Allied: Agreement Broken, Now What?

For nearly two months I've been asking a question . . . and I get at least a partial answer in the newspaper today.

Financing of the first phase of the Allied project rested first on $7.49 million in tax credits awarded in April through the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority. The CDA is working with Chicago-based National Equity Fund, a national syndicator of low-income housing tax credits, on the sale of those credits, Olinger said Friday. He also said the remaining $1.5 million in financing will come through other mortgages that the CDA is pursuing on a number of fronts.

So, they are still working on selling the credits and they are pursuing other mortgages. However, our legally binding agreement with the CDA says that this was supposed to be in place by August 1st. I've emailed and asked in person what happens now. Still no answer. I've asked my question of the Mayor, Mark Olinger, the Alder . . . and finally I got a glimpse of hope that I might get an answer two days ago.

Alder:
I am working on a response and should have that completed by this time tomorrow.
Thanks.
m.

Tomorrow came and went.

So, if the agreement says:

The Cooperation and Development Agreement shall be null and void and of no further effect if the CDA fails to obtain at least $9,000,000 in firm financing commitments by August 1, 2008.

then now what? Seriously. Can someone answer the freaking question? We have a null and void agreement to essentially give the land to the CDA. Now what? Read more!

Allied Architect Out

I wish I would have had time to go to the CDA meeting yesterday, but I had to stay at work. However, this can't be good.

So, now, we don't have financing for the project in place as required which technically means that the project should be dead. We don't have an architect. And we have to meet deadlines for WHEDA. None of this can be good news. Development is a type of thing that doesn't always go smoothly, there are always things that come up that can't be anticipated, but with experience, you get better at it and better at responding to the bumps. In this case, since our staff have little to no experience, I wonder how much staff time is going into this and what isn't getting done as a result? And at what point we decide we need to do something different? And how much this will end up costing us? And can we get the CDA to pay for all that staff time?

This is the kind of thing that if you think about it too long, you get this horrible feeling in the pit of your stomach. I didn't vote for this disaster, but I still have a feeling of responsibility as an elected official and it really feels like someone needs to stop this trainwreck. But its hard to do anything without good information. Ugh. I need something more than architects who "might be able to" work within our budget and "hope" that switching architects won't slow down the project. Read more!

Allied Over Budget

Ahem.

I saw this a little late to post much this morning.

And most of what I have to say, isn't fit to print, even on a blog.

Thanks to everyone who called and emailed me this morning with the news . . . knowing I try not to actually read the WSJ.

I don't think we can blame Epstein Uhen here, I blame the CDA for being unrealistic about the costs . . . they're not developers and don't have the experience to do this project. I wonder if WHEDA would have given them the tax credits if they known that their costs in this category were 5 to 6 times greater than they budgeted?

JFC. And they want us to trust them on Truman Olson? Read more!

Allied Drive . . . ahem!

So yesterday was the ground breaking at Allied Drive, but do they have the $9M in financing I'm wondering if the timing of the groundbreaking was intentional. When we passed the agreement with the CDA to develop Allied Drive there was this little clause in the agreement:

7. Financing. The CDA will be responsible for procuring sufficient financing for the Project. The Cooperation and Development Agreement shall be null and void and of no further effect if the CDA fails to obtain at least $9,000,000 in firm financing commitments by August 1, 2008. The City’s financial contribution will be limited to its contribution of land to the CDA, demolition and public improvement costs outlined in item 6 above, and its credit backstop of the Fannie Mae revolving line of credit loan.

The fiscal note said the following:

The entire proposed redevelopment agreement would be contingent upon the CDA's ability to obtain $9,000,000 of redevelopment financing by August 1, 2008. Currently, it is anticipated that $7,500,000 of this financing could be available from tax credit equity, with the additional $ 1,500,000 available through a first mortgage on the property and miscellaneous grant sources.

