Demolition

Tear down a laundromat, put up parking lot. Hey, this is Madison, can't it at least be a parking ramp, or pervious pavers or bike parking or something? :)

Please be advised that Jim Luedke will be filing a demolition permit application on March 31, 2010 for Plan Commission review that calls for a Commercial Building located at 102 N Randall Ave Madison, WI 53711 to be demolished. For more information regarding this forthcoming application, you may contact the applicant, Jim Luedke, 1419 Monroe Street Madison, WI 53711 at gotooak@aol.com or (608)256-2544.

Applicant's Comments:
Demolish existing laundromat building to expand parking lot.

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Not in the News is What's Relevant Wednesday Round Up

I'm stretching today . . . it is truly a slow news week. Not much going on in the news except the library. Outside of mainstream news sources, Edgewater Landmarks meeting set and high speed rail resolution to be introduced. I guess it was an ok morning to have internet and computer problems slowing me down, since there isn't much else. I still finished in less than an hour.

LIBRARY RENOVATION RESISTANCE
Yeah, the Mayor's renovation plans aren't loved by all. What's of note to me is that the council is still outside of this discussion. The Mayor has gone to DMI and will go to the library board and the council is just left standing there. Why didn't they schedule a discussion on it this week when there were virtually no meetings? The answer is probably too obvious, the Mayor doesn't care what they think and they aren't going to do anything about it. The sheep will vote for Clear's resolution with little question. I really like the comptroller explanation of why the council has no voice here - it seems, those pesky details that I used to ask about to my colleagues displeasure, now matter. Cap Times reporting here and here. Here's DMI's statement, for what it is worth.

Hello City of Madison Alders:

See the attached piece that was sent to the Mayor and Tripp Widder this morning along with our message to him below. As you probably know, the DMI Executive Committee met this morning including time with the Mayor and Tripp Widder. Please contact me if you have any questions. Thank you.

“Hello Dave and Tripp:

This is what was sent to the DMI Board of Directors a few minutes ago. The DMI Executive Committee is still hoping that negotiations between the City and Fiore/Irgens can be opened up again. The Committee was not convinced that all had been exhausted in connection with the original proposal. Please call if you want to talk further. Thank you both for coming this morning.”

Susan

DMI Executive Committee position on the Central Library renovation
March 30, 2010

"DMI strongly supported the proposed Central Library on West Washington Ave. Attached is the original DMI resolution supporting the proposal. Unless negotiations with the Fiore/Irgens Group can be resolved to achieve the envisioned goals consistent with our original position, DMI supports the City of Madison retaining a design consultant to study construction designs and cost estimates to rebuild the library on its current site. If that option is chosen, DMI urges the city to work with the private sector to examine redevelopment issues in the area surrounding the central library--including parking, arts investments, and the public/private benefits that were expected to result from the Fiore/Irgens proposal for the redevelopment of the Central Library block."

WHY IS THIS NEWS NOW?
I read this and wondered what meeting I missed this week, but the story is about a vote "earlier this month". So, why run the article now?

TODAY IS THE DAY
We're raising a couple hundred dollars a day, we need a couple thousand. Have you pledged yet? Today at 4 my debut show "This Side of Town" will run. Guests will include School Board President Arlene Silveira and Alders Marsha Rummel, Mike Verveer and Satya Rhodes-Conway to discuss various issues. I tried for a county board member, but it didn't work out, so I'll get them next time, if there is one! Stop down between 4:00 and 5:00 to check us out, or, you can see it Saturday at 1:00 on channel 95 or 991. If you enjoy the show, donate! If enough people donate, I'll consider keeping it going.

ORANGE CAPITOL
For a good cause.

TALK ABOUT SECOND HAND SMOKE ISSUES
I suppose they have to do something with tobacco as more and more people quit smoking.

LANDMARKS COMMISSION MEETING ON EDGEWATER SCHEDULED

The April 12th Regular Landmarks Commission meeting will be held in room LL-110 of the Madison Municipal Building at 4:45 pm.

The April 14th Special Wednesday Landmarks Commission to review the revised Edgewater Proposal will take place in Room 260 of the Madison Municipal Building at 5pm.

The final agendas should be ready by next Monday at the latest.

HIGH SPEED RAIL STATION LOCATION RESOLUTION
The sponsors are Satya Rhodes-Conway, Marsha Rummel and Mayor Dave Cieslewicz.

WHEREAS, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) has been granted federal funding to establish intercity passenger rail service between Milwaukee and Madison as part of the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative; and
WHEREAS, being successful in its application for federal funding, WisDOT will soon undertake final design of the Milwaukee-to-Madison rail corridor, including environmental assessment and selection of one or more passenger train station locations for Madison; and
WHEREAS, WisDOT, in its application for federal funding, did NOT specify a station location for Madison; and
WHEREAS, the City of Madison has a strong interest in ensuring that any passenger rail station be located as close as possible to major destinations, particularly those in its urban core, and that the station provide arriving passengers with convenient access to the city while providing departing passengers with convenient access to trains; and
WHEREAS, the City of Madison is already on record as supporting an inter-city rail station that would “provide the best proximity to key employment, University, recreational and residential destinations in the central area of the City”;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Mayor and Common Council of the City of
Madison strongly support a station that meets the following criteria:
1. Facilitates swift and efficient train service between Madison and Milwaukee, and supports future service to other cities;
2. Has the capacity to be multi-modal, specifically including access by Metro bus service, inter-city bus service, auto, bicycle, and foot, and offers the future opportunity of access by commuter rail or bus rapid transit;
3. Has a strong potential to encourage and facilitate transit-oriented development and to serve as an anchor for our economic development efforts;
4. Is located so it may efficiently and effectively serve passengers traveling to downtown, the State Capitol, and the University of Wisconsin; and
5. Can, once developed, provide sufficient amenities, such as parking, taxis, rental car service, food service and more to serve travelers; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that these criteria will be the official position of the City of Madison and will serve as the basis for our discussions with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration, and that the City shall, when working with these entities, do everything in its power to ensure that the final station location meets these criteria.

PROJECT HOME PAINT-A-THON

Project Home Is Accepting Homeowner Applications for Paint-a-thon

Project Home’s 22nd Annual Paint-a-thon is now accepting applications for its Saturday, August 14, 2010 event. The application deadline for homeowners to apply for painting is May 14. Financially eligible homeowners are selected to receive free exterior house painting by teams of skilled and community volunteers. Each house will have a supervisor. Project Home’s program paints 12 or more homes each August.

To qualify for Paint-a-thon, a homeowner must reside in Dane County and meet the financial requirements listed below. The house must be a single-family home occupied by its owners, no larger than two stories, structurally sound, and in need of exterior painting.

Income Requirements:
Household Size/ Annual Income: 1person: $27,150; 2: $33,650; 3: $39,150; 4: $45,650; 5: $52,150; 6: $59,650.

For additional information and applications call Project Home at (608) 246-3737, or email outreach@ProjectHomeWI.org, or visit our website at www.ProjectHomeWI.org. Family and friends are also welcome to nominate prospective homeowners to benefit from this service. Volunteer painters are also needed, call or visit our website to apply.

