and maybe even murderers, eh?

The guy who came closest to what I have been saying was Dean Loumis of Housing Initiatives. He started off by saying that he wasn't going to pray for anyone — that could not have been lost on the other note-taker, Linda Clifford of Madison-Area Urban Ministry. At last week's homelessness group hug, Linda led a prayer session for my poor, sand-blasted soul.

Linda Clifford?

And lest the casual reader not understand Blaska's attempt at humor, no one, in fact had any prayer session.

Dean said, "No program will succeed without responsibility." His Housing Initiatives program places 130 people — two-thirds of them men — in low-cost housing. The program picks up two-thirds of the cost, thanks to state and federal grants. "If they fuck up, we kick them out. Same thing as at a job. You are held accountable."

Then he said this:

It's O.K. to point fingers at programs that are messing up.

In a chat afterwards, Dean said most of his clientele are SSI recipients, people with mental issues. They are easier to help. It's the booze-addicted who are the hard cases. No surprise, there.

You know, I think this is a good idea. Let's point fingers at the "bad programs". Where are all these free flowing services that don't require people to be held accountable? Come on, give us some details David. Let's talk facts.

Toward the very end of the session, another fellow (and I did not catch his name) asked, "What should happen in Brittingham Park and what should be done on the Yahara River?" where there are encampments of homeless. (That is the unreported story of this issue.)

The other fellow, was Manny Scarbrough from the Parks Commission. He chairs the committee on alcohol in the parks. This issue about the Yahara River was discussed at the last Parks Commission.

The bottom line from Tuesday's Wil-Mar session was that more coordination would be nice — a point made by Dave Glomp — but more services are what is needed. And that requires more money.

And yet Madison and Dane County offer the best set of social services in the state. Even some of the WilMar participants quietly acknowledge that. Over half of Dane County's $440 million annual budget goes for a wide range of social services.

Funny, he leaves out the part where Ralph Middlecamp from St. Vincent de Paul says that the funding for his programs remains about the same as it was 20 years ago and that he has to do more with less every year.

If we get more money, right now, I vote that more money goes to the police. Law enforcement remains the greatest social program going.

Interesting. I'm not sure the police feel like it is their job to be a social worker. And, police are an expensive solution. It's probably far more cost effective to have services provided that help people get out of the state of homelessness instead of having the police spend so much time on on the problem behaviors with no long-term solutions. Just giving the police whatever they want, as Blaska suggests later in his post isn't going to solve this problem. Outreach, drug and alcohol treatment, mental health treatment, jobs, transportation and housing. As a side note, of the 7 people from Brittingham Kristin Petroshius got into housing, 4 of them now have jobs.

Almost a full hour after the formal program ended, a nice lady who has taken on a personal project to study homelessness — she has testified at City and County budget hearings — asked what I think in my innermost mind when I see a man crumpled up on the steps of Grace Episcopal Church in downtown Madison.

I did not fully answer her question then and so will here now.

When I see such a person, I hope the hell the poor bastard gets the help he needs if he is willing to take it and better himself.

Poor bastard? Seriously? Sigh. I guess I'll have to be satisfied with baby steps and the small mea culpa offered.

As for the Mayor's comments:

Given this back and forth between people like Dave Blaska and Brenda Konkel, what would a more rational discussion sound like?
I haven’t read the discussions, but I can sort of imagine what they’re saying. I don’t think that highly-charged rhetoric on either side of the issue is useful. I don’t think either fanning peoples’ fears of the homeless or condoning uncivil behavior are useful. What we need is a balanced approach that enforces standards of behavior and has an element of compassion to it. We need a discussion about solutions instead of pointing fingers.

I'd challenge the mayor to a) read the discussions before commenting on them b) see the failed amendments offered last year during the budget (outreach coordinator, transportation and eviction prevention) and c) read the city's plan to end homelessness. The solutions are there, people have talked to you about them. What we need political will and to look at the solutions beyond throwing more money at the police department and bright lights to move people somewhere else. Those are temporary solutions. Moving "the problem" doesn't solve it. And, it would be helpful if your discussions about Brittingham Park were held so members of the public, neighborhood resource teams and the parks commission members could participate.
Read more!

CDA Office Moving

Well, that merger went quick! Just kidding.

NOTICE OF CDA HOUSING OPERATIONS OFFICE MOVE

CDA Housing Operations will be moving to Suite 120 in the Madison Municipal Building effective 4/22/08.

Please note that the City of Madison Housing Operations office will be moving to Suite 120, located across from the post office, in the Madison Municipal Building, 215 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd on April 22, 2008. Phone numbers remain the same. We will be open for business during this time, but some services may be delayed. We expect to be operating in normal business fashion by Friday, April 25, 2008. Thank you for your patience during our move.



Sally Jo Spaeni
Eligibility Coordinator
City of Madison Housing Operations
215 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Ste 130
Madison WI 53701-1785
608-267-8694
FAX: 608-264-9291
www.cityofmadison.com/housing.index
Read more!

Madison Buses - A System for Traditional Commuters

Last night, I attended a 4 hour public hearing about the proposed bus route changes. This post is late this morning because I simply can't do justice to the testimony and my 11 pages of notes. There was so many good comments it was hard to know what to exclude. Heres's a few themes and incidents that stood out in my mind.

THANK YOU

• First of all to Colin, the most hated man in the room. Most agreed he had a tough job and many thanked him.
• To the bus drivers. Many thanks were offered to the drivers for putting up with alot of crap and yet maintaining a mostly friendly and helpful demeanor. Several felt they needed more recognition.
  
• To the committee, for not only sitting, but listening attentively, through these often painful hearings.
  

Warning: It goes down hill from here.

ROOM SNAFU
Yet another meeting that was standing room only and people ended up in the hallway for much of the first part of the hearing. People were just crowded into the room. Alder Solomon rounded up some folding chairs so people would have a place to sit and several of the speakers helped Alder Solomon and Clear set up chairs for the speakers. Some of us just sat on the floor. Once again, and this isn't the first time, several people with disabilities had a hard time navigating the room in their wheelchairs because there simply wasn't enough room. And of course, it was hard to hear.

RAN OUT OF REGISTRATION SLIPS
When some people showed up, there were no registration slips left. They had to go copy some extra slips so everyone could register.

BUS ROUTES NOT TO BE CUT

• If the last 19 bus is at 10:15 hospital workers won't be able to get home to Allied Drive.
• If the 22 and other northside routes stops running every half hour after 6:30 it will be harder for me to get to events at Warner Park Community Center and the Library.
• There are huge gaps in service with the Route 13 bus that serves the Romnes Apartments (CDA Senior/People with Disabilities Housing) - No service of any kind on Olin Ave 12:41 – 6:39 in the evening heading to the downtown area. Southbound route shows no service to south transfer point 6:46 – 2:16 in afternoon. This route also serves Interfaith Hospitality Network, the swimming pool, the Huber Center, Alliant Energy Center etc.
• The Demming Way loop on route 15 is vital for people to get to work in Old Sauk Trails, with these changes people have to walk or wait 20 minutes to catch the 73. Some people going there from the East side already have to make two transfers to get to work and this will increase their travel time from 1 hour to 1.5 hours to get to work.
• Routes 56 & 57 need more than just commuter service.
• Keep the 17 running between the North and East transfer points - with the changes the only way to get to the East Transfer Point is to go to the Square.
• Expand route 29 to during the day hours, not just for commuters.
• Keep the 3 running down Rutledge and Division.
• 38 is popular and it shouldn't change from 15 to 30 minute service.
  

OTHER CONCERNS AND COMMENTS

• Businesses consider bus routes when relocating and changing routes that affect those businesses impacts the workers and customers of those services.
• Many people bought houses or condos (South, East and West sides of town) because of the bus service because they only have one car or no car.
  
• Several people we proud of their one car families but are forced to reconsider due to constant cuts to service.
  
• We need better weekend service for the transit dependent.
• We need more late night services so people can get to/from 2nd and 3rd shift jobs and those who don't work 9 - 5
• Duh! We need an RTA. Given the service in Monona and Town of Madison is poor and City residents suffer as a result of those municipalities not wanting to pay for service.
• It was pointed out by a few people that many people likely didn't show up to the hearings that are impacted by the changes (less service after 6:30) because they are on the way to their 2nd shift jobs and some people had to leave the hearing early to catch their bus home.
• Some of these changes will make it so people who have a choice won't ride the bus.
• The Northside is, in general, neglected. Everyone talks about the South, East and West sides of Madison, but the northside is a vibrant place with lots going on and bus service is needed by the residents there.
• Some people said we need more bus service, but realizing that is not going to happen, they just pleaded not to make it worse.
• The North transfer point is very isolated and cutting service at night is going to make it scarier to be there.
• There should be circulator buses between the transfer points.
• The meandering routes are an issue, our bus system should be more direct.
• The bus system is not easy to understand, its complex and constantly changing and makes it difficult for riders.
• The busses need to connect better, there are long waits for transfers.
• Airport service is nice, but not what people need everyday and this needs to be a system that first works for the dependent riders.
• A few people commented that bus service shouldn't be looked at as something that needed to fund itself. If the police and fire and streets don't need to fund themselves, why does the bus system. They are all basic services.
• Wanted staggered buses from south side to give more options to get downtown.
• Route 9 and 10 have some issues that need to be resolved, works for some, not for others.
• Several people commented that we shouldn't build neighborhoods without bus service. Bus service should be added as new homeowners move in because that is when they form their habits.
• We should have smaller more fuel efficient buses for low ridership routes.
• The bus stop move at East Towne (from near the building to the middle of the parking lot) is bad for people with visual impairments. This is even harder with the new silent (hybrid) cars and in the snow or high wind and rain (can't hear) situations.
  
