County Board Candidates: 2 business days left to file . . .

This is updated as of 12/30 at about, 4:15. At this point, papers have to be filed Monday or Tuesday, the deadline is 5:00 Tuesday. There are 9 races where the paperwork is all turned in, 11 potential races if more paperwork comes in. 17 incumbents remain unchallenged. There are 2 potential primaries, but rumors are at least one won't happen. Declarations of non-candidacy were due December 28th, so now, if anyone backs out, the deadline for filing will be extended. I expect several people haven't turned in their signatures, because they want to collect more over the 4 day weekend. I also suspect, and I don't like it very much, that many haven't filled out their Statement of Interest forms because it helps people do opposition research, plus, they aren't due until January 19th. Remember, its not official until they have all their paperwork in (Registration Statement, Declaration of Candidacy and 50 Signatures - the Statement of Interest is a County Requirement.) So . . . here is who is on the ballot, and who is not. - its official on Tuesday, January 5, 2010 at 5:00 in the clerk's office . . . until then, who knows what might happen. And if you spot any mistakes or have websites I should link to, PLEASE let me know! When in doubt about this information, check with the friendly county clerk's office.

Officially not Running

Needs paperwork

On the ballot (according to paperwork in the clerk's office)

RACE LIKELY (If the rest of the paperwork is filed)

GAME ON

DISTRICT 1
Scott McDonell (I)
Registration Statement = 12/30 
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/1
Signatures = 27 on 12/15, 15 on 12/17, 20 on 12/30
Statement of Interest = 12/30

Dennis Amadeus de Nure website
Registration Statement = 12/4
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/4
Signatures = 40 on 12/18, 12 on 12/30
Statement of Interest = 12/4

DISTRICT 2
Barbara Vedder (I)
Registration Statement = 12/21
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/4
Signatures = 61 on 12/21
Statement of Interest = 12/4

Richard Lepping

Registration Statement = 12/28
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/28
Signatures = None
Statement of Interest = None

DISTRICT 3
Elaine DeSmidt (I)
Registration Statement = 11/30
Declaration of Candidacy = 11/3
Signatures = 55 on 12/16
Statement of Interest = None.

Donald Imhoff
Registration Statement = 12/30
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/2
Signatures = 91 on 12/30
Statement of Interest = 12/30

DISTRICT 4 
Brett Hulsey (I) website
Registration Statement = 12/18
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/4
Signatures = 60 on 12/8/09, 43 on 12/22/09
Statement of Interest = None.

Greg Hull website

Registration Statement = 12/22

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/22

Signatures = 57 on 12/29

Statement of Interest = 12/29

DISTRICT 5
Wyndham Manning - filed non-candidacy paperwork on 12/17.

Analiese Eicher website facebook
Registration Statement = 12/1
Declaration of Candidacy = 11/30
Signatures = None
Statement of Interest = None.

Michael Johnson facebook
Registration Statement = 12/8
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/8
Signatures = None
Statement of Interest = None.

DISTRICT 6
John Hendrick (I)
Registration Statement = None
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/4
Signatures =  59 on 12/29
Statement of Interest = None.

DISTRICT 7

Matt Veldran (I)

Registration Statement =  12/29

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/1

Signatures = 72 on 12/23

Statement of Interest = None.

Mike Thomsen facebook

Registration Statement = None.
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/23
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest = None

DISTRICT 8
Carousel Andrea Bayrd (I)
Registration Statement = 11/20
Declaration of Candidacy = 11/20
Signatures = 67 on 12/15
Statement of Interest = 11/20

DISTRICT 9
Dianne Hesselbein (I)
Registration Statement = 12/22
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/3
Signatures = 51 on 12/22
Statement of Interest = 12/22

DISTRICT 10
Jeremy Levin (I) website
Registration Statement = 11/25
Declaration of Candidacy = 11/24
Signatures = 56 on 12/28
Statement of Interest = None.

DISTRICT 11

Al Matano (I)

Registration Statement = 12/14
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/14
Signatures = 20 on 12/14, 19 on 12/18, 25 on 12/21
Statement of Interest = 12/14

DISTRICT 12
Paul Rusk(I)
Registration Statement = 12/21
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/1
Signatures = 73 on 12/21
Statement of Interest = 12/21

Rick Raulin website facebook
Registration Statement = 11/16
Declaration of Candidacy = 11/16
Signatures = 85 on 12/22
Statement of Interest = None.

DISTRICT 13

Chuck Erickson (I) 

Registration Statement = 12/23

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/4

Signatures = 84 on 12/7, 22 on 12/23, 3 on 12/28

Statement of Interest =  12/23

DISTRICT 14

Melanie Hampton (I)

Registration Statement = 11/25
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/11
Signatures = 78 on 12/23
Statement of Interest =12/11

DISTRICT 15

Ronn Ferrell (I)

Registration Statement = 11/30
Declaration of Candidacy = 11/24
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest = 11/24

DISTRICT 16

Dave de Felice (I)

Registration Statement = 12/3
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/3
Signatures = 74 on 12/23
Statement of Interest =12/3

Ryan Jennissen

Registration Statement = 12/14
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/14
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest = None.

DISTRICT 17

Tom Stoebig (I)

Registration Statement = 11/17

Declaration of Candidacy = 11/17

Signatures = 55 on 12/16, 115 on 12/7

Statement of Interest = 12/16

DISTRICT 18

Dorothy Wheeler (I) - Filed 11/5

Melissa Sargent website facebook

Registration Statement = 7/16

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/2

Signatures = 170 on 12/29

Statement of Interest = 12/30

Nancy Wild

Registration Statement =11/30
Declaration of Candidacy = 11/30
Signatures = 78 on 12/21
Statement of Interest =11/30

DISTRICT 19

Jeff Kostelic  - Non-Candidacy on 12/22

Steve Schwartzer facebook

Registration Statement = 12/2
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/23
Signatures = 70 on 12/23, 19 on 12/29
Statement of Interest = 12/23

Marc Gofstein facebook

Registration Statement =  12/16

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/16

Signatures = 105 on 12/30

Statement of Interest =  12/30

Bill Clausius
Registration Statement = 12/23
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/17
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest = None.

