How many roads should we build?

Last year in the City Budget, we FINALLY got the City Council in on the decision making about roads! The early opportunity to see what roads we're planning on building comes up on Tuesday!

A Council briefing by City Engineering staff on the Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) that will be presented to the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) will be held on:

Tuesday, May 5, 2009
5:15 p.m.
Room 201, City-County Building

That probably sounds like garbage to folks, so let me break it down as best I can, not being a transportation geek.

The city develops a Transportation Improvement Plan, which is our plan for which roads we want to build and more importantly, what roads we want funding for. This plan typically got presented to Long Range Transportation Planning Commission for feedback, but not approval. The TIP was largely developed by staff and not approved by the council or transportation committees. (Or if approved, it was approved by bodies after it is presented to the Metropolitan Planning Organization when we could have no real input.)

The TIP then gets submitted to the Metropolitan Planning Organization. They do the final approvals that determine what gets state and federal funding.

Then, the Mayor puts the roads in the budget and that is the first the public and council officially sees which roads will be built and gets to comment as the city. Which is why we have had debates over roads in the last few capital budgets (2008, 2009). Decisions about roads at that point are difficult because typically state and federal funding have already been secured and we don't want to turn the money away.

Last year, in the budget, I made a motion that said:

"The TIP (Transportation Improvement Plan) shall be presented to the Common Council annually by May 15th, prior to submission to the MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization)."

My explanation on my blog at the time was:

Ok - I'm out of my league here. I asked Larry Nelson a bunch of questions, but . . . the outcome was that Larry basically said that we approve neighborhood plans and then the only time we discuss which projects get priority is during the Capital Budget. I know that when I was on Long Range Transportation Planning Committee, Larry did an annual presentation to us that described the projects he wanted to work on, we gave him input, he went away and we never heard again until Capital Budget time. I essentially, wanted that presentation done at the Council - prior to making decisions, so that alders could have input and hear from the public, outside of the Capital Budget process and prior to the decisions being made by others. Compton said she couldn't vote yes on it, so I presume she voted against having more information and input. But again, no roll call, so I don't know. You might want to see the Cap Times for further discussion of this item. Alder Webber had many great comments on this issue.

The email to the council on Friday the 24th said:

"An formal notice of the briefing and the plan itself will be sent next week to alders."

As of this morning, there are no materials in Legistar that I can find. So, I don't know how the public could prepare informed comments for Tuesday, given that it is somewhat complicated. I'll check in to see if the alders got anything yet. Meanwhile, if you care about roads and how we spend our money on roads, here is the opportunity to speak up!!

p.s. I agree with the Cap Times, elect the RTA! We want to have accountability and to avoid the games played with appointments!

Read more!

Property Tax Exemption: Where's the "Out"?

So, Attorney Tim Radelet has suggested how the City can get out of this situation. The Property Tax Exemption Subcommittee of the Housing Committee have also suggested several things (skip past the first part about the resolution - go to the part where Bill Clingan talks to the committee.) Bill Clingan, our Community Development Director recently appointed by the Mayor (i.e. expect the party line), was tasked with coming up with a report on our options, but the city attorney seems to have over-ruled that motion declaring it invalid and not allowing it to come back to the council. Meanwhile, here's what the council is going to consider at the next meeting. (HINT: If you're unhappy about this situation, plan on attending the May 5th Common Council meeting. Recommendation: If the entire council motion is over-ruled by the city attorney, the Council could ask for the reports they requested in this resolution.)

Here's the resolution, as the Property Tax Exemption Committee recommended. (The recommendation was to have the Council President have this under business by the President and not send it back to the Housing Committee, we'll see if that happens.)

WHEREAS, over the past many years, hundreds of housing units have been developed in the City of Madison by non-profit organizations specifically for providing affordable housing to low and moderate income residents; and

WHEREAS, the many non-profit organizations which have developed this housing did so with budgets and plans which included exemption from property tax; and

WHEREAS, the City of Madison has been involved in various ways with many of these housing developers, helping them develop this housing, with the understanding and expectation that they would be exempt from property tax; and

WHEREAS, these many non-profit housing developers, and including the Community
Development Authority (CDA), have been in operation for years with exemption from property tax; and

WHEREAS, recent circuit court rulings have been made in the fall of 2008 which interpret the state law, which provides for property tax exemption, in such a way that may result in all or most of these housing developers, and possibly the CDA, losing their exemption; and

WHEREAS, many of these housing providers are unable to adjust their budgets to
accommodate this property tax expense and may be forced either to shut down and thus
displace their low income residents, or if they are able to raise their rents sufficiently then they will no longer be affordable to low-income renters; and

WHEREAS, the City of Madison does support efforts to amend the State Statute to protect the tax-exempt status of these housing providers; and

WHEREAS, it is the understanding that the state legislature is considering a number of different options for amendment to the statutes related to property tax exemption;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Common Council hereby adopts the following
resolution:

1. The Council directs the City's lobbyists to strongly urge Madison's State legislators, and also all other State legislators and the Governor, to promptly adopt the changes supported below.

2. The Council directs the City's lobbyists to strongly urge State legislators and the Governor to do so as soon as possible, but no later than the end of the summer, with the amendments being retroactive to January 1, 2009, so that the housing providers will not lose their exemption from property tax for 2009.

3. The Council directs the City's lobbyists to urge State legislators and the Governor to adopt a bill which has the terms formerly stated in Conference Substitute Amendment 1, to Assembly Bill 1 from 2008 (this is often called the Vetoed Language) attached, along with the following adjustments to Section 51 of the Bill:
A 70.11(4)(a) shall be changed as follows: Low Income Housing. (a) For purposes of sub (4) “low-income housing” means any single-family house or residential condominium unit described in sub (4a)(b)1., (ADD:any low-income housing project, or any) housing project described in sub. (4b) (DELETE: or any residential unit within a low-income housing project that is occupied by a low-income or very low-income person or is vacant and is only available to such persons.)
B Insert the following paragraph between 70.11(4a)(c) and (4a)(d):
(cc) For purposes of this subsection and sub. (4), "project" includes property located on more than one tax parcel if the parcels are owned or operated by the same person and are adjacent, separated only by a street or other public right-of-way, or within the same condominium development.

4. That the City's lobbyists provide monthly reports, whether in person or in writing, about the progress of their efforts on this issue, starting with one month after this resolution is adopted.

5. That the City take action, in the event the Legislature does not resolve this issue in 2009, to mitigate the impact of losing tax-exempt status on non-profit housing providers and the people they house.

I hope that passing this resolution is not the "out" that council members use to say that they have done something and wash their hands of the situation.

I'd recommend that they also:
- get more information about what the city attorney's office is doing when it comes to lawsuits, so that in the future they don't get caught like this again. In the least, they should get a report on the claims filed over a certain amount of money.
- find a local solution, in case the state legislature doesn't fix this situation. They need the reports that they asked for at both council meetings where this was discussed.
- get an affordable housing plan in place, ASAP. I think the Housing Committee should do it, and be given resources to get it done! In the alternative, the Housing Diversity committee that was formed when IZ went away in January should MEET!! They only have 2 months or so to come up with a report.
- instruct the city attorney to work with Attorney Tim Radelet and respond to his recommendations. I'd like to see them come back with alternative solutions if the city attorney's office shoots down all of Attorney Radelet's suggestions.
Read more!

Why the Council didn't meet to Take Back their Power

So, the council is past the time when it could have a meeting to rectify the obliteration of their recent actions on the property tax exemption issue. Who's fault is it that there wasn't a meeting called?

First, let me say, I'm aware that several alders tried to convince the powers that be that they should have a meeting and make a decision. I think there were some legitimate disagreements about if they should meet and what it would accomplish, and I'm certain there was a whole lot of arm twisting.

So, what's the explanation about why they aren't meeting. It comes by way of Council President Tim Bruer forwarding the following to the Common Council:

From: May, Michael
Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 4:11 PM
To: Bruer, Tim
Subject: Special Meeting on tax exemption issue

Alder Bruer:

You asked about the procedure for calling a special meeting to deal with the tax exemption claims. Here is what I found:

1. Pursuant to sec. 2.01(5), MGO, special meetings may only be called by the Mayor. This is consistent with state law on the topic, sec. 62.11(2), Wis. Stats. Therefore, Council Leadership does not have the authority to call a special meeting (unless the President were Acting Mayor).

2. Even if Council Leadership could call a special meeting, you are going to run into time issues. The meeting must be preceded by 24 hours notice to comply with the Open Meeting law. Thus, even if a notice could be prepared and posted immediately, the first time the Council could meet would be on April 29, 2009. The deadlines for acting on the Greentree Glen and WHPC claims are April 29 and 30. If a notice could not be posted until tomorrow, the only item that could be taken up is the WHPC claim. The time for considering the Turners claim has passed.

3. I cannot think of all the legal issues that might arise if the Council were to grant one exemption and deny another of similarly situated property, other than to remind you of the constitutional requirement of uniformity of taxation. I am certain that there would be undesirable consequences to any such unequal treatment.

3. [sic] The ordinances do allow for "informal meetings" of the Council under sec. 2.01(7), MGO, but no business may be transacted at such meetings, so the claims could not be considered. I think such meetings have been scheduled in the past both by the Mayor and by Council Leadership, in consultation with each other.

Let me know if there is anything further you need.

Michael P. May
City Attorney

Of course, this information comes too late to do anything about it - at least according to the City Attorney's interpretation of the situation.

So, who's fault is it? The Mayor*. He was the only one that could have called a meeting. He knew about the situation on Sunday, could have called a meeting Monday morning and the council could have met to take action before the deadline, avoiding having the City Attorney declare the claims denied "by rule of law" (with a little help from the City Attorney, ignoring the will of the council and failing his legal duty to vigorously represent them). However, the Mayor got what he wanted, so why would he do that?

*And/or, if he was doing a good job, the Mayor consulted with the Council leadership and they made that decision together. In which case, council leadership shares that blame.

Sounds like the council needs at amend chapter 2. I thought about it when we were working through recent changes to our rules , but I was a good soldier and chose my battles and didn't take it on. You know, because you don't want to fix a problem that isn't there . . . yet. Hmmmm . . . now the problem exists, think anyone will have the guts to take this one on?

I'd recommend amendment chapter 2 to say that if a majority of the Common Council petitions the Mayor or Common Council President to call a meeting about a particular topic, s/he shall call a meeting, at a reasonable time, within 48 hours. Or, in the alternative (if its legal), that the Council President or a majority of the Common Council can call a meeting. I think Michael May is trying to imply that the second option isn't possible under state law - but I'd want to get a second opinion/formal statement from him on that.

I'd also recommend that this is the role of the Common Council President and/or Common Council Organizational Committee (safety in numbers). The appointments to that committee, which are made by the Common Council President, should be made at the next meeting. I hope those appointments are good and they are a group of people who are willing to make sure that the Council doesn't get completely run over by the administration and executive branch of government. But, with the council leadership basically being a spokesperson for the Mayor at the point, instead of the Council, I'm not very hopeful.
Read more!