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Somewhat Inaccessible RTA Meeting Schedule

This crossed my mind when they talked about having a meeting in Fitchburg, but I was recently reminded about it again . . .

2010 RTA MEETING SCHEDULE
Regular Meetings Fourth Wednesdays of the month from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.

NEXT MEETING:

Thursday, April 29, 2010
5:00 p.m.
Town of Westport, Kennedy Admin. Bldg (Community Meeting Room)
5387 Mary Lake Road

Remainder of 2010
- 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., location TBA
- Wednesday, September 22, 5:00 p.m., location TBA
- Wednesday, October 27, 5:00 p.m., location TBA
- Wednesday, November 17, 5:00 p.m., location TBA
- Wednesday, December 22, 5:00 p.m., location TBA

INACCESSIBLE BY TRANSIT
When Fitchburg was doing it's planning charrette, I recalled complaints about it not being accessible by bus. Here's what one bus rider had to say.

You can only you participate in Fitchburg government if you own a car or you can get a ride to the meetings. A very large number of Fitchburg residents are totally left out of the process as they do not have cable TV, home interenet access, or cars.

The City hall and other buildings do not have bus service. There is very limited commuter bus service near city hall and you need to be able to walk up a very steep hill.

From my portion of Fitchburg (Fitchburg does pay for this bus service), I can travel by bus to Madison, Middleton, Town of Madison, and Dane County government buildings and meetings but not to Fitchburg.

The location of the proposed Fitchburg library cannot be used by myself or by my neighbors as we do not have cars. In my neighborhood, it is 15-45 minutes by Metro bus to almost any Madison Library (Central, South, Sequoya, Ashman) and the UW libraries. (Note that Fitchburg does pay for the use of Madison Libraries and UW Library access is based on WI statue.)

Now that the RTA schedule is out, another person has this to say:

Note that the first real meeting of the RTA board will be in a place you can't reach by transit. It also appears from the Metro schedule I have that the last bus heading to the South Transfer Point from Fitchburg City Hall leaves at 5:40 (Route 48), so that's essentially transit-inaccessible as well. You could get to the Middleton meetings by transit if you really wanted to, but the trip back to points east has hourly headways (Route 70) so there's a good chance you'd be spending a lot of time waiting. And if the meeting went long you'd be out of luck, since the last bus is at 9:19 p.m.

On the one hand, I guess it points out why we need an RTA. On the other hand, it doesn't look good for the transit dependent and their chances to have regular input in the process of shaping the RTA.
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Slow Week Tuesday Morning Round Up

In the 70s tomorrow! What else matters?

WHAT OUR LIBRARY NOW CAN BE
If we somehow manage to straighten it out.

$3.4M FOR THE SCHOOLS
More potential temporary fix money. But it likely won't help close the $18M gap that is still left.

CHANGES TO PROPERTY ASSESSMENTS
This is on the Housing Committee agenda for next week. I wonder how many assessors we would need to add for Madison if this passes?

EYE OPENER
This was interesting. Just don't look at how much water is used to make chocolate, it's depressing.

HEH, I'M A RINGTONE
I just noticed this. Funny.

WHEELER REPORT NEW POLICY
Interesting new strategy. Not sure it will achieve the objective of holding politicians responsible for what they say, but a nice try.

WHY IS EVERYONE SUDDENLY A GOOD SAMARITAN
Is it just me, or is this the new buzz word. Or just a way to scare people away from helping others?
- Robbery of Good Samaritan
- Good Samritan robbed at knifepoint
- Good Samairan accidentally aids in check fraud
- Alledged hit and run driver charged in Good Samaritan's death

PICTURES FROM DAY ONE OF WYOU SPRING PLEDGE DRIVE
Have you donated yet? And a little reminder . . . my debut as a interviewer not interviewee is tomorrow at 4:00 if you want to come watch it live, or run some cameras or donate in person. If it goes well, it may become a regular feature.

PARENTS PLAN TO PULL KIDS FROM SCHOOL
Good idea. Especially if you are raising young women.

MG&E TREE MASSACRE COMING
I don't have any details (i.e. no map) but Alder Maniaci informed us that:

Hi all,
This landed in my mailbox this week. mg&e will be applying to trim
trees in our neighborhood to the City Tree Board at their April 20th
meeting at 4pm. (room 103A in the City County Building).
Please let me know your questions and concerns.
Thanks!
Bridget

Note, this is the day that the Edgewater is supposed to be before the council.

BUFFLEHEADS
This is from a neighbor from this weekend, but it goes with the theme of it's going to be 70 degrees what else matters!

This morning I watch buffleheads diving in Lake Mendota. You can see them between the end of the jetty and the boat launch next to the locks.

Bufflehead: The smallest diving duck in North America, the Bufflehead breeds in ponds and small lakes in Canada, and winters in much of the United States. It nests in tree cavities as well as in nest boxes.

I first spotted them Friday, but I needed binoculars to see them well. Here's a link.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bufflehead/id

NEXT DIALOGS ON HOMELESSNESS

“DIALOGUES ON HOMELESSNESS - NURTURING OUR CAPACITY FOR CHANGE AS AGENTS OF CHANGE”
Saturday: April 3, 2010
1:30 – 3:30PM
THE MADISON PUBLIC LIBRARY
201 W. MIFFLIN ST.

Focus of the day: Developing ‘Shelter Standards for Dignity, Safety and Opportunity’

Enriched by individual experiences and creative capacities we engage in open and respectful dialogue, on course to be worthy neighbors and partners with powerful strategies for significant change. We define neighbors as “all those who share the streets with us”. We need to hear your particular story and perspective. Your presence has significance as we build transformative relationships, capacities and tools.

Comments to: Donna (608) 251-6610, dcassociated@gmail.com

This event is free and welcoming all. Refreshments served.
NEXT GATHERING ON MAY 1, SAME PLACE AND TIME.

ANOTHER BIKE PATH CLOSED

The Service Dr between Memorial Union and the Limnology/Lakeshore Path will be closed Wed 3/31 and possibly part of Thursday 04/01.

We hope to be able to divert through-cyclists to the sidewalk along the waterfront from the Hoofers’ Loading Zone to Parking Lot 8 (east of Limnology) so that access to the Lakeshore Path can be maintained.

Please exercise caution in the area – do not go past the road closed signs barricading the crane on the service drive, and walk your bike or ride slowly and cautiously on the waterfront, yielding to pedestrians where bikes are not normally expected.

Unanticipated repairs to the roof of the Water Science Building necessitate the short notice. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Thanks,
Chuck Strawser
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Transportation Services
UW Commuter Solutions
Pedestrian/Bicycle Coordinator

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And the City Stands Idly By . . .

Sometimes, people email me things that are too good not to share. Thanks to William Peterson for putting this all together and in perspective. My comments at the end.