DISTRICT 20

Duane Gau (I)

Registration Statement = 12/30

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/2

Signatures = 70 on 12/23

Statement of Interest = None.

Gordon Shea facebook

Registration Statement = 9/23
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/16
Signatures = 69 on 12/28
Statement of Interest = None

DISTRICT 21

David Wiganowsky (I)

Registration Statement = 12/3
Declaration of Candidacy = 11/30
Signatures = 65 on 12/22
Statement of Interest = 11/30

Harvey Potter

Registration Statement = 12/29

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/16

Signatures = 45 on 12/29
Statement of Interest = None.

DISTRICT 22

Dennis O'Loughlin (I)

Registration Statement = 12/14

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/14

Signatures = 79 on 12/14

Statement of Interest = 12/14

DISTRICT 23

Shelia Stubbs (I)

Registration Statement = 12/17
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/4
Signatures = 207 on 12/23
Statement of Interest = 12/17

DISTRICT 24

Robin Schmidt (I) blog

Registration Statement = 11/24
Declaration of Candidacy = 11/24
Signatures = 74 on 12/16
Statement of Interest = 11/24

Pat Barry

Registration Statement = None.
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/16
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest = None.

DISTRICT 25

Eileen Bruskewitz (I)

Registration Statement = None.
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/4
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest = None.

DISTRICT 26
Mark Opitz (I) - Declaration of Non-Candidacy = 12/15

Joshua Gamer facebook

Registration Statement = 12/14
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/7
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest =12/7

Sharon Corrigan

Registration Statement = 12/22
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/14
Signatures = 120 on 12/20
Statement of Interest = 12/22

DISTRICT 27

Kyle Richmond (I)

Registration Statement = 12/22

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/21

Signatures = 34 on 12/21

Statement of Interest = 12/21

Jeffrey Kritch

Registration Statement = None

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/28

Signatures = None 

Statement of Interest = None

DISTRICT 28

Kurt Schlicht (I)

Registration Statement = 12/4

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/4

Signatures = 78 on 12/14

Statement of Interest =12/4

Bob Green 

Registration Statement = 10/1
Declaration of Candidacy = 10/1
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest = None.

DISTRICT 29

Dave Ripp (I) 

Registration Statement = 12/3
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/3
Signatures = 58 on 12/23
Statement of Interest =12/3

DISTRICT 30

Patrick Downing (I) 

Registration Statement = 12/4
Declaration of Candidacy =  12/4
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest = 12/4 

Mary Anderson 

Registration Statement = None.
Declaration of Candidacy = 11/30
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest = None.

Donald Steinhauer

Registration Statement = None
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/3
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest = None

DISTRICT 31

Gerald Jensen (I) 

Registration Statement = 12/16
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/10
Signatures = 65 on 12/21
Statement of Interest =12/16

DISTRICT 32

Mike Willett (I) 

Registration Statement = 12/14

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/14

Signatures = 67 on 12/14

Statement of Interest =12/14

DISTRICT 33

Jack Martz (I)

Registration Statement =  12/15

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/15

Signatures =  83 on 12/30

Statement of Interest =12/15

Sam Cooke facebook

Registration Statement = 8/7

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/14

Signatures = 171 on 12/14, 41 on 12/30

Statement of Interest =12/14

DISTRICT 34

Patrick Miles (I)

Registration Statement = 12/2
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/2
Signatures = 79 on 12/23

Statement of Interest = 12/23 

Spencer Zimmerman facebook

Registration Statement = 12/7
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/7
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest =12/7

DISTRICT 35

Denise Duranczyk (I) 

Registration Statement = 12/3

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/3

Signatures = 105 on 12/7

Statement of Interest =10/29

Dave Siitari

Registration Statement = 12/1
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/1
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest = None.

DISTRICT 36

Cynda Solberg (I)

Registration Statement = 12/23

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/23

Signatures =  65 on 12/29

Statement of Interest = 12/23

DISTRICT 37

Bob Salov (I)

Registration Statement = None

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/17

Signatures = None

Statement of Interest = None

Thinking about running
Christian Kessler
Read more!

New Year's Eve Round Up

There were too many items yesterday for me not to do a round up - so here it is . . .

COUNTY BOARD CANDIDATES
I checked the office yesterday, many people on the list got more papers in, but no new candidates. I may update later today. People can still file Monday or up until 5:00 on Tuesday to get on the ballot. 20 potential races so far.

SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES
Only on race at the moment, in the seat being vacated by Johnny Winston Jr. Tom Farley and James Howard are running for that seat. The only coverage I've seen so far, since their announcements was this little story about a cat fight. I hope the coverage gets better and they start talking about issues.

EDGEWATER COMPROMISE?
Schumacher says that there might be one. Here's the thing about compromise, both parties have to agree. Since no one I know in opposition to the project knows what the compromise is, its unlikely to be a real compromise. Instead, its likely one of those were people on one side decide that they are making some concession and call it a compromise, even if the other side doesn't agree. That's not a compromise. Any which way, can't wait to hear what it is. It's be cool if there really is something new. But, um . . . are we going to find out what it is on Tuesday?

WE DIDN'T HAVE TO DO THIS, THIS WAY
Brad Murphy explains what projects like the Edgewater need to do to get approval.

All city zoning districts that allow for nonresidential development have permitted and conditional uses. The first requires no review by the city’s plan commission; the second does.

In addition, the city has so-called “overlay” districts that basically impose additional requirements on top of existing zoning requirements. With economic development projects, the two relevant types of overlay districts are urban design and local historic districts, Murphy said. For projects in the first type, developers need the OK of the Urban Design Commission. For projects in the second, they need the Landmarks Commission’s approval.

Otherwise, determining which projects are considered by which city bodies “really depends on the project, where it’s located and what the zoning is,” Murphy said.

So, a different project, located in a different location might not have had this kind of trouble. This was an extremely challenging project as proposed.