So, we know they got the tax credits from WHEDA in the amount of $7.5M but did we find the investors to purchase the credits and do we have the rest of the financing? I haven't seen anything that says we accomplished that. It doesn't necessarily mean that we haven't, but if they got a grant or secured a loan you'd think we'd have heard. Hmmmmm. Read more!

Common Council Recap

The meeting went past 10:00! That has become so rare!

The meeting started off with much confusion. Alders Sanborn and Bruer were not in attendance, but excused. As a result, Alder Clear made the motions (here's the agenda) for the meeting. However, for some reason, after introducing his new staff person, the Mayor called on me. I attempted to move adjournment . . . to no avail! :)

The first item of business was the #1 the report of the Chief of Police on the state of public safety in the City of Madison. Apparently leadership decided that they didn't want Noble Wray to do this in front of the camera and so they are setting up a different meeting for this report. They attempted to have it during the time when we would have had the 2nd August meeting (the 19th) when most council people plan vacations. I believe they are rethinking that.

The second item of business was #2 a resolution congratulating the City of Madison Fire Department on 100 years of service as a career Fire Department. Chief Amesqua made some brief remarks.

The third item of business was #3, a resolution welcoming and honoring the visit of His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama of Tibet on his 7th visit to the City of Madison. There were a few speakers and we were all presented with scarfs as a sign of friendship. Technically, we are not allowed to keep anything of value, so at the end of the meeting we were instructed to turn them in to the Council Office. Thuy Pham-Remmele however, very visibly refused to turn hers in and walked out of the room with hers.

Next, we did the consent agenda. We passed the entire agenda minus the public hearing items and 12 other items.

The issue during the public hearings was about a waiver request for Linden Park (items 5, 9 and 61). The issue was that the city did not offer enough incentives/offsets to make the developer whole, so they applied for a waiver. This was the first time the staff had done the waiver process and there were several questions about if the numbers were correct or if the policies were followed. The staff admitted there were likely some errors and we were not clear if the process was done correctly. There was a long explanation, that I have to say at least 75% of the people in the room didn't understand. And the argument ended up being about if we should just trust the staff (who said they weren't sure the answer was correct) or not. Absurd. Of course we trust the staff, this issue was just complicated and there are several issues to be resolved. The vote ended up AYE: Brandon, Clausius, Clear, Cnare, Compton, Gruber, Judge, Palm, Pham-Remmele, Rummel, Schumacher, Skidmore, Solomon, Verveer, Kerr. NO: Webber, Konkel ABSTAIN: Rhodes-Conway ABSENT: Bruer, Sanborn I asked a few people why they voted the way they did and the biggest reason I heard was the they had to pay $7,800 into the Inclusionary Zoning fund and people didn't want the number to go any lower. My argument was, we should make sure they do it right and if the amount of money changes, maybe even goes down, so be it. We should just make sure we do it correctly. For me, its about integrity. I should have known better trying to make that argument to a room full of politicians. It was also during this discussion that Alder Thuy Pham-Remmele pulled out the standard insult that I don't have a "real job" and haven't ever done a development. Classy.

The next item (#26) was the Allied Drive Task Force Employment report which was accepted after a few questions.

Then we discussed the budget process for next year (#28), which was an amended substitute reflecting the work of the Presidents Workgroup. We are attempting to get more council members involved earlier and make the process more welcoming (starting with having enough chairs in the room!). I also posed the question, if instead of doing 3 the budget meetings 3 nights in a row, if we might haveing the meetings in a little over a week (Tuesday, Thursday, Wednesday) so that we could have more time to work between the meetings and also more time to work things out with our colleagues. While many thought that had merit, we didn't think we could change it for this year. If the budget is going to be as bad as they say it is going to be, I think we need to do it this year. Who knows, it still may change.

I think this is where we took a "10 minute break" that lasted 20 or 25 minutes. When we came back we did #74 the annual report on gender, racial/ethnic minorities and people with disabilities on City of Madison committee, commission and board appointments. There were a few softball questions about how alders could help get more people on committees and the report passed.