Thanks!

Yesterday, my blog broke all my "personal best" records. Most visits and page loads in a day. And, it also put me over the top for having the best month ever as well. While it was nice to see that my blog has value to so many, Dustin explains, in part, why. Read paragraph nine.

So, while its exciting to see that what I have to say is of service to the community, there is a much, much bigger problem here. I already felt kinda bad about ripping into the person who I think is the best reporter in town, Dean Mosiman, in my post yesterday about his crappy reporting of the obliteration of the common council authority. But, I guess lop-sided, incomplete, unusually inaccurate reporting by good reporters is just a sign of the times.

So, as I said in my speech as I was leaving the council, (yes, its still on my list to get my comments up on my blog) my blog isn't going anywhere. Seems like the local media, is . . . and that just leaves more room for more mischief at city hall, so stay alert folks! Without the media watchdogging city hall, your vigilant attention is required! Read more!

Madison City Council Declared Irrelevant

Wow! I've never seen this! Common council makes a motion. Motion passes. City Attorney declares their action null and void. And doesn't think it can come back before the council.

The topic? What else - the continued struggle between staff, the Mayor's office and the Common Council - the property tax exemption.

I used to have alot of respect for City Attorney Micheal May. That has waned over the last six months and at this point, I'm just completely disappointed.

RECAP
So, the history here is long and sordid - and I'm not sure I understand it all, but here's what I think happened. Asst. City Attorney Larry O'Brien took two cases to court to "clarify" the law. Originally, the cases were about the "10 acre rule" which says that groups aren't exempt if they own more than 10 acres of land. In the process, the Asst. City Attorney also raised the "rent use restriction" issue. This issue was about how the agencies could spend the rent that they collected. More specifically "maintenance". Are property management services, mortgage payments for buying the property and other expenses "maintenance" costs of the property? Turns out, in the process of "clarifying" this issue, that the local circuit court and the Department of Revenue sided with the narrow interpretation of Asst. City Attorney Larry O'Brien and as a result, 40 non-profits with over 200 properties and 1700 affordable housing units could risk losing their property tax exemption. The result is that the non-profits will have to raise the rent on their units $100 - $250 per unit (if they don't have rent caps because it is, after all, supposed to be affordable housing), or defer maintenance (i.e. not do repairs), or cut back on services (the very services that make the programs successful), sell the units to the private market making them no longer affordable (and the people who live there homeless), or, in some (many?) cases, they will give the keys back to the lenders - which in many cases, could end up being the city. (For more info, here's the council briefing, the last council meeting part I and part II, and the subcommittee (notes) that is working on this issue.)

MOTION
At the last council meeting (part I and part II) the council passed a resolution that referred this matter for 60 days, directed the city attorney to work with the parties involved in the cases and asked for a report to tell the council what the local ramifications would be to the removal of the tax exemption and how much it could cost locally if we attempted to keep the units affordable. The 60 day delay was requested by the attorneys representing the non-profits in these cases. Placing the risk on the non-profits, not the City of Madison. As you can see from the council meeting notes, the alders asked many, many questions regarding the motion and its legality and the city attorney "hadn't researched" the full implications of the issue, despite the offer by the attorneys. But he didn't have any problem insisting that the Council had to follow his un-researched legal advice.

MEMO
Yesterday, the council members got a memo in their mailboxes (I think on Sunday they were emailed it?) dated April 27th. His memo states in part . . . .

To: Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, All Alders
From: Michael P. May, City Attorney
Re: Tax Exempt Claims of Greentree Glen, Madison Turners and WHPC; Effect of Council's Referral on April 21, 2009.

At the Common Council meeting of April 21, 2009, the Council referred these items for up to 60 days, with a request that our office seek an agreement to extend the time for the Council to consider the requests for tax exemption. I advised at the meeting that the Council should act at the time, and that while I was certainly agreeable to seek the agreed upon extension, I had concerns about the City's authority to do so.

Since the meeting, I have taken time to review the State Statutes governing tax appeals. The statues are clear that the effect of the Council's actions - non-action in fact - operates as a denial of the claims by operation of law.

[omitted cites to statutes 74.35, 74.35(5), 74.35(3) and legislative notes in section (3) the bolded/emphasized parts of the memo are here:

75.35(3) Action on claim. (a) In this subsection, to "disallow" a claim means either to deny the claim in whole or in part or to fail to take final action on the claim within 90 days after the claim is filed.

Legislative notes: Subsection (3) establishes the procedure for handling the claim. Pargraph (a) clearly states that failure to act constitutes disallowance. Under par. (b), the taxation district must act within 90 days after the claim is filed or the claim is considered disallowed. This will ensure timely action by the taxation district and provide certainty to the proceedings.]

Because the State Legislature has stated clearly that the passage of 90 days with no action constitutes a disallowance, there is no way for the parties to stipulate to extend that time. The City cannot by agreement or otherwise keep the days from advancing, and the City has no authority to amend the legal effect established by the Legislature. The legislative history noted above highlights that the law is intended to bring certainty to the status of a claim after 90 days. The language in the statute is effectively a finding by the Legislature that no taxing district may extend the time to allow or disallow a claim.

The rationale for this limitation in State law on deciding tax exemption claims is also made clear in the legislative notes, which refer to the need to "provide certainty" to the proceedings. Not only for the taxing district itself, but for all the other districts for which taxes are assessed, there is a need to know with certainty by a date certain as to which property is included in the assessment. [memo continued below . . . ]

QUESTIONS
- Why didn't the city attorney look at the statutes before the meeting and come prepared to the meeting? If Assistant City Attorney Larry O'Brien is spending 60% of his time on these types of cases, why couldn't they answer this questions much, much sooner.
- If this is so clearly the law, why would attorneys from top law firms in Madison have made the initial offer, at their own peril?
- The attorney talks about "no action", but the council took an action. It told the city attorney to work out a deal. Why isn't that "action"?
- Why not allow a court to decide this issue? If the city attorney is right, the council has given up its right to act, if not, they still have a chance to act. Why make this declaration, thereby ensuring the council cannot act? i.e. Why not let this play out since there will be no harm to the city? The risk is on the other parties.

THIS CAN'T EVEN COME BACK TO THE COUNCIL?
So, the memo continues . . .

The 90th day for each of the above claims is:

Turners: April 20 (Claim filed January 20, 2009. Note the 90 days expired even before the Council's meeting last week, a fact nobody noticed.)

Greentree Glen: April 29 (Claim filed January 29, 2009)

WHPC: April 30 (Claim filed January 30, 2009)

The next Council meeting is May 5, 2009.

Although the Council does not have authority to change the effect of its failure to act upon these claims, the City can, and I will, make an offer to the parties to delay sending the Notice letter required under section 75.35(3)(b) which will delay the time that any lawsuit must be brought to challenge the denial of the claims. Unlike sub. (a), neither sub (b) or (c) directly state what the result of delay will be; I read this as not restricting the City's ability to extend these time limits. Therefore, I will offer to each claimant the opportunity for the City to delay sending the Notice letters that start the clock ticking on their 90 days to file suit. A delay of 60 days is likely at the bound of a reasonable delay. Nor do I know if such a delay is of interest to the claimants.

Late Friday, April 24, I recieved a proposal from the attorney for Greentree Glen asking for the sort of extension that is not allowed under state law. I will be advising him that the City is without authority to do so.

Finally, I will be looking more closely at whether there is any basis for these claims to come back before the Council after the 90 days expire and they are denied by operation of law. My initial reaction is that, since there is no longer any action for the Council to take, there is nothing to be referred to a future Council meeting.

MORE QUESTIONS
- Why didn't the City Attorney's office notice the Turner's claim had expired? That's pretty sloppy work for an attorney's office! (In fact, I asked that question when the motion was made to refer - the copy of the stamp made it unclear if that was a "0" or "8" or "6" in the date.)
- (3)(b) says: The taxation district shall notify the claimant by certified or registered mail whether the claim is allowed or disallowed within 90 days after the claim is filed. What part of "shall" is ambiguous? Why can he find ambiguities in shall? But not in "action"? Seriously, he's hanging his hat on not knowing what the result might be if he doesn't notify them? Isn't that a big risk for the CITY that the court will be able to decide?
- Why offer a delay to the claimants now? Wasn't the delay so that the COUNCIL could figure out the ramifications of the actions of the city attorney and what their options were at this point?
- What are the consequences to the city attorney for directly ignoring the wishes of his client?
- Is there a process for disciplining a city attorney that directly ignores the Council's action?
- Can he be serious that he won't even allow the item to come back to the council - when the motion clearly asked for a report from the Community Development Director? Can't the council at least get the information that they requested and the public be allowed the chance to comment on that information?
- Why is he guessing again?!

Wow, just wow. They are seriously putting the screws to the council.

SLOPPY REPORTING
This is a bit of a sidetrack, but wow, the Wisconsin State Journal coverage of this issue was atrociously lop-sided. Why didn't they contact any council members who had a different opinion from the mayor, council president and city attorney? And, the facts are wrong, we are up to 1700 affordable housing units that are affected. I'm surprised by how sloppy this was!

WHAT I WOULD DO?
1. Get on the phone to Dean Mosiman and ask him to print the other side of the story instead of the folks that all agree with each other.
2. Get on the phone with Tim Bruer and get him to call an emergency meeting of the Common Council so that they can make a decision before the deadline. Only 24 hours notice is requried and they have a special briefing tomorrow night anyways. They could act tomorrow on the two claims.
3. Read the City Attorney's contract and research ethics laws and the duty of the City Attorney to his clients.
4. Investigate what it would take to hire an attorney for the Council that would do what they said.
5. Find a way to get this issue back before the council to get those reports.

I'm not sure I'd find the answers I want or be convincing with the powers that be, but I certainly wouldn't give up! This whole thing has been a disaster since day one. The wishes of the Council have been ignored/they weren't consulted by the City Attorney, the Mayor or Council leadership. That's how we got into this mess and it just continues to get messier. It makes me wonder, why have they dug their heels in this way? I've truly never seen anything like this before.

Read more!

Dorothy Borchardt to the Rescue

More flack over committee appointments - this time, from the right. I was sent this email, which made me smile. My favorite line was . . . well, there were a couple favorite lines . . .

Dear Alders,

What happened to the council that will work together to get things done? It appears that you only want to hear one side of an issue. The Mayor has made a mistake (just when he seemed to be moving away from the far left) and it is your responsibility to correct it! It is important for our leaders to hear different views on every committee and to be respectful of all the alders and their districts. Remember...if he gets away doing it to Alder Thuy he can do it to you!.

In case you didn't notice....the Mayor removed Alder Thuy Pham-Remmele from all Commission, except Vending Oversight, starting her second term.

He replaced her (on CDBG) with rookie Shiva B-S, his endorsed candidate, who readily voted with Marsha Rummel to approve $ 817,000 for Homeless Prevention on Thursday, April 23rd.