Mayor Cieslewicz, alders, and members of the Economic Development Commission and community leaders:

Yesterday's Wisconsin State Journal Editorial "Yet another reason for school reform" points out the embarrasement Wisconsin has that "Black fourth-graders in Wisconsin just posted the lowest reading scores among the 50 states and the District of Columbia". This follows on the Wednesday Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Article "State's black fourth-graders post worst reading scores in U.S."

If you think this is a Milwaukee problem, think again. Isadore Knox has told me that some Madison grade school students score lower on exams that students in Milwaukee.

An October 8th article "Study Finds High Rate of Imprisonment Among Dropouts" in the New York Times states "On any given day, about one in every 10 young male high school dropouts is in jail or juvenile detention, compared with one in 35 young male high school graduates, according to a new study of the effects of dropping out of school in an America where demand for low-skill workers is plunging. The picture is even bleaker for African-Americans, with nearly one in four young black male dropouts incarcerated or otherwise institutionalized on an average day, the study said. That compares with about one in 14 young, male, white, Asian or Hispanic dropouts."

A recent article "The Economic Benefits from Halving the Dropout Rate: A Boom to Businesses in the Nation’s Largest Metropolitan Areas" says "Few people realize the impact that high school dropouts have on a community’s economic, social, and civic health. Business owners and residents—in particular, those without school-aged children—may not be aware that they have much at stake in the success of their local high schools. Indeed, everyone—from car dealers and Realtors to bank managers and local business owners—benefits when more students graduate from high school." It then goes on to show an economic analysis in our largest 50 metropolitan areas showing what economic benefits we might get if the dropout rate was cut in half. If you look up the data for Madison East High school, less than 70% of students get the equivalent of a high school diploma.

An April 8th, 2009 Huffington Post article "A Scandal More Shameful than AIG and Just as Costly for Taxpayers"

Though Madoff and the Wall Street meltdown have forced some of us to finally become more aware of the world beyond our comfortable middle and upper-middle class bubbles, another issue has been lurking for years that threatens to bring about even greater financial Armageddon for our country down the road: America's burgeoning dropout epidemic. Before you decide that this issue has nothing to do with you (and therefore decide to move on from this blog post) consider these facts for a moment:
• A 2008 study found that high school dropouts cost the American public more than $100 million a year.
• A 2009 study found that one high school dropout in Ohio will cost that state's taxpayers $200,000 from the time they dropout until they are 65 years of age.
• Every 29 seconds another American student becomes a dropout, meaning two (depending on how quickly you read) have dropped out since you began reading this post.

A WISC-TV Channel-3000 article "Wisconsin: Worst Place To Be Black?" references a Blackcommentator.com article that said "If you are African-America, Wisconsin is the "worst place in the nation to live,"" based upon a ranking that lists Wisconsin as the state with the highest percentage of its black residents behind bars.

A July 5th New York Times article "In Prisoners’ Wake, a Tide of Troubled Kids" says:

The chances of seeing a parent go to prison have never been greater, especially for poor black Americans, and new research is documenting the long-term harm to the children they leave behind. Recent studies indicate that having an incarcerated parent doubles the chance that a child will be at least temporarily homeless and measurably increases the likelihood of physically aggressive behavior, social isolation, depression and problems in school — all portending dimmer prospects in adulthood.

In "How to decide where to live" by Penelope Trunk a national blogger that writes for more than 200 newspapers talks about her decision to move from New York City to Madison and what factors she considered. She says

"I had never been to Madison in my life, and you know what? It was a good decision. Except for one thing: I ignored the data about schools. I didn’t believe that a city known for progressive social programs and university filled with genius faculty could have poorly performing public schools. But it ended up being true, and all economic development research says do not move to a place with crap schools—it’s a sign that lots of things in the city are not right."

So, you may think this is a problem for the school system to solve, but it isn't. It is a problem that we must all work on to solve.

You may say that you didn't have a personal role in creating the situation we are in. That may be true, but it is now our collective responsibility to make it right. I was fortunate to hear Elizabeth Eckford, one of the Little Rock Nine speak at Edgewood College. She said that she moved back to Little Rock and all of these former high school students that she used to go to school with came up to her and said things like "I wasn't one of the ones that harassed you". She pointed out that it is not good enough to say you weren't involved because you were there and you turned your back on the situation and let it happen, so you are responsible. This happened on all of our watches, so we collectively need to all work together with the community to start to correct the problem. It is going to take all of us to do it!

Lastly, I heard there is a movement to look at city processes to see how they might be changed after we have gone through this long process with the proposed Edgewater rebuild. Personally, I think this is very misguided and the real examination we should be making is how the business community, developers, lobbyists, the mayor, city staff, the Economic Development Commission, and others have spent all of this time and money to influence and take over, and intimidate the public process of making decisions about the proposed expansion of the Edgewater while completely ignoring things that are much more important to the overall economic health of our community.

Bill Patterson
Williamson St

Ignore the part about the Edgewater for a moment. Do you think anyone will respond to Mr. Patterson. Do you think anyone will take up the cause? Do you think anyone will even get it placed on a city committee agenda? Do you think people even read it all the way to the end? I wonder how many of my blog readers even read it to the end, for that matter.

I happen to agree, this is one of the biggest issues facing our city, and yet our city leaders stand idly by. Meanwhile, I know at least 4 alders care very deeply about these issues, but probably feel powerless to do anything about it, because the council won't support their efforts to address these issues. I know my own efforts to address issues of inequality for women were derided by my colleagues and I suspect the same thing would happen here.

Kudos to Bill for continuing to raise these issues with our city leaders, lets hope it doesn't fall on deaf ears.
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Spring Break Monday Round Up

I love spring break, it means more parking spaces, warmer weather and a bit of a break even for those still working cuz no one else is around. Tho, it sucks when you're campaigning and you can't reach people . . .

GOOGLE WRAP UP
Lukas did it, so I'm not going to.

JOHN NOLEN DRIVE CONSTRUCTIONS STARTS TODAY
I'm usually not worried about the weather or road construction, but this merits some attention.

CLEAR MAKES A BOLD MOVE THE MAYOR IS "FINE" WITH
It makes me sick to think of Clear being the next council president, because he won't do anything the mayor doesn't agree to. What kind of leadership is that? The council needs and advocate with the Mayor, not leadership that tells the council what the Mayor wants. Of course, there are risks with that, he may go after someone else in an election if they give him too much grief, but its totally worth it, for our democracy.

WHERE SHOULD SEX OFFENDERS LIVE
I have a hard time arguing to give sex offenders rights, but . . . I'd rather have the state set some uniform rules.

DANE 101 TURNS 5
I started blogging there, decided my political blogging didn't fit in well with the more local arts related blogging and that I wanted to do more and not overwhelm, but I still appreciate them very much! Their breakfast links is what made me think of my daily round ups when I started wanting to cover too many topics. So, congrats people! Your work is much appreciated! My five years won't be until November.