We then went back to the Salt Use report (#31), no one was there to answer questions so we referred it.

Union Corners redevelopment district(#59), also referred, for 90 days.

Mailboxes ordinance (#62) also referred for more work.

Next up - a new lease for Madison Metro (#69) - a bigger space at a higher costs and in spite of the worlds worst budget ever for next year, we approved the lease.

Finally, somewhat appropriately, the fireworks (#72). Alder Cnare attempted to lower the fine from approximately $400 to approximately $100. Before the meeting, I talked with Alder Cnare and we came to a compromise of $225. However, Alder Brandon had went on a little rant about how the police shouldn't be able to not give tickets, then come to us and tell us they won't give tickets because what we decided was appropriate was inappropriate in their eyes. There were some issues about different types of fireworks (bottle rocker vs. mortar vs. multiround) and an attempt to refer it back to PSRB to give different fine amounts based on the type of fireworks. That motion failed on a voice vote. Next we voted to lower the fine to $225. That passed AYE: Webber, Clear, Cnare, Clausius, Compton, Gruber, Judge, Konkel, Palm, Pham-Remmele, Rhodes-Conway, Schumacher, Solomon, Verveer. NO: Brandon, Kerr, Rummel, Skidmore ABSENT: Bruer, Sanborn Then we voted on the final and the vote was the same except Palm and Schumacher switched to no.

After that, we went to Brochah. Gruber, Clear, Rummel, Rhodes-Conway, Webber and the Mayor's staff (Mendoza, Plant, Pariano and the new kid on the block), the Mayor and the City Attorney were there. Home by midnight. Read more!

An exercise in Unfriendly!

I went to the Allied Drive "Move Forward, Not Out" festival last Saturday. I have to say, it was an exercise in "unfriendly" before we were all sent home due to the tornado warnings.

The first thing I encountered as I was setting up is that I was talking to my table-mate and he said that there were no restrooms available? At first, I didn't believe him. I asked someone "in the know" about it and I was told that the Boys and Girls Club had locked their doors and refused to open and let people use the restrooms there. Nice.

Then, before I was even set up, I heard someone yelling my name. So, I asked them what was up. I was told "you need to move your car." This was familiar to me, last year when I went there, I pulled up and was unloading my car and "the nasty Fitchburg lady" came out and was yelling at me "Brenda Konkel you need to move your car!", so I didn't think I made that same mistake, in fact I was extra careful to avoid that situaion. I parked at the end of the block and walked my tabling materials over to avoid another incident of yelling.

So, I was confused about being asked to move and I asked why. He told me "I don't know, the police said you have to move it." I said, "I'm not parked illegally, there's no signs. I double checked!" The person very firmly said, "It's Fitchburg, just move it." and smiled at me. He had a good point and I didn't want to cause the neighborhood any trouble. So, half set-up I went to go move my car. On my way, I ran into two police officers . . . so . . . I just had to ask. "Why do I have to move my car?" The police officer looked at me, hesitated, smiled wryly and said "Well, you don't have to, but it would be nice." Ahhhhhhhh . . . .

Now, I'm not sure if my rust bucket was offensive to the homeowner or if she really was worried that I was parked too close to, but not in front of, her mailbox. I moved my car. However, I have to say, that the first 15 minutes of the festival, both last year and this year, really kind of pissed me off. Way to take a positive event and make it negative. That's not very neighborly! Read more!

Common Council Recap

A three hour meeting took care of a 839 page packet of information for the meeting . . . not too bad. Here's the gory details . . . .

We kicked off the meeting with a minute of silence for the people killed in the med-flight crash. We suspended a bunch of rules like we do in the beginning of each meeting and then honored the Memorial High School forensics team - complete with a performance from one of the students. And then we passed a secret. We had some questions about a project on the northside in Cherokee Marsh which passed.