Was it because Alder Thuy questioned his "sacred cows", Bike paths & Platinum Bike City status, the Commonwealth's Public Market, Mark Ollinger /CDA & Allied Drive black hole, Central Park, Trolleys, RTA etc...?

Weather she is right or wrong on these issues she does represent a large number of Madison residents that deserve to have their voice heard. ...regardless if you agree with it or not. To come to the best decisions you must hear both sides of issues and keep an open mind. I had high hopes for this council but it looks like it will be politics as usual.

Dane County is already practicing Chicago politics...don't let it happen in Madison.

Regards, db

Interesting. Does this mean the right is launching a campaign to get Thuy back on the committees she likes? Will this be reconsidered at the next meeting? Thuy could ask for that because she wasn't there or someone who voted to accept them could do that? Or was this just shouting into the wind? Read more!

A "Progressive State of the City"

Ok - through a rather nasty cyber-attack, an alleged friend of mine challenged me to lay out what a progressives state of the city might look like. So, in about 30 - 45 minutes on Monday morning, here's what I came up with that I would like to see in a State of the City address. For those who are regular readers, most of this stuff won't come as a surprise. And yes, its about the economy, and how to help those who are struggling in our community.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING
- Delay implementation of the revocation of the property tax exemption while the state resolves the issue. We're risking losing 1700 affordable housing units by moving forward.
- Make it a high priority to find solutions to the property tax conundrum if the state does not resolve the issue.
- Pass changes to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund that would loosen the rules on how the money is spent in order to create affordable housing now.
- Make a commitment to fund the Affordable Housing Trust Fund on an annual basis.
- Make it a priority to create an Affordable Housing Plan for the City of Madison. Assign this task to the existing Housing Committee and give them the resources needed to staff the committee.
- Pledge to spend the Affordable Housing Trust Fund within the City of Madison and not give it to communities outside the City of Madison

HOMELESSNESS
- Pledge to find progressive ways to address concerns of the community with the homeless in the downtown area and city parks, instead of simply displacing them.
- Remove laws on the books that criminalize homelessness, putting homeless people in our jail system and costing taxpayers more.

BUSES
- Return the bus fares to $1.50 since we are unexpectedly saving money on fuel costs.
- Allow low-income people to ride the bus for free.
- Work to extend services so people who work weekends and second and third shift can get to and from work.
- Pledge to keep the bus stops on Isthmus and not further punish high ridership areas of the City.

STIMULUS MONEY
- Create and engaging public input process to find out what people in the community feel our highest needs are.
- Set goals for spending the stimulus money and follow them.

CITIZEN COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS AND PUBLIC INPUT
- Pledge to train people on city committees about their role and provide on-going training opportunities to make the time spent serving on city committees productive and fulfilling.
- Pledge to create a change in attitude about public input and value it instead of view it as a necessary evil.
- Pledge to create a budget process that is more transparent and include more public input.

POLICING AND CRIME PREVENTION
- Focus on neighborhood policing. With 50 new police officers coming on board, 25 of them should be assigned to neighborhoods. Pledging to get them out of the cars and onto the streets.
- Increase funding for neighborhood centers, afterschool programs and youth programs to give young people something productive to do in the evenings and on weekends, instead of creating stricter curfew rules.
- Repeal the Chronic Nuisance Ordinance and protect tenants who need to call the police, instead of having them risk their housing by calling the police.
- Pledge to create a media strategy for the police department that provides information, but doesn't feed the fear factor.

RACE AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
- Create a task force to evaluate the police department's role in the race disparities in the Criminal Justice System in Dane County.

SMALL BUSINESSES
- Make it a priority to support our local small businesses.
- Make a serious commitment to buying local and not exempt many purchases under $5,000 or include buying from large chains that have a local franchise.

JOB CREATION
- Pledge to focus job creation efforts on living wage career ladder jobs where people can get skills and move up in the company/profession, instead of a small number of high paying biotech jobs.

DILAPIDATED DOWNTOWN HOUSING
- Hire the additional building inspectors the downtown alders have been pushing for.
- Make a commitment to preservation of our older housing stock to preserve our history.
- Provide additional support to the new Landmarks staff and the Landmarks Commission to help preserve those buildings that are most worth saving.

WOMEN, PEOPLE OF COLOR & PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
- Pledge to hire more women in top management positions in the city.
- Use diverse hiring panels to ensure more diverse workforce.
- Appoint committees that have gender balance and include a representative number of people of color and people with disabilities.
- Find ways, such as using the same standards of qualifications as the state, to help minority and women owned businesses do business with the City of Madison.

CITY OF MADISON WORKFORCE
- Remove the final barriers for middle management employees to live outside the City of Madison. The swiss cheese policies in place are unfair.
- Create better protections for non-union employees and provide information about the discipline process accessible to all employees and the public.
- Actually offer paid sick leave to city employees.

SCHOOLS
- Get serious about collaborating with the schools on fiscal matters and consider the impact of city decisions on the schools (i.e. raising the bus fares). Seek ways to collaborate and share resources.
- Increase funding for our early childhood development programs.

ENVIRONMENT
- Get serious about our air quality.
- Get serious about cleaning up the lakes.
- Create a plan for losing 27,000 street trees in the next 10 years to the Emerald Ash Borer.
- Create edible landscapes in our parks and terraces.
- Expand the street sweeping areas downtown.
- Limit alternate side parking to snow emergencies city wide and continue to seek ways to inform the public when there is a snow emergency.

MISCELLANEOUS
- Commit to continued funding of WYOU.
- Quit dinking around and figure out how to plow our streets in the winter time.
- Help with government transparency by following the rules we have set up and not making them up as we go along ("10-year rule", TIF, etc).

I'm sure I forgot many things on the long list that could be here. I might have to amend it in about a week to add additional items. I certainly would include this, and much more in a State of the City address if it were my full time job and I had 10 staff people to help me come up with the agenda. Oh, and I'd give the speech in public. Read more!

Don't throw that out!

If you have "hazardous waste" materials, bring them to Clean Sweep, starting on Friday!

The Clean Sweep Program for recycling household hazardous waste will open its 2009 season on Friday, May 1st, 2009.

* 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 Saturday, October 31st 2009.
* 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 offers high quality and usable products brought into Clean Sweep free of charge.

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 materials brought to 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<http://www.danecountycleansweep.com/> or by calling Dave Radisewitz, the Clean Sweep Coordinator, at 243-0347.

On February 17, 2009, Governor Doyle presented the Legislature with his budget proposal (introduced as Assembly Bill 75) in which the entire Clean Sweep Program, including all grants for agricultural chemical collection and disposal, for the next biennium would be eliminated. This proposed cut will have a direct effect on the Dane County Clean Sweep program. In past years, DATCP funding allowed for a 50% cost reduction in disposal costs for agricultural related businesses (Agricultural VSQGs), and a 100% cost reduction for Dane County farmers for the disposal of agricultural chemicals. Without this funding, the status of the 2009 Agricultural Clean Sweep program is uncertain. More information will be released about the status of this program as it is made available.

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

You may obtain a copy of this release on line at:
https://www.cityofmadison.com/news/view.cfm?news_id=1448

Read more!

The (5th) Week Ahead

The coveted 5th Wednesday and Thursday of the month means a lighter meeting schedule for this week and allegedly, some time off for those who are slave to the monthly meeting.

Monday, April 27, 2009
4:30 PM BOARD OF ESTIMATES ROOM 260 MMB
- Creating a committee to create the low-income bus pass on a permanent basis
- Approving applications for stimulus funds "in concept"
- Pledging to buy American with stimulus money
- Status report on stimulus money

Tuesday, April 28, 2009
5:10 PM URBAN DESIGN COMMISSION ROOM LL-110 MMB
- Discussion on its role and authority, the agenda has a list of potential topics to discuss
5:30 PM ZONING CODE REWRITE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MADISON SENIOR CENTER, 330 W MIFFLIN ST, ROOMS 1 & 2
- They're plodding along, reviewing individual pieces of the new code.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009
6:30 PM CENTRAL LIBRARY DISPOSAL SURPLUS PROPERTY CRITERIA AND SELECTION COMMITTEE CENTRAL LIBRARY, 201 W MIFFLIN ST, R00M 202
- This is one of those frustrating committees that you have to show up to in order to see what they are discussion as there are no attachments to the agenda.

6:30 PM COMMON COUNCIL - DISCUSSION ROOM 260 MMB
- They'll be talking curfew.

Thursday, April 30, 2009
Free night!!! (Well, at the moment.)


Read more!

State of the City: An analysis

A whole lotta pro-business. A dash of police state and anti-progressive. Zero progressive. Here's the old and new initiatives he talked about. It should be a somewhat comprehensive summary of what he wrote about - who knows what he actually said. Full text here. Here's what I would like see in such an address.

However, before we get to the list, first, let me say, that the Mayor was supposed to give his State of the City Address to the Common Council on Tuesday night. He first passed because there were people there to speak to the council (they apparently couldn't be bothered with mundane things like the direction the Mayor wants to take the City they live in) and then he said it was too late (10:00) so he wouldn't give his speech to the Council, but they could read it on-line in the morning. Instead, he opted to go to the invite-only Rotary Club and give his speech there. I think that, in and of itself, sends a very strong message - the people of the City of Madison and its elected officials are not what are important with this administration - he's bending over backwards for the business community and he doesn't care that he does the business of the City in private settings instead of where the public has more access.

Anyways, here's the brief run down of "bold, aggressive" initiatives we can look forward to.

PRO BUSINESS
- Madison continues to move forward with projects like the Institutes for Discovery and Union South on the UW campus, Allied Drive housing, the Villager Mall and others.
- Annual economic development work plans.
- Business retention software
- Modernizing our zoning code.
- For the first time in the City’s history we have an economic development director.
- Virtual one-stop shop to help businesses, developers and homeowners work their way through the permits and approvals needed to build or improve their homes and businesses. A physical one-stop-shop is on its way.
- Third Madison Small Business Conference
- Roadworks website and a Small Business Construction Survival Guide – a set of best practices aimed at helping businesses survive and even prosper through the necessary disruption of major road repair projects.
- New policy emphasizing using TIF for job creation
- Create the BioAg Gateway and BioLink incubator facility
- Work with the University Research Park to get Research Park II up and running on the far west side.
- Continue support for Collaboration Council and its economic development organization: Thrive.
- Working with hotel developers to help meet the need for several hundred new hotel rooms that will bolster our tourism and convention industries and make Monona Terrace an even greater success.
- City will not participate in resolving Overture’s remaining construction debt, we should be at the table to ensure Overture’s long-term success after that issue is resolved.
- Move forward on a first-ever cultural plan for our City.
- Work with Commonwealth Development on the conversion of the Garver Feed Mill to an arts incubator and other uses.
- Continue the exciting developments in the East Washington-Capital Gateway Corridor, including the urban research park that the UW is developing there, the new Google office and the new Central Park. We are also in the process of contracting for project management services to move the important work of that corridor forward.
- Continue the renaissance of the Villager Mall on south Park Street
- Move forward with an exciting new proposal for the old Bancroft Dairy on Park and Fish Hatchery.
- Three conspicuous, cleared properties dot our landscape: Union Corners on the east side, the St. Raphael’s block downtown and phase II of the Hilldale development on the west side. In each case we need to work with the owners to develop them just as soon as is practical.
- Move ahead with a new Central Library. While rehabbing the existing building is a tempting alternative, let’s not rule out a more aggressive (private sector) solution.
- Continue the development of the Public Market concept to build the connection between Madisonians and the rich and healthy local foods that are available in our region.
- Stoughton Road Corridor has a bright future. (There were alot of words here, no action)
- Downtown Plan project will balance the needs of the community and will continue to further the discussion on transportation options in the downtown area.
- Downtown Hospitality Council to ensure that our downtown economy is safe, fun and profitable.
- Strengthen our Sister Cities program by showing progress in building business ties as well as cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
- We should remember that bicycles are not just toys. The bike industry brings in $1 billion to the Wisconsin economy – four times more than snowmobiles. And Madison is the center of much of it. Trek, Syrus, Planet Bike, Pacific Cycle and other companies employ hundreds. We should build on our already strong reputation to make Madison the center of the bike universe.
- We are working hard with the Chicago Olympic Committee to land some of the 2016 summer games biking events right here in Madison.