WKOW v. DATCP
I agree with Glen Loyd here, they both deserve credit. In the case of DATCP, who I have worked with since the mid-90s, what they really need, is more money to do more investigations. They are supposed to take tenant complaints against landlords, which are usually in the top 1 or 2 complaints they get in terms of volume, outdone by telecommunications issues, but there is just no way they have the resources to do so, which is why the Tenant Resource Center exists, to help people figure out what to do when DATCP can't help them. I'd love to have them doing more investigations of complaints against large landlord companies in Madison.

GIGGLE
Bill, you should look around downtown more often, the parking is atrocious, parking in front of fire hydrants, half in the yellow, in front of driveways, etc, etc, etc. And yes, its random when people do or do not get ticketed.

PARKING METERS
The city seems in no hurry to charge us more for the convenience of using a credit card for paying our parking meters, but when they do, we'll be paying $.20 more per hour plus $.25 per transaction. I think I'll keep carrying quarters with me. Works out well for the bartenders cuz when I get my change I keep the quarters and give them a dollar. I'd rather spend my money there.

C'MON UNIONS
Why not advocate for what is best for you, instead of whatever you can get? Where will the most jobs be created? Advocate for that. And as a side note, I can't wait to hear what DMI has to say after their emergency meeting on Tuesday.

UM, YUP
I've been quietly busting meeting after meeting that isn't showing up correctly on line and I'm seeing improvements, but Krtisin Czubkowski is correct, this meeting was not legally noticed, they will be re-voting on their actions.

WHERE WILL THE HOMELESS GO?
Not Brittingham . . . so where will the next complaints come from? And the next cameras be put in parks?

That's it for today . . . I have a bit of catching up to do for tomorrow.
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Brenda's Going to be on TV!

Eh, big deal, right? You've seen me on TV before, but not like this . . .

MY LITTLE PROJECT
I took a camera and editing class at WYOU and went out and did my first taping (thanks volunteers!) and started my first editing in the last two weeks. So, I hope to have my first videos done soon. However, I have another project I am working on as well. I'm going to host a pilot show that would be connected to my blog. My first guests will be School Board President Arlene Silveira talking about the School Board Budget and then city alders to talk about Edgewater, Library, RTA and more. I invited the county board chair who promised to come at a later date if I continue, the date and time didn't work for him. If it goes well, and I enjoy it and can find a crew, I may continue.

COME WATCH ME LIVE
My first taping will be Wednesday at 4:00. You're invited to come to the studio in their new location at 1202 Williamson St, Suite 101 (yes, the Social Justice Center) and check it out. In fact, they are having an open house all week this week and inviting people to come down, check out the new studio space and donate if you can. Here's the hours of their open house:

Sunday, March 28 1pm – 5pm
Monday, March 29 5pm – 8pm
Tuesday, March 30 5pm – 8pm
Wednesday, March 31 5pm – 8pm
Thursday, April 1 5pm – 8pm
Friday, April 2 5pm – 9pm

I was there last night for their open house and it was hopping! They were even letting people volunteer to run the cameras, so if you want to give it a try, they might let you!

DONATE
While there are several bills doing well at the state level that could restore WYOUs funding if the City does the right thing, WYOU is in a race for its life. They need to find a way to keep the station going in a sustainable way. And while they are doing video services for hire and fundraising their little hearts out, they could really use your help. So, here's my pitch!

If you'd like to see me on television, asking the questions, not answering them, and see more video integrated with my blog, please donate to WYOU and note that it is for Brenda's blog show. You can donate here on-line, stop by the station during their open house, or pledge this week or next week when my show will air. The phone number is 258-9644. I don't have the exact time yet of when my show will air, but I'll let you know when I do.

Remember, if you donate, mention my blog. If I get enough donations, I'll kick it up a notch with my reporting and change my "maybe" on doing a tv show to "definitely"!
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DCCPA Survey - More than lacking in Credibility.

When Lukas Diaz said at his blog that the Dane County Council on Public Affairs lacked credibility (these are also the folks that brought you the baggy-pants hysteria from the Southwest side), I figured, eh, what's new. But then, I had an opportunity to look into it more and wow. If the media had the information I just got, and still some like Channel 27 ran the story anyways, they too lack credibility, and ethics (or maybe staff to fact check their stories).

CREDIBILITY - CONSERVATIVE/REPUBLICAN FRONT GROUP
The first issue of credibility is who are the Dane County Council on Public Affairs. While they claim to be a non-partisan group and a voice for business, it is clear to those paying attention, they are just a Republican front group. The irony here is just precious:

“It is vital that policymakers understand what the public is thinking and what they want,” said Severson. “The views of the public often become lost in the debate clutter. Their opinion needs to count. And it’s vital that the public understands what citizens think rather than be told by politicians what they think,” Severson continued.

When you read below about how the fraudulent pollsters operate and look at the poll, you'll find that these folks are trying to tell the politicians what people think in a special kind of way.

Additionally, they only endorsed the most conservative candidates for county board.
District 3 Elaine DeSmidt (I) vs Don Imhoff
District 4 Brett Hulsey (I) vs Greg Hull
District 7 Matt Veldran (I) vs Mike Thomsen
District 9 Dianne Hesselbein (I)
District 12 Paul Rusk (I) vs Rick Raulin
District 14 Melanie Hampton (I)
District 15 Barbara McKinney vs Ronn Ferrell (I)
District 16 Dave de Felice (I) vs Ryan Jennissen
District 18 Melissa Sargent vs Nancy Wild
District 19 Bill Clausius vs Steve Schwartzer
District 20 Gordon Shea vs Duane Gau (I)
District 21 Harvey Potter vs Dave Wiganowsky (I)
District 24 Robin Schmidt (I) vs Pat Barry
District 25 Eileen Bruskewitz (I)
District 26 Sharon Corrigan vs Joshua Gamer
District 27 Kyle Richmond (I) vs Jeff Kritch
District 28 Bob Green vs Kurt Schlicht (I)
District 29 Dave Ripp (I)
District 30 Patrick Downing (I) vs Don Steinhauer
District 31 Gerald Jensen (I)
District 32 Mike Willett (I)
District 33 Sam Cooke vs Jack Martz (I)
District 35 Denise Duranczyk (I) vs Dave Siitari
District 36 Cynda Solberg (I)
District 37 Bob Salov (I)

Out of the 25 endorsements, they endorsed three people endorsed by the Dane Dems, 2 (Hesselbein and Hampton) unopposed. Corrigan was the third.

Of the 19 endorsements the conservative Chamber of Commerce endorsed, 13 of them match up with this group.

CREDIBILITY - FRAUDULENT POLLSTERS
The second issue with credibility is the survey. Lukas Diaz does a good job finding out about the reputation of the pollsters, Strategic Vision LLC. He has several links to various stories. They lack so much credibility the American Association of Public Opinion Research says they violated the Code of Professional Ethics and Practices. Google Strategic Vision LLC and fraud and you find much more and this is the company that did the research. So, I looked at the research a little further.

QUESTIONING THE POLL
The demographics of the people surveyed is off from the general population by pretty amazing amounts, here's a couple examples:

Age
Dane County population 65 and over: 9.7%
Survey: 32.6%

And 40% of those surveyed were retired.

