This Side of Town is Moving . . .

No worries, it will still be This Side of Town, it will just be be at . . .Forward Lookout. (That means if you want to see my new posts, click .here. When you get there, you can always find me by clicking on the "This Side of Town" tab, or go to "All" and you will see people who guest blogger and other bloggers as well.) We're hoping to have a collaborative space so that people who have something to blog, but don't want to make the commitment to a blog of their own can have a place to post their work and to consolidate a few of the local blogs so you can find them all in one location. At the moment, its just Lukas and I, but we've got a couple other folks we're asking to join us and we'd really like to have it be a community space.

I also finally caved in to the advertising, cuz, well, I'm buying a new Mac computer (oh, that is so painful to say), and need to buy software and want a video camera of my own, and a better camera and . . . and . . . and . . . and a few pennies to help the cause will be good.

Hopefully everything goes well in the transition and you won't notice much of a difference, its a different look, a new url, but the same info. If you want to follow along you can follow me on twitter, or friend me on facebook. Forward Lookout also has its own Facebook page where you can become a fan!

Let us know if you have ideas about how to make this site better and if you're interesting in blogging from time to time, cuz we're looking for collaborators. Read more!

For fun . . .

Some Grasshopper love . . .

My first music footage I'm ready to share . . . the grannies weren't my footage, just my editing. Special thanks to Robert and Eric for all the patience they have had while they teach me how to do this! If you like it, check out the Grasshoppers and donate to WYOU. Without the station, I wouldn't be able to do this. Their cameras, staff, computers and software made it possible. Read more!

Lazy Day Off Round Up

I slept in today, til 8:30, and with no deadline to be done, I'm slow this morning, or maybe it was the guinness' at Mr. Roberts last night with a dash of Electric Spanking and Yokanizu that are slowing me down. Probably both.

ROB'S LINK
I gotta agree with him on this one!

I always though that Ozzy was a little scary but this is awesome.

MERITERS' COMMITMENT TO EMPLOYEE HOUSING
$80,000, that's all they got? Don't get me wrong, a free $10K is a good deal, but, um, seems like its not going to change much, is there more to their plans?

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY
Still talking about the Edgewater and the Library. Good perspective.

NOW THAT COULD HAVE BEEN FUN!
I'd have paid to see the Mayor and County Exec and their lobbyist buddies skateboarding around Europe instead of biking!

ANOTHER RECAP OF HIGH SPEED RAIL MEETING
Some good descriptions of the meeting in here.

DUELING DAVES
This has apparently become a battle of who cares about the taxpayers more.

Here's another late addition to the weekly schedule this week:
Meeting: COMMON COUNCIL DISCUSSION-BROWN BAG LUNCHEON REGARDING CHANGE IN COLLECTING PROPERTY TAX INSTALLMENTS
Date: 5/28/2010 12:30 PM
Location: ROOM 260 MMB

Heavy mayoral lobbying sure to be going on there. Looks like he's dug his heels in and is not backing off of this one.

MASEL GAVE TAXPAYERS A GOOD DEAL
At least Barry Orton thinks so. I happen to agree. But I bet the police training isn't going on.

KINDA EARLY TO DECIDE THIS, ISN'T IT?
I got in to law school from the waiting list about two weeks before school started.

HERE'S YOUR "FRIDAY" NEWS
Anyone believe that the timing of this had nothing to do the the Edgewater.

BUH-BYE!
See ya T!

PUBLIC MARKET
This seems like a no-brainer, did we really need to hire a consultant for that?

MADISON'S OWN AIL SLICK
Hmmm, is this really breaking news? I'm curious how big this "oil slick" is . . .

THIS IS RIDICULOUS
70 people, 13% of contributions. Wow, makes you wonder what they want to make this kind of investment. I see Bob Dunn made the list.

MONTHLY WATER BILLING

The Madison Water Utility has taken the first steps toward a system upgrade that will enable customer meters to be read via a fixed-base radio network and will eventually allow the utility to issue bills monthly rather than at the current six-month intervals.

This should make it easier for customers to budget for the municipal services bill, which includes not only water usage but also charges for the City storm water utility, sewer utility, public fire protection, and landfill remediation.

Beginning early in 2011, the utility will begin contacting customers to arrange appointments for workers to install the necessary meter modifications. Meters are located within customer homes, usually in the basement, although the registers currently read by meter readers are attached to the outside of houses.

When the new electronic meter reading system is fully operational, likely in 2013, customers will be able to review their water use online through their home computers and be able to see the savings from early leak detection and their conservation efforts.

GOOD WORKSHOP!
I might try to make this one.

You are invited to join us on June 15th for an afternoon workshop focused on the findings and recommendations of two Dane County Task Forces, the Dane County Task Force on Poverty and the Dane County Task Force on Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System. The workshop will provide participants the opportunity to hear from co-chairs of those Task Forces and to engage in conversation about advocacy opportunities related to the report recommendations. The workshop will be held at Grace Episcopal Church from 1-4 p.m. on Tuesday June 15th.

At 5:30 p.m. that evening we will hold our Annual Meeting. There will be a spaghetti dinner at 6:00. The Annual Meeting will include a celebration of the work of two of our staff who have supported MUM’s ministry in the community. Associate Director Everett Mitchell, newly graduated law school student and attorney has accepted an Assistant District Attorney position in Dane County, and our Book Keeper George Anderson is retiring after eight years of service to MUM and our incubator organizations. At 6:45 we will have a program “How Will MUM and People of Faith Organize Around the Recommendations form the Task Forces?”

Both events will be held at Grace Episcopal Church, 116 W. Washington Ave., Madison. Parking vouchers will be available on a first come/register/ basis for the afternoon workshop.

Cost for the workshop is $5.00. Cost for the Annual Meeting only is $10.00 or $15.00 for the workshop and Annual Meeting.

We hope you will join us for the workshop and Annual Meeting. If you have a listserve or newsletter we’d greatly appreciate it if you would share this information.

Linda Ketcham Linda Newman Azure Fudge-Hart
Executive Director Board President Vice President

DIALOGUES ON HOMELESSNESS
THE MADISON HOMELESSNESS INITIATIVE
Regrets the need to announce the cancelation of the final session of the third season of, Dialogues on Homelessness – Nurturing Our Capacity for Change, which was scheduled to be held at the Madison Central Library on June 5th.

The opening of the coming season will be on,
Oct. 9th
1:30-3:30pm
Madison Public Library
201 W. Mifflin. St.

Meanwhile, practice compassion and greet your neighbor well, as we share this destiny of time and place and the opportunity to enhance each other’s life.

To volunteer with, or donate to the Madison Homelessness Initiative, please contact Donna, dcassociated@gmail.com
Read more!

High Speed Rail Meeting a.k.a. Madisonians Behaving Badly

I really believe there is something in that east side water that doesn't belong there. Well, that's not fair, there were people there from all over Dane County, and all the bad behavior didn't come from Madisonians.

I couldn't do my usual thorough summary on this meeting from Tuesday night cuz, well, they just kept saying the same things over and over and over and over and it amounted to "we don't know, there will be a process" to which the response was the equivalent of "there was no process to pick the station, why should we trust you." I don't know who didn't see that coming, and no matter how many times they said, "there was a process 5 years ago", no one was buying it. That about sums up the meeting, here's a few other nuggets of information or points of interest.

GETTING STARTED
The two presenters from the DOT were John Oimoen, High Speed Passenger Rail Program & Paul Trombino, Division Operations Director. [ooops, and Chris Klein, don't know how I missed that.]

Rummel did a welcome, introduced the mayor and city staff, indicated it was supposed to be a neighborhood meeting, the public process will come later, this is the first meeting. Intent is to let people who live along the rail ask questions.

Mayor says he started working on high speed rail 10 years ago, this is exciting, it will put us on the map, baby boomers will have other options, it will "mix people up", it will help exchange ideas and products and services and new products will be invented. Too early to answer questions about how high the fence is and what color it will be, there will be a public proess preview and opportunity to get questions and comments so as go forward on public participation process, thanks and compliments Rummel for setting it up so early.

There is a letter from the SASY Council and a map of the crossings, but they ran out of them.

PRESENTATION
Here's the powerpoint.