#11 - Amending the demolition ordinance to address demolition by fire.
Next, we did another "do over". Should the fire department be able to burn houses to demolish them and provide training for firefighters? I think we all think yes, but how the public is notified and when they do it was of concern. Alder Gruber came back with a "compromise" that we voted on. I love it when we have a "compromise" that one side of an argument comes up with. The "compromise" was that the fire department would be the only ones to do demolition by fire and limit it to three times a year. And then they removed the restriction prohibited them from burning on days where the DNR had issued Air Quality Warning or Watch for particulate matter.

I moved to keep the language prohibiting burns on days when there were Air Quality Warnings or Watches. The fire chief was out of the room and couldn't answer questions, so there was a motion to table. Believe it or not, we had to have a roll call vote on this.

Those those voting "NO" to table so we could ask the fire chief questions were: Schumacher, Brandon, Clausius, Compton, Plam and Rummel.

Those voting "AYE" were: Sanborn, Skidmore, Solomon, Verveer, Webber, Bruer, Clear, Cnare, Gruber, Judge, Kerr, Konkel, Pham-Remmele, Rhodes-Conway.

While we waited we moved on to:
Alder Pham-Remmele wanted to make a statement about our "secret" we passed earlier. Her point being that someone shouldn't be honored for helping Southeast Asians if they only work with one population - the Hmong as there are 55 other groups included as Southeast Asians.

Then, we reconsidered item 162 - which is Alder Kerr's appeal of the hotel on Monroe Street. We set the public hearing for the June 3rd council meeting.

Then we made the following staff appointments:
#18 - New Parks Department Superintendent - Kevin Briski and
#19 - New City Treasurer - Dave Gawenda.

Both passed with no problems. Kevin Briski made the rounds introducing himself to staff prior to the meeting. Alder Judge remarked that since he had no parks, they wouldn't be working together much and others had their lists of things ready that needed attention. Kevin Briski will be starting on June 2 and Dave Gawenda remarked that he was looking forward to moving on to "bigger things ahead". Interesting that City Treasurer is considered a move up from County Treasurer. Welcome to both of them!

#11 - Amending the demolition ordinance to address demolition by fire.
Then we went back to the demolition by fire issue and took it off the table. The fire chief was back in the room and we learned that last year there were 18 days that the DNR issued warnings or watches for particulate matter. However that was based on only 65 microns and the standard is now 35 microns and so they are expecting that will double the number of days that watches and warnings are issued. We also heard testimony that they would stop a burn exercise if there were conditions that put the firefighters at risk (high winds, etc.) even tho they said they couldn't stop a burn exercise because of a watch or warning. I think that the health and safety of the public and the air they breathe is equally important to protecting the safety of the staff.

However, only Verveer, Webber, and Rummel voted "AYE" with me to keep the language that would prohibit them from adding particulates to the air on days when watches and warnings were issued.

Those voting against for staff training over clean air and public health were: Sanborn, Schumacher, Skidmore, Solomon, Brandon, Bruer, Clausius, Clear, Cnare, Compton, Gruber, Judge, Kerr, Palm, Pham-Remmele and Rhodes-Conway.

The final vote on the ordinance, that limits training to three days per year, which doesn't address the concerns that I and others had was 14 - 6.

Those voting "NO" were: Sanborn, Compton, Judge, Konkel, Pham-Remmele and Rummel.

Those voting "AYE" were: Schumacher, Skidmore, Solomon, Verveer, Webber, Brandon, Bruer, Clausius, Clear, Cnare, Gruber, Kerr, Palm, Rhodes-Conway.

At some point during this discussion, Alder Pham-Remmele was talking and was cut off. Alder Brandon approached the Mayor and the Mayor announced that our "AV Club President" wanted to inform us that if we talk too loudly into the microphones they automatically shut off.

Also of interest, the fire chief took the moment to remind us that if they had a $6.5M state of the art training facility, they wouldn't need to do the training exercises on buildings being demolished.