Zip Code
The listed the zip codes with the highest response rates. When you look at that, compared to where the population by zip code is in Dane County, there are 4 zip codes (53703, 53703, 53713, 53719) that have more than 5% of the population, all in the City of Madison that are not in the top ten zip codes that were surveyed. And yet a couple zip codes with less than 2% of the population made it in the top ten zip codes. Cottage Grove (53527) has 2% of the Dane County population but have 7.7% of the responses. Mt Horeb (53572) has 1.9% of the population and 4.9% of the vote. My guess is this skewed the responses to more conservative responses.

Homeowners
I'm not sure this matters as much and to some extent might be reflective of the zip codes they concentrated with, but its also off quite a bit, also not reflecting the Dane County population.
Dane County homeownership: 57.6%
Survey: 78%

Republicans/Conservatives
Somehow, they managed to find 38% people who identify themselves as conservative or somewhat conservative and only 31% as liberal. Does that sound like Dane County to you?

Funny Results
More humorous to me is that despite their skewed or fraudulent results, they still came up with results that show:
- 60% of the respondents oppose freezing conservation land purchases
- less than 35% want the RTA to be elected
- only 55% oppose a "tax increase for transit only"
- Over 80% believe the quality of life in Dane County is excellent or good.
- About only 25% of people are concerned about the 911 center

These are all conservative talking points where you would have expected to do better with a larger chunk of their base.

Here's the full survey if you want to take a look for yourself. I'm sure you could find some other things to point out.

Here's how they try to justify that its statistically valid:

The Dane County Council of Public Affairs commissioned the 2010 Sounding Board Survey, an opinion survey providing a statistically valid presentation of the views or temperature of likely Dane County, Wisconsin spring voters. A total of 950 completed interviews were obtained. This provides statistical significance more than sufficient for decision-making purposes. The margin of error for this survey was +/- 3.7%.

For this poll, Strategic Vision, LLC conducted phone interviews of a random sample of Dane County, Wisconsin voters from its call center. Interviews were conducted from March 12 -20, 2010. Respondents were asked whether they had voted in 2006, 2008 elections and were planning to vote in the next election in 2010. Respondents who satisfied all three of these criteria were classified as likely voters and were included in the survey. Respondents who either did not vote in 2006 or 2008, or were not likely to vote in 2010 were not included. A total of 17, 109 numbers were dialed. Out of this number, 11, 621 connections were made. Ten thousand six hundred and seventy-one connections did not qualify, refused to answer the survey or terminated the survey

CONCLUSION
I'm always skeptical of polls, because so much depends on how the questions are asked and who actually answers the questions, but this was a much bigger problem than I thought it would be. Like I said, I wasn't too surprised they lacked credibility, but I was a little more surprised by how blatant it was.
Read more!

County 12 meeting week ahead

At least they have a board meeting, but still, not much here either. And, they have a furlough day on Friday.

MONDAY, MARCH 29, 2010
No meetings

TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 2010
9:30 a.m. EMS COMMISSION-ALS Program Steering Subcommittee...Rm. 2107 PSB
- Radio Design Update

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 2010
5:00 p.m. CARPC-Policies & Criteria Advisory Group...Rm. 321 CCB
- Continued discussion of comments and issues raised by local units of governments regarding CARPC policies and criteria for sewer service areas and develop recommendations for CARPC. (Doesn't really tell you what they are talking about, eh?)

THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 2010
9:30 a.m. PERSONNEL AND FINANCE - OVERTIME COMMITTEE...Rm 106
- Personnel & Finance Committee

5:15 p.m. PUBLIC WORKS & TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE...Rm. 315 CCB
- Endorsing Findings Of The Environmental And Transportation Study Of The
North Mendota Parkway And Resource Protection Corridors

6:00 p.m. ENVIRONMENT, AGRICULTURE, & NATURAL RESOURCE COMMITTEE...Rm. 321 CCB
- Establishing a Sustainable Agriculture Agenda for Dane County
- Endorsing Findings of the Environmental and Transportation Study of the
North Mendota Parkway and Resource Protection Corridors

6:00 p.m. PERSONNEL & FINANCE COMMITTEE...Rm. 309 CCB
- Salary Adjustments for Elected Officials 2011-2014

7:00 p.m. DANE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS...Rm. 201 CCB
- Changes to Comprehensive plan for Town of Christiana, Town of Medina, and Town of Verona Cross Country Neighborhood Plan on the consent agenda.
- Amending the Dane County Farmland Preservation for the Town of Christiana and Town of Medina also on the consent agenda.
- Incorporating the Town of Springdale Comprehensive Plan into the Dane County Comprehensive Plan which is not on the consent agenda
- Establishing a Sustainable Agriculture Agenda for Dane County
- Salary Adjustments for Elected Officials 2011-2014 (“No Recommendation”)

FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 2010
COUNTY OFFICES CLOSED – FURLOUGH DAY
9:00 a.m. HOUSING AUTHORITY-Finance Committee ... 1 S. Pinckney St. Ste 700
- Discussion of 2010 Budget
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Only 7 Meetings City Week Ahead

7 Meetings total this week, at least that is all that is listed. It's a 5th Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, so we get a little break, perhaps I'll catch up with some things I'm behind on. Meanwhile, here's the 7 meetings, and I don't have much.

Monday, March 29, 2010
8:00 AM COMMISSION OF THE MADISON METROPOLITAN SEWERAGE DISTRICT 1610 MOORLAND ROAD
- Position on phosphorus regulations
- Sewer extensions
- Replacement for retiring chief engineer and director

Tuesday, March 30, 2010
12:00 PM MADISON BOARD OF POLICE AND FIRE COMMISSIONERS 16 N CARROLL ST, ROOM 500
- Hiring recommendations

4:30 PM 201 STATE FOUNDATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS 201 STATE ST. LOWER LEVEL
- Name change
- Debt reduction discussion
- Governance Model

Wednesday, March 31, 2010
1:30 PM SENIOR CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE 330 W. MAIN ST.
- I got nothing

5:00 PM VENDING OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ROOM 313 MMB
- Southeast Campus Vending area
- DISCUSSION ITEM: Consider site assignments for all four Late Night Vending areas
with the possibility of limiting large carts to the 700 block of State Street (a.k.a. The Library Mall).
- DISCUSSION ITEM: A draft resolution that applies uniformity to all street vending
categories having seniority status based on first day licensed.

Thursday, April 1, 2010
12:00 PM MADISON CENTRAL BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS 122 W. WASHINGTON AVE. 1ST FLOOR BOARD ROOM
- Downtown plan update

5:00 PM COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT COMMITTEE ROOM 260 MMB
- Public Hearing on 2011 - 2012 priorities. See here for changes and additions.
- HOPE VI update
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TRC Iron Chef 2010 Competition Tonight!

It's the eight annual event. All proceeds go to help prevent families and individuals from being evicted. Donate what you can at the door and enjoy some great food. In case you aren't sure if you're interested, check out last year's event! If you can't make it, you can donate online or send a donation to our office at 1202 Williamson St, Suite 102, Madison, WI 53703.