• We all need to put pressure on the state and feds to fund transit.
• Keep Tim Wong on the Transit and Parking Commission!!!
• Buses should stop mid-route, they should go to the transfer points.
• Wants a downtown circulator.
• Lots of people left before they could speak.
• The 6 doesn't connect with anything on the square and its an automatic 20 minute wait.
• Shouldn't have to wait for 2 hours to get a bus on a Sunday.
  

STAND OUT MOMENTS FROM THE HEARING

• A Metro driver showed up and said we needed to look less at computer models and ask the drivers more what they thought. She had a big long list of suggestions and asked the committee to think about connection times and when the drivers would get to take a break or go to the bathroom.
  
• Ron Cook (Koch?) from Romnes Apartments spoke and afterwards there was alot of shuffing of chairs around the room. He had tried several times to ask Colin directly if 13 was still going to be cut. Since there was a lull, he asked one more time. "Are you still going to propose this change?". I rather chagrined Colin finally conceded "probably not”
• A woman who lives on the south side said if the 13 is cut, she can't get to work at the Department of Revenue. She's been riding the bus for 37 years. She used to be able to take one bus to get to work, now she has to take three so she takes a cab one way now. If she had to take a cab both ways, it will cost here $31/day.
• An 80 year old woman (I still can't believe she is that old!) talked about routes 56 & 57 being commuter routes and how you can go downtown at 8:45 but you have to wait until 3:08 to get back home. And if you don't get out in the morning, you can't leave the area via bus until 4:00. She can use paratransit, but then it costs her $8 - $10/day to run 3 or 4 errands.
• A legally blind condo owner on the west side said she moved there three years ago because there was good bus service (50, 51, 57 & 58) and since then lost the 51 at night, took away part of the 57 and now these new service changes are bad. It makes it hard for people to get to jobs in the area. She suggested more employer contribute to the service like American Family and the Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection.
• One speaker characterized the bus system as a slow, high fare, mono-modal system. It shouldn't take 45 minutes to get downtown. These cuts in service make a bad system worse.
  
• One person suggested we have a fully funded "Platinum City Bus System".
• Another homeowner testified that when they had C, M & Q service it was better. Now, they have lost 12, 27 and 47 service. They are considering buying a second car. If cuts to 13 happen it will take 40 minutes to get downtown from 1.7 or 1.8 miles away as opposed to the 20 minutes it takes now. When it is good weather, without kids or groceries and if you are healthy you could walk to Park St. for a faster ride, but not everyone has those options.
• If 13 is changed a 10 minute ride to the library becomes a 40 minute ride. It'd be quicker to go to the downtown library. She biked to the meeting because she didn't want to wait 55 minutes for the bus.
• A woman who has ridden buses all over Europe and in other American cities says that their bus systems are easy to understand and after 5 years of being in Madison she is still confused by this system. And, going to the grocery story should not be an "whole afternoon ordeal". She started out by apologizing for taking up time, but right now the busses run her life.
• A person with a disability (I believe her mother said it was autism) who works on State Street doesn't want to wait at night at the North transfer point and she asked the commission not to limit her freedom and independence. The somewhat ironic part was that she has actually won an essay contest with an entry about how great Madison Metro is.
• A person quoted from the bible and then modified that passage by saying the "schedule should be made for the people and not the people for the schedule."
• A comment that metro should "build on what you have, don't tear it down to build something different. In other words, the took away the 10 to build the 9, now they are adding back the 10 to the detriment of the 9. Oh, and the return of the 10 is hailed joyously.
• A person talked about not being able to go to sporting events because there weren't buses to get back home unless you left the game early.
• If the 3 is changed, people have to cross Atwood where there is not light at the busiest time of the day.
• A guy testified that he can't get to work early and he has to tell his boss that he can't come in because the bus doesn't get there on time. He also suggested that we speed up the annexation of the "Town of Madison Mess"
• Said that the announcement said they were adding service, but that's not true, especially on the northside. People don't have a choice and need to ride the bus and the choices are even more limited with the loss of Women's Transit Authority. She also had concerns about people being stranded at the North Transfer Point and suggested that Wiggy's become a family serving business.
• A route 38 rider noted that the meeting was less crowded and more on time than the 38, but that generally life was good as a commuter with a free University pass - the service is fast, frequent and free. He can get 10 busses between 7:00 and 9:00 in the morning. He's a choice rider and would be an idiot not to use the bus. However, for alot of people its not that good. Just like when the fares were increased, regular commuter riders who have good choices are kept whole and those who are transit dependent take it on the chin.
• A woman testified that if her bus route was cut, she would have to take a 50 center per hour pay cut because she couldn't get to work on the weekends and so she would have to work different hours. She's a third shift worker.
• A person from the Southwest side of Madison has a hard time figuring out the bus. And even though they live by Gammon they can ride their bike downtown faster than the bus, and they are not an avid bike rider.
• A new bus rider wants to have a revival, riding the bus has changed his life! He loves the bus and wants more people to ride. He also happens to for Marshall Erdman and he talked about good planning and how buses play into good planning. He also talked about how it is an economic development issue because employees need to get to work and daycare. Buses are so great they can cure everything, racism and maybe even cancer! :)
• Alder Skidmore doesn't ride the bus cuz he can't get to work on the bus. Concerned about the 15 loop, but also he has senior housing that has poor or no bus service and he has constiutents that can't get to and from their 2nd and 3rd shift jobs. He urged Council members to fully fund the buses. Alder Webber reminded him he was preaching to the converted.
• Alder Cnare was there to thank them for the pilot test of the route 14 bus. Noted it was important for new neighborhoods to form good habits and getting bus service there early would help.
• Alder Kerr sent a message through Alder Rhode-Conway that she was "abosolutely opposed to cutting route 13" and asked "the hearing is tonight, how did I not know about this!”
• Alder Rhodes-Conway talked a bit about the long range plan report and problems with service to the north side.
  

You know, there were so many excellent comments, this doesn't really capture it, but . . . it's a flavor of what happened. Thanks to everyone who showed up to speak!
Read more!

The problem with TIF policy

Some things, require no explanation . . .

*******************
April 16, 2007 - Cancelled

*******************
May 14, 2007 - Cancelled

*******************
Meeting held June 4- Absent Sanborn, Konkel

*******************
June 18 - No quorum

*******************
Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 8:42:29 AM
Subject: CANCELLED - TIF Policy Com mtg (July 2)

As we will not have a quorum for the July 2nd meeting (due to July 4th), the TIF Policy Committee Meeting that was scheduled for that day has been cancelled.

Call or e-mail with questions.

*******************
July 16- cancelled due to quorum

*******************
Sent: Monday, August 06, 2007 10:54:22 AM
Subject: CANCELLED - TIF Policy Committee


Tonight's meeting of the TIF Policy Committee has been cancelled due to a quorum problem. As of 11 AM, we had only 2 confirmed Committee members, along with 2 additional Committee members who could only attend for 1/2 hour. A quorum is 5 members of the Committee.

Upon discussing this with the Chair, he indicated that we should cancel the meeting.

*******************
Meeting held August 20 Absent Sanborn, Konkel

*******************
September 17 - cancelled due to quorum

*******************
From: Rolfs, Daniel
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2007 12:05:39 PM
Subject: CANCELLED - TIF Policy Committee

The TIF Policy Committee meeting tonight has been cancelled due to a lack of quorum.

The next meeting date is Oct 15, 2007.

*******************

Meeting held Oct 15- Absent None

********************

Meeting held Nov 5 - Absent Sanborn

********************
Sent: Monday, November 19, 2007 3:22:23 PM
Subject: CANCELLED - TIF Policy Committee

Due to a lack of quorum, the TIF Policy Committee Meeting scheduled for tonight has been cancelled.

Have a good Thanksgiving.

********************

Meeting held December 3 - Absent Rummel, Sanborn

********************

Sent: Monday, January 07, 2008 12:03:03 PM
Subject: CANCELLED - TIF Policy Committee mtg - 1/7/2008

The TIF Policy Committee Meeting for tonight (1/7/2008) has been cancelled due to a lack of quorum.

The next meeting is on February 4, 2008 at 4 PM.

********************

Meeting Held Feb 4 - Absent Sanborn, Brandon

********************
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 10:43:23 AM
Subject: TIF Policy Com Mtgs - Future Dates

Both the Chair and Vice Chair will be unable to attend the March 3, 2008 mtg of the TIF Policy Committee. The Chair has asked to see if the four dates listed below would work for future meeting dates / times.

March 17, 2008 - 4 PM
April 7, 2008 - 4 PM
April 21, 2008 - 4 PM
May 5, 2008 - 4 PM

*********************
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 3:14:09 PM
Cc: CL Meetings
Subject: CANCELED - 3/3/08 TIF Policy Com mtg
Auto forwarded by a Rule

The TIF Policy Committee meeting scheduled for March 3, 2008 @ 4 PM has been canceled. Please update your calendars accordingly.

*********************

Meeting held March 17 - Absent Rummel, Sanborn

*********************

Sent: Monday, April 07, 2008 10:00:37 AM
Cc: CL Meetings
Subject: CANCELED - TIF Policy Com

Today's TIF Policy Committee meeting has been canceled due to staff oversight of the public notice and a lack of quorum.

The next meeting is scheduled for:

Date: April 21, 2008
Time: 4 PM
Location: MMB Room LL-130


****************
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2008 3:53:08 PM
Subject: FW: City Meetings during Passover

Staff was just notified of the fact that the next TIF Policy Committee meeting was scheduled during Passover (see note from City Clerk below).

To facilitate a quorum while allowing maximum public input, this meeting will be rescheduled. The next meeting will be on May 5, 2008.

Call or e-mail with questions.
****************

Um, I have a question, can we just freaking have a meeting and get this over with!!!! We've managed to have 7 out of 20 meetings. And Sanborn missed 6 of the 7 meetings. A full 65% of our meetings have been cancelled in the last year.