#44 - Noise outside the 7 am - 7 pm restrictions for construction on E. Washington Ave.
Bottom line here is that there will be no pile driving and the public is notified of the noise if they are within 300 feet of the street and they will be notified next spring when the work begins. This item passed unanimously on a voice vote.

# 87 - Moving $8,000 from the Far West Library to buy a copier.
We then moved on to our other "Do Over" of the evening, where there was a long, and I think unnecessarily drawn out. I have to admit, I think I tuned out as some folks were talking. After a particularly long comment by Alder Palm, the Mayor once again called on Alder Palm, er, I mean Alder Brandon - who used the opportunity to scold us yet again. This time it was his "Politician" speech, which I think the gist of it was that if we don't show up to meetings where items are discussed we lose the right to have an opinion on those issues and are being bad elected officials if we don't participate at the committee level. Alder Pham-Remmele responded with explaining that you can't be in two places at once and she was at a meeting for a committee she sits on (CDBG) when this issue was discussed at the Library Board and that was why she wasn't there to participate - a situation many of us are often faced with.

The staff person (sorry I didn't catch his name) from the library gets extra brownie points for working "The Natural Step" into his comments on why we were buying this copier.

After all of that, this item passed unanimously on a voice vote.

#89 - Cherokee Marsh plat
Kumbaya. Lots of technical talk . . . but it passed unanimously on a voice vote.

#98 - Changing the Snow Emergency Rules
Hopefully we will never have to use this, but, now if there is more than 3 inches of snow (from policy) before November 15th or after March 15th - they can still call a snow emergency. And the whole city will have to alternate side park - except streets with one side of parking and a long list of other exceptions. It passed unanimously on a voice vote.

#101 - Will there be jobs for Allied Drive residents in the public works portion of the project?
I'm not sure which item contained this information, but, there will be 3 Construction Craft Laborer Apprentice jobs for people in the Allied Drive area in the public works bid that we approved. This item just moved the budget money around to allow it to happen and it passed unanimously on a voice vote.

#104 - Report on gender, race and people with disabilities appointments to City committees
This was referred as there were still errors in the numbers.

#105 - Report on gender, race and people with disabilities and hiring for top management positions
This report showed that women represent 47% of the labor market but are only 34% of the top managers across the City. We fall short in 5 of the 6 categories of top management positions as follows:

• Police - 33%
  
• Fire - 11%
• Management and Professionals - 37%
• Agency Heads - 21%
• Metro Management and Professionals - 24%
  

The study also showed that there is a 6% wage gap, which needs to be studied further.

The study confirms what I've been saying and will require follow up to work on the recommendations in the report, but things have started to change internally with the recruitment and certification process and it will take some budget and policy changes to continue to make progress. Thanks to the staff and committee that worked on this! The report was unanimously accepted/approved/received or whatever, on a voice vote.

#106 - CDA Workplan
We finally got the budget and workplan on the same agenda and got an update on the 2008 plan that was due before we did this year's budget (last May or June) but we didn't get it so last year in the budget we had to ask for it. We got it at the end of January/beginning of February but referred it to consider it with the budget. So, there were many changes and they have to get the 2009 plan ready in the next few months.

My major issue with the report is that it has a list of projects, but doesn't really state our broader goals of what we are trying to accomplish.

Updates and questions include:

• Allied Drive got the tax credits and they are moving forward.
• The American Exhange Bank Redevelopment District has been removed from the plan.
• The CDA will consider the request by WARF to waive part of the $600,000 fee for the $180M bonding for Wisconsin Institute for Discovery/Morgridge Institute for Research, but they are likely to not waive the fee if I read the vibe correctly.
• Lakepoint. Lots of questions, not alot of firm answers. We're stuck in a bad situation and they are trying their best to make sure we don't lose more money. Clearly, they are not going to want to try to get any money out of the council! However, if I read the numbers correctly, with my back of the envelope calculation, its not looking good. I look forward to a fuller analysis.
• Our public housing reserves are building back up. They have $600,000 where they should have $1M.
• The Truax plan was adopted
• And, they didn't offer much when it comes to the Truman Olson Army ROTC Facility. While it was clear to me that they want it to be economic development and not a facility to serve the homeless, no one would say it.
  