Highlights are
- Eventually you will be able to connect throughout the midwest, including cities like St. Louis, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Detroit, Chicago and Minneapolis/St. Paul - 9 states.
- This will be 110mph speed service
- They will share the corridors with freight
- Prices will be competitive with air cuz you can get downtown
- They are doing a Madison to Minneapolis environmental study, a joint project of WISDOT and Minnesota Dept of Transportation. They are looking at which corridors they will use, they are looking at routes and alternatives, will pair down routes to alternatives, likely 3, there will be a lot of public involvement in the next 12 months
- The $810M in federal money includes stations for Madison, Brookfield, Oconomowoc and Watertown.
- They did a lot of work in 2001 to look at station alternatives, did an environmental assessment, proposed station locations, got their public hearings done, and had 6 alternatives for Madison.
- 3 alteratives were chosen for further analysis for Madison, the airport, Pennsylvania Ave and downtown Monona Terrace, the others were eliminated.
- Applied for funding in October 2009, projects had to be shovel ready.
- The did a feasibility study of the Madison stations, they went back to their previous work, updated it for current conditions, also added Yahara Station at First St and they chose Monona Terrace because it best meets the evaluation criteria. It was a re-validation of the environmental process.
- They still have to complete the preliminary and final engineering report, environmental document for the stations needs to be done, have grant agreement to start work on the station and will begin drafting work for the corridor design.
- There will be a public involvement process for corridor and station – workshops will be soon, starts in June, they will work with the alder and city, there will be public info meetings as well, and a public hearing.
- They want the draft document approved in 2011.
- This summer they will look at specific station it will be at 1 W Wilson or the DOR building.
- The corridor process will look at concerns about noise and vibration issues, corridor management plan, will do outreach to property owners.
- There will be a labor and business advisory committee to work with small and local businesses.
- There will be a stakeholder committee to look at mitigation options, come up with a corridor management plan, landscaping, fencing, signal and crossing devices – there will be public info meetings on a frequent basis.
- 2013 is the goal.
- There will be 6 daily round trips Milwaukee to Madison.
- It will be a 110 mph service by 2016, originally it will only travel at 79 miles per hour.
- It will take 1 hour 13 minutes to get to Milwaukee with stops, 1 hour 4 minutes express.

QUESTIONS/ANSEWERS AND COMMENTS AND OTHER ITEMS REVEALED BY THE DISCUSSION
Q: Is this a done deal? We'll get it whether we want it or not, and it is funded, right?
A: Yes.

Q: Will the stations be built on to an existing building?
A: That will be part of the public process.

C: They need to deterine if it will be the DOR or 1 W Wilson buidling in the next few weeks. Then they will have renderings to see what it will look like and they will get input then. (i.e. there is a process, you're not really included until after we decide)

Q: Why downtown where more crossings and traffic, John Nolan and Blair is bad enough already and to be multimodal downtown doesn't make sense due to all the traffic and the Isthmus?
A: We wanted to be downtown because there will be more ridership. They also based it on work done in 2000, they used that criteria to decide. Oh, and they are going to study it further. They may need to make improvements to intersections, re-time lights, add left turn lanes, etc to deal with traffic.

Q: Will there be improvements at Blair St?
A: They will study it.

Q: If so, who will pay?
A: There is money in the grant to deal with it.

Q: What three sites did you look at?
A1: They don't answer the question.
A2: They added Yahara Station and Kohl Center. (but they have another answer in a bit)

Q: How is the train powered?
A: They can buy 8 locomotives, they are diesel. The have less emissions, quieter engines, but if not ready to go in 2013, they can use Amtrack engines.

Q: What about air pollution?
A: They have to accommodate emissions under Monona Terrace, they need to study that. Ventilation system needs to be developed.

Q: Will the trains spend the night downtown?
A: No, they will be at the maintenance facility, that they still need to locate.

Q: Will there be engines on both ends?
A: Never answered.

Q: Where will passengers load?
A (3): They need to decide that in the next few weeks. 1 W Wilson was original idea, 2nd is DOA building, those were the only two that they looked at, they don’t have to purchase anything. The state investment board building was mentioned but they don’t own it and not a location they looked at.

Q: Will the train engines run all night?
A: That hasn't been determined yet.

Q: What will happen to property values and will they be compensated?
A: You will be compensated if they have to take your property. But mostly, this will be enhancements to the neighborhood.

Q: Will there be street closings?
A: Originally they looked at Brearly and Livingston, they need to look at that again.

Q: Will there be a fence the whole way?
A: They have to look at that.

Q; What will happen to quality of life if neighborhood is split, there will be more crime, drugs and they will need more police presence, will we get it?
A: No answer.

Q: What happens to our community gardens?
A: No answer, they will answer it later. (Answer is, of course, we don't know.)

Q: Have you looked at what will happen to the livibility of the area?
A: They will sit down with people with concerns and try to mitigate them and try to enhance the community, there are no pre-decisions, the process will decide.

Q: Who will buy our houses if we have to sell? Will you?
A: No answer.

C: Speaker says Milwaukee station is not downtown. The crowd argues about how far it is.

Q: What will be the traffic impacts?
A: They have to study that.

Q: Homeowners live downtown now, not when the study was done. Also housing market has changed. Will you redo the study?
A: No.

C: Rummel asked poor Rob Phillips to talk about the process. He did the best he could to say very little about the DOT process. He said when it is all said and done, not everyone will be pleased, but hopefully some of you will be or you will have a better understanding of the issues, that is what the meetings are about and the process going forward.

C: They said the original announcement was for the airport, that was recommended for trains to the Twin cities, after the announcement, there was tremendous public pressure to say the train should go downtown where the people are. That is when they re-evaluated and threw in the Yahara Station and Kohl Center. They decided the extra riders (60K/yr?) were why.

Q: What about Yahara Station?
A: Yahara was closer to downtown, they hadn't done any preliminary work, they would have to start over on the environmental study, the project would not get done by 2013. They got the money because the project was shovel ready. He says the traffic impacts are not much more and infrastructure is not in place at airport or Yahara Station.

Q: Why did you make the decision without public input?
A: They say that is not true, that 5 year old document was what they got the grant based on, it said if train terminated in Madison Monona Terrace is the choice, so its not a great surprise Monona Terrace was picked.

Q: What will the fence look like where the rail splits?
A: They will meet with property owners and help figure that out. Don't know right now.

Q: How do we get involved in the public process?
A: The public involvement team will be in the community with business cards and contacts. Contact them as frequently as you want, there will be workshops in June, they will update the website and work with the alder and city.

C: A train supporter says that the MPO (Metrpolitan Planning Organization) is responsible for picking a train station and they have to release the money. He says they will have a hearing on June 2. He says he doesn't want to see funds released for downtown station until we know what will be there, will it be an intermodal station. City will have to put money in, grant won't cover it all. 60% of people coming to use the train won't come from Maidson, that is why the airport makes sense with all the parking.

C: Lucy Mathiak said that she is worried about transportation costs for the schools if the kids can't safely walk or bike they will need to pay for buses and this splits several elementary school attendance areas in half. And 3 (or 4?) of the 4 schools are fragile and have been threatened to be closed in the last 4 years (Hawthorne, Schenk, Emerson, Marquette/Lapham) They're moving too fast and have not allowed enough time to study impacts on schools, small businesses and others impacted.

NOTE: Before I go on, its important to note that the sound system at Olbrich sucks, and people need to speak right into the microphone to be heard and several times, a very rude and obnoxious guy yelled from the back of the room to talk into the microphone. So much so, that almost every speaker that got up there asked him if they could hear and he would tell them if they were good enough.

NOTE: I should also note, that there were many developers in the room, as well as an attorney/lobbyist and members of DMI and the Chamber. I don't think any of them lived in the district, and certain not in the affected area. As the mom of one of my friends put it "I didn't expect to see so many suits, I expected to see my neighbors." She left very, very frustrated by the meeting with no answers to things she is interested in, and she lives right on the tracks.

Q: Are quiet zones in jeopardy because of the project?
A1: No.
A2: They will need to look at safety and will work with the city and evaluate as we go forward.

C: The person who asked the question asked them to give them straight answers.

Q: Speaker asks Mayor Dave why we won't protect the quiet zones?
A: Mayor Dave Cieslewicz "wait", we said at beginning of meeting we are coming to you early to frame the questions that you have [funny, do the public's questions need "framing"?], we said we don’t have answers and they outlined a process to get your questions, but your preferences are also important, so when talk we talk about siting or fences, those are open questions, they can’t tell you, they can’t tell you what the fence will look like.

Q: Is the fence a done deal?
A: Mayor says likely

Q: Everywhere?
A: Mayor is clearly exasperated and says it won’t come through the city at 110mph, but at 79mph, he's not sure if everywhere, no one knows, this is an iterative process that will take a year. He please with them for their patience, he heard a lot of conclusions drawn about property taxes, schools (He says, I don't know where that came from in an annoyed tone of voice), sitings, etc. we are getting ahead of ourselves, we want to hear you, this is an iterative process and we will come to conclusions that will ameliorate the issues or get you answers.