Interesting note. Is all new development "economic development"? Should we try to literally build our way out of this recession? Isn't that part of how we got here in the first place?

HOTEL REJECTION, WAS A GOOD IDEA
Former Mayor gently suggests that Edgewater Hotel rejection might not be the end of the world. Um, awkward.

THANK YOU GLENN GROTHMAN
He teed this one up for us! Um, yeah, maybe if the state paid us the money we should be getting for all the university and government buildings here in Madison we'd have more money to plow the streets. Paul Soglin calls it the gift that will keep on giving. So, thank you Grothman.

VOTING EARLY, GOOD OR BAD?
Personally, I like voting on election day. You just never know what might surface in those last days, and I want to make the most informed decision that I can. However, for many, voting early means the difference between voting and not voting, so, I have no problem with it. It's a good thing when used properly. This article takes a look at if there will be changes in the future to early voting.

POLICE TO DRIVE DODGE CHARGERS?
Really? I wonder how much more these will cost? Basic blue book values on a 2009 appear to be the same, but it depends up on what they get.

DRECKMANN ANSWERS REPUBLICANS
Plastic bag law could have been works, it could have been a complete ban. By the way, seems to be popular. Or maybe people were just saving them for months waiting to be able to recycle them. I guess only time will tell. But hopefully, as more and more people participate, the pace will remain the same or improve.

HOW'D THAT SMATH GROWTH LAW WORK OUT FOR YOU?
January 1st, 2010 is State Deadline to Adopt “Smart Growth” Plan ". Dane County finished their plan 2 years early. But here's how others are doing:

According to the state Department of Administration’s latest count in August, 28 counties have approved plans, 41 counties are in the process of adopting, 1 county was in the preliminary planning stage and 2 counties were not planning.

RICHARD RUSSELL ON MAYOR DAVE/OBAMA
An interesting point of view.

BUS SCHEDULES FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW

SERVICE ON DECEMBER 31 & JANUARY 1

NEW YEAR'S EVE: Thursday, December 31
WEEKDAY Schedules
Buses follow regular WEEKDAY service on Thursday, December 31.

FREE NEW YEAR'S EVE RIDES
Thursday, December 31; Starts at 7 PM
Starting at 7 PM, Miller Coors Brewing Company and Metro will offer free extended service until approximately 3:30 AM.

For help planning your trip, call (608) 266-4466 or 1-800-FREE RIDES (1-800-373-3743).
Customer service representatives will be available from 6:15 AM through 1 AM.
New Year's Eve Schedules

NEW YEAR'S DAY: Friday, January 1
Holiday Schedules
Routes 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 13, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22, 30, 32, 36, 40, 50, 51, 59, 63, 67 and 68 operate
Holiday Schedules. These are the only routes that will operate on New Year's Day.

PARATRANSIT SERVICE ON DECEMBER 31
Free Extended Service Starts at 7 PM
Free paratransit service will be available starting at 7 PM until approximately 3:30 AM. Service depends on Metro fixed-route service operating in area of travel.

For help planning your trip, call (608) 266-4466 or 1-800-FREE RIDES (1-800-373-3743). Customer service representatives will be available from 6:15 AM through 1 AM on New Year's Eve.

Complete Info

PARATRANSIT SERVICE ON JANUARY 1
Standing Rides Cancelled
All standing and long term assignment paratransit rides will be canceled on Friday, January 1.
Paratransit passengers must schedule casual rides to travel on this date.

UPCOMING DETOUR
CAPITOL LOOP DETOUR: U.S. Bank Eve
Thursday, December 31; 5:30 PM - End of Service
Due to the U.S. Bank Eve event, Metro detours to the Capitol Loop starting at 5:30 PM on Thursday, December 31.
Buses return to the Capitol Square on Friday, January 1.

Paratransit riders are the losers again. While they might have some service, if they aren't going within 1/4 mile of the routes that are running, they likely won't get service.

That's it for now, there may be some posts later today, or maybe not. Maybe the Wii or the Roku will take over my life instead . . . or maybe, a nap. :) Oh, wait, I still have boxes to unpack . . .

Happy New Year! Have fun, but be safe tonight!
Read more!

End? of the Week Round Up

This may be my last post for the week. I have the rest of the week off . . . but then again . . . maybe not.

UPDATED COUNTY BOARD INFO
I updated yesterday's post with websites and facebook pages I could find. Please feel free to forward any info you find. I also updated with info from the clerk's office yesterday at around 4:20. I also corrected a few errors, there are now up to 20 races possible if everyone files their paperwork.

THIS GUY IS RUNNING IN THE SECOND AGAINST VEDDER?
Yeah, screw child labor laws, who needs em? Department of Labor press release. He also gives money to this PAC that gives mostly to Republicans. Wanna place bets on if this is the realtors candidate? (Um, when I say "realtors candidate" I do mean the association and leadership backed candidate. Some of my best friends are realtors, and they don't vote for many of the association candidates, if they are informed.)

STATE TO TAKE OVER CITY SNOW REMOVAL POLICIES?
It's hard to take anything Glen Grothman does seriously, so this did make me smile. He's such a tool. Yeah, our snow plowing policies suck, maybe our legislative branch of government should take a whack at it first. I wonder if anyone will step forward and get this to the council floor as a discussion. I know we tried in the past . . . but there is great resistance to that. We got accused of micromanaging and were told to stay out of it. So, I appreciate Soglin's comments about the alders not making any conscious decisions. It's all those pesky details people got upset about me paying attention to. They matter. This is why.

DEPUTIES UNION APPROVES AGREEMENT
Finally. More information and press release to follow . . . . uh, when?

HEARING MORE ABOUT WYOU
It was an active year . . . and more changes coming in the new year! Stay tuned! Channels 95 or 991. Consider donating today! It's your public television stations, and yours to lose.

MORE BIG BUILDINGS FOR DOWNTOWN
No official notice of demolitions yet, but here's the addresses:
1208 Spring Street (1880 building)
1212 Spring Street ($1M property)
1214 Spring Street ($.65M property)
45 N. Orchard St. ($1.2M property)

EDGEWATER, DO-OVER, DO BETTER?
Wow. This is quite the dilemna. No one wants to hear all that testimony again. But, there are three members who will make or break this decision, and they haven't heard it. So, if you care alot about the issue, you kinda gotta show up again. No one wants the meeting to go until 5:15 again. So here's some suggestions to do this better this time around.