My apologies in advance, all I had was my cell phone last time, tonight I have a real camera.

OUR CHEFS

Scott McDonell

Jacque Pokorney

Michael Jacob (The reigning champion)

Michael Basford 

Sherman Hackbarth and Chris Laurent

Stephani Jones behind the table

Heidi Konkel

OUR JUDGES

Sharyl Kato and Andy Heidt

Satya Rhodes-Conway

Tim Sobota, Carousel Bayrd and Cass

THE FOOD

THE ATMOSPHERE

If you come tonight, make sure to thank the chefs, judges, sponsors and the Brink Lounge.  Don't forget to tip your bartender!
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FRIDAY! Round Up

I'm so glad this week is nearly over. How'd I get so busy?

HOPE TO SEE YOU TONIGHT
Good food. Good fun. Good cause. Help prevent homelessness, donate what you can. And don't forget to thank the chefs, judges, donors and Brink Lounge.

BUSINESS VS BUSINESS
I guess isn't not just neighbors who are anti-business, sometimes a business can be anti-business.

THE GOATS
This is the best written article and most thoughtful article I've read on the latest controversy that makes the media go wild. I find it interesting that they only had one complaint, so why is it so controversial?

THIS IS FUN
I like how the Mayor is now using so many of the arguments that he previously ignored or fought against. It's fun to watch him try to back paddle. And its interesting to see who is most upset by all of this. I thought it should have been rehabbed in the first place, so I'm not disappointed, but I understand those who are. Also, interesting to note, the Library Board and Council will finally get to vote in April and May, after the timeline he released this week was well underway.

EMBARRASSING INDEED
And so many other things. Original story here.

AN ARGUMENT FOR STRENGTHENING THE DIVERSITY COMMITTEES
Most people think bigotry and discrimination no longer exist, but its interesting to see these issues all tied together. Too bad the council didn't think about this when they denied the Equal Opportunity Commission, Affirmative Action Commission and Commission on People with Disabilities introduce their own items.

PAY DAY LENDER LOBBYISTS SET RECORD
Most contributions in a non-election year. But it's nothing compared to the Edgewater who spend more than that in each of the 6 month periods (1, 2)in 2009.

I HATE IT WHEN THEY CHANGE THE STORY
This originally said that police were searching for a man who was missing after his car was submerged in Lake Wabesa. Which made me laugh cuz channel 3 was reporting the water was knee deep. Looks like they changed their story to be more accurate. I need to remember to grab screen shots of the ridiculous. And maybe leaving the news room instead of just churning police reports might be warranted more often.

ROB'S LINK
You may have heard of Chat Roulette and you may have heard of Merlton rockin' it' to random folks!
But Ben Folds takes it up a notch.

Of course, for this one, he had to double check the video was safe for work, small children and other living things, hence, a missing link.

THAT TIME OF YEAR
That many social service providers dread. I expect it to be worse than ever this year.

ISTHMUS PRAIRIE BURN
Scheduled for Saturday morning at 8:00 am.

Neighbors, in cooperation with MG&E, are organizing a prairie burn along portions of the rail corridor between Blair St. and Ingersol. This burn will stimulate the many prairie flowers and grasses that have been planted over the last 10 years. For a view of a portion of the area see:
http://www.lic.wisc.edu/users/jsc/garden/prairie01.htm

The target date is March 28th but that may get delayed because of weather. We're looking for volunteers to help with picking up brush and trash before the burn and to direct traffic at the cross streets during the burn.
If you want more info contact me at: jcolema1@wisc.edu

THE PROMISED NO GIMMICKS
But they sure love them!

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Alder Mark Clear will sample Google pizza at the Roman Candle on Williamson Street tomorrow at 2:30pm. The mayor and Alder Clear will also discuss the city’s application for Google Fiber, which will be sent to Google tomorrow.

For more information on Madison’s bid for Google Fiber, visit madfiber.net.

WHO: Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, Alder Mark Clear
WHEN: 2:30p.m., Friday, March 26
WHERE: Roman Candle Pizzeria, 1054 Williamson St.

BUS ADVOCATES TO MEET WITH RTA MEMBER

Steve Hiniker has been appointed by Madison's mayor to serve on the new
Dane County Regional Transit Authority Board. He would like to meet
with Bus Advocates to talk with us about ideas he and we have for
short-term and long-term improvements to our transit system.

The meeting will be 7-9 p.m. on Tuesday April 13 in Rm. 2619 of UW's
Mosse Humanities Bldg.. It is co-sponsored by the UW Student Bus
Advocates and the Madison Area Bus Advocates. Everyone is welcome and
encouraged to come.

OUR EMBARRASSING INCARCERATION RATE

Too Many Dane County Minorities Incarcerated. What can we do?

Dane County consistently has one of the nation’s highest rates of minority incarceration when compared to minority population. Nearly 50 percent of young Dane County African American males are either in prison, on parole or on extended supervision.

The findings and recommendations of two recent reports on racial disparities in the Dane County criminal justice system will be discussed in a League of Women Voters' forum Wednesday, April 7. The emphasis will be on solutions.

Who: Celia Jackson, Co-chair, Dane County Task Force on Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System, John Bauman, Administrator, Dane County Juvenile Court

When: Wednesday, April 7, 2010 7:00 p.m.

Where: The Capitol Lakes Grand Hall, 333 West Main St. in Downtown Madison (Free parking in the ramp across the street)

For more information, call the League of Women Voters of Dane County at 232-9447 or visit the League’s website at www.lwvdanecounty.org.

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Read more!

School Board Candidate Forum Tonight

From the Urban League:

MMSD School Board Candidates Forum - TONIGHT

This African American Communication and Collaboration Council is hosting a community forum with candidates of the upcoming Madison School Board Election. The forum is scheduled for Thursday, March 25 (TONIGHT) from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at the new Urban League Center for Economic Development & Workforce Training located at 2222 South Park Street, Madison.

The event format will provide each of the four candidates an opportunity to make an initial statement concerning qualifications, vision and why they seek to serve as a member of the Madison School Board. The remaining time will be dedicated to responding to questions presented by African American community leaders and members of the audience.

All individuals who are interested in the success or our children are invited to attend and participate.

Read more!

Silly City Edgewater Games

There is just no end to the insanity. This project is turning nearly every city process on it's head. Here's two more silly games that people at the city are playing.

RECONSIDERATION
As you might imagine, Alder Marsha Rummel has gotten a fair amount of grief over her vote at Urban Design Commission. While I think she had her reasons for her vote and articulated them well, it was stunning to many of her supporters. To follow up to her speech she made at UDC, she wrote the following memo to the Plan Commission:

Dear Plan Commission members-

I will miss the middle part of your meeting because of a work commitment from 7-9p. I hope to make it back in time to participate in the discussion about the Edgewater.