C: Same guy still talking that originally asked about the quiet zones, he says he tried to get answers, he found a phone number, called 4 times, message machine not working, then he called Donna Brown at DOT in Milwaukee 4 times, he could leave a message, waited 4 days, not a word, and he told her his questions, they were basic and simple. He then emailed, did get an reply, but no answer, if this is the process we can’t wait a year.

C: Someone says we need to decide in the next 90 days according to the grant.

C: Jerk in the back of the room who is not helping with a tense meeting yells at him to "sit down and shut up".

NOTE: I thought there was going to be a physical altercation as the quiet zones guy went back to confront the "sit down and shut up guy".

NOTE: I know the names of more than a majority of people who spoke and were involved, but I don't know everyone's names so I'm leaving them all out.

C: DOT apologizes for the phone number, will give his number 266-1114 (I think that was Paul) he will answer any question.

Q: What about the quiet zones?
A3: If infrastructure in place, can’t image why we would eliminate it.

Q: Fencing?
A: Don’t know answers to the questions don’t have them cuz we committed we won’t do it til we get public input, no decision on fencing or station design until public input, so no answers. They says they will have the same process they did for the Marquette interchange, they had over 3000 meetings since 1996.

C: Rummel thanks the quiet zone guy for working so hard on these issues.

NOTE: People have largely left as it is apparent there are no answers to the questions they came for.

Q: Will they use the whole right of way or can they keep the plantings they have in the right of way?
A: They will likely use the whole width of the railroad property on both sides of the tracks.

Q: Will there be two high speed rail and one freight track.
A: They have not determined if 2 or 1 track, that is part of the process, there will be a corridor management plan and that will determine the width of the right of way, they will be working with people. If community gardens are encroaching on right of way, they will have to look at it, may be opportunity to use some of that property.

Q/C: More worried about traffic (doesn't live on east side) How will this impact traffic on John Nolen and other places they have to travel around downtown? (Makes snide remark about not caring about the color of the fence.) Will there be groups to talk about permanent crossings and bridges so people can cross and walk freely? If not, leave it on the outskirts of town, no one would go back and put the trains where they are, but we can build bridges and pathways, should be done before more planning goes on.
A: They will do the traffic analysis, will try to mitiage and have efficient movement.

Q: I like trains, he lives close and deals with the noise, do people out there agree with me about trains being good?
A: Clapping.
C: Thanks, I just wanted to show that there are supporters in the room, looks like 50/50

Q: Will the trains be much lighter and shorter and not make the same noise, and is it possible to have lights timed so short commuter trains can come through?
A: They will work on quiet zones and safety yes, new passenger trains are primary safety issues, quieter, lighter and better on safety issues. This is not a freight train, you will not hear them the same, locomotives are different, may not hear or see as quickly as a freight train.
A2: They will run on welded rail, not 40 foot rail that makes more noise, concrete ties are also going to help with stability and quieter ride.

C: Speaker gets up to speak and says to the jerk in the back of the room "please don't yell at me, I'm a teacher and I get that all day long.

C: Homeowner in area, would like a fence, can’t build one cuz of easement.

Q: Asks how they chose this route instead of Canadian Pacific, which is more of a commercial area, why is it where all the neighborhoods are.
A: They looked at that, same number of crossings. Communities not the same, but not a time difference, this doesn’t preclude them using that line when they are going to the twin cities, that could be a route out.

Q: Guy says he's pro-rail, but the studies they based this on are old, there have been lots of expansions, in other suburb areas and as time goes on, the number of people who use the train will increase from outside the area, thought meeting was positive, but why downtown?
A: Not directly answered this time.

Q: Will it not go to St. Paul?
A: That will be studied. That will take 2 - 3 years to do the environmental study.

Q: Will they be building a second station in 2016?
A: That will be studied.

Q: Who will pay for that second station? People in City of Madison pay for it and 60% of the users are outside of City of Madison.
A: Station costs are included in the $810M includes cost to build stations so working through that.

C: Seems like there are more comments than questions, so I decided to add my comments, he wonders where all the fears are coming from with long trains, these are 8 cars long, they will be quicker than a stoplight if you are stopped, he says the fears are not warranted. Says the trains won't be more disruptive than the 60K cars on E Washington per day or the 80K cars on the beltline.

Q: Will this be an integrated multi-modal station? How will people get downtown?
A: They are working with the City to address elements of station from an inter-modal perspective.

Q: Why not delay to get it right?
A: We've been working on it for a long time.

Q: What about the tracks in Central Park can they be relocated?
A: Yes looking at it, have that info from the city, part of the consideration.

SUMMARY
We don't know.
There will be a process.
We will look at things you brought up.
Nobody believes them due to how the process has gone so far.
Read more!

Meetings Added this Week

When I do the week ahead, I have the information from Friday, but during the week many meetings get added, here's what we have for this week:

YESTERDAY
Meeting: 201 STATE FOUNDATION INC. & MADISON CULTURAL ARTS DISTRICT SPECIAL JOINT BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Date: 5/25/2010 4:30 PM
Location: 201 STATE ST. LOWER LEVEL BOARDROOM

TODAY
Meeting: BOARD OF ASSESSORS, SCHEDULE 1
Date: 5/26/2010 8:30 AM
Location: ROOM 101 CCB

Meeting: STREET USE STAFF COMMISSION
Date: 5/26/2010 10:00 AM
Location: ROOM 108 CCB

TOMORROW
Meeting: MADISON CITY CHANNEL AD HOC ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Date: 5/27/2010 5:00 PM
Location: ROOM 300 MMB
(NOTE: Not sure why this is showing up as an addition, since it was on there twice already, but its a good reminder that this important meeting is coming up. What would we do without city channel?)

Meeting: WARNER PARK COMMUNITY RECREATION CENTER ADVISORY SUBCOMMITTEE
Date: 5/27/2010 6:00 PM
Location: 1625 NORTHPORT DR.

Read more!

News Coverage Round Up

Some of this will be repeats from the other round up, this is the medias version of the same information. And, a little that wasn't included in the last posts.

37 COUNTY SUPERVISORS, KATHLEEN FALK AND COUNTY TREASURER DAVE WORZALA VS. MAYOR DAVE
So much for good intergovernmental relations. Doesn't seem very "civil". The Board of Estimates meeting on this was interesting, but I never finished that post.

LIBRARY ARCHITECT CHOSEN
Not super exciting news, but the library is moving forward.

ECONOMY RECOVERING
And they didn't even need those "jobs" from the Edgewater to do it!

RAIL MEETING
I went to this meeting, also didn't finish a post for this morning, but I will, this was one wild, weird meeting. I can't blame people for their frustration in being promised a public process when there was no public process to pick the station.

TRAINING ON CAMPUS
Don't freak out . . . there's supposed to be injured people and cops with guns drawn.

VEGTABLES AT THE CAPITAL
On the grounds, not inside! I'm not talking about Nass, or Grothman.

$400,000 HOME, $0 IN UTILITY BILLS
This is interesting.

PAINT SHORTAGE
Bike boxes have paint, roads don't. That's not going to play well with the AM radio types.

MADISON #7
In innovation.

PARK AND BIKE
You might notice some names from that bike trip in Europe, they sure got their money's worth with that trip. Also, this all came together quickly, me thinks the trip was unnecessary.

MADISON PROCESS LOOKING GOOD
Huh. Who knew, its easier to get a project approved in Madison.

DENSITY FOR GREEN BUILDING
Didn't work for affordable housing, but green building is more popular, so it will probably work better.

97 WISCONSIN BANKS IN TROUBLE
Not good. Where'd all that bailout money go?

Ok, that's what I have for today . . . still missed a bunch from this last weekend and late last week and early this week.
Read more!

Still trying to Catch Up with the Round Up

Here's a whole bunch of things not in the media per se. i.e. no links to local news stories in this post, just tons of direct information on a wide variety of items.

LIBRARY UPDATE

Greetings Alders and Library Board members:

Attached please find a memorandum from Library Board President Tripp Widder regarding the selection of Meyer, Scherer and Rockcastle as the architectural firm for the Central Library project. Also attached is the resolution authorizing the hiring of this highly-regarded firm. The resolution will be introduced to the Common Council on June 1 and will be taken up by the Board of Public Works on June 2, the Library Board on June 3, the Board of Estimates on June 7. It is expected back in front of the Council on June 15 for approval.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Sincerely,
Joel

MAYOR'S OFFICE OPENING

Dear friends:

I am writing to let you know that I have accepted an offer to become the Chief of Staff with the Milwaukee Police Department. Pending approval by the Milwaukee Fire & Police Commission, my last day with the Mayor's Office will be Monday, June 28. I will work with each of you to make the transition as seamless as possible.