A DASH OF POLICE STATE
- Add 20 more police officers in the next 3 years (in addition to the 30 we just added.)
- Developed empirical data to identify worst offenders and asked Tammy Baldwin to get earmarks to cleanse them from the downtown (i.e. the worst 25 downtown transients, who turned out not to be transient)

PROGRESSIVE
chirp, chirp

I suggest you check out the miscellaneous section to play your own game of Where's Waldo or I Spy and try to figure out where the progressive is.

ANTI-PROGRESSIVE
- See above "dash of police state"
- Long-term problems at Brittingham Park have practically ceased
- Our Chronic Nuisance Ordinance continues to be extremely helpful in our efforts to keep our neighborhoods safe by holding property owners accountable.

(And tho he didn't mention it, don't forget about the upcoming curfew issue and the bus fares.)

MISCELLANEOUS/OH YEAH, EVERYTHING ELSE
- Customer satisfaction survey done on basic services.
- Continue expansion of Neighborhood Indicators project
- Report a Problem
- Plans to fix our streets.
- Police study that will create a data-driven patrol-staffing plan
- Open fire station 12 this year.
- Pilot neighborhood center in the Meadowridge Mall on the southwest side.
- Refocused the work of our Neighborhood Resource Teams and asked each team to identify specific problems and develop comprehensive interventions to alleviate them.
- Alcohol License Review Committee is more rigorously evaluating applications and holding license holders accountable.
- Partnering with Dane County and communities throughout the state in our lobbying efforts related to enhancing the penalties for drunk driving and increasing the state's beer tax to help fund prevention programs.
- First annual review of the downtown Alcohol License Density Plan shows a 5% reduction in alcohol related calls for service without the feared displacement of problems or negative impact on our vibrant nightlife.
- Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) training conference to help us build prevention into our environment - focusing on Peace Park and Metro's South Transfer Point.
- The schools and mayor's office will attend each other's management team meetings several times a year.
- Appointed School Board member Marj Passman to the City's new committee looking at long-term affordable housing strategies.
- City has added a non-voting seat to its Plan Commission for the District, to ensure that we are growing and redeveloping with the needs of our children in mind.
- We’re exploring the recycling of compostable materials and we may have a system ready to go in about two years.
- Continue to work with stakeholders to lower lake levels at proper times of the year would lead to stronger, healthier wetlands, a greater variety of plants and animals and cleaner, clearer water.
- Recently adopted goals for the Northeast Neighborhoods put them on the map as one of the largest areas in the nation to be developed using a comprehensive set of environmentally friendly initiatives.
- Encouraging diversity on committees, commissions and boards, as well as in the workplace.
- Increase access for people with disabilities to public meetings through the use of DeafLink, a sign language interpreter service.
- DCR staff is working with Madison employers through the EOC Employment Committee to understand the rights of employees and responsibilities of employers.
- DCR staff is closely working with targeted businesses to attain certification and work on City projects.
- We need to create a regional transit authority to help us improve our bus system, rebuild our streets and maybe, if we can get approval for Federal cost sharing, build a commuter rail system.
- Bring high-speed intercity rail back to Madison. We need to get to work on siting a station or stations in the city.
- Maintain a partnership we began with the county last year to step up cleaning our shorelines.
- Maximize and to deploy as rapidly as possible the Federal stimulus money that will come to our community.
- Be aware of the challenges faced by low-income residents and the organizations that serve low-income populations.
- We’ll continue our lobbying efforts at the State Capitol to repair state statutes to provide tax-exemption status for low-income housing providers.
- l believe in the goal of providing a range of good quality housing for people of every income level all over our City and in the surrounding region. We now need to rededicate ourselves to that goal and work toward better solutions. To that end, I’ve created a new committee that will explore affordable housing strategies. And, work has already begun on joining our City’s housing authority with Dane County – because affordable housing should be a goal not just in Madison, but throughout the region. (i.e. we don't want the affordable housing here, how can we get others to do it.)
- The federal American Reinvestment and Recovery Act creates new opportunities to weatherize our own buildings and the homes of low-income residents.

I also found this spin to be very interesting:

There has been a great deal of emphasis on basic services in the last two years, and that is appropriate. I believe it is important for city government to step back for awhile and reestablish that it cares about the basics. But once the understanding is established that city government will first take care of basic services and not waiver from that commitment, then I think it is possible to go beyond just the basics to do things that create a really great city.

So, I ask again . . . after reading all of this, is this what you want your city to be? Is this bold and aggressive and moving in a direction you want? What's missing? Do you feel like this addresses the needs you see in the community? And more importantly, where's the progressive? (Best asked in a "Where's the Beef?" tone of voice) Read more!

Property Tax Exemption Subcommittee Meeting

Live blogged! (I can do that when I'm not on the committee)

David Sparer, Judy Wilcox, Greg Rosenberg in attendance. (Committee members) Joined by Michael Schumacher (not committee member).

The first issue is the resolution that was drafted. There was input from Tim Radelet and David Sparer sent out a new version - copies not available to the public. Then updates from Alder Schumacher and Clingan.

Public Testimony from Dean Loumos (from Housing Initiatives). Was at council meeting and the alders are intensely frustrated. When you live with frustration for too long you end up bitter. Now he's just angry. He suggests that this group urge the council to ignore the city attorney, engage in that civil disobedience and defy the state legislature. The state legislature is not moving on a potentially disastrous law. If they don't deal with it, there will be an increase in homelessness and many people will lose their housing. Dean is going to focus his efforts on the state and is going to meeting tonight at 7:00 to stage a sit in in the rotunda - and if that doesn't work, he's moving in to the Mayor's office. High end senior housing isn't the issue - this is going to just increase homelessness and throw working families out on the street. No new funding. Not asking for money. He runs a program that is tax exempt, doesn't get operating funds from the city - all he needs is his tax exemption. That is what he was going to say at the city council the second time, but he wasn't allowed to speak last night. The council did the right thing by extending the deadline for 60 days over the objection of the city attorney and the even larger objections of the Mayor. The City can be a leader on this issue.

Greg asks Dean what the impact will be. He says it will cost $50 - 70K. He has 51 units in 13 properties. He says he can't raise the rent due to funding restrictions. Utilities are a problem as they pay full utilities. All of his clients have a mental illness, can't cut staff. They can all live independently but it requires intensive case management. As Executive Director he doesn't spend time in the office and in meetings, he's on-site at his properties. Rarely has police contact. If he has to lay people off, the properties will fall into disrepair and he won't be able to address behavior problems on a timely basis before they get worse. Property tax exemption is key to what they do. His frustration level is far beyond the council members, he's angry and he's going to start organizing.

Public Testimony from Howard Mandeville. (From Moving Out) Not clear what city position on this is. Glad Mayor has sent lobbyist to change maintenance definition. However, the mixed message is the City Attorney that is trying to get a more narrow and restrictive definition. City Attorney should send a more consistent message to Department of Revenue that would be in-line with the Mayor's instructions to the lobbyists. The Council and Mayor should provide that guidance.

David Sparer asked about the resolution that they have, that we don't have copies of. The conclusion is to tell the City Attorney to communicate to the Department of Revenue about the definition of maintenance that we as a City would like to see.

David says the resolution has been changed as follows:
Change first whereas to hundreds
Fourth whereas, take out for-profits
Part 1, 2 & 3 - add the governor to who they are urging
Changed it to direct the city lobbyist to do these things
Fourth paragraph is new, asking lobbyist to report back to city council on a regular basis.
In 3rd paragraph, b was removed because it wasn't needed.

The finally handed out copies.

Schmacher suggests change "extra large expense" and call it "property tax expense"

Rosenberg wants to add
Until such time as the legislature takes action, that the city assessor act according to the definition of rent use definition (of vetoed budget language)
including the language in parage 3 a to 3 b in this resolution.

Doesn't think that if the city takes action we will ruin our leverage with the state legislature, he disagrees with Mario (the Mayor's office). Judy seconds his paragraph. They realize there is no main motion, Judy moves, Rosenberg second that they adopt language with Schumachers tweak. He says at the end of the day that only maybe 4 people on the council don't want the exemption - that's his general sentiment. The issue splits - and he was in the minority - on the council we were put into a bind. He feels uncomfortable that on several levels doesn't get us to results - he's more pragmatic. The vote on the council hasn't changed anything - they still have to pay their property tax, and we have defied Wisconsin Statutes. That battle should be at the legislature. They are mixing policy decisions with legal decisions. And those two things can be done in a parallel way. He will not vote to put the city at odds with state statutes. So, he can't agree with Greg's language. He thinks we can't negotiate this away. This is where the alders will fall apart. 13 votes for a 60 day extention is easy, but the votes may be only 8 or 9 at the end of the day to defy state statute. So, he urges committee to be mindful that this is not the way to go. External parties should send a message about the public good. Can't support the language. (That means that this there is no current sponsor). Even tho the City Attorney was asked for options and the city attorney isn't going to give us options, he is sticking with the legal arguments. Schumacher says that the council can't tell the city attorney what to do any more than you can tell a police officer not to write you a ticket. He thinks that we need to keep the alliance together and it will be more effective.

Greg Rosenberg answers that one city attorney has a personal interpretation different that attorneys different than our previous interpretations and countless other attorneys. He was making policy without consulting the council. What do you do when an individual in the city attorney's office is making policy. Where is the accountability. This is the same law that it has been for many, many years. The city attorney's office changed how it was interpreting the law. It was an internal decision at their discretion. Now they are saying there are no other options. The Mayor hasn't been presented with more than one option. Neither was the city council. They teach you in law school that the law should not result in a an absurd result. This is an absurd result. We shouldn't be hostage to attorney Larry O'Brien. It's up to the Common Council to do change that. It's killing non-profits. Why are we spending hundreds of hours of time on this - its brutal.