1. Schedule the issue for a special council meeting, where this is the only issue.
2. Don't let Fred Mohs and Gene Devitt talk for 25 minutes, but not other opponents. That was an ad hoc decision made by the Mayor.
3. Don't take questions after every 10 speakers, especially the developer and neighborhood folks, if they are going to be there til the end, ask them questions at the end after other speak and go home.
4. Have the Mayor pay attention and actively chair the meeting, especially during the council discussion, keeping people on task.
5. Use staff time efficiently and don't make that many staff people sit there for 11 hours. (4 planning staff, 2 clerks, 2 economic development staff, 1 city assessor, 1 city engineer, 1 comptroller, 4 Mayor's staff, 2 city attorneys there well after midnight. And after 2:00 only lost one Mayor's staff. I'm not sure, but we may have lost a few more along the way.)

More comments and critique here. There must be other ideas as well, I just hope they aren't limited to limiting public input. (Yeah, you only get 3 minutes this time around, not 5. Problem is, I don't think the public was the issue. It was the questions from council that dragged it out.)

GROAN

Schumacher is hopeful the council will approve revisiting the matter, and isn’t daunted by the prospect of another all-nighter.

Of course he isn't. He wasn't there for the first 11 hour meeting. And, if there is that many staff there again, is he going to pay for all that staff time that will be used. Or, pay for the 11 hours they wasted the first time around? I wonder how much that cost us? And what the human cost was - I wonder how miserable they all were if they had to go to work the next day.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY
I find Bruer's comments interesting. Could the council go through all of this, for nothing?

Bruer met with representatives from Hammes last week and says the project is now seen by the company as more of a long-shot. He says Hammes had lumped the project with several others around the country to secure financing. "Now that that door has been slammed," Bruer says, "This project is a stand alone competing with hundreds of projects nationally with only a handful of banks able to finance a project of this scale."

If this is true, Cnare's motion was crucial to saving the project. I don't know why supporters insisted on voting against that motion. That may have been the vote that killed the project.

AYE: Rhodes-Conway, Rummel, Solomon, Verveer, Cnare, Kerr, Palm, Bidar-Sielaff
NO: Sanborn, Schmidt, Skimore, Bruer, Clausius, Clear, Eagon, King, Maniaci
ABSENT: Pham-Remmele, Schumacher, Compton

DANE COUNTY REPBULICANS TAKE A STAND!
Against plastic bag restirctions. Hmmmm . . . it might be more effective to show up to the council meeting when the decision is being made, instead of writing a letter to the editor after the fact. But it is good to see a name connected with the party here, not many are willing to do that. And I liked the first comment after the letter. The commenter forgot to mention cost to the taxpayer as well.
Read more!

Demolition for Parking Lot

House torn down to create parking lot for nearby condo owners . . .

Please be advised that John Sveum will be filing a demolition permit application on January 11, 2010 for Plan Commission review that calls for a single family home located at 3514 Dennett Dr Madison, WI 53714 to be demolished. For more information regarding this forthcoming application, you may contact the applicant, John Sveum, Park East LLC, 1480 Oak Opening Stoughton, WI 53589 at jsveum@yaharabuilderts.com or (608)287-1445.

Applicant's Comments:
We haqve a letter of approval from the Eastmorland Community Association to demolish the existing house and replace it with green space and surface parking for the building at 3502 Dennett Dr

Read more!

Poll Results: Open Records Response

How long before I get at least a courtesy response to my open records request from Council Staff or Leadership? (Hint, its been 5 days on 12/23)

Real Answer: 10 days

Poll Answers:

Forget it.

8 (10%)

Bruer uses email?

21 (26%)

Relax, its the holidays.

22 (28%)

<8 days 1 (1%) 8 - 14 days 12 (15%) 2 weeks + 21 (26%)

Results of open records request posted here. Read more!

Mid-Week (Tuesday) Round Up

Love it when Tuesday is mid week . . .

ONE WEEK, THEN A DO-OVER
That's right, the Edgewater is back. Re-do the bingo game, print out the drinking game rules, grab the caffeine beverage of your choice, watch for more push from the mayor and council leadership to cram this down our throats, count the alders who will be present, hope it doesn't snow . . . let's try this for a third time . . . it looks like its all coming down to . . . dare I say it, an undecided Pham-Remmele and Compton. Could be an even longer meeting as they catch up to the rest of the council. And it might end up in referral if Compton's argument wins (same as Cnare motion - wait til Plan Commission and UDC are done with the project). And, if it passes or gets referred, then, watch out for the "efficient" approval process that Bruer is talking about . . . sounds like they are planning on more short-cuts. What a freaking nightmare. I took the 6th off - still have vacation days to burn . . .

WAIT FOR IT . . .
They still haven't confirmed who will and will not be at the Council meeting on Tuesday. The council members were given 18 hours, during a holiday week to let the council office know if they will be in attendance:

From: Veldran, Lisa
Sent: Monday, December 28, 2009 2:58 PM
To: ALL ALDERS
Subject: Notified Absences: Common Council Meeting January 5, 2010

Council President, Ald. Tim Bruer, has asked that I email alders to find out if any of you will be a notified absence at the January 5, 2010 Common Council meeting.

As of 2:57 p.m. on 12/28/10 I have no alders being absent at the January 5, 2010 Common Council meeting.

Please let me know by 9 a.m. tomorrow, December 29, 2010 if you plan on being absent.

Thank you.

I wonder how many alders won't even check their email in that 18 hour period.

SPRING ELECTIONS
Today, I covered the county board candidates, I count on TJ to cover the school board . . . and he does. One week to go til the races are set! 19 so far on the county side? 4 retirements, 15 challenged incumbents.

SKIDMORE TAKES A STAND
Against Walmart and 7-11 and for the low- and middle-income shopper!