I have truly enjoyed working with you and wish you all only the best. Margo, Milo, Oliver and I appreciate the friendship you have extended to us, and we will miss each of you.

Most sincerely,

Joel

Wanna place bets on who gets the job? I'm going with Larry Studesville!

IMMIGRATION RESOLUTION
Here's the resolution and the police department policy. The police department policy might be another thing to make Blaska's head spin.

ALL A TWITTER
A new way to find your (very little) county news.

CITY FUNDING PROCESS BEGINS
With new priorities, new applications and no council discussion about the priorities, it could get interesting this year.

Every two years the City of Madison conducts a Request for Proposals (RFP) process to secure the services of organizations who will offer vital services to the citizens of Madison. The City will accept proposals that meet the Community Resources Goals and Priorities and the Community Development Program Goals and Priorities for the 2011-2012 calendar years. An estimated $5.5 million dollars per year will be available for allocation. Program Goals and Priorities, as well as the application and other important information can be obtained through the website: http://www.cityofmadison.com/cdbg/cddapp.htm.

Applications are due to the CD Division Office no later than noon on June 25, 2010 and should be emailed to: CDDapplications@cityofmadison.com

ZONING CODE REWRITE PUBLIC HEARING
Wow, I bet you forgot about this, looks like our fits and starts on working on this project is at another "start". You going to read the whole code? Has anyone, besides the paid lobbyists? Have they even done it?

On Monday, June 21th, 2010, the City of Madison Plan Commission will hold a public hearing on the draft of the City’s zoning code. The public hearing will be held at 6:00 p.m. in Room 201 of the City County Building which is located at 210 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, Madison.

Since early 2008, the City of Madison has been working on the zoning code rewrite with a consultant team led by the Cuningham Group, P.A. The existing zoning code was last rewritten in 1966. The new zoning code will be easier to use and understand than the current code, better enable the City to implement its Comprehensive Plan and other plans, and help the community achieve its sustainability goals.

Please visit the project website www.cityofmadison.com/zoningrewrite for more information. Project information can also be found at the City’s Legistar site under file # 15932. And please, do not hesitate to contact staff if you have any questions:

Rick Roll, AICP
Senior Planner

HESSELBEIN IN!
In the Hesselbein v Hulsey competition, its probably no surprise that most people I know lean Hesselbein.

Supervisor Dianne Hesselbein Announces Candidacy for State Assembly
Dane County Democrat brings ‘proven record of achievement’ to the race

MADISON – Dane County Supervisor Dianne Hesselbein today announced her candidacy for Wisconsin State Assembly. The former Middleton-Cross Plains School Board member and education advocate is running to replace retiring Representative Spencer Black, promising to bring strong, progressive leadership to the state capitol.

“As a concerned parent, local elected official, and community advocate, I have fought hard to protect the things that matter most to Wisconsin families – good-paying jobs, affordable healthcare, and quality education for our kids,” said Hesselbein. “We need real, progressive leadership on these important issues, and I’m running for State Assembly to take that fight to the state level.”

Joining Hesselbein in her announcement are environmental advocate Steve Hiniker and Madison Alder Shiva Bidar-Sielaff, who will serve as the campaign’s treasurer.

“More than any other candidate, Dianne Hesselbein understands what it takes to build a strong community,” said Hiniker. “From tackling tough budget issues on the County Board to her tireless advocacy for quality, affordable education and a clean environment, Dianne has the energy and experience we need to get things back on track.”

“Dianne Hesselbein represents the best in a new generation of progressive leadership,” said Alder Bidar-Sielaff. “I encouraged Dianne to run for State Assembly because of her proven record of achievement on job creation, public safety, and so many other key issues. We need more leaders like her in the capitol.”

Supervisor Hesselbein was first elected to the Dane County Board in 2008, defeating a 16-year incumbent. Now in her second term, Hesselbein chairs the county’s Personnel & Finance Committee along with key posts on the Economic Development Committee and University Extension Committee. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Monona Terrace and the Greater Madison Convention & Visitors Bureau. Dianne, her husband Bob, and their three children reside in Middleton, WI.

CHICKEN COOP TOUR, SIGN UP NOW!

Poultry Fans: The Tenney-Lapham Neighborhood Tour Des Coops is happening again. The date is Saturday, June 28 from 1--4:00, rain or shine. We have several interested coop-keepers who will be on the tour, but want to make sure we reach everyone within the neighborhood. (Sorry to be restrictive, but coops to be viewed must be in the TLNA boundaries. Maybe next year we can coordinate a bigger tour) Please contact me, Gay Davidson-Zielske (608) 257-3844 (wipoet@aol.com ) or Bob Shaw (robert.e.shaw@gmail.com) . Please respond soon, however, since "summer's lease hath all too short a date" as Shakespeare says, and we want your coop to be included if you wish. Details and map will be provided on the day of the tour once Bob and I receive all information.

STREET CLOSURES FOR MARATHON THIS WEEKEND

Hi Adam,

Routes with the Madison Police have been finalized for the May 30 Madison Marathon. Here is the link to our website that contains the information and pace chart of what time runners will be coming through. http://www.madisonfestivals.com/marathon/community.html

Here is a map showing streets that will be closed or have delays:
http://www.madisonfestivals.com/marathon/documents/2010Traffic_Patterns.pdf

I hope this will help the residents plan accordingly. We have worked directly with churches, the Lorraine and Inn on the Park for access in/out that day.

The map of the Square for our start/finish lines and parking is here: http://www.madisonfestivals.com/marathon/documents/2010_square_map_color.pdf

The Madison Marathon has had tremendous growth the past few years and that is due to the support the runners get from residents along the course, cheering them on and encouraging them to finish. That is so important and it's what mades the Madison Marathon special. We hope many people from CNI will join us in welcoming the runners on the Square as they start and/or finish their race on Sunday. We are excited to have such a beautiful location for them and to highlight our gorgeous city. A Great Race in a Capital Place says it all. They, and we, appreciate your support!


Thanks,
Rita

Rita Kelliher
President, Madison Festivals, Inc.

GOOD NEWS FOR HOMELESS MEN
You can now sign up to be on a waiting list! It was so bad they weren't even taking names of people waiting.

As of today 5/21/10, Porchlight is reopening its waiting list to all single men.

THIS MIGHT BE WHY, THE BAD NEWS
Despite all the stimulus money, we are getting less and less money for homeless services from the state.

Here is a short history of The City of Madison awards. The funds available section is taken from BSH instructions at the time of application and applies to the total for Metro, Other Metro and Balance of State:

2007-8 $308,335 Funds available $1,900,000 ESG + $375,000 THP + $1,400,000 HPP = $4,675,000

2008-9 $405,613 Funds available $1,960,000 ESG + $1,000,000 THP + $1,400,000 HPP = $4,360,000

2009-10 $281,754 Funds available $1,969,000 ESG + $775,000 THP + $1,400,000 HPP = $4,144,000

2010-11 $172,678 Funds available $1,800,000 ESG + $400,000 THP + $1,015,000 HPP = $3,215,000

We have less than half of what we had two years ago. That doesn't sound good for the city.

BE CAREFUL ON CAMPUS TODAY

Full-Scale Emergency Exercise on the University of Wisconsin - Madison Campus Designed to Test Preparedness, Teamwork and Communications

On Wednesday May 26, 2010, the University of Wisconsin - Madison will conduct an all day full-scale emergency response exercise. This exercise will be held around Bradley Residence Hall, 1900 Willow Drive, and UW Lot 34, 1480 Tripp Circle. This exercise, which has been named Operation Badger One, was designed to simulate an incident on campus that will need a response from a number of emergency response organizations in Dane County. The planning for this exercise, facilitated by the UW - Madison Police Department Emergency Management Unit, has been ongoing over the last year and has involved a partnership between a number of different organizations.

These organizations include; UW-Madison, UW-Madison Police Department , Dane County Sheriff's Department, Madison Police Department, Dane County 911 Center, American Red Cross, Dane County Emergency Management, Madison Fire Department, Dane County Coroner's Office, Salvation Army, Shorewood Hills Police Department, UWPD First Responders, UW Hospital and Clinics, St. Mary's Hospital, VA Hospital and Meriter Hospital.