Wilcox says that the effort to interpret the law was not in our best interest. Also knows that there are alternatives and that the city attorney's office is not looking at the alternatives. And certainly, Tim Radelet has made the recommendations and been dismissed by the city attorney's office. Granted if you have five attorneys in a room you will have five interpretations of the law. They should be doing the least harm in their positions. The council needs to deliver that message and the subcommittee has to deliver that message to the council.

Schumacher says he tried to ask those questions on the council floor and behind closed doors. Also on Leage of Municipalities on which board he serves. If it were just the City of Madison, some of the comments we have heard makes complete sense. But this is statewide. (A member of the audience wonders if he has a conflict of interest)

Secondly, he doesn't know how to force the city attorney to make a different decision, that is why we have courts. He thinks this is just the wrong tactic. On Tuesday all we did was delay and the givens did not change. The non-profits still have to pay taxes. City attorney may come back and say that legally the council instructions are impossible. Or the courts may say that the council decision is void. The battle is really to get the city to organize to get the state to change the law and figure out how we can locally mitigate the impact on the non-profits. Mike Kurth from the Assessors office is visibly nodding his head in agreement.

David Sparer says that he is uncomfortable with the city council if it seems like what they are asking. He also points out that there is no sponsor.

Judy clarifies - is it the amendment you are uncomfortable with. Sparer says yes.

Sparer 110% in support of the rest. As is Schumacher.

Rosenberg is trying another amendment.
That the city take action, in the event that the legislature does not resolve this issue in 2009, to mitigate the impact of losing the tax exempt status on non-profit housing providers and the people they serve.

All seem in support. Schumacher says that this will get lots of support.

Unanimous in favor of the amendment.

Unanimous support of the resolution with the amendment. Schumacher will be the sponsor.

No further update by Schumacher. Asks Mario for updates. Mario says not really. Met with lobbyists Monday or Tuesday and got update. In the same breath that they are talking about the budget they are talking about tax exemption. City of Milw lobbyist says that their position is the same as ours. The more people speak with one voice, it makes our message more clear. Hopefully helps with movement at the Capital.

Judy asks about Marshfield? He hadn't heard that they are in support as well. He said his next stop is the League. Schumacher says League is meeting tomorrow and he will try to talk to as many people as possible. Mario tries to encourage Schumacher to get League on board with the vetoed language. League is currently looking at a fee instead. Mayor's office doesn't support the fee because non-profits still won't be able to pay and it hasn't gotten traction at the capital.

Schumacher says that League has municipalities that are lobbying to remove the exemption, so the League is trying to seek a compromise. But he thinks that the momentum has changed and they may change their position.

Schumacher said that O'Connell says that there is a 60% chance that something will happen. Mike Kurth says that he had heard the same and that within the 60 days of the extension the issue may be resolved. That the leaders of the houses and governor want to resolve this and that they are just deciding about the veto language (with tweaks) or Plale's language.

Schumacher asks me if I have any comments.

Mario leaves.

Judy says that Bob from WisCap is lobbing as well and will share this info with him.

Clingan comes to the table to discuss Plan B.

This is in regard to rent subsidies.
Can't use CDBG money, can use HOME funds, need to craft amendment to plan, CDBG and Council would have to approve, HUD would have to approve. The council also directed him to come back with solutions that go beyond the rent subsidy approach and HOME dollars. He thinks they can turn it around in less than 30 days. He is thinking about it in terms of strategies and their affectiveness.

Ray Harmon leaves the meeting - no more representation from the Mayor's office.

Need to look at the mechanics of the process, does it get subcontracted to CAC or do it through CDA. How do we prevent bad local policy to fix bad state policy. He agrees that the homelessness that could result would end up with more costs to the city and county. What happens if we use HOME funds for this, then where does money come from to build new housing. What happens if non-profit can't pay taxes, what will lenders do, what if they give up the property.

David says that it would be good to have good numbers.

Bill says that the strategy to remedy it is that we need to grow the target to make sure that it is legally defensible. He offers to come back and give progress reports as he gets this ready for the council.

Greg says this could drain HOME funding. Since city doesn't pay operating costs, they rely on developer fees to operate their program and if there are no new developments, then still no operating costs.

Judy says that you can target the funds and it can be done with a relatively small amount of money.

Schumacher says that in Judy's program they did not have to watch their back with the uniformity clause. Judy explains the program some more. She says it was just a portion of HOME funds and is guessing that there isn't a whole lot of production at the moment anyways and there should be no reason to spend these funds this way in an emergency. It takes 18 months to 5 years to get a program done, so its not like HOME money won't be used in the future.

Clingan says they will look at other funding streams. Including tax dollars. Should only city revenue be used to solve this problem. Can we look to the county.

Schumacher emphasizes the need for numbers - how many people will be impacted. Schumacher is worried that if housing providers can charge more, they will. Private complex owners will take the people in and charge them more.

Clingan says that there are rental caps on so many units and there is the problem with layering of various programs. How can they give rental assistance to a tenant whose rent hasn't gone up.

Greg asks when Plan B will be done? Can it be locked down by June? Leases are coming up and tenants will start getting displaced. Clingan says that he wants to get it done sooner than that. He will give this group updates. Would like to have something done by end of April/beginning of May.

Judy says that we should start the amending of the consolidated plan process now. Clingan agrees.

David asks how long it will take, Judy says they can turn it around.

Schumacher says even once you have the mechanics of the process, but if it includes budget money it will be 15 votes. That is why we need to keep the council kept together on the issue and not have them fractured.

Clingan says that we might be able to weave together different streams of dollars prior to a budget amendment.

Schumacher says we don't know how many providers are done.

Assessors office says they have put this on a fast track and it won't be September, he thinks they can do it much sooner than that. Assessor hesitates . . . says they might have it by the end of June.

Greg is concerned that up to this point we are just guessing.

Schumacher and Judy rehash old history of Schumacher going to Judy for funding for something senior housing when she was on the county board . . .

Schumacher says that in senior housing assessments are difficult. You should do your own work up front to find out what the assessment might be - he thinks that people will do it pro bono. He reminds the group that the Turner's issue is still linked to this. He says not every senior citizen is the person who lives in great care and golfs.

Sparer says they have completed their agenda.

Next agenda: Update from Bill, Update on Lobbying, Update on resolution and Meg will schedule the next meeting. Could be later in May when they meet. Resolution will be introduced May 5th, hopefully under business by president. So it could be May 5th that they vote.

Clingan says he can give a status report every time they meet. Sparer will coordinate the next meeting with Bill's timing. Greg suggests they could just set the meeting and create a deadline.

Move adjournment.

Assessor is up to 1700 units affected that are currently tax exempt. Non of those are the programs paying the PILOTS. So, its more than the 1,000 originally affected. No senior ones, Oakwood, Attic Angels are not in there. Columbus Park decision may kick them out. Includes Independent Living on Segoe Road. There is some wording that eliminates them in some manner. Meriter is also exempt. Continuum of care type situation may be what gets them out of the taxation.

Judy says Sun Prairie evaluated Independent Living has to pay there. Schumacher says that in Sun Prairie they can raise the rent, on Segoe they cannot.

David suggests that since they have adjourned, they should stop talking. Read more!

Easier to Access Council Agendas

Thanks to the Clerks Office for trying to make information more accessible and to Alder Palm for pointing this out!

I want to thank Tammy in the Clerk's Office for doing a little computer magic in Adobe Acrobat and making the full council packet that you can download on the Legistar webpage computer readable. It used to be that only Legistar created items (and a few other things) you could use the "find" box in Acrobat and locate whatever you're looking for. Now, you can search through all the attachments for specific words or phrases.

For new Alders, and perhaps continuing Alders, this is a great way to eliminate the extra paper in our agenda. You can easily download the document (I think it's now a smaller file!) and search on your laptop (city or otherwise) and eliminate the paper waste.

Read more!

SLOW DOWN!

It's that time of the year again, time for the Slow Down campaign. Find out where to get your yard signs.

The 2009 Slow Down Campaign will be April 27 – May 15 with a media event taking place at Lake View Elementary School, 1802 Tennyson Lane, Madison on May 5, 2009 at 2:15 pm.

The Lake View Elementary School event will highlight the traffic safety efforts of Madison’s north side neighborhoods and feature the newly launched Lake View Elementary School traffic safety plan. Join the entire Lake View student population as they walk the school neighborhood learning about important pedestrian safety issues. The walk will be led by Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz who will be joined by Madison District 12 Alder Satya Rhodes Conway and other campaign partners. Event organizers are also extending an invitation to attend the event and learn more about organizing a Slow Down Campaign in your community or neighborhood.

A Slow Down Campaign is an effort to make streets safer by reducing chronic speeding and slowing motorists operating at inappropriate speeds through a neighborhood or communitywide partnership with local law enforcement. The annual campaign is launched in the spring of the year, just prior to school letting out, when many young pedestrians and bicyclists hit the streets.

The faster vehicles travel, the more likely crashes will occur and the more severe injuries will be. Children are especially vulnerable due to their smaller stature. If a child pedestrian is hit by a car traveling at 20 mph, 5% are killed, most injuries are slight, and 30% suffer no injuries at all. At 30 mph, 45% are KILLED and many are injured. At 40 mph, 85% ARE KILLED.

According to the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, pedestrian injuries are the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages 5 to 14. Each year in the United States, nearly 900 children ages 14 and under die from pedestrian injuries and another 24,000 are injured in traffic-related crashes.

“A Slow Down Campaign is easy to organize,” Wittke said. “It can be tailored to each neighborhood or community, and the expense is minimal thanks to the sponsorship of American Family Insurance.”

Slow Down Campaign yard signs are available to any individual or group. Many police or sheriff departments, along with American Family Insurance Offices in the target counties will have signs available starting in mid-April. Visit the Safe Communities website at www.safercommunity.net for specific locations.

The Safe Communities website has tips to running a campaign, a sample press release, and other information that an organizer will find valuable. For more information Safe Communities can be contacted by e-mail at: slowdown@safercommunity.net or by calling (608) 256-6713.

The Safe Communities is a local public/private partnership that sustains joint action by area agencies, businesses, and neighborhoods to save lives and prevent serious injuries. Over 350 organizations are active members.