REMOVE THAT SNOW
I signed up for some of the alerts from the City of Madison. Here's one of them I got yesterday.

Sidewalk Snow Removal Alert
The snow that accumulated on Saturday, December 26, 2009 and Sunday December 27, 2009 must be removed from the public sidewalks by noon on Monday, December 28, 2009. Sand and/or salt must be applied to packed snow and ice that remains on the public sidewalks.

Seriously, do you think they might start enforcing this against absentee landlords downtown, that would be cool! It just doesn't really seem to happen without complaints, which you can easily file on-linehere. Hint. Hint.

BRUER'S BEEN CALLED ON TO "MANAGE" ME
End of the day yesterday, I got this email - A response to my open records request.

Please find attached a PDF copies of the following documents:

1. 2009 Absence from the City Emails – Alders – These are official notices that are sent/copied to the City Clerk (MGO 2.025) and which should be on file there as well.

2. 2009 Aldermanic Absence – Staff Calendars – These calendars are for staff use only, are not a complete or accurate absence account and should not be considered official notices of absences.

[snip]

If you are in need of further assistance please feel free to contact Ald. Tim Bruer, Common Council President.

There's some differences in the info in the first and second documents, trying to figure that out. The first document is only for missed council meetings and absences for longer than 5 days. The second has more information, which is why it was what I had originally requested. I haven't sorted it all out yet. See below. Any which way, the fact that Bruer doesn't respond, this sounds like a blow off to me.

WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Rob and I, after talking about it for a year, finally bought a Wii. :) So, I was too busy defeating the Black Knight to finish my blog on snow. Maybe tomorrow. Or maybe not . . . :)

WEEK AHEAD, CANCELLED
Meeting: ADA TRANSIT SUBCOMMITTEE TO THE TRANSIT AND PARKING COMM on 12/28/2009 5:10 PM at ROOM 303 MMB has been cancelled.

WEEK AHEAD, ADDED
I really didn't think they'd add anything this week . . . but . . . well, they did.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009
5:15 PM HUMANITARIAN AWARD COMMISSION, REVEREND DOCTOR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. ROOM 523 CCB

OOOOPS
That's embarrassing. Think they really get to keep their jobs?
Read more!

One Week to Go - County Board: Who's In, Who's Out? (Updated/Fixed)

This is updated as of 12/29 at about, heh, 4:20. Please note, there were a couple errors this morning, my humble apologies to the (not) candidates and clerk's office.

At the moment, there could be up to 18 19 20 races, and there is likely more to come in . . . looks like three four more incumbents could have opponents since my last posting. Hopefully I got all my notes right, I had at least one mistake on the last list and I have to double checked a couple of the numbers on the signatures.  And remember, its not official until they have all their paperwork in (Registration Statement, Declaration of Candidacy and 50 Signatures - the Statement of Interest is a County Requirement.) So . . . here is who is (as of about 4:25 12/28 4:20 12/29) on the ballot, and who is not - and who has the paperwork in that says they are not running - and just remember until it's official on Tuesday, January 5, 2010 at 5:00 in the clerk's office . . . who knows what might happen. And if you spot any mistakes or have websites I should link to, PLEASE let me know!  When in doubt, check with the friendly county clerk's office.

Officially not Running

Needs paperwork

On the ballot (according to paperwork in the clerk's office)

RACE LIKELY (If the rest of the paperwork is filed)

GAME ON

DISTRICT 1
Scott McDonell (I)
Registration Statement = None
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/1
Signatures = 27 on 12/15, 15 on 12/17
Statement of Interest = None.

Dennis Amadeus de Nure website
Registration Statement = 12/4
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/4
Signatures = 40 on 12/18
Statement of Interest = 12/4

DISTRICT 2
Barbara Vedder (I)
Registration Statement = 12/21
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/4
Signatures = 61 on 12/21
Statement of Interest = 12/4

Richard Lepping

Registration Statement = 12/28
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/28
Signatures = None
Statement of Interest = None

DISTRICT 3
Elaine DeSmidt (I)
Registration Statement = 11/30
Declaration of Candidacy = 11/3
Signatures = 55 on 12/16
Statement of Interest = None.

Donald Imhoff
Registration Statement = None
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/2
Signatures = None
Statement of Interest = None

DISTRICT 4 
Brett Hulsey (I) website
Registration Statement = None
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/4
Signatures = 60 on 12/8/09, 43 on 12/22/09
Statement of Interest = None.

Greg Hull website

Registration Statement = 12/22

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/22

Signatures = 57 on 12/22

Statement of Interest = 12/29

DISTRICT 5
Wyndham Manning - filed non-candidacy paperwork on 12/17.

Analiese Eicher website facebook
Registration Statement = 12/1
Declaration of Candidacy = 11/30
Signatures = None
Statement of Interest = None.

Michael Johnson  facebook
Registration Statement = 12/8
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/8
Signatures = None
Statement of Interest = None.

DISTRICT 6
John Hendrick (I)
Registration Statement = None
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/4
Signatures =  59 on 12/29
Statement of Interest = None.

DISTRICT 7

Matt Veldran (I)

Registration Statement =  12/29

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/1

Signatures = 72 on 12/23

Statement of Interest = None.

Mike Thomsen facebook

Registration Statement = None.
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/23
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest = None

DISTRICT 8
Carousel Andrea Bayrd (I)
Registration Statement = 11/20
Declaration of Candidacy = 11/20
Signatures = 67 on 12/15
Statement of Interest = 11/20

DISTRICT 9
Dianne Hesselbein (I)
Registration Statement = 12/22
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/3
Signatures = 51 on 12/22
Statement of Interest = 12/22

DISTRICT 10
Jeremy Levin (I) website
Registration Statement = 11/25
Declaration of Candidacy = 11/24
Signatures = 56 on 12/28
Statement of Interest = None.