The plan passed unanimously on a voice vote.

#107 - CDA Budget Template
Yes, the CDA does not pay for Mark Olinger's time. Or any staff time spent working on the Villager Mall. Allied Drive staff time is being charged to the TIF. It's not clear where some of the other items are in the various line items, but we're making progress. At least we have the outline of an operating budget for the CDA redevelopment activities. (We've always had one on the Housing Operations side of things.) This passed unanimously on a voice vote.

With that, we adjourned to the Great Dane. Those partaking were: Gruber, Webber, Rhodes-Conway, Rummel, Judge, Verveer, Clear, Bruer, Schumacher and eventually . . . Palm. Also joining us was an Amy Westra and, of course, the lovely Rosemary Lee. (Hey Mike - nice talking to you!) Next time, Alder Judge will finally be legal drinking age. Read more!

What? What is the CDA doing?

Why does WARF - the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery - want the CDA to give them $300,000 for their $180M bond project? And what is CDA going to do with those Lake Point Condos? And why don't they want to do what the federal government prefers which is to use Truman Olson for homeless programs? And why isn't it CDAs (the "Master Developer") problem if the Allied Drive project doesn't hire Allied Drive residents to do the work there? What? What? What?

First, let me say, going to a CDA meeting is infinitely frustrating. The agency that touted it openness during the Allied Drive process, is, at times, anything but. There is rarely enough materials for the public, the rooms are often crowded and difficult to hear in, and the information isn't available electronically linked on their agendas and even if it was linked, they often hold their meetings in rooms without wireless access. Oh, and when they go into closed session, Alders are not allowed to stay. Often Alders Kerr or Bruer give me their copies of materials after the discussion is over, and I appreciate that, but its no way to run a public meeting.

I have two huge sources of frustration in this regard to lack of information from their meeting last night.

WARF/WISCONSIN INSTITUTE FOR DISCOVERY
The first was this item that appeared on their agenda with no linked materials:

7a Consideration of a request from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation for the CDA to waive a portion of the required bond closing fee for the redevelopment project in the 1200 and 1300 blocks of University Avenue.

It was a little unclear what George Austin, the former Secretary of the CDA, was asking the CDA to do. Apparently, their project, for which the CDA is providing/hosting a $180M bond, with $50M from the state and a gift of $50M (and maybe another $50M it was hard to tell) is asking the CDA to give WARF, a "non-profit", $300,000. Essentially, I think he was trying to say that the $600,000 fee that the CDA charges (1/3 of 1% of $180M) should be donated to WARF so that they could buy more science equipment for the Center because they're a non-profit and it would help their mission and it would be "exciting" for the City to be a part of this project. What's more interesting is the WARF has other options and could get bonding elsewhere, but the CDA offers double tax exempt bonds, saving WARF even more money.

If the CDA grants this request, it means they will have less money to do the things they need to do on Allied Drive, Lake Point, Villager, Truax, Truman Olson and who knows what else and ultimately, will come with their hands out to the City, and it's taxpayers - and we will likely fork it over. Do you think the CDA has the ability to just give away this money at this time? They wisely referred this to a later date for more thought.

LAKE POINT
The second issue was the Lake Point project. It's hard for me to share information with you because they didn't have copies of what they were talking about for the public, or the Mayor's office. It makes it very hard to follow the discussion when you can't see the spreadsheets they are referring to.