This exercise will involve a high degree of realism, including actors posing as "victims" who may appear to be injured. There is the potential that members of the community traveling in the area will see police officers with weapons drawn. This exercise is designed to improve the University's response to real emergency situations. One of the goals of this exercise is to test procedures that are in place and to do so in as realistic of an environment as possible. This exercise will give all organizations involved the opportunity to test their levels of preparedness, build as an emergency response team, and also test communications between the organizations.

The University is committed to safety and security. This exercise will not only allow local emergency response organizations the opportunity to improve their effectiveness but it will also allow the University the opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of the systems that have been put in place in case the worst were to strike the campus community.

HEAR ABOUT DOWNTOWN HISTORY

Conover & Porter
Madison’s Premier 19th Century Architects
An illustrated talk by Architectural Historian Gary Tipler.
Thursday, May 27, 7 p.m.
Holy Redeemer School, 120 W. Johnson, just north of State Street

Holy Redeemer School
Designed by Conover and Porter in 1892

Following an accomplished career in science, mathematics and engineering, Allan Darst Conover taught engineering and building construction at the University of Wisconsin in the 1880s. He became interested in architecture with the construction of Science Hall in 1884, with which he helped architect Henry Koch of Milwaukee. The following year, Conover started practicing architecture while he continued teaching, when he took on Lew Porter, a talented former student as a partner in an architecture firm. Together the firm designed scores of city, county, state and federal buildings, schools, banks, commercial buildings, churches and residences through 1899, when they dissolved their partnership. Their firm was a training ground for Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Claude and Alvin Small, among others, who became architects of some importance.

Conover & Porter’s office was based in Madison, though they had offices in Ashland in 1887-1889, and for a short time in Baraboo during the early 1890s.

The program will be profusely illustrated with projected images of photos and postcards of buildings designed by the firm. Additions and contributions of stories and photos are welcomed.

The event is free and open to the public. The talk will be held in the third floor auditorium. This historic building does not have an elevator. However, there is parking available on site or across Johnson St. in the city ramp. The program is sponsored by Capitol Neighborhoods, Inc. For more information contact either:

Ledell Zellers (ledell.zellers@gmail.com or 231-1526) or Julie Wurl-Koth (knittingjulie@gmail.com).

Capitol Neighborhoods, Inc. is made up of First Settlement, Bassett, Mifflin West, James Madison Park and Mansion Hill neighborhoods. Capitol Neighborhoods and State Langdon Neighborhood cover an area marked by Blair Street on the East, Lake Monona on the South, Park Street on the west and Lake Mendota on the north. More information about CNI is on the Web at: http://www.capitolneighborhoods.org/

WATER MAIN FLUSHING THIS WEEK

Water Main Flushing plans beginning Monday, May 24 (all flushing is daytime unless otherwise noted)

MAP: http://www.cityofmadison.com/water/Documents/flushingschedule.pdf

W57 NIGHTS (Area 24) -- Blair St to Henry St from Lake Mendota to Lake Monona

W13 North East (Area 13) -- West of Green Ave and then East of N Sherman from Wheeler Rd to Northport Dr

W1 East (Area 15) -- Stoughton Rd to Packers Ave from Commercial Ave to Anderson St

W30 East (Area 7) -- N Sherman Ave to Packers Ave from Commercial Ave to Northport Dr

W68 South (Area 18) -- Park St to Fish Hatchery Rd from Wingra Dr to Badger Rd Post Rd

ELECTRONICS RECYCLING

Event Offers Opportunity to Safely Dispose of Old TVs, Computers, & Other Electronics; Volunteers Needed!

Dane County is once again partnering with a national electronics recycling company headquartered in Janesville to offer a free electronic waste collection on Saturday, June 19th at the Alliant Energy Center. A similar event last May collected 800,000 pounds of old electronics. At the time it was believed to be the largest e-waste round-up of its kind in North America.

"It will be tough to top last year's record performance but thanks to the generosity of our great partners, we're once again offering this free service hoping to collect many tons of old TVs and computers and keep them out of our landfill," County Executive Kathleen Falk said.

Falk noted more than 10,000 cars went through the lines at last year's free e-waste collection. To help move people through quicker this year, the number of drop-off lanes has been doubled and more crates and trucks will be on site and ready for the June 19th free event. Normally private contractors charge fees to take old TVs and computers.

Janesville based Universal Recycling Technology (URT) is once again partnering with electronics manufacturers including the MRM Group which represents Panasonic, Sharp, Toshiba and 20 other manufacturers to cover all the costs of this collection.

We are very excited to be working with Dane County again this year to collect and properly recycle used electronics from area residents, said Jim Cornwell, President of Universal Recycling Technologies.

The Dane County e-waste recycling event will be Saturday, June 19, 2010 from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. The drop-area will be set up in the back parking lot of the Alliant Energy Center. All vehicles must enter either the main entrance off Rimrock Road or the entrance off Olin Avenue. Electronics that will be collected during the event are: television sets of all sizes, personal computers (including keyboards and mice) and computer monitors, printers, scanners, fax machines, calculators, cell phones, radios, stereos, telephones, DVD and CD players, and VCRs.

Because a large number of people are expected to take part, Dane County and its partner agencies need volunteers to help make June 19th a success. Volunteers are needed from 7a m to 3:30pm, in half day or full day shifts. Those interested in helping unload cars and/or direct traffic at the drop-off site are encouraged to contact Jan Neitzel-Knox at Dane County Public Works at 266-4029 or by e-mail at:

neitzel-knox@co.dane.wi.us

UPCOMING RTA MEETINGS
- Wednesday, May 26, 5:00 p.m., Middleton City Hall
- Wednesday, June 30, 5:00 p.m., Room 260 Madison Municipal Bldg
- Wednesday, July 14, 5:00 p.m., Fitchburg City Hall
- Thursday, July 29, 5:00 p.m., Room 260 Madison Municipal Bldg
- Wednesday, August 25, 5:00 p.m., Shorewood Hills Village Hall

Read more!

Is Your Beach Safe to Swim In?

Well, don't swim in the beach, swim in the water, or wait, don't do that either, check the list first! Here's how they tested. 10 beaches closed.

May 24th - Preliminary beach water quality testing has begun for the 2010 season. Please check back for water quality updates and other information regarding the opening of the 2010 beach season.

BB Clarke CLOSED May 24th - The water temperature was 73°F. This beach is closed for swimming due to blue-green algae. The beach will reopen when their levels decline. The regular lifeguard season for 2010 has not started yet. People may swim at their own risk. Blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria) may still be present and their levels can be variable depending on the waves and wind. Beachgoers should use common sense and avoid contact with algal blooms that they may observe.

Bernies Open The Public Health Madison-Dane County Laboratory tested bacterial water quality at this beach on May 24, 2010. The results were acceptable. The water temperature was 73°F. The regular lifeguard season for 2010 has not started yet. People may swim at their own risk. Blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria) may still be present and their levels can be variable depending on the waves and wind. Beachgoers should use common sense and avoid contact with algal blooms that they may observe.

Brittingham CLOSED The regular lifeguard season for 2010 has not started yet. People may swim at their own risk. Blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria) may still be present and their levels can be variable depending on the waves and wind. Beachgoers should use common sense and avoid contact with algal blooms that they may observe.

Esther CLOSED The regular lifeguard season for 2010 has not started yet. People may swim at their own risk. Blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria) may still be present and their levels can be variable depending on the waves and wind. Beachgoers should use common sense and avoid contact with algal blooms that they may observe.

Goodland County Park CLOSED The regular lifeguard season for 2010 has not started yet. People may swim at their own risk. Blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria) may still be present and their levels can be variable depending on the waves and wind. Beachgoers should use common sense and avoid contact with algal blooms that they may observe.

Governor Nelson State Park N/A

Hudson CLOSED The regular lifeguard season for 2010 has not started yet. People may swim at their own risk. Blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria) may still be present and their levels can be variable depending on the waves and wind. Beachgoers should use common sense and avoid contact with algal blooms that they may observe.

James Madison Open The Public Health Madison-Dane County Laboratory tested bacterial water quality at this beach on May 24, 2010. The results were acceptable. The water temperature was 65°F. The regular lifeguard season for 2010 has not started yet. People may swim at their own risk. Blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria) may still be present and their levels can be variable depending on the waves and wind. Beachgoers should use common sense and avoid contact with algal blooms that they may observe.