The unusual 5-4-1 vote last week was the first tie vote since I was appointed to UDC in April 2007. In my experience UDC commissioners generally agree about most projects after working with the applicant over the course of several meetings so initial approval usually means there is agreement on the mass, scale, height, site plan and landscaping for the project and context. This project has been an exception because many of the concerns UDC has noted and requested to be addressed have not been done in a timely way.

Overall the Commission agreed that there were many positive features of the Edgewater proposal such as restoring the 1940s Art Moderne building, enhancing public access to the lake, removing the top of the 1970s building to construct the public plaza and restore the public views of the lake as promised in 1965 ordinance but we were divided over whether the mass and height were appropriate for the site and while we narrowly vote for initial approval, the majority of members thought the building was too big. When we asked Hammes to respond to requests to reduce the height, they repeatedly said removing floors and “program” would make the project financially infeasible. It is not UDC’s charge to review this but I would urge Plan Commission to follow up and make a determination.

In late January, I requested that the developer work with NGL to move the building 30' to the east in the hopes that it would address the mass and volume and conform better to the setbacks along the majority of Wisconsin Ave and to relocate the parking garage entry off of the city portion of the ROW. The March 17 submittal shows they did both things, not completely, but the result is a positive change, and I voted for initial since I felt I was instrumental in pushing for these changes. But I still have many concerns about the height and mass of this building.

At the March 17 UDC meeting, I asked the developer to present the new proposal to the Landmarks Commission. I would like Landmarks to review the changes to the architecture of the new tower, the relation of the plaza to the historic hotel, tower step backs from the right of way, and street setbacks and apply for a new Certificate of Appropriateness. This is an FYI and I understand it is not in Plan’s charge to make this recommendation.

UDC is somewhat at a disadvantage because we are the front end of the application process and don't have the thorough staff report that addresses standards to help inform our decisionmaking like Plan Commission does. So the next step is in your hands.

The Mansion Hill historic district plan and Comp Plan both address the unique character of this district and area. Consistently I have seen residents from several neighborhood associations, not just Mansion Hill, raise concerns about the economic stability of the historic district and integrity of standards for approval for new development if the Edgewater Hotel is permitted to intensify it's mass and uses so dramatically. This consideration weighs heavily on many of us and I hope that Plan Commissioners will take these concerns seriously since you have a broader array of standards to apply including economic impact and compatibility.

Aside from a reference to the TIF application process, in reviewing the standards for economic impact, staff did not discuss the addition of a luxury hotel to the market- both as it impacts existing establishments and potentially derails/delays a convention center hotel that would benefit Monona Terrace as recommended by the first Hunden report. Based on the initial Hunden study I think a case could be made that the economic prosperity of some hotel owners in the downtown may be adversely affected. Another subject that has had very little discussion in the staff report is the request to allow residential condos as part of this project. Additional elevators and other features to accommodate residential users add to the cost of the project. Some argue that the income from condo sales offsets the construction costs and so why not reduce the height by two stories? As you are probably aware, one of the discussions swirling in the community is the impact of extending the life of this TID and borrowing for the Edgewater will have our schools. This will be taken up by the Board of Estimates and the Council. But the economic impacts of this proposal are far-reaching and extend beyond the addition to the tax base, the provision of temporary construction jobs or mostly service industry jobs at the hotel.

Plan Commission will need to determine if the increased setback from the right of way is sufficient enough to offset the scale and mass of the new tower, or if an additional setback is necessary or the height of the building should be lowered. The latest plans add a penthouse lobby that "causes the tower to exceed the uppermost limit recommended in the Comprehensive Plan for the Langdon sub-district". I don't think we should exceed the uppermost limit of the Comp Plan. I urge you to determine if there is a way to reduce the mass of the building.

I also urge you to refer the PUD until you see the final configuration of the public lakefront easement access along the entire lakeshore of the development to accommodate a pedestrian/ bicycle path and ADA access; the use, maintenance and delineation of the public versus semi-public versus private spaces, and; the execution of the maintenance agreement between the developer and the City. These are the public community benefits the city will be receiving with TIF subsidy if this proposal is approved. I want Plan Commissioners to see and discuss the details considering the plaza management, outdoor cafe and use of alcohol and address it at the front end of the approval process. You requested it at your last meeting and I think you should have it before you approve the PUD.

Thank you for your service-

Marsha Rummel

After watching the stunning vote of the Plan Commission and feeling that they did not address many of the issues that she thought they would address before it went to council, she wanted to find out what her options were, one of them being a potential reconsideration.

So, guess what. Even tho she has reconsidered items at UDC before, the City Attorney said that she could not. You want to know why? Because they follow Robert's Rules of Order and it does not allow reconsideration of a motion when its results have been even partially carried out. Because the Plan Commission, the body to which the UDC provides a recommendation, has acted, it is too late to move for reconsideration.

I personally think that's a little weak. Since UDC also informs the Council. And I'm getting sick of the city attorney's office constantly limiting the voices of the committees. I don't understand why they are so afraid of letting the council get advice from citizens. I guess they just want to waste more time with people showing up at council meetings to tell them in person since they can't make an official recommendation?

Well, UDC didn't take that lying down. Last night they passed two motions at their special meeting:
1. They adopted sec MGO 2.21 for their reconsideration procedure. That reads:

RECONSIDERATION OF QUESTION. It shall be in order for any member who voted in the
affirmative on any question which was adopted, or for any member who voted in the negative when the number of affirmative votes was insufficient for adoption to move a reconsideration of such vote, at the same or next succeeding regular meeting of the Council. It shall be in order for any member who was, due to an excused absence, not present at the time the question was considered to move reconsideration of such vote at the next succeeding regular meeting of the Council. A motion to reconsider having been lost shall not be again in order. A motion to reconsider shall not be in order when the same result can be obtained by another motion. (Am. by Ord. 5188, 10-20-75)

2. They requested staff to draft a policy for consideration at next months special meeting that empowers UDC staff to prevent applicants from getting on UDC agenda if packet is incomplete and establishes a policy that all materials presented day of meeting might not be considered except for informational purposes

They did this because the new(ish) ordinance about committees/commissions requires that every two years committees must review policies and procedures.

THAT CITY ATTORNEY MEMO
It came out just in time! Now that it is useless, tho the City Attorney seems to think otherwise:

Attached is the opinion you requested regarding the Edgewater Development and the Landmarks Commission. You will get a paper copy of this, but most recipients will get only this electronic version.

I understand that earlier today, the developer announced they would go back to Landmarks for approval. This opinion will still be useful for future projects.

And it wasn't even Friday . . . guess it wasn't really bad news given recent developments.
Read more!

Thursday means the Week Is Almost Over Round Up

Here it is . . . enjoy!

CONSTRUCTION SEASON IS UPON US
Road work!

JOHN NOLAN BIKE PATH CLOSED
Bikes also will have a challenge getting around this summer.

CHILDCARE RATING SYSTEM
The new childcare rating system was unveiled yesterday.

LIBRARY REHAB SCHEDULE
Wow, the council never voted or even had a chance to discuss and the Mayor has already announced how it will be done. Interesting. Here's the schedule which they already started working on.