DISTRICT 11

Al Matano (I)

Registration Statement = 12/14
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/14
Signatures = 20 on 12/14, 19 on 12/18, 25 on 12/21
Statement of Interest = 12/14

DISTRICT 12
Paul Rusk(I)
Registration Statement = 12/21
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/1
Signatures = 73 on 12/21
Statement of Interest = 12/21

Rick Raulin website facebook
Registration Statement = 11/16
Declaration of Candidacy = 11/16
Signatures = 85 on 12/22
Statement of Interest = None.

DISTRICT 13

Chuck Erickson (I) 

Registration Statement = 12/23

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/4

Signatures = 84 on 12/7, 22 on 12/23, 3 on 12/28

Statement of Interest =  12/23

DISTRICT 14

Melanie Hampton (I)

Registration Statement = 11/25
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/11
Signatures = 78 on 12/23
Statement of Interest =12/11

DISTRICT 15

Ronn Ferrell (I)

Registration Statement = 11/30
Declaration of Candidacy = 11/24
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest = 11/24

DISTRICT 16

Dave de Felice (I)

Registration Statement = 12/3
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/3
Signatures = 74 on 12/23
Statement of Interest =12/3

Ryan Jennissen

Registration Statement = 12/14
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/14
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest = None.

DISTRICT 17

Tom Stoebig (I)

Registration Statement = 11/17

Declaration of Candidacy = 11/17

Signatures = 55 on 12/16, 115 on 12/7

Statement of Interest = 12/16

DISTRICT 18

Dorothy Wheeler (I) - Filed 11/5

Melissa Sargent website facebook

Registration Statement = 7/16

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/2

Signatures = 170 on 12/29
Statement of Interest = None.

Nancy Wild

Registration Statement =11/30
Declaration of Candidacy = 11/30
Signatures = 78 on 12/21
Statement of Interest =11/30

DISTRICT 19  
Jeff Kostelic  - Non-Candidacy on 12/22

Steve Schwartzer facebook

Registration Statement = 12/2
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/23
Signatures = 70 on 12/23, 19 on 12/29
Statement of Interest = 12/23

Marc Gofstein facebook

Registration Statement =  12/16
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/16
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest =  None.

Bill Clausius
Registration Statement = 12/23
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/17
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest = None.

DISTRICT 20

Duane Gau (I)

Registration Statement = None.
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/2
Signatures = 70 on 12/23
Statement of Interest = None.

Gordon Shea facebook

Registration Statement = 9/23
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/16
Signatures = 69 on 12/28
Statement of Interest = None

DISTRICT 21

David Wiganowsky (I)

Registration Statement = 12/3
Declaration of Candidacy = 11/30
Signatures = 65 on 12/22
Statement of Interest = 11/30

Harvey Potter

Registration Statement = 12/29

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/16

Signatures = 45 on 12/29
Statement of Interest = None.

DISTRICT 22

Dennis O'Loughlin (I)

Registration Statement = 12/14

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/14

Signatures = 79 on 12/14

Statement of Interest = 12/14

DISTRICT 23

Shelia Stubbs (I)

Registration Statement = 12/17
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/4
Signatures = 207 on 12/23
Statement of Interest = 12/17

DISTRICT 24

Robin Schmidt (I)blog

Registration Statement = 11/24
Declaration of Candidacy = 11/24
Signatures = 74 on 12/16
Statement of Interest = 11/24

Pat Barry

Registration Statement = None.
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/16
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest = None.

DISTRICT 25

Eileen Bruskewitz (I)

Registration Statement = None.
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/4
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest = None.

DISTRICT 26
Mark Opitz (I) - Declaration of Non-Candidacy = 12/15

Joshua Gamer facebook

Registration Statement = 12/14
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/7
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest =12/7

Sharon Corrigan

Registration Statement = 12/22
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/14
Signatures = 120 on 12/20
Statement of Interest = 12/22

DISTRICT 27

Kyle Richmond  (I)

Registration Statement = 12/22

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/21

Signatures = 34 on 12/21

Statement of Interest = 12/21

Jeffrey Kritch

Registration Statement = None

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/28

Signatures = None 

Statement of Interest = None

DISTRICT 28

Kurt Schlicht (I)

Registration Statement = 12/4

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/4

Signatures = 78 on 12/14

Statement of Interest =12/4

Bob Green 

Registration Statement = 10/1
Declaration of Candidacy = 10/1
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest = None.

DISTRICT 29

Dave Ripp (I) 

Registration Statement = 12/3
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/3
Signatures = 58 on 12/23
Statement of Interest =12/3

DISTRICT 30

Patrick Downing (I) 

Registration Statement = 12/4
Declaration of Candidacy =  12/4
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest = 12/4 

Mary Anderson 

Registration Statement = None.
Declaration of Candidacy = 11/30
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest = None.

Donald Steinhauer 

Registration Statement = None
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/3
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest = None

DISTRICT 31

Gerald Jensen (I) 

Registration Statement = 12/16
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/10
Signatures = 65 on 12/21
Statement of Interest =12/16

DISTRICT 32

Mike Willett (I) 

Registration Statement = 12/14

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/14

Signatures = 67 on 12/14

Statement of Interest =12/14

DISTRICT 33

Jack Martz (I)

Registration Statement =  12/15
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/15
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest =12/15

Sam Cooke facebook

Registration Statement = 8/7

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/14

Signatures = 171 on 12/14

Statement of Interest =12/14

DISTRICT 34

Patrick Miles (I)

Registration Statement = 12/2
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/2
Signatures = 79 on 12/23

Statement of Interest = 12/23 

Spencer Zimmerman facebook

Registration Statement = 12/7
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/7
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest =12/7

DISTRICT 35

Denise Duranczyk (I) 

Registration Statement = 12/3

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/3

Signatures = 105 on 12/7

Statement of Interest =10/29

Dave Siitari

Registration Statement = 12/1
Declaration of Candidacy = 12/1
Signatures = None.
Statement of Interest = None.

DISTRICT 36

Cynda Solberg (I)

Registration Statement = 12/23

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/23

Signatures =  65 on 12/29

Statement of Interest = 12/23

DISTRICT 37

Bob Salov (I)

Registration Statement = None

Declaration of Candidacy = 12/17

Signatures = None

Statement of Interest = None

Thinking about running
Christian Kessler Read more!