I'm dedicating this post to Carole Schaeffer, from Smart Growth Madison, who is as frustrated as I am, or possible even more frustrated. Meanwhile, if you want to see drafts of where we are at, check out this agenda for one of the meetings we didn't have . . . oh, wait . . . that won't work.
Try this and this.

Read more!

The Other WMC.

The recent news that Wisconsin Management Company won't let the finance of Brittany Zimmerman out of his lease shines a light on what most consider a flaw in Wisconsin law and the probably not-so-surprising heartlessness of a particular management company. People keep asking me what can be done. Unfortunately, the Student Tenant Union suggestion of a rent strike to put pressure on the management company may be one way to get the company to do the right thing. It's clear from the interactions Channel 27 and the Wisconsin State Journal have had with president of this company, Russ Endres, that he is not backing down.

At first I thought that maybe there was a small landlord who owned the property and they would be struggling if they lost a few months worth of rent. Then I found out that the owner of the property, Carl and Janet VanRooy are partners of Wisconsin Management Company and own and manage properties in Indianapolis, Kansas City, Michigan and Florida as well as own at least a dozen others in Madison.

I also thought maybe some staff person at the company was just following company policy and following the rules and not thinking outside the box. Apparently, that wasn't the case either. Their first excuse was that they haven't talked to Jordan and can't talk to anyone else on his behalf. Seems ridiculous because the Dean of Student Office have tried to contact them several times on Jordan's behalf who likely is not in any condition to be dealing with these things.

Their second excuse for not doing the right this is that they are using the old landlord stand-by of "we have to treat everyone the same". Ummm . . . ok, so what would be wrong with every time someone gets murdered in your apartment, you let the roommates out of the lease? That would be treating everyone the same.

At the Tenant Resource Center, one of the worst jobs we have is telling family members of the deceased, typically an elderly person who died, that they are still responsible for paying the rent. Luckily, most landlords do the right thing and figure out how to work things out with the family and just charge them rent until the family gets the deceased's property out of the apartment and then forgive the rest of the lease. Unfortunately, that means that Brittany Zimmerman/her family, who is jointly and severally liable, is also still responsible for her rent. For the last few sessions, someone at the capital has tried to change this law, but so far, no success.

At this point, the best advice Tenant Resource Center can give to Jordan is to write a letter to his landlord telling them when he will have his stuff out of the apartment. At that point, it becomes the landlords responsibility to "mitigate their damages", meaning they have to try to re-rent the apartment with all of the typical advertising methods they typically use. Jordan then becomes responsible for those costs plus rent until a new renter is found or the lease expires. If he doesn't pay, the landlord would have to take him to small claims court to get a judgment for the money. More information available here.

Meanwhile, I'm sure the tenants of Wisconsin Management Company are wondering what could happen to them if they participate in the rent strike. Very generally speaking, this is what could happen:

If the tenants have a year's lease and they haven't gotten a 5-day notice for non-payment of rent in the past year, the first thing that will happen is that they will get a 5-day notice to pay their rent. Then they will have to make a decision. Should they pay their rent within the 5 days, with no consequences, or stand behind Jordan (and Brittany) and not pay their rent. If they don't pay their rent, Wisconsin Management Company will have to take them to court. At court, the tenants face another choice. If the write out a check on the spot, the court will likely stop the eviction action. The court may make them pay court costs and attorney fees. If the tenant chooses to get evicted, they could move out or they could make the sheriff serve them and Wisconsin Management Company would have to hire bonded movers or put up their own bond to move all the stuff of all the tenants who refuse to move. In order to get their things back they would need to pay the storage fees. Tenants who worked it out would risk getting a bad landlord reference for the one non-payment of rent and if they are late on their rent again in the next year, the landlord could give them a 14 day notice without a right to cure. If they went to court, they would have an "eviction on their record", however, if they settle in court the case would be dismissed and technically they would not be evicted. More on the eviction process here.

It is important to know that there are retaliation laws in place to protect tenants. Simply joining a tenant union or enforcing your rights (calling the building inspector to get repairs done) means that a landlord cannot retaliate against you. More info on retaliation here.

Meanwhile, I hope some of the business organizations in town, of which Wisconsin Management Company is a member, such as the Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Madison Inc. and the Apartment Association of South Central Wisconsin will try to talk some sense into the Russ Endres, the President of this company.

Whatever happens, I hope Wisconsin Management Company moves quickly to get this resolved and does the right thing. Otherwise, they get the dubious honor of taking the Isthmus "Landlord from Hell" title from the now deceased Bill Kozak.

Read more!

The (Bus System) Week Ahead

This week there are many hearing on the future of the Madison Metro Bus System and the annual "improvements" to the system which always means someone is going to lose service!

Monday, April 14, 2008
2:00 PM TOT STUDY COMMITTEE 615 E. WASHINGTON AVENUE, GMCVB HEADQUARTERS

• This doesn't bode well for the taxpayer. Meetings at a time of the day most of the public can't/won't attend. Not a familiar building to most of the public and hosted by the group that wants more of these taxes to go to them. No attachments on the agenda that people can review.
  

3:00 PM SESSION WITH KARL-HENRIK ROBERT, FOUNDER OF THE NATURAL STEP 201 STATE ST.

• On the other hand, I thought this meeting was only for "invited guests" but I guess the public is invited!
  

4:30 PM BOARD OF ESTIMATES ROOM GR-27 CCB

• Hmmm, why is this on their agenda? We already had a broad spectrum of the council give direction to staff on how to move forward. Fair Housing folks, I think you get to go to another meeting! Not much notice, hope you can make it.
  

5:30 PM METRO TRANSIT PUBLIC INPUT MEETING 455 N PARK ST, 1651 HUMANITIES BUILDING

• No link to the report on the agenda, but here it is. More info here.
  

6:00 PM ZONING CODE REWRITE ADVISORY COMMITTEE 330 W MIFFLIN ST, ROOMS 1 & 2 (2ND FLOOR)

• This is the first meeting of the group that will shape how the City grows in the future.
  

Tuesday, April 15, 2008
5:00 PM TRANSIT AND PARKING COMMISSION MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING ROOM GR-27 CCB

• 4:00 - 5:00 Staff available to review the route changes
• 5:30 Presentation about the route changes with financial information
  
• 6:00 Public hearing on the route changes
• Voting won't happen until May
  

Wednesday, April 16, 2008
5:00 PM URBAN DESIGN COMMISSION ROOM LL-130 MMB

• Stoughton Road Revitalization Plan
  

5:30 PM METRO TRANSIT PUBLIC INPUT MEETING 513 S MIDVALE BLVD, SEQUOYA LIBRARY MEETING ROOM

• No link to the report on the agenda, but here it is. More info here.
  

Thursday, April 17, 2008
12:00 PM HOUSING AFFORDABILITY SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE HOUSING COMMITTEE ROOM LL-110 MMB

• Housing Report Card
• Affordable Housing Trust Fund
• And lots of other things we won't have time to get to
• And, I don't know why there aren't links here, there have been on past agendas.
  

4:30 PM LANDLORD AND TENANT ISSUES SUBCOMMITTEE ROOM LL-130 MMB

• Earnest Money Ordinance (Earnest Money = Application Fees or Money Down)
  

5:00 PM LONG RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLANNING COMMISSION ROOM LL-110 MMB

• Mineral Point/Junction Rd Alternatives Analysis
• Stoughton Rd Revitalization Plan
  

5:30 PM BROADBAND TELECOMMUNICATIONS REGULATORY BOARD ROOM 103A CCB

• Discussion of Municipally-owned cable system
  

Read more!

Community Response to Stereotyping the Homeless

Follow up to Homeless Conference, more media, audio of the event and pictures, what's next, and Blaska's coming to the meeting! A special thanks to everyone who participated in the press conference on Thursday!


JOIN DISCUSSION ON RADIO
Sunday at 8:00 on Forward Forum, please call in and join the discussion:

A panel discussion with advocates for people who are homeless, discussing community responses to recent backlash against the homeless. As we've reported, multi-millionaire developer Fred Mohs began the recent "dialogue" about homelessness by pulling his support for free parking for a downtown church that offers shelter services. Recently, Isthmus Daily Page blogger Dave Blaska wrote a widely-read incendiary piece calling for a return to workhouses and other Dickensian punishments for homelessness and poverty--that may or may not have been tongue in cheek--which through innuendo and without substantive facts suggested that homeless people as a class of people were vicious vagrants who were likely behind recent murders in Madison. (As Mayor Cieslewicz said in a response to a question I asked at Downtown Madison Rotary on Wednesday, "We need to slow down here. There has been no evidence to suggest such a link, and homeless people as a group should not be blamed.")

To join their conversation on Sunday calling at 608-321-1670 locally, toll free *123 for US Cellular phone users, or tollfree 1-877-867-1670 from outside the Madison area. Forward Forum airs Sundays from 7-9 pm CT on 1670 AM, the Pulse, and streams live and podcasts at www.wtdy.com. Show blog: madprogress.blogspot.com . Show website: www.forwardforum.net.

THE PRESS CONFERENCE
On Thursday, a broadly-based group of community leaders came together at the Community Action Coalition's office to speak out against the hate-filled rhetoric being hurled at people who happen currently experiencing the trauma of homelessness. Many thanks to the many sponsors for that event including:

• Homeless Services Consortium of Dane County
• Madison-area Urban Ministry
• Tenant Advocacy Group
  
• Affordable Housing Action Alliance
• Community Action Coalition
• Housing Initiatives
• Porchlight
• Tenant Resource Center
• YWCA
  

Forward Forum was there to cover the event, and has posted a special webpage with audio, still photos and links to news articles from the event. Go to www.forwardforum.net/homeless .

TO GET MORE INVOLVED
To plan future actions come to a meeting on Tuesday at 4:00 at the Social Justice Center (1202 Williamson St). I hear Blaska is going to be there!