Dane County Pick Up Locations:

Law Enforcement Agencies:
Dane County Sheriff – Madison
Dane County Sheriff – Black Earth
Cottage Grove Police Department
Cross Plains Police Department
Deerfield Police Department

DeForest Police Department

Fitchburg Police Department

Madison Police Department precincts

Marshall Police Department
Middleton Police Department
Monona Police Department
Oregon Police Department

Stoughton Police Department

American Family Insurance Agencies:
Michael Grzenia Agency, Inc.
2527 Main Street
Cross Plains, WI

Susan F. Neath
221 North Main Street
Deerfield, WI

Jane F. Frahm
2923 Marketplace Drive Ste 110
Fitchburg, WI

Jeff Engelkes Agency, Inc.
4869 Larson Beach Road
McFarland, WI

Michael J. Johnson
1468 North High Point Road Ste 202
Middleton, WI

Daniel D. Andrews
4813 Monona Drive
Monona, WI

Peter Walton
402 East Main Street
Mount Horeb, WI

Diane Sliter Agency, Inc.
850 Janesville Street
Oregon, WI

Larry Cutler
1528 West Main Street
Sun Prairie, WI

Larry Smokey Anderson
1528 West Main Street
Sun Prairie, WI

Madison Agencies:
David A. Larson Agency, Inc.
1001 South Whitney Way

J. Patrick Newberry Agency, Inc.
1001 South Whitney Way

Warren Tompkins Agency, Inc.
658 South Gammon Road Ste 207

Kelli Ward
514 Grand Canyon Drive

Michael J. Bolger
4130 University Avenue

Molly Putnam
334 Junction Road

Peter McCormick
334 Junction Road

Mark A. Quinn
2950 Junction Road

D. Webster-Scher Agency, Inc.
637 East Washington Avenue

Matthew Young
115 East Broadway Ste 106

Sheila Link Agency, Inc.
1633 Thierer Road

Marti Clausius Agency, Inc.
2810 Crossroads Drive Ste 1900H

Jon Robb Agency, Inc.
3830 Atwood Avenue

Brian Brezenski Agency
2101 North Sherman Avenue

Read more!

TiVo'd Council Meeting, Part II

The important/juicy part . . . Check here for part 1.

PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION

Alder Solomon clarified his motion was to figure out the implications of any decision and then to look at possible solutions.

Alder Schumacher thought the Turner's was different than the low-income housing and that the motion did not ask for a new legal position. Schumacher points out that the narrow construction is legal, the broader construction is looking for solutions

City Attorney reiterates again that his legal opinion is the only thing the council can do and nothing will change.

Alder Schumacher points out he believes that all of the things Alder Kerr and Solomon want to do can be done with or without the delay. He's been involved in this issue and we are running a risk in our city if the property tax exemption is removed, but he doesn't want to put us in a legal predicament. He will continue to work on the issue, with the leadership of the Mayor's office, to come up with a package to resolve the issues. He doesn't support the substitute motion.

Alder Compton wants to keep the Turners in the motion. There are others Turner's organizations in the state that are exempt and she is looking for answers.

Confusions ensues - there is confusion about if this motion includes the low-income housing and Turner's. City Attorney tries to sort it out. They vote to keep the three items together and there are no objections. Alder Kerr didn't think they were ever separated and she made the motion.

Alder Compton continues to talk about the Turner's being exempt for 154 years.

Maniaci says she agrees with Clear. She says we should go forward with an exemption. Says we put orgs at risk or its denied if we do the extention. We do need more information, but the 60 day extention will just throw it all out the window. Doesn't know why hockey is exempt but gymnastics and soccer is not. Says she's against extension but supports the exemption - but wants to force it into the court. Then, they have to ask her what she was saying and clarify that she was speaking against the current motion.

Alder Skimore supports the extension based on talking with many folks.

Alder Palm - they say he's spoken three time - but this is another question on the floor. He thinks that the Turner's is open to anyone. He says if he understands the Alder from the 2nd that she wants to deny the extension and just give the exemption - and that might be too much for the council - but he's willing to go along and do a little civil disobedience and go against the city attorney.

Alder Solomon tries to clarify ramifications. Clarifies that the alder from the 2nd wants to ignore the city attorney and city assessor and just do their own thing by ignoring the law. Brian figures out that without the extention, we could really give ourselves more than 60 days.

Alder Bidar-Sielaff says that the extension makes a statement that we want alternatives in place before we make a decision. It's not a good idea to make a policy decision without options especially when the consequences are dire. It puts the fire under us to do something - or decide they make more time. She doesn't want to go ahead with a narrow decision without looking at the broader implications. She supports the motion.

Alder Clear - confused about how many times he has spoken - doesn't speak because it is the third time.

Alder Schumacher speaks - extension doesn't impact the organizations one way or the other. We're not the state legislature, has to follow the law, and we need to separate the policy decisions. Wants to live within the law instead of choosing civil disobedience. Should not violate state law.

Alder Clausius - regrets missing the brown bag. Asks city attorney if they have until December to make payments. City attorney clarifies that they have to pay in July. He doesn't like the extension. Wants to follow City Attorney advice. Thinks the Turner's need to be separated at some point, as it is a totally different legal issue.

Alder Maniaci - under the statutes we are out of time, extension doesn't do anything. We're doing an extension for us not the organizations. Thinks it does a disservice to the organizations and puts us on thin ice. She thinks even if they don't approve the motion they will get the information any ways.

Alder Bidar-Sielaff - says if both parties agree to the extension, who would not allow the agree? The State. This is all about risk management, but usually when two parties agree the court isn't going to not allow the agreement. What is the legal risk?

Attorney May says they have to pay the taxes regardless. Then he points to the statute. Is willing to enter into the agreement. We're in murkier waters. They will do their best to agree to it and stick to the agreement.

Alder Bidar-Sielaff points that the other side is taking the risk and they are willing to do that. But there is no additional legal risk to us?

Attorney May agrees, the legal risk is on the other parties. Even if we agree to it, who knows what the courts will do.

Alder Solomon - urges to vote for the extension. At least we'll be acting with full information and we will be able to move forward with full knowledge of the implications of our decision.

Alder Kerr - double check to make sure the other parties all agree to the 60 day extension. Attorney May says that the city attorney is directed to do that and will offer it to them.

Mayor - 10:25, another half hour to hour before us and will not do his state of the city address. It will be on line tomorrow morning and you can all read it.

You can do what is proposed and it will be referred, but he wants to give the council some ideas that should give them pause. He says we're not sure they are on solid legal footing. Only two reasons to refer one is that you hope the city attorney will come up with new ideas, but he is not going to come up with any other ideas and change his mind in the next 60 days. He thinks city attorney is good city attorney, just took and oath to follow the law, its "outrageous" that you would consider voting against the city attorney on this. If city attorney isn't going to change his mind, then you must be hoping for another way out. He says there is no way out - anything you come up with now in this environment because it will be construed as tax abatement. One way out of it, would be to offer money to a broader group of non-profits. He says if you enter into a fiscal obligation and the city starts paying, if the state legislature fixes this, we won't be able to stop proving that financial assistance. Furthermore, we don't have the money to do any of this, even if we could. Puts focus in wrong place. Shouldn't be with city attorney or assessor, they are just doing their job. If you refer we will be spending time locally instead of where the focus should be, which is with the legislature.

City Attorney restate the motion: 52, 53 & 54 referred to common council meeting in 60 days and for city attorney to grant 60 day extension and Community Development should come up with solutions.

Roll Call
AYE: Skidmore, Solomon, Verveer, Bidar-Sielaff, Compton, Eagon, Kerr, King, Palm, Rhodes-Conway, Rummel, Schmidt, Cnare
NO (i.e. Mayor's rubber stamps): Schumacher, Bruer, Clausius, Clear, Sanborn (ok, not a rubber stamp, he has principled reasons for doing it) and Maniaci.

Both Cnare and Maniaci passed the first time and did not vote. Alder Pham-Remmele left the council meeting (good gossip behind this one! see below)

RECESS
Then, the moved a 10 minute recess. Which was 15 minutes. Bruer takes the chair again . . . he's been in the chair almost the whole evening.

There were speakers on 53 and 54 who seem o have gone home. He asked if hey could still speak. City Attorney says that they have acted on the items and they can't speak. NO FREAKING WAY!! If people were there to speak, they should have been able to speak before they voted.

CITIZEN APPOINTMENTS/10 YEAR RULE
Alder Rhodes-Conway wanted to refer the citizen appointments back to the Mayor's office which would have no dealay. She explained that she was on the subcommittee that came up with the new ordinances affecting terms and term limited. The recommendations were adopted by CCOC and the Common Council. We voted to standardize terms to a length of three years - staggered so everyone was not up at the same time. We recommended a law to standardize the informal rule - we thought it should be a written policy and it should be clear. We recommended 12 years instead of 10 - so people didn't time-out in the middle of a term to which they were just appointed. Those recommendations were passed into ordinance. She communicated this to the Mayor and has not heard back from him on it. She wants to send it back to have the Mayor reconsider his recommendations in view of the law we passed.

Bert Zipperer spoke on the matter. 20 years ago first elected and been involved on city committees since then. Served on alot of committee because Mayor kept changing his committees. Thinks the limit should apply to everyone - alders included. Pointed out that there are frequently vacancies. Uses EOC as an example. 3 people have 10 years or more (if Megin reappointed), 3 people have 4 - 6 years and the rest, half have less. 4 have been there less than a year. Affirmative Action has 11 members, and 2 years have 10 years or more, he holds up chart pointing out that 5 people are new, that there are three vacancies. Thinks they need to get deeper and think about if you want people who say yes or are compliant, or do you want people who have experience and expertise.

Mayor Dave speaks. Did read email from Rhodes-Conway but didn't respond. Says informal 10 year rule that goes back to, no one knows, but he thinks it is Soglin that and he has followed it more than not. But it isn't always followed. Doesn't think it is a bad idea. Wants fresh blood, new ideas and doesn't want people to get a sense that they own these seats. People who are appointed answer to the people who are elected. But the mayor does get to appoint the majority of people who reflect his point of view and then diversity after that is good. Council has a 12 year ordinance, even that isn't hard and fast, can still do it with a 2/3 vote. It might be his fault for making the 10 year rule an issue. He's struggling to find a way to put this that doesn't sound arrogant or overbearing. But its a fact, the mayor can appoint anyone for anytime for any reason. There isn't a guarantee that people will get 10 or 12 years. So, the truth is, these folks would come off whether or not there was a 10 year rule. You will get the same appointments back.

Alder Bruer asks if the mayor intends to apply this rule consistently. He says as a general rule it is a good idea, but he thinks there are extraordinary reasons to keep people on.

Voice vote - no's have it.

ALDER APPOINTMENTS
There is a substitute. Passes on a voice vote. (Good back story here.)
The changes to committee appointments were that they added the Board of Estimates seats, the Mayor removed some appointments he didn't have the authority to make and Alder Thuy Pham-Remmele resigned from Commission on People with Disabilities and Alder Clear was appointed in her place. (See gossip below)

ITEM 35
Several people were going to be there to speak, but he just wanted to say that people appreciated respecting veterans and fixing the spelling of the gentleman's name.

They adjourned after 4.5 hours.

GOSSIP
Apparently, Alder Thuy Pham-Remmele was not happy with her committee appointments, which was why item 20 was pulled from the agenda. Apparently, she was going to make a big stink and then resign. Someone talked her out of it and instead, she just left the meeting.

Also, I just want to point out that when the Mayor has disagreements with the boys, he usually twists arms behind the scenes, cuts deals and tries to keep it out of the public eye. When Alder Rhodes-Conway disagreed with him, he ignores her email and addresses the council directly. Interesting. Read more!