Lake Kegonsa State Park N/A

Lake Mendota County Park CLOSED The regular lifeguard season for 2010 has not started yet. People may swim at their own risk. Blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria) may still be present and their levels can be variable depending on the waves and wind. Beachgoers should use common sense and avoid contact with algal blooms that they may observe.

Maple Bluff N/A

Marshall CLOSED The regular lifeguard season for 2010 has not started yet. People may swim at their own risk. Blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria) may still be present and their levels can be variable depending on the waves and wind. Beachgoers should use common sense and avoid contact with algal blooms that they may observe.

Memorial Union CLOSED The regular lifeguard season for 2010 has not started yet. People may swim at their own risk. Blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria) may still be present and their levels can be variable depending on the waves and wind. Beachgoers should use common sense and avoid contact with algal blooms that they may observe.

Olbrich Open The Public Health Madison-Dane County Laboratory tested bacterial water quality at this beach on May 24, 2010. The results were acceptable. The water temperature was 80°F. The regular lifeguard season for 2010 has not started yet. People may swim at their own risk. Blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria) may still be present and their levels can be variable depending on the waves and wind. Beachgoers should use common sense and avoid contact with algal blooms that they may observe.

Olin CLOSED The regular lifeguard season for 2010 has not started yet. People may swim at their own risk. Blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria) may still be present and their levels can be variable depending on the waves and wind. Beachgoers should use common sense and avoid contact with algal blooms that they may observe.

Spring Harbor CLOSED The regular lifeguard season for 2010 has not started yet. People may swim at their own risk. Blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria) may still be present and their levels can be variable depending on the waves and wind. Beachgoers should use common sense and avoid contact with algal blooms that they may observe.

Stoughton Mandt Park Pond N/A

Tenney Open The Public Health Madison-Dane County Laboratory tested bacterial water quality at this beach on May 24, 2010. The results were acceptable. The water temperature was 65°F. The regular lifeguard season for 2010 has not started yet. People may swimat their own risk. Blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria) may still be present and their levels can be variable depending on the waves and wind. Beachgoers should use common sense and avoid contact with algal blooms that they may observe.

Verona Fireman's Park N/A

Vilas Open The Public Health Madison-Dane County Laboratory tested bacterial water quality at this beach on May 24, 2010. The results were acceptable. The water temperature was 81°F. The regular lifeguard season for 2010 has not started yet. People may swim at their own risk. Blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria) may still be present and their levels can be variable depending on the waves and wind. Beachgoers should use common sense and avoid contact with algal blooms that they may observe.

Warner Open The Public Health Madison-Dane County Laboratory tested bacterial water quality at this beach on May 24, 2010. The results were acceptable. The water temperature was 73°F. The regular lifeguard season for 2010 has not started yet. People may swim at their own risk. Blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria) may still be present and their levels can be variable depending on the waves and wind. Beachgoers should use common sense and avoid contact with algal blooms that they may observe.

More info here.
Read more!

A Little Bit of Fun . ..

With the Raging Grannies! Enjoy!

I've had the pleasure of meeting some of the grannies I haven't known before and seeing some of the lovely ladies I have known for years during the Social Justice Center 10th Anniversary where they sang in honor of Nan Cheney and again last night at her memorial service. Here's the video from the Social Justice Center event, if you haven't seen them before, they are worth checking out! (Click here for a direct link.)



My sincere apologies about the advertising, any money raised will go to WYOU and to help support future video adventures!
Read more!

Immigration Issues Heating Up

A rally, city and county meetings all coming up in the next week or so!

So, here's my show from this weekend on Immigration, the Sheriff and Ice with guests Shiva Bidar-Sielaff and Ramona Natera. I special thanks to them for coming in when there was so much going on! (Just ignore the error in the beginning where it says something about the Edgewater, I PROMISE, NO EDGEWATER!) If the embeded video below is not working, you can click here.


As for other things going on, here's what I know at the moment.

SATURDAY, MAY 29TH

National Day of Action Against Arizona's Racist Immigration Law! Madison, Presente!
Special Words from: Alder Shiva Bidar-Sielaff

What: A vigil to protest Arizona's racist immigration legislation

When: Saturday, May 29th. 6PM.

Where: Dane County Building. 210 Martin Luther King Boulevard.

Why: National Day of Action. Madison will show its solidarity with the people of Arizona against the backwards, racist legislation being passed there! If we are silent, it is as if we do not exist.

No Sheriff Mahoney, we will not let you make Dane County into another Arizona!

Who: Immigrant Community and Allies. With testimony from the immigrant community members and special words from Jorge Carrera of the Immigrant Workers' Union and Alder Shiva Bidar-Sielaff who will be introducing a resolution against Arizona's racial profiling law 1070 and calling for comprehensive immigration reformat the next Common Council meeting on Tuesday, June 1, 6:30pm City-County Building Rm. 201. Also, words from Will Willams of Vets for Peace; Jessica Ruiz and Claudia Gonzalez of UTI Youth; and music by local artists among them Sandra Rybachek and others.

TUESDAY, JUNE 1st
There's a facebook group here that you can join with great information about how you can support Alder Bidar-Sielaff's resolution to end unjust immigration policies right here in Madison.

The Common Council will be considering her resolution (still by title only, but hopefully out soon) at their meeting. May be another late night!
NOTE: Here's the link to the full resolution and supporting materials.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2nd
The Dane County Immigration Task Force will be having their meeting to finalize their report and determine what policy they should recommend (and the sheriff says he'll ignore) about calling ICE for every person who was not born in the United States, even if they have identification.
Read more!

Catching Up Round Up (Partial - Final)

I skipped yesterday and last weekend, so lets see what I can find . . . I'm trying to get two video's up this morning, so I'm a bit behind on blogging, have to be to work by 11, so hopefully I will be done by then! I'm ridiculously using three computers this morning, two macs and my laptop to get things done, so at some point before 11, there will be more posts for you.

MY FAVORITE BLASKA BLOG EVER!!
Read it! Read it! Read it now. It's ok, click on it!

BEDROOMS WITH NO WINDOWS?
Seriously? Is there nothing the plan commission won't approve? Or is it ok because they expect students to live here and they think they won't mind?

WELL 8
And brown water. And bacteria.

NOT ENOUGH ROAD PAINT?
Seems like an odd problem to have.

FRIDAY FURLOUGH
Don't try going to the DMV and some other state offices.

SCHOOL WEEK AHEAD
A day late, sorry.

AFFORDABLE HOUSES
Madison, as usual, exceeds the rest of the country, meaning, we aren't as affordable as elsewhere. National median home price for the first quarter of this year at $175,000. I doubt we were near that.

THAT TIME OF YEAR
You can't avoid it! Road construction.

THE LOBBYISTS GOT WHAT THEY PAID FOR
Morrisey's a little off, but brings up a good point, $8,000 per bike box. I guess paying for that trip to Europe paid off. What do you want for the city that you could get for paying for a trip to Europe?

KUDOS TO MANIACI
a) given the questions I was asked, this article turned out fine
b) this is the kind of thing that backfires in District 2
c) I'll let the rest up to you to determine how that article went, lest I be accused of more things than I could try to accomplish in a week.

TONIGHT, A BUSY NIGHT FOR TRANSPORTATION
Ped, Bike project, rail, University Ave and, Robbie missed this?, the RTA Plan for Transit Subcommittee.

NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN?
Anyone notice this guy is running for sheriff? I don't think this is going to help.

CENTRAL PARK, STOPPED BY A TRAIN
Central Park on hold. I bet there is some fierce lobbying going on now to get those tracks moved. I've guessing TIF might end up being the answer.

ANOTHER CITY COUNTY SHOWDOWN
This time, over quarterly tax payments. I bet the county wins.

Ugh . . . that's all I have, tomorrow's will be large if I don't get distracted by something else . . . too bad this wasn't a full time ok paying job! :)


Read more!

This Week's Show on This Side of Town at WYOU

Immigration, the Sheriff and ICE with Shiva Bidar-Sielaff and Ramona Natera.

It will run from 5:30 - 6:00pm tonight, and again at 6 and 6:30 am on Tuesday on Channels 95 or 991.

I will have the internet version up likely tomorrow. This was the first show we did with Rob in the control room without assistance, so, there's a couple ooops' in there. But since he was running the cameras, the control room and the sound, he did an awesome job!

If you like the show and want it to continue, please consider donating to WYOU.
Read more!

RTA Meetings This (County) Week Ahead

It's kind of a joke trying to review these agendas with very little information to go on and bad descriptions of what they are talking about.