To get onto a listserve to learn more about what is going on contact homelesssupporters@gmail.com.

To get involved in discussions about homeless in the downtown

CAPITOL NEIGHBORHOODS, INC.
THE CONTINUATION OF DIALOGUES ON HOMELESSNESS:
NURTURING OUR CAPACITY FOR CHANGE
SATURDAYS,
APRIL 19, MAY 17, 2008, and continuing…
CENTRAL LIBRARY, WEST MIFFLIN ST.
2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Refreshments Served
No prior attendance needed to get full benefit from this event.

Read more!

Busted.

All the gossip, inside info and rumors one can take on a Friday.

Before I start, let me explain. The phrase "don't blog this" is very common in my world. Generally speaking, I assume most things people tell me or email me are "off the record". If I blog something and attribute it to someone, I have either asked their permission, they said it publicly enough that my blog is likely only giving it more exposure or I protect their identity.

A second thing that happens is people tell me all kinds of things that they want leaked, but don't want to be responsible for. Much of that doesn't make it to the internet. With those items, I try to verify as much as what I can. Sometimes I end up on wild goose chases. Other times, I can't confirm enough to write about it. Sometimes, without a source being revealed it isn't credible. And sometimes, I get a good tip and it ends up a blog.

Every once in a while the system breaks down, but I try to be careful and protect people. More frequently I end up with people demanding corrections. Those are tough to know how to handle since I don't like changing something I posted, but if I feel they have a good point, I'll add a note to the post, but leave the original intact.

This blog, is a whole lot of odds and ends that don't merit a full post but are too good not to share or odd tidbits, or some of those slightly wobbly items I don't feel so comfortable about but came from a reliable source . . . so here goes! Watch out, cuz you're busted!

WISCONSIN MANAGEMENT COMPANY
I've heard from an incredibly credible source that they are refusing to let Brittany Zimmerman's finance out of his lease. Not only is he stuck until August 15th, but for another entire year. Additionally, they were refusing to change the locks on the apartment upstairs. While legally what they are doing might be ok, good corporate citizens they are not.

(FWIW - If you ever are told you can't break your lease, that's not entirely true. You should write a letter to the landlord, tell them you are breaking your lease and stop paying your rent. You will be responsible for the costs, excluding time spent showing apartments, of re-renting and rent until someone new moves in IF the landlord does what they normally do to rent the apartment. More info here. When it comes to locks, tenants are allowed to change the locks if they feel the safety is in jeopardy, but they have to give a key to the landlord "as soon as practicable" and the tenant has to pay the costs. Sometimes, despite the protestations, our tenant protections laws simply are not as strong as we would like. More info at the Tenant Resource Center.)

MAYORS OFFICE & MBJ (& FORMERLY THE ISTHMUS)
When the Mayor sent out his 2008 State of the City Address, they left some editing notes in one section. The notes were attributed to MBJ. Kristian Knutson's blog post originally noted that the edits were in there and the pdf posted to the internet had the edit bubbles on it. Those disappeared and the post was changed. Since I know who MBJ is, ILMAO . . . Giggle. I even know what the B stands for! Giggle. (This one is going to get me in trouble! But it falls in the too-good-not-to-share category. Sorry MBJ.)

NOTE: I guess I missed the pdf notes the second time I looked at it and the Knutson article is now back and has those original comments.

AD HOC SUBCOMMITTEE OF PARK COMMISSION TO STUDY PROBLEM OF ALCOHOL AND RELATED BEHAVIORS IN CITY PARKS
This one I feel a little bit bad about. I was asked to make a correction or apologize about the blog post yesterday about the action the Parks Commission took on Brittingham Park. I'll explain in the next section. While "discussing" this with the chair of the Parks Commission he asked me why I hadn't been attending the abovementioned longest-title-in-the-city committee.

Heh . . . well. Dang. I haven't been attending cuz I didn't know they were meeting. The chair says that the committee has been meeting for a year. If that were true, it likely would have shown up on my "week ahead" schedules. So, I went back and looked at the "Notice of Additional Meetings" to find out when they met. All I could find was one meeting on November 8th, 2007. Either they've been meeting illegally, or the statement by the chair was incorrect. I'm not sure which. I've haven't heard back from him after I asked if they had been meeting illegally. And I hope that they just haven't met lately.

THE MAYORS OFFICE
In sending out the plan for Brittingham Park the Mayor's Office made the following statement:

For the past several months, a group of stakeholders has been meeting to address the long-standing problems in Brittingham Park. These stakeholders include governmental agencies (Madison Police, Madison Parks, Madison City Attorney, CDBG Office, Office of Community Services, Mayor’s Office, Alderperson Julia Kerr, Dane County Human Services, etc.), neighborhood groups (especially the Monona Bay Neighborhood Association), service providers (Porchlight, Madison Apprenticeship Program, etc.) and advocacy groups like Operation Welcome Home. The purpose of these meetings and discussion is to ensure that Brittingham Park and its surrounding neighborhoods are safe and enjoyable.

The stakeholder group recognizes that there are opportunities to improve the quality of life both in and around the park. This group has worked to identify possible responses to the various issues, and, to that end, Mayor Cieslewicz and Alderperson Kerr are directing the following steps be taken to improve and enjoy Brittingham Park:

And at the Parks Commission meeting it appeared as though these groups were in support. I talked to two of the groups mentioned above. Both of them said they were not involved in these discussions or that it was a mistake to represent them as agreeing with the plan. (Plan in this blog post.)

This is as good of a point as any to point out the "mistake" in yesterday's blog. The chair of the parks commission was mad at me because of this statement:

Finally, I have to say, I'm disappointed, but not surprised, the Parks Commission passed the plan last night given that it wasn't available to the public until yesterday and so the public didn't really get to comment on it. What happened to our values that a public and transparent process led to better, more informed results in our community?

I think he thought that I was disappointed in the Parks Commission, but my disappointment and lack of surprise was in the Mayor's office handling of the situation, not the Parks Commission. After talking to two other people, beyond the guy whose testimony I blogged, who were at the meeting and the chair, I understand that the Parks Commission was rather upset that they were just seeing the plan yesterday and that their opinion didn't really matter because the Mayor's Office felt they didn't need the Park's Commission approval, so the Commission "accepted" or "received" the report. They did not, as the WSJ reported, "adopt" or "approve" the report.

So, Mr. Barker. I apologize. I never should have believed what I read in the Wisconsin State Journal without double and triple checking that it was accurate. My bad. And I hope you realize that my disappointment was not in the Parks Commission, except that you could have rejected the report or referred it to another meeting. My disappointment, was once again with how the Mayor's office handled this - last minute notice to the public and city committee members, limited/controlled input behind the scenes, making it look like the "stakeholders" were in agreement when they weren't and handling it via the press. And now I'm even more annoyed since I understand the committee members are upset.

THUY PHAM-REMMELE
People often ask me why the really outrageous statements made by this alder are not reported in the press. I think it is because the press are typically forgiving of a few mistatements or awkward moments that every elected official has. Thuy has had more then her fair share of forgiveness. This is until the spell was broken at Tuesday night's meeting. Her goofy statements were reported by both the Capital Times and Dane 101. They also, showed up on YouTube. Lets hear it for the cyclists that may be fat and/or old!

THE MAYOR & THUY PHAM REMMELE'S $2,000
Speaking of Thuy . . . when Thuy and the Mayor are in the same room, taxpayers, hang on to your wallets! Monday night there was a meeting with some neighborhood folks with Thuy and the Mayor and somehow, she walked away with the promise of more money. This time, $2,000 for a Neighborhood Watch. Ignore the process. Ignore the fact that no other Neighborhood Watches are getting this kind of money. Thuy asks, the Mayor jumps. Makes many wonder why. And the alders are lining up to get their money for their Neighborhood Watches!

WEXFORD'S "EXPEDITED PROCESS"
This one I didn't track this one down if there was a process that was not followed. However . . . at least some people in the know were questioning why the new building for the Wexford Neighborhood didn't need to go through the normal city approval process. Apparently, they were told by staff, that the process had been "expedited". Interesting, who has the authority to "expedite" by skipping committee processes?

THE MAYOR AND/OR CITY BUREAUCRACY
I'm not sure who is busted here, but the Common Council Organizational Committee (Bruer, Konkel, Webber, Clausisu, Rhodes-Conway, Compton and Schumacher) voted to affirm that when we voted for $30,000 for Fair Housing Testing, we meant Fair Housing Testing. We did not intend that money to be spent on a Fair Housing Study.

THE FACT CHALLENGED DAVID BLASKA
thedailypage blogger gets it wrong. What a surprise. (See last section.)
The Isthmus reporter sets the record straight. (See last section.)

HOMELESS AND THEIR SUPPORTERS CAUGHT PRAYING FOR DAVID BLASKA AND FRED MOHS


(Sorry, insider maybe-not-so-funny joke shared with the 50 or so people who came to the press conference yesterday plus the reporters and camera persons.)

Thanks to John Quinlan for the picture and trying to get YouTube video of the press conference.

Believe it or not, I had about 8 more things I wanted to add . . . but ran out of time! Stay tuned.


Read more!

Homeless, Working Poor and Housing

I was talking to another blogger and we concluded that it is just so difficult to know where to begin to address these issues and how they are inter-related and it quickly gets overwhelming, so please forgive me, in advance, if this post goes in a few different directions.

TRANSIENTS & BEGGARS, MURDER & HOME ENTRIES
Wow! This conversation spiraled out of control. A few unthoughtful comments by one police officer and perhaps some unfortunately editing of a story and suddenly the homeless are murderers in the minds of many in the community. It wasn't helped by the inflammatory rhetoric a certain right-wing blogger/conservative political operative and on am radio. I have to say, the mob mentality to jump on board and fall for the stereotyping, the profiling and finger-pointing is disappointing and somewhat scary. What blows my mind is the continued misrepresentations by either thoughtless, mean-spirited or politically motivated editing. Check this out . . . .