Mayor's State of the City

Do you see yourself being helped by what he lays out in his "speech"? Does this sound like the direction you want your city moving in? Are there things left out of his speech that you think should be worked on? I have several thoughts - which I will likely share tomorrow.

State of the City
April, 2009
By Mayor Dave Cieslewicz

The state of the City in 2009 is all about the economy. For the hundreds of Madisonians who have lost their jobs in the last year, the fact that we are doing better than the rest of the nation means little. Madison by no means is immune to economic recession. Just last week, Madison Dairy announced they would close, laying off 120 employees. Circuit City, Cub Foods, EMD Chemicals, Erdman Company, Famous Footwear, GE Healthcare, Henshue Construction, Sitel Corporation, Sub-Zero-Wolf have all suffered layoffs in recent months. For those in these industries and others who remain employed but face uncertain job prospects, the future may look precarious. And for those of us with relatively stable jobs – especially in government – we should be grateful for that stability and remind ourselves to work harder and more efficiently to speed the recovery for those who are unemployed.

So the economy needs to be our focus, and it will be the central theme of this year’s address, but it is also important to continue to make progress on the goals we established last year which remain intact today:

• We will make sure that our City is well run, and basic services are excellent.

• We will make sure that our City is safe.

• We will work with our public schools to keep them some of the best in the nation.

• We will continue to be a leader in green efficiency.

• We will be welcoming, accessible and connected to an increasingly interdependent world.

• We will build a great City.

• And we will strive to be both progressive and pro-business.

And it’s this last goal that needs to be our first priority in the current environment. The bulk of today’s address will focus on economic development, but let me first give a quick report on the progress we are making on our other goals.

In the area of basic services, this year we completed the first comprehensive customer satisfaction survey in a decade. We measured our customers’ satisfaction on 15 city services and found good levels of satisfaction on almost all. Now, we’ll continue to track results annually so that we can mark our progress compared to previous years and address problems when they arise. This year we will also measure the health of over 70 neighborhoods all across the City through the Neighborhood Indicators Program. This will allow us to deploy resources intelligently and early when we see signs of stress. We will continue successful programs to help administer excellent basic services. Our “Report a Problem” function receives hundreds of messages each month that our staff can respond to quickly and efficiently. The City is also moving forward on efforts to rebuild aging city streets through a 5-year initiative to significantly improve the quality of Madison’s key arterial streets, reducing by two-thirds the miles of street that are sub-standard. This year, we’ll start or continue major projects on University Avenue, East Washington Avenue and many other streets. Finally, we’ll continue using Madison Measures, our battery of about 100 indicators of on-the-ground performance to link to our budget priorities for 2010.

In the area of public safety, we continue to develop new and effective means of improving our safety and quality of life. I am happy to report that thanks to excellent police work and the cooperative approach launched by the Madison Police Department to address burglaries throughout our community, we have realized a 51% decrease in burglaries in the first quarter of 2009 compared to 2008. In 2008, we completed a landmark police staffing study and next year, we will implement a new data-driven patrol-staffing plan that deploys our resources in a smarter, more efficient way. The revamped federal COPS program as part of the federal stimulus also gives us the opportunity to hire new officers at little cost to the City for their first three years on the job. Working closely with Chief Noble Wray and his command staff, along with Council leadership, we have submitted an application for 20 new officers to be hired over the next three years. Combined with the new analysts authorized in the 2009 budget, these new officers will allow us to enhance our problem-solving capacity and focus on preventive public safety initiatives. Also later this year, we will open Fire Station 12 on the far west side, and we are preparing to deploy the City's eighth ambulance. I am pleased to note that under the leadership of Chief Debra Amesqua, the Madison Fire Department was successful in securing a highly competitive federal SAFER grant, which provides $1.9 million in funding over five years to help us hire and train the firefighters necessary to continue the excellent fire protection and medical services provided by the Department.

We recognize that public safety requires more than police and fire service alone - it requires a communitywide approach focused on neighborhoods and discrete problems. For the first time in many decades, there is no single neighborhood clearly identifiable as the most challenging in the City. Calls for police service on Allied Drive are down 53% from their peak in 2006 and new homes are starting to be built there. In strong partnership with the Madison Metropolitan School District and Madison Schools and Community Recreation, we launched a pilot neighborhood center in the Meadowridge Mall on the southwest side. Early reviews of the center indicate that neighbors of all ages are taking advantage of the programming and - as a result - problems in and around the mall are declining. The long-term problems at Brittingham Park have practically ceased thanks to a comprehensive list of interventions first put in place early last year. Our new Neighborhood Indicators Program serves as an early warning mechanism that monitors the health of our neighborhoods with a goal that there will never be another neighborhood in crisis. As part of this problem-solving approach, I have refocused the work of our Neighborhood Resource Teams and asked each team to identify specific problems and develop comprehensive interventions to alleviate them.

This year, we continue our collaborative approaches to address alcohol-related crime and general disorder. Our Alcohol License Review Committee is more rigorously evaluating applications and holding license holders accountable. We are partnering with Dane County and communities throughout the state in our lobbying efforts related to enhancing the penalties for drunk driving and increasing the state's beer tax to help fund prevention programs. Thanks to the great work by police Captain Joe Balles and Nan Cnare from the United Way, we have developed an empirical mechanism for addressing the most chronic offenders in our community. We have asked Rep. Tammy Baldwin to help us secure federal funds for a national demonstration program to work intensively with the small number of high cost offenders. The first annual review of the downtown Alcohol License Density Plan shows a 5% reduction in alcohol related calls for service without the feared displacement of problems or negative impact on our vibrant nightlife. Thanks to the leadership of Susan Schmitz and Downtown Madison, Inc., a broad group of stakeholders has formed the Downtown Hospitality Council to ensure that our downtown economy is safe, fun and profitable. Our Chronic Nuisance Ordinance continues to be extremely helpful in our efforts to keep our neighborhoods safe by holding property owners accountable. Finally, in partnership with Smart Growth Greater Madison, my office is putting together a local Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) training conference to help us build prevention into our environment. Several current CPTED analyses are already underway, focusing on Peace Park and Metro's South Transfer Point.

In the area of public schools, all of us continue to be impressed by our new school superintendent Dan Nerad. The School Board members made a great choice when they selected Dan. He's everywhere in our community, and he is really listening to everyone. Recently, Dan suggested that we attend each other's management team meetings several times a year. This gives us each an opportunity to better understand the challenges and opportunities each organization faces. Further evidence of this growing partnership is the City's continuing involvement in the District's strategic planning process, which is currently underway. Because housing policy and schools are so closely tied, I recently appointed School Board member Marj Passman to the City's new committee looking at long-term affordable housing strategies. For the same reason, the City has added a non-voting seat to its Plan Commission for the District, to ensure that we are growing and redeveloping with the needs of our children in mind. There's nothing more important to the future of our City than its public schools. My job is to work cooperatively with the School Board and the Superintendent, while respecting their autonomy in leading our great schools.
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In the area of green efficiency, Madison continues to be a leader in incorporating green thinking into everything we do. Our Natural Step process for managing city government has gained recognition literally all over the world. We lead the nation in recycling with a diversion rate of 59%, and now it’s time to take the next step. We’re exploring the recycling of compostable materials and we may have a system ready to go in about two years. Jeanne Hoffman and our Office of Sustainability continue to work hard to make sure city government leads by example in reducing our carbon footprint. Lake management is always at the top of our concerns. Recently, the Department of Natural Resources took steps to better manage the flow of water through the Yahara chain of lakes, lessening the risk of flooding. But lower lake levels at proper times of the year would lead to stronger, healthier wetlands, a greater variety of plants and animals and cleaner, clearer water. We will continue to work with all of the stakeholders toward that goal. Finally, the recently adopted goals for the Northeast Neighborhoods put them on the map as one of the largest areas in the nation to be developed using a comprehensive set of environmentally friendly initiatives.

In the area of being welcoming, accessible and connected to the world, the Department of Civil Rights maintains its good work under Lucia Nunez by encouraging diversity on committees, commissions and boards, as well as in the workplace. The Department of Civil Rights continues to work to increase access for people with disabilities to public meetings through the use of DeafLink, a sign language interpreter service. DCR staff is working with Madison employers through the EOC Employment Committee to understand the rights of employees and responsibilities of employers. And DCR staff is closely working with targeted businesses to attain certification and work on City projects. We are also working to strengthen our Sister Cities program by showing progress in building business ties as well as cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

In the area of building a great city, Madison continues to move forward even in times of recession with major projects moving ahead like the Institutes for Discovery and Union South on the UW campus, Allied Drive housing, the Villager Mall and others. More on this when we talk about economic development.

And this brings me to my main focus today: the economy. First, let’s be clear about the dimensions of the problem locally. Our unemployment rate is 5.0%, much lower than the state rate of 8.8% or the national rate of 8.9%, but still substantially higher than a year ago when it was 3.5% or at any time in recent history since at least 1990. For the first time in decades, residential property values in Madison fell in 2008. Another measure of economic activity, building permit revenues for the City, are down 16% from this time last year. The number of building permits issued was down to 183 for 2008 compared to the 1,039 that were issued during the building boom of 2002. Based on first quarter earnings, the projected income from our investments of city revenues may be as little as half of last year's earnings.

So Madison is not immune to the recession, but there are some bright spots. Just last week, Money Magazine rated Madison the number two place in the country to find a job. And, we are making progress on several initiatives to foster economic development. But we need to do more.

Here are six basic themes and specific initiatives for us to focus on this year.


1. Make City Government More Business Friendly

We continue to work to make city government more business friendly through new initiatives, collaboration and continuing partnerships.

• As we respond to economic challenges, we are not starting from scratch. Over the past years, we’ve been prudent in our economic development planning. Back in 2004, we created a blueprint for the City's long-term economic development: The Healthy City. In it, we identified many of the opportunities and industries from which we are best positioned to benefit. We also have an Economic Development Implementation Plan, completed in August of 2008. Following that plan, we will have annual economic development work plans.

• These plans do not sit on the shelf – this year, we are implementing business retention software and continuing the process of modernizing our zoning code. The Zoning Code Modernization project is one of the most significant steps we as a city are taking to encourage economic development.

• For the first time in the City’s history we have an economic development director. His name is Tim Cooley. Tim is already doing a great job connecting city government to the business community, both large and small. He has regular, frequent and direct access to me.

• We created a virtual one-stop shop to help businesses, developers and homeowners work their way through the permits and approvals needed to build or improve their homes and businesses. A physical one-stop-shop is on its way.

• Next month, the City, together with the Chamber of Commerce and others, will hold the third Madison Small Business Conference, focusing this time on some of the challenges small businesses face in the current economy.

• This month, we worked with the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce and the Small Business Advisory Council to launch a Roadworks website and a Small Business Construction Survival Guide – a set of best practices aimed at helping businesses survive and even prosper through the necessary disruption of major road repair projects. This is exactly the type of collaboration we need to continue.

• Last month, the Council passed a new tax incremental financing policy that now emphasizes job creation.