MONDAY, MAY 24, 2010
12:00 noon TASK FORCE FOR THE PRIORITIZED REVISON OF CHAPTER 10 ...Rm. 309 CCB
- Limited Commercial (LC) Zoning Districts
- Preliminary discussion/presentation of staff recommendations on revising accessory structure regulations

5:30 p.m. PERSONNEL & FINANCE COMMITTEE...Rm. 309 CCB
- Spending, spending, spending despite freezes, now that no one is looking
- Discussion of Property Tax Collections

TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010
11:00 a.m. DANE COUNTY HOUSING AUTHORITY ...2001 W. Broadway
- Contracting with Marquette University for Dane County Foreclosure Mediation Services (What, they couldn't find anyone local? Did they even try?)

5:00 p.m. REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY-Plan for Transit Committee...Rm. 321 CCB
- Presentation and Discussion of the Transport 2020 Plan (Trowbridge)
- Presentation and Discussion of Madison Metro Transit (Kamp)

5:30 p.m. PUBLIC WORKS & TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE ...Rm. 315 CCB
- I didn't see anything special, you might.

5:45 p.m. HEALTH & HUMAN NEEDS COMMITTEE ...Rm. 310 CCB
- Res. 35, 10-11 – Establishing an Advisory Panel to Study the Treatment of Monkeys Used in Experiments in Dane County and the Ethics of Experimenting on Monkeys.

5:45 p.m. PUBLIC PROTECTION & JUDICIARY COMMITTEE...Rm. 309 CCB
- Ooops, bad attachment. Currently, its a copy of an email with an attachment that you can't access, that, of course, has the agenda on it.

7:30 p.m. ZONING & LAND REGULATION COMMITTEE ...Rm. 201 CCB
- Not sure if there was anything of interest here, hard to tell without attachments.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 26, 2010
5:00 p.m. REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY ...7426 Hubbard, Middleton

REPORT ON ASSIGNMENTS (FROM STAFF AND BOARD MEMBERS)
i. Bylaws and Agreements Committee
ii. Plan for Transit Committee
iii. RTA Advisory Committee

INFORMATIONAL PRESENTATIONS
i. Review of Madison Area MPO/Metro Transit Development Program (TDP) Work Group
Activities To-Date

DISCUSSION AND ACTION BY RTA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
i. Authorizing and Approving the RTA Advisory Committee Scope

5:45 p.m. LAND CONSERVATION COMMITTEE...Rm. 208 LFA
- I'm sure this is all important, but I know little about these items.

THURSDAY, MAY 27, 2010
5:30 p.m. CDBG COMMISSION... 111 Lincoln St., Verona
- Information to be Provided to Citizens as Part of Public Hearing on Input on Substantial Amendment to 2010 Action Plan by Lori Bastean, Sr. Program Analyst/Manager
- Public Hearing for Citizen Input on Substantial Amendment to 2010 Action Plan
- Discussion and Action on Substantial Amendment to 2010 Action Plan
(Oooo, that is AWFUL public process. I don't even know what the change is or if I should care from reading this.)

6:30 p.m. BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT...Rm. 309 CCB
Status of changes to Chapter 78 – Airport Height Regulation
Read more!

DMI's Plans for Mansion Hill

Oh yeah, the Edgewater was just a start . . . and they have plans to spend more of the TIF and keep the district open longer as well. Read it and weep.

They're not waiting, time to charge ahead.

Hello everyone:
Please see the memo from Gary Peterson. We will discuss this at the June 24th Economic Development Committee meeting. Thanks for such a good meeting this AM.

Susan Schmitz
DMI President
Hovde Building
122 W. Washington Ave. Suite 250
Madison, WI 53703

Here's the memo. It was written in April.

Date: April 28, 2010
To: DMI Economic Development Committee
From: Gary l. Peterson, AICP
Re: Historic Districts and the Edgewater Project

Many of you probably know that I have been a Community Planner for over 40 years. You might also recall that the City hired the firm of Crispell-Snyder, Inc. to conduct a Blight Study of the area that principally includes the two Historic Districts, Mansion Hill and Langdon Street. I conducted those studies. Prior to that, I conducted many Blight Studies in two states including in the 1960’s when the methodologies and standards in the studies were reviewed and approved by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. I used those same standards and methodologies in the Mansion Hill and Langdon Street studies. What the studies found was that the area, comprised principally of these two Historic Districts, has many urban problems commonly found in older neighborhoods. In these two districts, the Historic designation has not worked to eliminate the urban problems. In fact it has probably compounded them and they could get worse before they get better.

Here is my view of the situation:

1. The areas designated as Historic Districts have problems:

a. Many buildings in the two districts are not historic.

b. Some parcels with buildings may not be contributing buildings.

c. Vacant parcels, in the form of parking lots, are listed as Contributing Buildings to the Historical Designation.

d. Several parking lots are gravel parking lots making their designation even more suspect.

e. As a Planner, I see that such misrepresentations create a creditability problem.

f. To rehabilitate or demolish a Historical Building or Contributing Building, an additional set of standards are imposed on the owner. As I understand it, these standards can be used to stop any change. Redevelopment or rehabilitation loses, further deterioration or blight wins.

2. The Historic Buildings within the Historic District have problems.

a. Many of the identified historical buildings and contributing buildings are blighted and many show long term neglect.

b. Several contributing and non-contributing buildings are vacant. Not only do they not contribute to the vitality of the neighborhood, but they also represent an “out of the ordinary” problem. This is not a location where you should find vacant buildings.

3. As I understand it, efforts to improve the neighborhood are being stymied and held hostage by historic designation and that includes development of what are now parking lots. There also appears to be no organized efforts to improve the neighborhoods.

4. Both the Mansion Hill and Langdon Street Districts are far short of their potential. Rather than a current asset to the City they are a liability. Both Historic Districts have major problems that distract significantly from what should be a high quality neighborhood. This opinion is verified by the fact at least 158 structures in February 2009 in the two districts were blighted. Please understand blighted is more than a term. Blighted represents moderate to major exterior elements of a structure are deteriorated. Paint will not fix blight. Blight repairs include new or significantly repaired roofs, widow replacement, siding renewal or replacement, and doors needing replacement and in some cases major repairs or replacement of foundations. In addition there are more than 250 Blighting Influences. The Blighting Influences in these districts include: land underutilization, lack of parking, identified hazards to health and safety (including 3 or more steps) with no hand rail, anti-freeze, oil, gas and automobile battery sitting in the open, corner building cornice protruding, exposed wires, uneven sidewalk, drop off adjacent to sidewalk, poor site conditions, poor walks and driveways, inadequate outdoor storage and screening, lack of handicap accessibility to building accessible by the public, graffiti, missing fence staves or parts, exposed electric box and wires, soil, bank and yard erosion, deteriorated, rotten, leaning and cracked retaining walls, and plugged storm drain.

5. What should be done:

a. Decide just what our Historical Districts are intended to do. Do we want them to preserve (at all costs) what exists (historical, non-historical, blight), stagnate new development, redevelopment and over all attraction? Or do we want to have areas of community pride that preserves truly historic structures and stimulates needed redevelopment? This effort will require City participation in cooperation with private interests. Private interests have created the blighted area. Private interests alone will not reverse current trends.

b. The validity and applicability of the Mansion Hill and Langdon Street Historical Districts need to be reviewed. This includes reviewing the boundaries and the designation of each property. The Districts need City wide review and an infusion of creditability. Have the reviews conducted by outside consultants using both historical attributes and also the economic feasibility of designating a building as historical or contributing building. We particularly need to review the boundaries where they have stretched past non-historical or non-contributing buildings just to pick up 1, 2 or 3 structures that are not historical. We can preserve our Historic areas without holding hostages.

c. The Landmarks Commission Ordinance was written many years ago and the goals and intent of the ordinance do not seem to be applicable today. The ordinance needs to be reviewed relative to content by which changes are reviewed. The lack of credibility and flexibility in the ordinance is obvious.

d. Utilize Tax Incremental District (TID) s.66.1105 and Neighborhood Improvement District (NID) s. 66.1110 funds to eliminate these urban problems

6. Why do we need TID and NID District participation? Why can’t the private sector do it alone? Examples from within the Historic Districts of why the Private Sector cannot and will not do it alone are as follows:

a. An existing 7 story obsolete, non-historical building needs to be replaced. An owner will not tear a 7 story building down and replace it with a two or three story building. TIF financing would be needed to absorb the write down in real estate value.

b. The most blighted building in the area is a frame 2 story house that has major foundation, wall, roof, window, and door deterioration. It shows decades of neglect. It is a relatively small house. There is nothing significant about it, yet it is listed as a Contributing Building. Dozens of houses in better condition are not being repaired, why would this one be rescued even if it is possible to rescue? If it is not physically possible to rescue it, it will only continue to be a blight on the neighborhood. The private sector will never rescue this house.

c. The third example is a large frame 3 flat. It was built as a three flat and now is divided into many apartments. Nothing grand about it but it is listed as a Contributing Building. Its problem is its size relative to the need of exterior repairs. The foundation is deteriorated and will continue to deteriorate. It is a very large building on a very large deteriorating foundation. All 3 levels of the structure’s exterior walls, roof, fascia and soffit need major repairs. A large number of windows on all 3 levels need replacing. The private sector will never do this.