While investigators have not identified a suspect or a motive in the death of Brittany Zimmermann, police say they have arrested "a couple of dozen of people, " most of them transients who frequent the Bassett neighborhood, on warrants and probation holds, as well as for trespassing, menacing, panhandling and having open intoxicants, in the course of the homicide investigation.

Among those arrested was a man who walked into a home in the 500 block of West Washington Avenue shared by several UW-Madison students just before Zimmermann 's body was found two blocks away, police said.

It's just irresponsible to continue to talk about "transients" and the man arrested for begging door to door in nearly the same breath, as we know that the person who was begging door to door was not a transient. The man was a tenant of Cliff Fisher and lived within a few blocks of my house.

Additionally, the police still have no suspects, have said that they are not concentrating on any one population and at least in the case of the Marino murder, have said that they have no reason to believe it was someone who was homeless. Instead, it was someone who "has connections" to State Street because they bought a likely very expensive backpack there. I'm guessing not too many homeless do their shopping there.

PHOTOS? & SYSTEMIC DNA TESTING BASED ON PROFILING?
So, homeless are being arrested in larger than usual numbers and all being DNA testing? If the "transients" are not arrested, apparently they are being photographed by the police department. This has prompted a few community members to ask me several questions. The first email this morning was as follows:

Hi Brenda:
I just heard a report on WPR this morning that "a couple dozen transients" were arrested and subjected to DNA testing in connection with the Brittany Zimmerman murder. Have you heard about this? It doesn't sound like a targeted investigation, more like a broad sweep of the homeless and DNA testing without probable cause. If witnesses had reported that Brittany Zimmerman's murderer was a black man, would the police have the right to subject all black men in Madison to DNA testing?

More bad reporting? Or did this listener hear this correctly?

A second person asked this questions in a meeting yesterday:

If someone was murdered in my condo building, would my neighbors think it was ok for the police to be running around photographing everyone who lives there?

It's been a long time since law school (14 years) but I'm pretty sure if these reports are correct, we have a problem here with possible civil liberties violations and a whole new profiling concern. And before you are tempted to jump on the fear bandwagon and defend the police, think about that Benjamin Franklin quote "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Radical, I know.

The snarky/weary among us are wondering when we will need to start carrying our "income identification cards".

BRITTINGHAM PARK
In the middle of all of this fear mongering and attempts to take various issues and draw connections that simply aren't there, sometime around noon yesterday the Mayor's office revealed the "plan" for Brittingham Park. The "plan" includes the following:

1. Cameras. Install wi-fi cameras in and around the park to enhance surveillance and improve deterrence.
2. Lighting. Improve and install lighting as necessary throughout the park.
3. Park Shelter. Consider modifications to the existing park shelter structure to improve general usability and decrease the likelihood of problematic behaviors.
4. Amenities & Environmental Design. Prevent the use of the electrical outlets in the park shelter except during a reserved use. Explore changes to the environmental design of the park (landscaping, children’s play equipment, etc.) to enhance the legitimate use of the park.
5. Outreach and Social Services. Utilize data collection and analysis to identify individuals with a pattern of police contact. Use this list as a jumping off point for outreach workers and social service providers. Help coordinate available resources with individuals in need. Sample resources include: AODA treatment, mental health treatment, employment counseling, housing counseling, financial education; general medical services; etc.
6. Police. Increase police presence through routine and directed patrols. Maintain high visibility and continue to enforce applicable laws, including the prohibition on the possession or consumption of alcohol. Utilize problem-solving techniques through the South District Community Policing Team to address issues at the park.
7. Investment in transitional and permanent housing. Continue the investment, primarily through our CDBG Office, in housing and homelessness prevention. In 2007 the City spent $425,000 on the capital costs for housing and homelessness prevention and $390,000 on related programming and services. This investment funded the creation of eight new housing units and major repairs to two shelter facilities.
8. Park Rangers. Utilize the additional Park Ranger resources in the 2008 budget in an effort to increase the legitimate use of Brittingham Park. Work in cooperation with service providers to appropriately train the Park Rangers before their deployment. Ensure that the Park Rangers have access to a clearinghouse of resources to address the needs of individuals they may contact.
9. Alcohol Retailers. Continue to work with alcohol retailers in the vicinity of the park to find effective means of employing best practices for alcohol licensees, including limiting access to individuals who habitually misuse or abuse alcohol.
10. Employment Training & Transportation. Work with employment service providers to coordinate access and transportation to training opportunities, short-term jobs, and permanent employment.
11. Vendors. Explore the presence of vendors in Brittingham Park.
12. Park Ban. Explore the creation of a “Park Ban” list for chronic offenders, similar to the State Street Ban that has proven so effective over time.
13. Prosecution Initiatives. Explore the use of prosecutorial tools like deferred prosecution agreements, hold-opens, and/or abeyances with regard to specific violations in and around Brittingham Park.
14. Partnership. Continue to work in partnership with advocacy groups, service providers, law enforcement, neighbors and other government agencies. Implement effective and efficient means to address homelessness, social service needs, and problematic behavior in a comprehensive effort to improve the quality of life in Brittingham Park and throughout our community.
    

I wasn't able to attend the Park Commission meeting this evening - triple booked - but at least one poverty solutions advocate showed up and told me he had the following to say:

• While the plan said to INCREASE police presence, it only mentioned better coordination for outreach, and continuing efforts on affordable housing.
• There were three points of the plan I stressed. 1. Outreach; 2. Affordable housing (I talked housing trust fund); and 3. Bus tickets (Transit for Jobs). I pointed out that all 3 were proposed to the mayor last year, and he said no to all three, and also all 3 were rejected as council amendments.
  

I might also add that during the budget the Parks Department said that the Parks Rangers were not trained to deal with the homeless and therefore they were not appropriate to deal with the homeless issues in Brittingham Park.

My reaction to the plan was - We don't have enough resources! Simply coordinating them better isn't going to do anything. The Homeless Services Consortium is about as coordinated as it can get. The police have more resources, but without more AODA and housing resources, how is this going to happen?

Before we leave this topic, I'd like to thank Alders Kerr and Verveer for their comments and once again, question why the WSJ continues to try to link transients, homeless and murder. Check out this editing:

The plan comes at a time when Madison police are questioning transients as part of their investigation into last week's slaying of 21-year-old UW-Madison student Brittany Zimmermann and two months after the fatal stabbing of Joel Marino, 31, on West Shore Drive. The killings brought increased attention to problems in the Brittingham Park area.

Both Ald. Julia Kerr, whose 13th District includes Brittingham, and Ald. Mike Verveer, whose 4th District includes the West Doty Street apartment where Zimmermann was killed, were adamant that the park plan and the killings are not connected.

"This has been a long, ongoing process," she said of work started six or seven months ago to develop the strategy. "To link them is totally erroneous."

Kerr said multiple cameras are expected to provide a view of the entire park and would be concentrated around the shelter, as would new lighting.

While treating problems associated with homelessness is a part of the plan — Kerr said advocates for that population were consulted in its development — both she and Agard said the homeless are not entirely to blame.

Brittingham is "just a magnet for a whole bunch of different folks," she said, without elaborating. Agard said most homeless people do not cause problems, and those making the catcalls and looking for unlocked doors are "a very small percentage of the population that frequents the park."

Finally, I have to say, I'm disappointed, but not surprised, the Parks Commission passed the plan last night given that it wasn't available to the public until yesterday and so the public didn't really get to comment on it. What happened to our values that a public and transparent process led to better, more informed results in our community?

OUR CADILLAC SERVICES & "THE VAGRANTS"?
Now, on to Mr. Blaska.

Mr. Blaska, I know you read my blog, so I issue a challenge to you. Drop the rhetoric and show me the facts. Get serious and drop the inflammatory and ridiculous faux-solutions.

What programs are "keeping people dependent on the system"? The shelters all have limits on the number of days you can stay there in a year. Where are all these overflowing services that are just lavished on the people who are homeless? Which programs do you consider to be frivolous handouts? How many of the homeless just don't like working and would rather spend their nights in the freezing Wisconsin weather (1%, 10%, 80%)? Which of our programs and policies would you repeal or remove to fix your claim that "what we are doing with the homeless attracts and supports a lifestyle that is sometimes criminal and usually anti-societal." I assume this was a list of solution made with tongue firmly planted in cheek. That's nice, you made your point and got attention, but lets be serious. This is a serious issue. Take a serious look at the programs you love to rail on give us some serious recommendations based on real facts. Oh, nevermind, we know you're just trying to score political points and won't do the work to help solve the problems we have in this community.

Meanwhile, I'll leave you with this thought. One of my colleagues, who is not one of us progressives, not a member of Progressive Dane, not even one of the liberals who frequently votes with Progressive Dane alders, not even endorsed by the Democrats, sent me an email that simply said:

Herman Melville once said:

"Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed."

PRESS CONFERENCE TODAY

Press Advisory

April 9, 2008

For more information, contact:
Greta Hansen
608-246-4730 ext. 217

There will be a press conference on Thursday, April 10, 2008 at 12:00 noon at Community Action Coalition, 1717 N. Stoughton Rd. (between Ancora Coffee Roasters and Zimbrick). Speakers will address current myths about the poor and homeless in our community.

Sponsoring Organizations:
Community Action Coalition of South Central Wisconsin
Madison-area Urban Ministry
Homeless Services Consortium of Dane County
Tenant Advocacy Group
Affordable Housing Action Alliance
Tenant Resource Center
Housing Initiatives
Porchlight
YWCA

FACTS & SOLUTIONS
If you want some facts about the homeless in our community, the 2006 Annual Report on the Homeless is a good place to start. If you're looking for solutions, here's a plan by the community to end homelessness. Problem is, it takes money and a commitment that I don't believe that we have here in Madison.