2. Grow Our High Tech Industries in Partnership With the UW

Dane County’s economic engine is the University of Wisconsin. Ideas hatched by UW researchers are often developed into products at the UW Research Park and then grown into full-fledged businesses.

• Last month, the Council voted at my urging to create the BioAg Gateway on the City’s far southeast side. We have applied for and expect to receive over $4 million from the Federal government to begin work on the BioLink incubator facility, which will be one of only a handful of centers like it in North America, linking our agriculture industry with researchers and entrepreneurs to bring new products to market. This is one of the seeds that will help grow our economy in the long-term.

• We need to work with the University Research Park to get Research Park II up and running on the far west side. We are making progress on the roadwork needed in that area to make the project a success.

3. Compete as a Region; Cooperate at Home

Increasingly we understand that Madison is competing not so much with our suburbs but with other regions. We need to pull together as a region and market ourselves to the world.

• Recognizing that economic development, like many other issues in our community, is not limited to municipal boundaries, the City has been an early and continued supporter of the Collaboration Council and its economic development organization: Thrive.

• We need to create a regional transit authority to help us improve our bus system, rebuild our streets and maybe, if we can get approval for Federal cost sharing, build a commuter rail system.

• We are working with our Federal representatives and with the City of Milwaukee to bring high-speed intercity rail back to Madison. The President recently announced a new five-year program to expand high-speed rail. I think we are very likely to see high-speed rail here in the next five years. We need to get to work on siting a station or stations in the city.

4. Build Our Image as an Arts, Tourism, & Convening Center

Madison has a well-deserved image as a place of ideas – some of them even unusual ideas. We should embrace our creativity – and our quirkiness. It’s who we are, and it’s an important asset that draws people to us.

• We are working with hotel developers to help meet the need for several hundred new hotel rooms that will bolster our tourism and convention industries and make Monona Terrace an even greater success.

• We should recognize that the arts play an important role in our economy. The Art Fairs On and Off the Square and the Wisconsin Film Festival and the Madison Book Festival draw thousands to our community. The Overture Center has played an important role in the revitalization of the downtown. While the Council and I have made it clear that the City will not participate in resolving Overture’s remaining construction debt, we should be at the table to ensure Overture’s long-term success after that issue is resolved. I know that the recession and the strain of growing into Overture have hit some of its resident groups hard. I lament the loss of the Repertory Theatre, and I hope it can return some day. I hope that the Chamber Orchestra can resolve its remaining issues with its union and play the much-loved Concerts on the Square this summer. And we will move forward on a first-ever cultural plan for our City.

• We will work with Commonwealth Development on the conversion of the Garver Feed Mill to an arts incubator and other uses.

5. Build On Our Natural & Neighborhood Assets

Our lakes define the City geographically and foster an environmental ethic that has nurtured John Muir, Aldo Leopold and Gaylord Nelson. Our neighborhoods are the strength or our City. We should build our economy on our unique places.

• We need to recognize that our lakes are important natural and economic assets. I strongly support the County Executive’s efforts to create a manure digester north of Lake Mendota – probably the single most important thing we can do to improve our lakes. We will also maintain a partnership we began with the county last year to step up cleaning our shorelines.

• Last month, the Council approved goals for what could make the Northeast Neighborhoods a national model for environmentally friendly developments.

• We should continue the exciting developments in the East Washington-Capital Gateway Corridor, including the urban research park that the UW is developing there, the new Google office and the new Central Park. We are exploring a new location for the massive Metro bus storage facility that is probably not a good long-term use for its current location in the corridor. We are also in the process of contracting for project management services to move the important work of that corridor forward.

• Last month, the City joined numerous community groups to break ground on new facilities at the Villager on South Park Street, including the Urban League Center for Economic Development and Workforce Training. And late last year, we broke ground on new rental units on Allied Drive, putting several Allied residents to work on the redevelopment through a new apprenticeship program.

• We need to continue the renaissance of the Villager Mall on south Park Street and move forward with an exciting new proposal for the old Bancroft Dairy on Park and Fish Hatchery. And the Meriter and St. Mary’s hospital expansions along Park Street are tremendously important to our local economy as health care will continue to be a growing part of our economy.

• Three conspicuous, cleared properties dot our landscape: Union Corners on the east side, the St. Raphael’s block downtown and phase II of the Hilldale development on the west side. In each case we need to work with the owners to develop them just as soon as is practical. But we should not settle for second-rate projects at any of these sites. It would be a tragedy if we allowed our vision to slip, creating inferior projects for a generation because of a short-term economic downturn.

• We should move ahead with a new Central Library. Tripp Widder’s work as president of the Library Board, the Library Foundation and Chair of the Central Library Disposal Surplus Property Criteria and Selection Committee has been exemplary. I will wait for his committee’s recommendations on a new Central Library this summer. While rehabbing the existing building is a tempting alternative, let’s not rule out a more aggressive solution that would add value to the City in both tangible and intangible ways.

• We should continue the development of the Public Market concept to build the connection between Madisonians and the rich and healthy local foods that are available in our region.

• The Stoughton Road Revitalization Plan is an effort commendable for its process as much as for its product. This public planning process has been lauded by Neighborhoods USA and the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Planning Association. Residents from 8 area neighborhoods, area businesses, elected officials and City staff worked hard to create a plan for an interconnected environment linking residents with neighborhood businesses and services through a multimodal transportation network. The plan helps give the Stoughton Road Corridor a sense of place through land use recommendations, building placement, streets, landscaping, site planning and public art, making this gateway to the City of Madison both attractive, and reflective of the bright future this area holds for our community's economic development.

• The Downtown Plan project seeks to both honor the distinct characteristics of our downtown, while also preparing this area for the next chapter in its evolution, as it fulfills a wide variety of roles: residential, governmental, cultural, business, recreational and educational. Also, the plan will continue to further the discussion on transportation options in the downtown area. The process for this planning effort has also endeavored to be open and interactive, including a storefront studio where the public can get and provide information. Final recommendations will be coming in the next few months.

6. Demonstrate That We Can Be Progressive and Pro-Business

Madison wants to be a City where there is a place for everyone who wants to contribute positively to the life of the community. So, our economic development strategies need to include everyone from high tech entrepreneurs to line workers.


• We are hard at work trying to maximize and to deploy as rapidly as possible the Federal stimulus money that will come to our community. We believe we could secure from $18 to $25 million dollars in stimulus funding. My goals here are to create good jobs, help those in need, and engage those resources in a transformative recovery that makes our economy stronger.

• We should remember that bicycles are not just toys. The bike industry brings in $1 billion to the Wisconsin economy – four times more than snowmobiles. And Madison is the center of much of it. Trek, Syrus, Planet Bike, Pacific Cycle and other companies employ hundreds. We should build on our already strong reputation to make Madison the center of the bike universe. We are working hard with the Chicago Olympic Committee to land some of the 2016 summer games biking events right here in Madison.

• We need to be especially aware of the challenges faced by low-income residents and the organizations that serve low-income populations. We’ll continue our lobbying efforts at the State Capitol to repair state statutes to provide tax-exemption status for low-income housing providers.

• We also need to work to take our affordable housing efforts in new directions. We worked hard to make inclusionary zoning a success, but I had to admit finally that it didn’t work. I still believe in the goal of providing a range of good quality housing for people of every income level all over our City and in the surrounding region. We now need to rededicate ourselves to that goal and work toward better solutions. To that end, I’ve created a new committee that will explore affordable housing strategies. And, work has already begun on joining our City’s housing authority with Dane County – because affordable housing should be a goal not just in Madison, but throughout the region.

• The federal American Reinvestment and Recovery Act creates new opportunities to weatherize our own buildings and the homes of low-income residents. We need to maximize this opportunity to create good paying entry-level jobs and to lower the energy bills of families who need it badly.

These initiatives are not all we need to do. Other needs and new ideas will no doubt surface as we go through the year.

Finally, a word about leadership in our City. I have already developed a good working relationship with new UW Chancellor Biddy Martin. Dan Nerad is doing an exceptional job at the Madison Public Schools. I am pleased that Dane County voters returned Kathleen Falk to the County Executive’s office so that we can continue the best working relationship between the City and County in a generation. Mark Bugher and Jennifer Alexander are two of the most progressive business leaders in the state. Madison legislators Sen. Mark Miller and Rep. Mark Pocan are co-chairs of the powerful Joint Finance Committee. Madisonians Gary Wolter and Alan Fish have headed up the State Office of Recovery and Reinvestment. Our important Economic Development Commission is under the strong leadership of Doug Nelson.

Most importantly from my perspective, the Madison City Council has remained focused and has resisted falling into divisive camps thanks in part to the leadership of Council President Tim Bruer and Pro Tem Mark Clear. Internally, for more than three decades, we have benefited from the leadership of City Engineer Larry Nelson. Larry is now preparing to leave city government and when he does, he will leave a gaping hole and an enduring legacy. Larry likes to say that no one is indispensable, but when he leaves, he will test that theory. For all you’ve done for Madison, thank you Larry.

Our City along with the rest of our nation faces the most serious challenges in decades. But I believe we have strong leadership in place at every level to help us get through this.

This is a time when many communities are wondering which way to turn. But Madison’s response to the current economic situation should be clear. Our answer – Madison’s answer – is to be bold, to invest, to move forward, to find all the possibilities in the moment. Where others can only see bad news, we should recognize opportunities.

And we cannot forget our goal of a transformative recovery. We cannot afford to recover back to an economy based on so many unsustainable foundations. Instead, we must recognize our opportunity to build a new economy. If the old economy was based on consumption; the new economy should be based on production. If the old economy was based on spending beyond our means; the new economy should be based on savings. If the old economy was based on over reliance on fossil fuels; the new economy should be based on environmental sustainability. If the old economy left too many of us out of health care and educational opportunity; the new economy should improve the health and education of everyone.

There has been a great deal of emphasis on basic services in the last two years, and that is appropriate. I believe it is important for city government to step back for awhile and reestablish that it cares about the basics. But once the understanding is established that city government will first take care of basic services and not waiver from that commitment, then I think it is possible to go beyond just the basics to do things that create a really great city.

A solid, consistent, and permanent commitment to getting the basics right will form the foundation for doing those other things that feed the civic soul. So, we will continue to add more police officers and build fire stations and add ambulances and repair streets. But a city is more than a low crime rate and fewer potholes.

A good city is measured by the opportunities it gives to those who can’t find opportunity elsewhere. It is measured by the quality of its architecture and the creativity of its people. It is measured by how well it tolerates dissent and how much it celebrates diversity. In a good city, factory workers, artists, students, teachers, entrepreneurs, homemakers, seniors and children should all feel at home; all feel that they have something to contribute and that the city has something to give back. A good city, like an interesting person, is complex and sometimes inconsistent but always fascinating.

So, this City Council and I should not want to be remembered just for getting the basics right. Let’s be remembered for doing that, but not stopping there. This economy is certainly bad, but the state of our City is good. And with some vision for the future and by working together, we will not just recover our economy; we’ll recreate our City as a place that defines what it means to be both progressive and pro-business.

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