This is what appeared on their agenda with no linked materials:
5 DISCUSSION/ACTION REGARDING THE LAKE POINT CONDOMINIUM PROJECT

As I understand it, with a back of the envelope calculation and not enough facts available to the folks who were doing the calculations - if they take over the condo project the best case scenario they

• Would have $18,000 in holding costs per month
• Could make $664,000 if they sold everything immediately (yeah, right, in this condo market?)
• Have 37 months before they end up "upside down" (they love that phrase)

That's the best case scenario. But, there was all kinds of ifs. Concerns ranged from not knowing how many hidden costs there might be in liens and apparently there was $300,000 that might not be in the calculations. And, they're not certain the condos are priced at the right price.

If you ask me, they made a huge mistake when they didn't choose the Wisconsin Partnership for Housing Development to do this project. And now they have to clean up their mistake. I wonder how much this is going to cost us - um, I mean the CDA.

My frustration with the next two items was that even tho they were supposed to discuss these two items - they didn't.

TRUMAN OLSON
This one brings up a different frustration. No staff showed up, so they didn't talk about it. If I was a member of the public who showed up to hear what they had to say - and there was at least one person there - I would be mad that I wasted my time. Interestingly enough, the one thing they did say was that they were "on track" and determined to make this site "economic development". i.e. not transitional housing for the homeless.

MERGER
This item appeared on the agenda, with no links to any information:

8a Discussion regarding the Community Development Authority / Dane County Housing Authority (DCHA) Merger

The public was quickly informed that this was not going to be a discussion. They reported there was a meeting with the Mayor and there will be another one. Public not invited. Despite this warning, a few CDA member, and one Andy Heidt, managed to get in a few words. CDA members really wanted to know in what universe this was a good idea and what the thinking is. Apparently, the meeting that was had was just an identification of the possible issues that they should eventually discuss. And it was clear, they didn't want to get into that discussion now.

And here's one more gem from the meeting.

ALLIED DRIVE
There is growing concern that the City's promise to the residents of Allied Drive that they would get jobs out of the development that is happening in their neighborhood will not be honored. When chair Levitan asked about this, the response, through gritted teeth, from our Planning and Community and Economic Development Director and CDA Secretary Mark Olinger was:

Our job is to build the building. On budget. On time.

And then he quickly reminded them of the fast approaching deadlines and requirements that they have to meet to keep the tax credits they were awarded. Alder Kerr quickly asked for clarification and the explanation is that its the City's problem and she should talk to Larry Nelson about the public works (demolition and streets) part of the project. Read more!

Madison Buses - A System for Traditional Commuters

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

THANK YOU

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

Warning: It goes down hill from here.

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

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

BUS ROUTES NOT TO BE CUT

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

OTHER CONCERNS AND COMMENTS

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

STAND OUT MOMENTS FROM THE HEARING

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

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

CDA - No, you can't see our WHEDA application.

During the approval of the Allied Drive project, one of the talking points of the CDA advocates was that they would be far more open and accessible than any private developer. I'm sure I rolled my eyes more than once when they repeated this, but I didn't say anything. I can now give you two reasons to show you how they are not as open and accessible as one might expect.

First, did you know that when they go into closed session, City of Madison alders cannot stay for the closed session unless they are invited by the members of the CDA. Typically, alders are allowed to participate in the discussions of all city committees unless it is a quasi-judicial hearing. However, the CDA is "not the city" when it suits their purposes and "the city" when they need our money. So, they have found a way to exclude even Alders of the City of Madison from their closed session meetings. Just so you know, this never happened, but I did ask the City Attorney about it and that was his answer. I have to say, it makes some sense that we would be excluded when they are negotiating with the City, except that two alders and our staff are all sitting in that same closed session. And it's just hard to let them have it both ways and always whatever benefits them the most.

The second issue, was not something I had thought about. Last night, I asked Stuart Levitan for a copy of the WHEDA application for Allied Drive because I wanted to follow up and see how much they asked for in developer fees as I guess I have the wrong number and I got a somewhat odd response.