MAYOR'S HOUSING DISPERSION PLAN
Will have to wait for comment for another day . . . but I haven't forgotten about it. Expect a post either tomorrow or next week.
Read more!

Common Council Recap: 4/8/08

The Council was a little loony last night. It took us about 4 hours to agree, unanimously, on just about everything. Here's what we did.

• #1 - We proclaimed April 2008 as Child Abuse Prevention Month.
• #2 & #3 - We approved Arbor Day and Earth Day Clean up resolutions before the Parks Commission recommended them (See V A & B)
• We then approved the consent agenda, which was the whole agenda minus items 21, 23, 32, 98, 99, 105, 109 & 125.
• #4 we approved the W Wash Hotel
• #13 We had a big long discussion over the raingarden controversy which is if there are rain gardens installed during street reconstruction should the City pay 50% or 75% of the cost, with the homeowner paying the rest. The Mayor and the City Engineer explained that this issue wasn't even included in the item and we'd have to vote on it later. But that didn't stop alders from talking about it and asking questions.
  
• #14 We got the so called "10 minute version" of the State of the City Address (that the clerk timed and lasted 19 minutes.) We got the full speech that will be delivered at the Rotary today via email before the council meeting, but the mayor started out ("going for the automatic applause line") by explaining he wasn't going to read it all. Seemed kind of rude for the people who showed up to hear the speech and aren't members of the Rotary and don't have invitations to go. (I got two invitations, one from Stuart Levitan - thanks Stu - but don't know if I have time to go.) Here's the pdf of the full speech.
  
• #21 - We referred an bartender's license back to ALRC.
• #23 - We referred another bartender's license back to the City Attorney's Office.
• #32 - A gentleman brought information about his assessment and his neighbors assessments, but we denied his claim without comment. I think at times like these the council is in a tough position because we know staff reviewed things and gave us their recommendation and we can't ask questions in open session since a court case is involved.
  
• # 98 -Security Deposit Photo Ordinance passed unanimously after several speakers spoke in support, one against, and glowing praise for Alder Judge. The most interesting part of the evening was when Nancy Jensen from the Apartment Association all but named names when saying that landlords should not use security deposits "as the 13th month's rent" or "nickel and dime" tenants by charging for wiping dust off lightbulbs and other such things. She seemed particularly concerned about "large fee managers" - meaning management companies as opposed to the owners.
• #99 -Platinum Bike Report - Again, lots of speakers, lots of praise. And then a goofy discussion where Alder Brandon tried to re-define the terms "adopt" and "accept". He listened to several alders explain what they thought it meant and then said he was ok with it. However, there is a long lost memo out there from City Attorney Eunice Gibson that no one can find that explains the difference. I looked for a few minutes this morning and couldn't find it, but I'll look again tonight if no one finds it today. Unfortunately, no one asked the City Attorney what he thought it meant.
  
• #105 -Neighborhood Electric Vehicles - Several speakers, lots of praise. Several alders test drove the vehicles before the council meeting, some of them who did were Clear, Webber, Rhodes-Conway, Palm, Solomon and Kerr . . . and likely several others, but I wasn't out there in the rain to see who did.
• #109 - Was accidentally separated and so we quickly passed it.
• #125 -Reconsideration of DemolitionOrdinance - After a bit of discussion, which may have been out of order, Alder Gruber withdrew his motion without objection from the Council. Apparently, no one wanted to re-open the whole ordinance for re-discussion. Some seemed extra nervous about it being potentially changed
  

After that it was about 10:30 and we all went to Brochach. Well, the Mayor, George Twigg, Michael May and Alders Rhodes-Conway, Webber, Rummel, Palm, Clear, Schumacher, Gruber, Bruer, Kerr, Judge, Solomon, myself and . . . hmmmmm . . . I think Verveer was there . . . but he was whisked away by his fan club and we didn't see him until most people had gone home.
Read more!

Message to the Poor: Leave Town! Now!

That's right, we don't care if you grew up here in Madison, or if your family lives here. We don't care if your kids are doing well in school here. We don't care if you're here because you left your abusive partner and moved to be with supportive friends. We don't care if you lost your job when you got sick and didn't have healthcare and lost your job because you didn't have enough leave time. We don't care if you are here to take care of your mother who has to go to the UW Hospital for weekly treatments. We don't care if you have a mental illness that may or may not be treated. We don't care if you are heree to get an education at MATC. You're making us look bad. You're dragging down our numbers (higher poverty rates, lower median incomes) and you have to leave. Some of you have to go to different schools, you have to move into Dane County and out of the City of Madison, you have to go to the suburbs to get shelter for the night. We don't want you here!

It's been a bad week to not be a white middle/upper class privileged male. Somehow, certain high profile people in the community have decided to launch an attack on people who are not like them. It started a few weeks ago with multi-millionaire Fred Mohs telling the church that they can't help the homeless or they had to give up their parking. Then, at least one police officer tried to blame the homeless for the murder last week. (Turns out, according to the police department spokesperson, the homeless have been "very helpful" in the investigation.) That was followed up by the often fact-challenged Isthmus Newspaper sponsored blog rant by David Blaska about how the homeless are nothing more than lousy good-for nothing "vagrants" and murderers sucking off the system. The next day Blaska blessed us the the "hobo jungle" comments from Fred Mohs. When I thought we had quite enough, the Mayor piles on!

Where does one begin to comment? Each of these requires their own full blog post to respond. Together, its staggering. Forget the liberal and conservative labels. Forget the politics. Forget the racism and other issues involved in the above. What happened to our humanity? What happened to our compassion? What made it ok for these guys to to attack the poor like this and feel like they have support in this community? Poor people are still people. They are not faceless, nameless people with no hearts and no souls. They are brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, aunts and uncles, families and individuals. People who are struggling to have a decent life for them and their families, not trash to be thrown away.

I think what scares me the most is when our leaders are allowed to make these comments and go unchallenged, what kind of message does that send? It encourages fear and hate of people who are not like you. It normalizes the messages they are saying. It makes it ok for kids and young adults to repeat those messages. It makes it ok for polite people in a civil society to rejoice that someone finally said what they were thinking and make terrible jokes. It promotes the "us" versus "them" mentality. It allows others to feel good because at least they are not as bad off as someone else. It promotes stereotypes and dehumanizes us as a community.

There's more to come on all of this. For now, I'd just encourage you, if you are reading this, to stop. And think. Is this the Madison we want to live in? Is this the kind of Madison you want your kids to grow up in? Are you proud of this Madison? Do you agree with those comments, or do you know that this is not the world you dreamed you would be living in?

If not, what are you going to do about it? Talk to your neighbors and friends about how this is not ok. Speak up when people are saying they agree with some of these comments. Keep it simple - don't let that comment go by at lunch. Or step it up a notch and write a letter to the editor. Respond to various postings saying this is not ok. Donate to your favorite church or non-profit that works on poverty issues. Tell (and show) people this is not acceptable and not the Madison we want to live in. Want to do more than that, contact me. (brendakonkel AT gmail DOT com)

If we have people in our community who are suffering, lets work together to figure out what is needed to help people change their lives and make their lives better. At a time when there is a renewed sense of "hope" for "change" and a sense of unity and healing in this nation, how is it that Madison is taking a step backwards? And at least one of the people spewing this crap are Obama supporters? Is this what Madison has become? Or just a few wayward leaders in our community? Let's hope the community refuses to follow, but it will take more than just hope. Take action today - help send a message that Madison is not a community that is going to live in fear and support stereotypes, but instead act with compassion.
Read more!

The Week Ahead: April 7, 2008

After such a nice weekend, it seems so cruel to have to go back to work . . . but there is lots of interesting things happening this week! Here's my picks.

Monday, April 7, 2008
4:45 PM LANDMARKS COMMISSION ROOM LL-130 MMB

• Tenney Park Shelter (New Design)
  

5:30 PM PLAN COMMISSION ROOM 201 CCB

• Meriter Hospital Master Plan Presentation
• Hotel on W. Washington
• More demolitions and new buildings in Bassett Neighborhood
• 609 E Gorham conversion from SROs to Apartments

Here's an "oh shit" moment. We're supposed to be having a TIF meeting today . . . it's in Legistar, but not on the clerk's list, which means its likely not properly noticed (posted in the hallway by they County Clerk). Which would mean we can't meet. Which is a shame since the Wis. State Journal spent all that time writing yet another mis-informed editorial about it. (It's like they are trying to create a fight that isn't there.) If you want to see what is actually proposed check here and here. Since the clerk's schedule doesn't get posted until Sunday, there is no time to fix Monday mistakes.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008
12:00 PM COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY ROOM LL110 MMB

• Villager Mall
• Trying to squirm out of using Truman Olson for Homeless purposes as required by federal policies.
  

4:30 PM COMMON COUNCIL ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITTEE ROOM 103A CCB

• How did "Fair Housing Testing" become a "Fair Housing Study"
  

5:00 PM AFFIRMATIVE ACTION COMMISSION ROOM LL-120 MMB

• Gender, Race and Disability and people appointed to City Committees
• Gender, Race and Disability and top management positions and salaries.
  