New Year's (Slow) Week (Weak?) Round Up

Here's what I got . . . I'd have been tempted to skip it, but it looks like there are still plenty of people reading the blogs over the holidays . . . plus, I've broken readership records this month and might as well see where it goes. It's about as brief as the City and County meeting week ahead.

SNOW
You might have missed it, the Mayor released his rather weak 12 page snow report on Christmas Eve Day. No wonder you missed it. I'll have a blog post on it tomorrow, still looking for something I want to include, but Soglin has a bit to say about it. And he's right, there was no conscious decision made by the Council, some of us (Rhodes-Conway, Rummel, Webber and myself) tried to get them to be accountable for the decisions being made and worked hard to make some improvements, but they didn't make it easy for us and make it clear they were annoyed we were "interfering". And it was difficult to get information we wanted. You can see some of it in my past posts (mostly) labeled snow.

FIX IT FIRST
Former Alder Robbie Webber has a good post where she puts the numbers for transportation projects in perspective.

METRO HOLIDAY SERVICE DREAM
The Cap Times reported:

On Christmas Eve next Thursday (Dec. 24), buses will follow their regular weekday schedules but will stop running at 6 p.m.

The former Transit and Parking Commission Chair, Carl DuRocher, who was not reappointed by Mayor Dave, and a paratransit rider, had this to say:

In the same way that Miller Beer voluntarily ponies up money to pay for extended service on New Year's eve, I dream of a benefactor who'd defray the cost of Metro running on Christmas Eve. It's a day when a lot of once a year opportunities are lost for transit dependent riders, especially paratransit riders.

HO CHUNK AND UNION CORNERS
Just to make it clear. This post has some details about ideas that might be pursued. The group's legislative council has not yet voted to pursue the project, but its still exciting to think about the possibilities. And its still impressive that this is where we are starting to talk about the project.

Yeah, that's about it for today . . . not much going on as most people take the week off. Not me, off to work! 9 - 6 Monday - Wednesday.
Read more!

The Mayor, Blogging, Council Use of Web Pages & Woeful Use of Technology

Inspired by Kristin's puff piece on Mayor Dave Cieslewicz blogging . . . not her fault its a puff piece, not much news happening and I'm sure she had to write something and I'm sure the Mayor's office encouraged her to do it for the free pr. Anyways, here's my mishmash of thoughts on technology and the elected officials.

THE MAYOR'S "BLOG" - BREAKING THE LAW? ER, POLICY.
I've written about this before. None of the policies have changed. In fact, I double checked and about the only thing on the sorely-in-need-of-an-update IT website is their web policies from 2006. It still says, on page one:

Blogs, Chat Rooms, Forums, etc.
Creating blogs, chat rooms, forums, or any other avenues for content to be posted without prior review are prohibited on any sites associated with or hosted by the City of Madison. The City would be liable for the content and does not have the resources to review or monitor what gets posted. Current Network and Security Policies prohibit City employees from using personal email accounts, chat rooms, and instant messaging.

Now, on its face, you'd think blogs were not allowed and what the Mayor is doing is against the policy. He writes something called Mayor Dave's Blog. And this policy says that "creating blogs" . . . "are prohibited" . . .

There are three reasons that he is allowed to do it. One is, according to IT staff, it's not a blog. It doesn't allow comments. And it doesn't even link to anything, so its little more than a daily update of a website. Originally, it wasn't even archived. It's finally archived, which is good, since they need that for open records purposes.

The second reason that is given is that the policy was created because they don't want things posted to the web that have not been reviewed by staff. Since the Mayor's staff reviews it, they say its ok. However, I'm not sure they are reviewing it to make sure it confirms to the website policies of the City of Madison, which is the point of that requirement.

The third reason is, quite frankly, he's the Mayor. See below for why alders haven't yet been allowed to blog on the city's website.

Any which way, its a good thing he's blogging but a) its too bad that it's not a real blog with links and comments and b) I think that someone other than the Mayor's staff should probably be reviewing it to make sure it conforms to city policies, particularly to review if it has political content. However, I pity the city staff person that would have to tell the Mayor he can't post something because it doesn't comply with the web policies.

COUNCIL BLOGGERS ON PRIVATE SITES
Several Council members over time have started and stopped blogs:

My blog started at the end of November 2005 and it is the only one that has been around consistently for this long. I started mine because I had blogged for Dane101.com and Madison.com and I wanted to do it my own way and not interfere with or adhere to the rules of the other blogs or use their clunky software. I was also wanting full disclosure on how much I was getting lobbied since the lobbyists weren't filling out their reports, but I wasn't sure my content fit well with the other sites. I'm not sure my content is still on either site, but a HUGE thank you to Dane101 for helping be provide information to the public that was not available through the city website.

Zach Brandon started his January 2006 and ended December 2006.

Larry Palm's blog says you need to be invited to read it. Which, I'm not sure an elected official can do due to open records laws, depending up on what, if anything is on it. I don't recall when he started his, but I think it was shortly after Zach's.

Eli Judge had a blog that ran from April 2007 to April 2009. He incorporated video into his site and posted relatively frequently - meaning a couple times a month, but there were a few skipped months, typically in the summer when students were gone.

Brian Solomon had 5 posts in 2007, 3 in 2008 and 1 in 2009.

Bryon Eagon seems to have a post or two a month.

Bridget Maniaci has a blog, with 32 posts this year. You'll have to see for yourself what you think of it. Anything I say will be suspect.

Michael Schumacher has a blog. He started it in May and posted until about the same time he stopped being in town. He's talked to me about blog posts he was working on, but they never materialized.

And that's it, I think. I apologize if I missed anyone. Former Alder Webber now has a blog site. It's got 21 posts in the last two months. As you can see tho, most blogs are either failures, shut down or they post very infrequently. Part of it is that not many people read them if you post that infrequently, which is why it would be useful to have them located on the city website were more people might view them, or at least let them link to them from the city's website. That might encourage more alders to think it is worth it to start and maintain a blog.