YUP, OUR HOUSING IS EXPENSIVE
But I guess we like it that way. In the Midwest, only Chicago has a higher median home price. Madison was $189,000 in 2009. And a two bedroom tied with Minneapolis for second at $899 median price.

EDGWATER GOING BACK TO LANDMARKS
Wow, this ended up being an interesting strategy. Go to Landmarks first because UDC and Plan Commission needed to hear from Landmarks, then, appeal the decision of Landmarks to the council and tell UDC and Plan Commission that the issue is now in the Council's hands so the issues weren't really considered, then, after UDC and Plan get done, then go back to Landmarks when their opinion can no longer have an impact on the UDC and Plan decision. I tend to agree the system is broken, but its just the decision making with blinders that needs to be taken a look at. But, Hammes is pleased.

BARRETT UNHAPPY WITH EDGEWATER REPORTING
He has not one, but two posts on it.

HOW BIG WILL THE EDGWATER BE?
Think about this, compare it to Capitol West.

The first numbers are Capitol West, the second numbers are the Edgewater:
length 223' 211'
width 75' 72' at guest rooms
upslope height 123' 102'
downslope hgt 136' 123'

Both sites are sloped, Edgewater down to the lake, Capitol West down W. Wash. So the upslope height is taken from the sidewalk to the rooftop at the high end of the site and the downslope similarly at the low end.

For the Edgewater the downslope measurement is take from the public plaza to the rooftop.  

Capitol West is basically one or two floors taller.

FOOD REPORT DELAYED
Madison School District too busy with the budget to reveal the report.

WOMEN CAN'T VOTE OR SPEAK
I forgot this crazy church story yesterday. It's crazy to think that this kind of thinking still exists today.

POETRY WANTED

Fabu, Madison’s Poet Laureate Announces
A Call for Poetry for
BUS LINES
High School Poetry Competition
Poems on Metro Transit busses

Fabu, Madison's Poet Laureate announces the 2010 call for entry for "Bus Lines," a high school poetry competition that prints selected poems on the placards right above the seats on Metro Transit busses.

Teachers, parents, and anyone who interacts with Madison or Middleton High School students should encourage them to submit poems to Bus Lines. Students, who are enrolled in a high school within the Metro Transit ridership area during the 2010/2011 school year, are invited to submit up to three (3) original, unpublished poems to Bus Lines. Poems of any subject affirming poetry and life will be reviewed. Poems can be submitted in any language, but must also include an English language translation. Each poem must be no longer than eight (8) lines. There is no entry fee. There will be a scheduled public reading and a monetary prize awarded to students whose work is selected.

BUS LINES Applications and Guidelines are available on the MAC Website at http://www.cityofmadison.com/mac/buslines/ or by calling the Arts Program Administrator at kwolf@cityofmadison.com or (608) 261.9134. Deadline to apply is: April 30, 2010

Bus Lines, is a collaborative project involving: Fabu, Madison's Poet Laureate; Madison Arts Commission; City of Middleton Public Arts Committee; Metro Transit; Madison Metropolitan School District; and Madison Public Library. Our thanks to Adams Outdoor Advertising for donating the advertising space as part of their Public Service Advertising Program.

April 30, 2010 is the last day to apply.

Read more!

What Public Space/Lake Access are we getting for $16M

Half way through the Plan Commission on Monday night, during a break and after the public had spoken, a limited number of copies of the Maintenance and Use Agreement for the Edgewater Hotel were handed out to most of the Plan Commissioners.

It's available to the public now, after the fact and it really gave the plan commission no time to review it, despite the fact it was specifically requested. Alder Maniaci was the first to let them know that she and the city attorney had reviewed it, which was during her testimony after the break.

For those of you who aren't going to wade through it, here's the highlights.

CITY SITE vs. HOTEL SITE
The city site is the land we currently own, even with the current Edgewater. It's indicated in this map here:

Basically, the city is letting them use the land for their drop off. That space is virtually useless to the public except that there is the start of the stair to the lake and there is a portion which is the tables for the cafe, but that is determined to be excluded from the Public Access as I read the agreement.

The total space here is .38 acres.

PUBLIC ACCESS COMPONENTS
Public access spaces are anything outside the two hotel buildings and the lakefront terrace in front of the hotel, as far as I can tell, the map is a little harder to read.

It also includes the area along the lake front.  The public access components are listed as:
- Outdoor terraces as noted in the map above.
- Public restrooms off the terrace
- Public restrooms at the waterfront
- stairway to the waterfront
- green space in front of the new podium building
- perpetual easement for the use of an ADA compliance access route through the building to improvements on the terrace and waterfront.

Outdoor areas excluded from public access are:
- dining terraces serving the restaurant spaces
- outdoor balconies and terraces attached to or adjacent to hotel rooms, guest suits, and condominiums
- roof terraces serving the property Why not?

PUBLIC ACCESS AND USE
Hours of operation:"7:00 am to 11:00 pm 365 days of the year"*. I had heard this explained as being the same as parks hours, but it is not. I had also heard them explain that they would do early morning Tai Chi classes, looks like those are out too.

Use: You can use it for any lawful purpose, but it "may not be disruptive". This one worries me, are they going to determine that a homeless guy sitting there with all their belongings is disruptive because the hotel guests don't like it? Is hackysack disruptive? A boombox playing hip hop at a reasonable volume?

Restricted items: grills, steamers, coolers, vending equipment or similar apparatus, alcohol, food and beverages beyond reasonable personal use.

*General Events I put the asterisk on the "Hours of Operation" because it wasn't quite true . . . because areas marked A, B and C below would be blocked off for events that would occur 8 am to 11 pm.

But no worries they will leave open "all other Public Access Components for the use and enjoyment of the general public at all times subject to the Special Events provisions"

Special Events are up to 15 times a year the owner can close off the entire area "to monitor the occupancy and/or provide additional services and/or management of the Public Access Components." Examples given at Plan Commission were 4th of July.

Right to sell goods/catering: They have the exclusive right to do both. So if you do your wedding there, you have to use their caterers.

Seating: Has to be provided as approved by UDC at final approval after the city council votes.

Maintenance: There will also be a management agreement and that is where those items will be spelled out.

Right to Kick Someone Out: "At any time the Hotel Operator shall have the right to ask any person(s) to leave said Public Access Component if that person(s) is in violation of the provisions outlined in the Management Agreement, is negatively impacting the protection, use and enjoyment of visitors to the Public Access Components and/or Project; is in violation of the rules and regulations of the Madison General Ordinances." Of course, there is no Management Agreement to see what that says and I'm not sure what "negatively impacting" the "uses and enjoyment of visitors" might mean. I can imagine those are different standards for Willy Street and an upscale hotel.

WRAP-UP
So, all these restrictions make it even less likely that the public will get their $16M worth, especially if one of the biggest days of the year, 4th of July, they intend to shut the public out. Makes the public access a bit of a joke. And, the ultimate irony is that we've some how bought into the notion that we need this public access. Do we really?

Read more!