6:30 PM COMMON COUNCIL ROOM 201 CCB

• Approving Arbor Day and Earth Day Clean up resolutions before the Parks Commission recommends them (See V A & B) - 2 & 3
  
• W Wash Hotel (no recommendation yet) - 4
  
• Raingarden Controversy - 13
  
• State of the City Address (no link) - 14
  
• Finally making appointments (vote next meeting) for the Neighborhood Support Committee (after 2 years of being in budget) - 19
• Expected concern over bartenders licenses
• Nice Deal for subterranean lease, only a 5% increase every 5 years - 57
• Accepting improvements to a building to be demolished? - 87
  
• Security Deposit Photo Ordinance - 98
  
• Platinum Bike Report - 99
  
• Placing Billboard Ordinance on File (rejecting it) - 101
  
• Farming (Economic Development?) in Commerce Park - 102
  
• Neighborhood Electric Vehicles - 105
  
• CDBG Priorities for the next two years - 123
  
• Reconsideration of DemolitionOrdinance - 125
  

Wednesday, April 9, 2008
10:30 AM MINORITY AFFAIRS COMMITTEE ROOM LL-130 MMB

• Review of Hiring Report
  

12:00 PM PERSONNEL BOARD ROOM 108 CCB

4:30 PM CDA HOUSING OPERATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE ROOM LL-130 MMB

• Section 8 Decentralization
• Long Range Planning Update
  
• Security Guard Contract (Reconsideration)
  

4:30 PM URBAN DESIGN COMMISSION ROOM LL-110 MMB

• Tenney Shelter
• Wisconsin Institute for Discovery
• More Hilldale Development
• The Modern Design of the Pinkus McBride Block

6:00 PM DOWNTOWN PLAN KICKOFF MEETING 201 STATE ST, PROMEDANDE

6:30 PM BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS 1625 NORTHPORT DR - WARNER PARK COMM REC CNTR

• Bootcamp at James Madison Park??? (Did I miss something, I don't know what this is.)
• Brittingham Park " Presentation by Joel Plant, Mayoral Aide
  GENERAL DISCUSSION and POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION" (Um, about what?? I'm guessing how to deal with the homeless, but the agenda doesn't exactly say that and there's no links to get a clue about what will be discussed.)
  

Thursday, April 10, 2008
4:30 PM COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY 755 BRAXTON PLACE

• Lakepoint Condo Update (no link)
• Section 8 Dispersion Report
• Security Guard Reconsideration
• Memo from Mayor's office regarding contracting (no link)
• Financing for WARF for Institute for Discovery
• "Supplemental Indentures" for Block 89
• Long Range Planning
• Budget Template (no link - Last time they had this on their agenda they didn't talk about it, but the budget is due on the 15th, unless they blow us off)
• Should they have a joint meeting with just Board of Estimates or the whole Council. (i.e. How do we best control Konkel) (no link)
  
• Allied Drive (no link, not even for the resolution they are passing)
• Village Mall Update (no link)
• Truman Olson
  

5:30 PM METRO TRANSIT PUBLIC INPUT MEETING 2845 N. SHERMAN AVE, LAKEVIEW LIBRARY MEETING ROOM

As usual, check the clerk's website for other meetings and later in the week, more meetings likely to pop up like the tulips and daffodils in my yard. One example of interest to me is the IZ Oversight Committee which will start meeting every Friday, but it will likely never show up here as the agendas are usually done later in the week.
Read more!

Mixed Messages about the Homeless

On the one hand, there was a meeting on campus to help people understand homelessness and that people who are homeless are human beings and to treat them as such. On the other hand, we get this headline in the Wisconsin State Journal which probably leads a even a reasonable person to fear the homeless because one might be a murderer. In reading the story, you find further conflicts. The police seem to be saying that the homeless are suspects. On the other hand, Alder Verveer seems to be saying they could be potential witnesses. Which is it? In the Marino stabbing, the police said that the homeless in the park were not the suspects, despite the public's questions and accusations against the group. The Cap Times reported:

Complaints of homeless crime dominated the discussion, despite police assurances that Marino's killing Monday was not likely committed by a homeless person.

I hope if Verveer is correct, they will do the same here.

Obviously, a terrible tragedy has happened in our community. I've found that in talking about apartment safety, its hard to find the right balance between responsible caution and hysteria. People are obviously a little freaked out and rightfully so since we live in a fairly safe community. I just hope that if the homeless are not suspects but rather witnesses, that gets cleared up soon. We have enough fear going on in our community and the homeless are a vulnerable population that have a whole host of other problems to deal with and that can easily be blamed. Unfortunately, not many people in "the establishment" will stand up for them. If someone from the homeless community is a suspect, I hope the City and County will have some compassion and take emergency action (hotel vouchers and waiving shelter night restrictions) to protect those who are living on the streets, in our parks and in their cars - as they are likely even more at risk than those of us who can lock ourselves in our homes.

Either way, even if one homeless person did a terrible thing, which I doubt given Alder Verveer's comments, lets not blame a whole challenged population. And, if we can have safe walks and other programs to protect students, where are the programs to help the homeless who are not in our shelters?

NOTE: After posting, this article showed up in my google alerts where the police are portrayed a little differently.

Balles says investigators have not determined a homeless person killed Zimmerman.

Read more!

(Stolen) Gorham Closure Meeting Recap

I've been meaning to blog about the meeting about the closure of Gorham this summer, but just haven't gotten around to it. Essentially, everyone agreed to shut down the whole street as opposed to keeping it half open and making the project last longer. My biggest concern is the 100 buses that go down Gorham every day that will be diverted to E. Washington. Several elderly people have concerns about walking over to E. Wash and as people get off the bus going East it means they will need to cross E. Washington which is somewhat of a major feat in and of itself.

Dane 101 had a nice recap.

And, below is something posted to one (or two) of the neighborhood listserves.

I would say about 30 neighborhood people showed up. I walked away depressed as it was clear that traffic engineering was aware of neighborhood issues, and they were not there to listen to concerns but rather to tell us what will happen. At one point I asked if they were taking notes on issues raised -- nope, no need. Many issues were raised in addition to converting johnson to two way, and they will not be addressed. Such as, how will we protect East Mifflin and East Dayton from traffic that will hit a closed Gorham and a blocked up Baldwin. The answer: Everyone will share in the pain of this major detour.

With that said, here is what was presented:

1. This project came about due to serious degradation in portions of the 100-year-old clay sewer main. Could be a safety issue if a main breaks, potentially causing a sink hole.
2. Engineering will put up signs on Aberg Avenue alerting folks of Gorham closure to encourage folks to get off at E. Washington to come in.
3. A second left hand turn lane will be added on Packers Avenue at First Street to encourage traffic to go to East Washington.
4. A sign at N. Sherman and Sherman will alert drivers of the Gorham closure
5. Buses will be routed to East Washington
6. The detour is east washington to outer loop to wisconsin to back on Gorham
7. No budget to bury utilities, though if landowner wants to pay, they may try to fit that in.

That's about it. Work will start in May and go into September.

Read more!

City Spring Clean Up

So, most of the City will be getting its streets swept, but what about the downtown where we only get our streets swept once a week May - Nov? I've been looking at the piles of sand on our streets and watching the mud run off into the streets from where they did construction last year and thinking we should be doing more, sooner. Here's an excerpt from the press release from the Mayor's office. Please notify the appropriate folks below if you have concerns:

Spring cleanup work getting under way includes:

• Double shifts of street sweeping, to clear streets of the 15,000 tons of sand that was used this winter, before it gets washed into the storm sewers and lakes.
• Clearing the acres of concrete street medians of sand and debris.
• Curbside yard waste collection – two collections for each residence, starting on April 7.
• Curbside brush collection – once a month, starting April 7.
• Summer hours for yard waste drop off, which started on March 29.
• Getting parks facilities ready for use, such as baseball fields, park shelters, etc.
• Taking care of traffic signs that were knocked over or damaged during the winter.
• Cleaning up graffiti on City buildings.
• Resuming the Water Utility’s water main flushing program, to clear out sediment and accumulated materials.
• Permanent patching of potholes will start in the coming weeks, as production from blacktop plants starts to come on line.
  

One of the ways residents can help with Spring Cleanup ’08 is by letting the City know of areas that need attention. To make a report, and for more information about Madison’s Spring Cleanup ’08, visit www.cityofmadison.com/residents/spring/

Read more!

Economic Development - Vision/Goals vs. Workplan

Yesterday I attended the Economic Development Commission to talk about how we move forward on the Economic Development Plan. I had talked to a few people in the community and have some more on my list. And in talking to people about the plan, I came to a few conclusions about what we need to do. So, I pitched it to the Economic Development Commission. Here was my pitch, or at least a version of it, with likely a few more and a few less details as it coalesces in my mind.

WHAT ARE OUR MAIN GOALS?
I started reading the plan and nitpicking it to death. I have many comments on every page. At some point I got frustrated, backed up and took a look at it from a larger perspective. Generally speaking, the plan got us talking. It started some of the very dialog that it says we need to be having. That's one of the values of the plan. Also, there are some good things in the plan (and what was presented by Ticknor). I can't say that I agree with everything and some of it is too much detail for even me to care about (newsletter?) and some of it is likely to be a set up for failure and probably doesn't belong in the plan. What I asked the EDC to do was fix the report, let the Common Council receive it, but then . . . give us a resolution where we approve the top 4 or 5 goals that we need to work on the in next few years. What are the things that will have the biggest impact, the easiest to do and most important? I'd like them to be simple and easy to remember so that staff and council members can rattle them off and recognize them when we see them and we can focus our not limitless resources. And, more importantly, so that the business community and the developers who might work on projects have more predictability. I want people to see that when items come up on the committees and at the Council that it was one of our priorities and that we don't argue about it, because we're done arguing. I hesitate to mention what those might be and I might not agree with them in the end, but if we get that far, we'll have made progress instead of constant fighting.

JOINT DISCUSSION AND BUY IN
In order to get us to that point, I suggested that we have a joint discussion with the Council and the Economic Development Commission. Part of my consternation over the plan was that we asked for a strategic development plan . . . never passed the RFQ . . . approved the consultant . . . and then really weren't a part of the process. Late notices, inopportune meeting times (days), scheduling many sessions in one day and poor communication made what little process we were invited to hard to participate in. And so many of us didn't. Unfortunately, I think that led people to believe we don't care, and I don't think that is the case. So, I asked that the Council meet with EDC and have a discussion about Economic Development and let that discussion inform the final report and setting the goals.