ATTEMPTED ALDER BLOG ON CITY SITE
When I was an alder, I asked if I could have a blog on the city website, like the Mayor's. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to use it, but I envisioned using it for district news and comment about upcoming and past council meetings and larger issues within the city. Tho, I realized it would be a challenge to have appropriate content and to not link to anything not on the city's website, but I still thought it might have some value and could supplement my current blog. Mostly tho, I thought it would be an easier way to put content on my web pages that the council office and IT set up.

At first I had to wait for them to work out the kinks and get the archiving system in place. Then, I had to wait for policies to be written. (I requested a copy of the policy, I saw a draft in early 2009, but never saw a final version.) Then, I had to get permission from the "department head", that being the Council President. This email was sent . . .

From: Edgerton, Sarah
Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 4:34:23 PM
To: Bruer, Tim
Cc: Clear, Mark; Konkel, Brenda; Veldran, Lisa
Subject: Alder Konkel's request for "Blogging"
Auto forwarded by a Rule

Good Afternoon Alder Bruer,

Alder Konkel has requested rights to the Web Alerts application. The application will allow her to “blog” to the District 2 Council web site. As the Council Department Head, I need to get approval from you, before we can give Alder Konkel rights to the site.

Thanks,
Sarah

And, uh, guess what, no reply. I finally asked in person, and I was told to wait until after the election. There was too much concern about politicians blogging on the city site - even tho the Mayor was doing it. And that was the end of that.

Finally, I'm real curious if having a link to the city's website would help with page views. The Mayor says he had 15,000 page views last month. This month, on this blog, I have over 20,000 at the moment. I have to believe that if it were connected to a site with other content, that number might be even higher.

LISTSERVES
The other thing I really wanted to do was have a listserve for District 2 residents that could be signed up for through the city website. I had listserves set up for my neighborhood associations, but I either "own" them or "manage" them separate from the city. Which, is awkward, cuz now that I'm not the alder, I still control the listserves. I've left them in tact and am encouraging continued use of them and have authorized other neighborhood leaders to manage the lists, but it would be great if the districts could have those resources so that when alders turn over, the lists remain in tact. As far as I know, this was also something we were going to work on after the election and based on the lists you can sign up for - it looks like that resource still isn't available for the alders. Or they aren't using it. See comment below about Mark Clear's Council website.

GRADING THE ALDERS ON THEIR USE OF THE CITY WEBSITE
DISCLAIMER: First, let me say, its not their fault. They get no support whatsoever. It's pretty sad for a city our size. The primary council office staff are too busy gossiping and playing solitaire to be bothered with being helpful to the alders. And the quality you might get from that staff is hit and miss anyways. In fact, as you can see above, the alders are almost discouraged from using new technology.

As far as a I know, the council members are in charge of their own content, get little or no support from council and IT staff and had minimal training on the Contribute software that was finally loaded on their laptops. I think they should get more support and help in keeping their websites up to date. It could be a powerful tool for communicating with and educating their constituents about what is going on in their districts and in the city. There are several flaws in the system, of course, the largest is the archiving tools/lack of tools. They have to manually transfer the information to the archive page. And, if I were to do an open records request for the information that was on my website when I was an alder, I'm quite certain they would not be able to provide you with that information.

Just so you know, the alders have 6 areas which they can influence
- DISTRICT X HOME
- BIOGRAPHY
- DISTRICT NEWS
- INITIATIVES
- PENDING & ADOPTED LEGISLATION (This could be automatically fed from Legistar, but its not)
- ARCHIVES

Here's their grades
- F (No content in any of the areas, likely doesn't even realize they can add content to the site.)
Steve King
Bryon Eagon
Chris Schmidt
Mark Clear - Content on every page except initiatives and would have been a C or C+/B-, however, he has link on his front page for a listserve that is linked to his inactive campaign website (markclear.com). It think that's a huge no-no. He's not real big on ethics and open meetings and open government type issues, so I'm not surprised. A huge failing for council leadership. For what it's worth and to save it for the future since it won't be archived by the city, here is what it says:

If you live or own property or a business in District 19, I encourage you to join my e-mail list by sending a blank e-mail to join-d19news@lists.markclear.com.

- D (Random minimal content.)
Jed Sanborn - Has a bio, that's it.
Bridget Maniaci - August Edgewater Meeting, that's it.
Mike Verveer - A September Lisa Link meeting, an archived meeting and a minimal bio.
Shiva Bidar-Sielaff - Two district items from early fall.
- Marsha Rummel - Minimal bio, some district news items and some archived info.
Paul Skidmore - A bio, some district news and a post from September on the fire station.
Brian Solomon - A decent biography.
Tim Bruer - Weak bio and nothing else.
Thuy Pham-Remmele - A minimal bio and some good neighborhood links and an archived meeting.

NOTE: Those with only a bio are alders who have been around for a while. Council staff pushed us to get a bio to them before they turned over access to the website to us, so, the newer alders didn't get that same assistance.

- C (Minimal content, semi-current. Semi-current defined as posted in last 3 months.)
Lauren Cnare - A minimal bio, a newsletter from 2006 and an October meeting.
Judy Compton - A minimal bio, a September and October neighborhood meeting listed.
Joe Clausius - Minimal bio and October meeting.
Michael Schumacher - Bio, one piece of legislation and some neighborhood links.

- C+/B-
Julia Kerr - Content in every area but Pending and Past Legislation, not current.

- B (A bio, minimal content and current. Current defined as posted in last month. Or, an attempt to have content on each page.)
Satya Rhodes-Conway - Content on every page, but outdated.
Larry Palm - He was the leader for so long, but I didn't find much current. It was probably frustrating if no one else was using the pages no one was looking there for relevant information.

- A (Current site, with relevant regularly updated content and content in all areas.)
None.

And, there you have it folks. The council could really be using the city resources to help keep people informed, but without support, its difficult. On the other hand, the Mayor has a full time press person, a total of 10 staff in his office, plus command of the entire city workforce and the ability to "blog". The council, for comparison's sake, has 2 staff people for all 20 alders and rules that make it difficult. Read more!