I hope that these suggestions are helpful because Historic Districts are an asset to any City and, when taken care of, become an attraction that leads to the City’s growth. I volunteer for Downtown Madison, Inc. (DMI) and would be willing to work further on this important issue. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Gary Peterson, AICP
Sustainable Services, Inc.

I wonder how much TIF they want to spend in the area and how long they want to keep the schools from their tax growth.

I'd also be curious, are there any historic districts these folks would honor? Or should they be eliminated altogether? Do they think all historic districts are holding their neighborhoods hostage? If they are willing to declare war on the oldest and most precious of the historic districts, why bother having any at all? What examples would they give of where Historic Districts are an asset?
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No More Spending Like Drunken Sailors (On Credit)

The Mayor has all his bright shiny toys, now, he says, its time to cut back. It's about time.

May 18, 2010
TO: Department & Division Heads
FR: Mayor Dave Cieslewicz
RE: 2011 Capital Budget Targets & Review of 2009 Capital Borrowing

When we kicked off our capital budget process a year ago, I asked you to strive for balance. This year, as we continue to face the challenges of the great recession, that must still be our goal.

While we know economic recovery is coming, we also know it will not happen overnight. So this year, we must continue to balance the need for smart investments in our city with the need to face difficult budget realities brought on by a deep recession.

In my seven years as mayor, we have substantially increased the capital investment in our city with very good results. We’ve added two new fires stations, increased our ambulance fleet from six to eight, made major investments in our branch libraries, revitalized Allied Drive and the Villager, and committed to building a great new Central Library. In addition, we’ve made significant progress in our five year effort to reduce the miles of substandard arterial streets by two-thirds.

It has always been clear to me that these investments would present challenges in coming years as our debt repayments demanded more from our operating budgets. These were decisions the Council and I willingly made with that in mind. But we must also continue to take into account the real impact our borrowing will have on what will continue to be very challenging operating budgets in the coming years.

So, with the thought of balance in mind today, I am setting our 2011 borrowing goal at a 10% reduction from the Capital Improvement Plan. That is a goal of $58 million in new levy-supported borrowing and $80 million for the total borrowing package.

I expect that agencies will take into account potential savings from lower contract bids and otherwise trim their projects accordingly. We must also continue to focus on how each capital investment accomplishes three important goals: growing our tax base, creating jobs and strengthening our local economy. The times demand steadiness and an intelligent, fact-based approach. We will also continue to consider tangible results from our capital investments like those measured in Madison Measures in my capital budget decisions.

We have an excellent group of managers, and I know you will step up to the challenge. This recession will end. Our goal as a city is to find the opportunities in the challenges, to weather the current climate, and to position ourselves to take full advantage of the recovery.

This is funny and ironic in so many ways. This mayor has hardly ever held back on capital spending, and the council warned him, with more votes against the capital budget than there have been in the past, but now, he finally catches on. Sigh . . . too bad its too late.

A 10% cut, eh? What does that mean for jobs? A chunk of that could have come from not doing the Edgewater. Read more!

Recovering from a HOT Sunday (No Attachments) Week Ahead

Well, this is a frustrating week, there are many, many, many discussions on issues with no attachments on the agenda, but I can guarantee you this, the committee will have them when you get to the meeting if you go. And they likely won't have extra copies for the public.

Monday, May 24, 2010
8:00 AM MADISON METROPOLITAN SEWERAGE DISTRICT 1610 MOORLAND RD.
- No agenda attached.

4:00 PM EOC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ROOM 523 MMB
(No Attachments)
- Update on Amendments to the Equal Opportunities Ordinance
- Update on Response from City Attorney on EOC Jurisdiction over Community Development Authority (CDA) Use of Eminent Domain
- Update on City and County Resolutions supporting the adoption of the Final Report of the Task Force on Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System and its recommendations
- Ordinance Amendment relative to Alcohol License Review Committee (ALRC) and Process for Informing the Committee of Complaints
- Feasibility of testing taxi cabs relative to requiring that fares be paid in advance.

4:30 PM BOARD OF ESTIMATES ROOM 260 MMB
- Extending contract for The Bower Group and Vandewalle & Associates/The Hiebing Group Inc. for E Washington Ave. (Personally, I don't see why they would do that, what have we gotten so far? What are they going to do for another $200,000? So far, all we have is a name for a whole lotta money.)
- Allowing people to pay taxes quarterly
- Money for youth services on the southwest side.
- Update on the Overture. (No attachments)

4:45 PM LANDMARKS COMMISSION ROOM LL-110 MMB
- Landmarks Ordinance Revisions (Note: The Commission will be discussing Section 33.19(5)(f) Appeal Language, and Sections 33.19 (1-4) as time is available.)

5:30 PM PLAN COMMISSION ROOM 201 CCB
- 1208-1214 Spring Street.
- Consideration of a conditional use to allow construction of a fraternity/ lodging
house at 237 Langdon Street.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010
12:00 PM COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY ROOM 313 MMB
(Not a single attachment available for the public)
- Burr Oaks Update
- Truax
- - Gap Financing Results
- - Section 8 Voucher Distribution
- - Financial Plan
- Villager
- - Discussion of name change and process for renaming The Villager
- - Discussion of Burr Oaks/Ann Street Phase 2

4:30 PM WATER UTILITY BOARD 119 E. OLIN AVE. ROOMS A & B
- Authorizing the submittal of the Madison Water Utility Capital Improvement Budget.
- Discussion of board input to the Mayor's office on future board appointments.
- Discussion of a review method for the Public Participation Process
- Discussion of board involvement in consultant selections.
- Fluoridation

5:00 PM PEDESTRIAN/BICYCLE/MOTOR VEHICLE COMMISSION ROOM 260 MMB
- 6:00 Public Hearing for Pedestrian and Bicycle Projects the City should Consider in the 2011-2013 Capital Budget to increase opportunities for walking and bicycling in Madison
- Extending Street Sweeping.
- Discussion on the rules governing railroad operations and enforcement
- Presentation on short-term options at Regent St/Monroe St

Wednesday, May 26, 2010
8:30 AM PEST MANAGEMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE 119 E. OLIN AVE. CONFERENCE ROOM A
(No Attachments)
- Review and report on pest management plans submitted by agencies.

5:00 PM VENDING OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ROOM LL-130 MMB
(No attachments)
- DISCUSSION: The present and future of Late Night Vending
- ACTION ITEM: Discuss and approve new ordinance language that applies uniformity
to all street vending categories having seniority status based on their first day
licensed.

Thursday, May 27, 2010
4:45 PM ETHICS BOARD ROOM 103A CCB
- Increasing the penalty for ethics violations
- Changes to ethics law from Borchardts complaint (in 2007)
- Konkel Open Letter

5:00 PM ALLIED AREA TASK FORCE 4619 JENEWEIN RD, ALLIED BOYS & GIRLS CLUB
- CDA Revitalization (of course, no attachments)
A. Continued Discussion of Phase II - Mark Olinger
B. Update from the Design Committee
C. Continued discussion of Home Occupation & Live/Work units

5:00 PM COMMISSION ON PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ROOM 260 MMB
(No attachments)
- 24/7 Accessible Taxicab Service Study
- Draft Ordinance on Accessible Housing

5:00 PM MADISON CITY CHANNEL AD HOC ADVISORY COMMITTEE ROOM 300 MMB
- Madison City Channel Revenue Discussion. (Some attachments on agenda)
- - Agency Billings
- - NATOA forum feedback
- - Dane County Board/Enterprise agency billings
- - Grant possibilities
- - Private Business Services
- - Other forms of revenue
- IT Presentation and Discussion

5:00 PM ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS ROOM LL-110 MMB
- Discussion on detached accessory building placement.

This was like doing the County Board Agendas for the week ahead. Flying blind.
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