OTHER PARTS OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CONTINUUM
This report focuses on "basic sector" jobs. To me, this is the low-hanging fruit where our money might have the biggest impact and create the jobs with a career ladder. I'm not completely convinced and would like to see it discussed a bit more, but it seems to be a good direction. So, it makes some sense to start there. However, there are other things that I think Madison wants to do when it comes to Economic Development. I think we need to acknowledge those things, get them on the radar screen and make them a part of the plan even if it just says we'll work on them in the next plan we create.

GOALS/OBJECTIVES VS WORKPLAN
The report we have seems to be a mixture of the staff work plan and the goals and objectives. I urged to split the document into two pieces. Let the council pass the goals and verbiage (not verbage! :) ) but keep the workplan a working document for staff and EDC to use to accomplish the goals we all end up agreeing on. If we pass what essentially is the workplan, we're setting the plan up for failure because something always comes up that rearranges priorities. I think it works better as a living document instead of the static document the council would pass and then have to amend.

I came to these conclusions because one of the things that has been bugging me is that we did our plan backwards. We didn't take a scan of our community, assess the opportunities and threats, look at what we had to do in the next few years to keep our community strong and then set about a plan to make to happen. Instead, the plan process started with "we need more jobs" and then there was a plan to get more jobs to Madison. Then when we said how we would do it, we plopped in some numbers about how many jobs the plan would create, with no rhyme or reason as to why we needed that number of jobs. I would have rather have come up with a goal for the number of jobs that we needed and set up a plan to get to that number based on what we thought we needed for our community. The whole thing just seemed backwards.

Anyways, I hope the EDC makes the discussion with the council happens and that we get to the point where we can focus the plan. While Madison needs to participate in the regional discussions, we need to have our own plan. The City of Madison needs to come to agreement about how we participate in Economic Development. We've been talking around it for years, but its time to have the Council and Mayor make some decisions about what we want to do and let the staff and community (including the electeds where appropriate) get to work on it.

Read more!

It gets worse . . .

Yesterday's post sent me into the world of Legistar . . . and it turns out the problem was even worse than I thought. As background, there is alot of grumbling and eye rolling whenever you mention Legistar. Legistar is the program that we use to track legislation. It makes alot of information available to the public on-line that previously wasn't easily available with links on all of the agendas . . . if it is done right. While people like to roll their eyes about Legistar and blame things on the program, what you quickly realize is that often, it's human error not the program. One item from yesterday's post was really bugging me, so I started asking some questions about the Fair Housing Testing RFP and since I was at it, I asked about the Economic Development RFQ - turns out, there is more to the story.

FAIR HOUSING
I couldn't imagine how we would have passed this item with no detail. Sometimes I don't read every single word of the council packet, but you'd think I would have noticed a completely blank piece of paper - I wasn't that sloppy. I called a city staff person to help me figure it out. As we were talking we figured out not only was there no detail about the language, there were no sponsors, no fiscal note, no anything. So the next logical question was, how did it get on the agenda. Well, turns out, the council never saw it. I figured it was one of the hundreds of items that we routinely pass every month and that I just blew it. Typically, we approve these RFPs (Request for Proposals) but it actually never went to council. Why? Legistar says it "passed" the council. Turns out a staff person entered that is "passed" after the CDBG Commission. So, it never got to the point where it would even get on the council agenda. So we never passed anything beyond the budget language authorizing $30,000 for "Fair Housing Testing" - not a study.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
So, next I just had to ask - what happened with the RFQ (Request for Qualifications) for the Economic Development Plan. When I couldn't find it in Legistar, I asked council staff to find me what passed the council because I couldn't find it. She sent me something. I thought she found something that I couldn't find and that the document she sent me was what passed the council. Turns out, it wasn't. Turns out, we never passed the RFQ. We never decided what we wanted we wanted in our request for a strategic plan.

Somehow, this makes me feel both better and worse. At least I know I didn't make a mistake on a council agenda. On the other hand, what the heck is going on? Why can't we get these simple routine processes right? Why aren't we following our own processes? Where are these processes written down? Are they written down? How many other things like this are out there? Something tells me that this is one of those situations where I should stop asking questions cuz I'm not going to like the answers.


Note: Links on this post are limited because of the mistakes. The public version of the program doesn't let you see what we can now finally see through the program we have on our new laptops and some of the links are now broken because of trying to fix the errors.

Read more!

Just ignore the council . . . and the public they represent!

(Note: You'll have to excuse me, I'm a little cranky this morning . . . GABLEMAN???? What is wrong with Wisconsin voters????)

Last year, in November, I pointed out several items where the council passed amendments in the budget, and they were promptly ignored. At the time, the pattern was pretty alarming and I vowed to keep a closer eye on things this year. After the first quarter, I haven't really kept my promise as I haven't done the research necessary to find out what isn't happening, but just off the top of my head I've already found a three things that seem like the intent of the Council has once again been ignored/modified. Two of these items were in the budget in 2008, one is from 2007.

• The "Fair Housing Testing" is now a "Fair Housing Study"
• The Parks Department is planning to not spend the money for James Madison Park and roll it over to 2009.
• The "Economic Development Strategic Plan" became an "Economic Development Strategic Implementation Plan"

FAIR HOUSING
So, during the 2008 budget, we passed this (amended) language in the Department of Civil Rights budget.

2. A change in the administration of a Fair Housing Testing program, which has historically been included in the budget of the Department of Civil Rights, but is more appropriately administered by the CDBG office.

And this language in the budget of the Community Development Block Grant Office

$30,000 for a Fair Housing Testing Program. Note that these funds have historically been included in the budget of the Department of Civil Rights, but are more appropriately administered by the CDBG office.

I believe this was a simple transfer of the Fair Housing Testing - not a wholesale change of what is being done. This week the RFP came out and now it is a "Study of Discriminatory Housing Patterns within Rental Housing in the City of Madison". What was once testing by the Fair Housing Center to help people get proof they were discriminated against is now a request to seek proposals "from consultants to explore patterns of housing discrimination" and "should validate those patterns through the use of systemic testing and/or other techniques."

When and how did this change happen? Admittedly, the Council may have been asleep at the wheel. When I look back in legistar now - its "unclear" what we approved, if we approved anything at all. I'm not sure if this is a legistar glitch, or just really sloppy Council work. But this, along with the Economic Development item below, reminds me that the Council should not just pass a resolution, but ACTUALLY SEE the RFP or RFQ before it goes out.

PARKS
$200,000 was added to the budget at the Board of Estimates for improvements to James Madison Park (see amendment 10). It was further modified at the Common Council. At a neighborhood meeting in February, City Staff said the money was a "surprise" and gave me the first inkling that they didn't have any plans to use the money this year. It was later confirmed by a constituent who recently sent me an email with this line in it:

I phoned [name removed to protect the "innocent"] about how to approach this years allocation for James Madison Park. He told me that the money was unexpected, that the Parks Dept. had not planned for it and that the money would likely be rolled over to 2009.

Um, we've known about it since October 29th. And likely before but it was "unintentionally left out" of the budget according to the Mayor.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
This was actually in the 2007 budget:

f) $50,000 in the budget of the Office of the Director of Planning and Development for consultant fees to develop a specific 3-5 year economic development strategy for the City's long-term economic development. Funds will be solicited from other sources to match the City's $50,000;

At that point, it was an "Economic Development Strategy" Plan.

When it passed the Council it was a "Economic Development Strategy". But when the RFQ went out it became an "Economic Development IMPLEMENTATION Strategy". This becomes important because when you ask why we got the plan we got, its based on the RFQ and instead of getting a Strategy document, we got a somewhat goofy implementation plan. Some are calling it the "communications plan", but its not a strategic document.

These items are just the ones I noticed. It's too early in the year to spot others and we have no way of really checking to see what staff are planning on doing or not doing without calling them on every single item of interest. Sometimes, being an alder seems like such a waste of time as there are so many games that can be played and without staying on top of every single detail, which are typically hard to track down so things quickly get lost. Worse yet, it seems like often there isn't even any remorse on the part of staff when these games are being played. I guess they figure they can ignore the few alders who are paying attention. Maybe the Council should just all resign and stop wasting our time if we're just going to be ignored or our actions modified after we vote?
Read more!

Neighborhood Plans - Just Advisory?

There was an interesting discussion at the Board of Estimates yesterday about why they approve neighborhood plans and it revealed some interesting information about how the alders and Mayor viewed neighborhood plans. Alder Bradon kicked off the discussion by saying that the plans are usually a hundred pages long and not many people read them and that they should probably get a presentation when they come to the Board of Estimates. Staff were there with their boards and ready to do the presentation, but it turned out the Board of Estimates didn't really didn't want the presentation after all.

Alder Brandon was also concerned that for some plans like the Villager and Allied Drive we look at things in great detail and for other plans, we just approve them without much discussion. Staff politely explained to them the difference between a project plan of the CDA that we are paying for and a neighborhood plan.

The next issue discussed was whether they should "accept" or "adopt" the plans. I thought this was also "asked and answered". Zach said there was no difference. Apparently he never read the memo from the City Attorney telling us the difference.

Then Alder Jed Sanborn piped up and offered his opinion that neighborhood plans are just advisory. That wasn't really a surprise given his philosophical and political leanings. What was somewhat shocking was that the Mayor then also agreed that neighborhood plans were advisory. I think my jaw hit the floor.

Thankfully, Alder Clear spoke up and reminded folks that our neighborhood plans are supplements to the Comprehensive Plan and that they in fact, are much more than advisory and that we had to adopt them or reject them. Then a few others nodded their heads around the table and that was the end of the discussion and the Regent Street plan was adopted. What a bizarre conversation.
Read more!