If your email constitutes a Public Records request, please direct it to Mark Olinger. thanks

Well, no, it wasn't an open records request. I didn't think I needed to do that. I thought that since the City approved them applying, that I could get a copy. And besides, they are "more open and accessible than any private developer". So I asked why. And I was given a copy of a letter to a report who had asked as well and was denied. Again, there may be some valid reasons for withholding the information, but it sure doesn't match their spin. And again, I guess they are "not the City".

I find it mildly disturbing that an organization that is getting millions of dollars from the City of Madison for the Allied Drive and Villager Mall projects is so . . . "brusque" with the very same people that they expect to fund their plans. I guess I'll have to figure out how to craft some open records requests that can't be denied to find out the information that I want, because I don't think there is any harm in me knowing the answers to the questions that I have. What a ridiculous waste of time. Read more!

This is just silly.

Ok - so I heard about this from 3 or 4 people before it was in the newspaper and its been bugging me, but when you put it in context, it gets even sillier.

The CDA and United Way think that if poor people only managed their money better they wouldn't be poor. Um . . . no amount of financial management classes is going to "fix the problem" that if you get $673 per month for your "volunteer"/community service work on W-2 and your rent is $550 you have $123 left. Foods stamps will get you food, and badgercare will take care of health needs, but the $123 isn't even going to cover many childcare subsidies people are paying these days. Maybe you're one of the people who got lucky and won the "lottery" to get on a waiting list to get section 8, but that's all you got, you're on a waiting list. That's why when the United Way and CDA trumpets their $50,000 per year that they want to spend to help people in Allied Drive manage their money, it just makes we want to laugh. Or, roll my eyes as I did on Stuart Levitan's show when he asked me about it. Or cry.

Add to this, the new report that being black in Wisconsin is the worst place in America to be black. Or worse, you could be one of those hard working people who wasn't born here that makes a minor mistake with big consequences. It just adds to ridiculous fiasco of spending so much money to create housing that isn't guaranteed to be affordable to those who need it the most, people below 30% AMI. We aren't addressing the real underlying issues, we're just making things look good and pretending that we're "fixing" the problem. Meanwhile, real people are living real lives that this financial counseling and "affordable housing" won't do a thing for them. And, most of them are still black (or may be "illegal") in Wisconsin.

When we will we get serious about addressing these serious issues? When will we start providing people with services that they need - meaningful job training, case management to address various issues, affordable housing, childcare subsidies, bus routes that don't take an hour to get most places, etc etc etc - instead of doing things that have the appearance of helping or adding more police to arrest them? And can we talk about the impact that race/immigration status has on all of this?
Read more!

Council Recap: Jan. 22, 2008

Here's the run down of the council meeting that lasted til after 11:00 last night. Sorry, the links will have to wait until tomorrow if I have time.

Prior to the Council meeting we had a presentation from the Office of Community Services. After the grilling they got at the Board of Estimates last year, they figured they had been educate us a bit about the 1.6% ($3,633,505) of the City of Madison Budget that gets so much attention year after year. The handed out alot of information with the painstaking process they go through along with the goals/priorities the commission sets and debates every two years. Alders there at the beginning of the presentation were: Gruber, Solomon, Cnare, Konkel, Bruer, Schumacher and Judge. We we joined by Rhodes-Conway, Kerr, Clear, Pham-Remmele for a majority of the presentation and Compton and Webber joined us near the end.

We took what should have been a 15 minute break that stretched a bit longer than that. We finally started the council meeting about 10 minutes late. Alder Verveer was in the chair as the Mayor was in Japan. Claussius was absent as he was in Cancun and we were surprised with the news that Alders Brandon and Sanborn weren't going to be joining us either.

We started off honoring the son of one of the City Attorney's who placed 5th in District 2 in the Veterans of Foreign Wars oratorical scholarship contest, The Voice of Democracy.

By the time we were done with this item we then passed the consent agenda (everything on the agenda except items 17, 22, 29, 40, 77, 85 and 89 with a referral on item 82 which was Alder Bruer's hotel/motel ordinance, some additional referrals and quite a few abstentions by alders on various items) and went on to the public hearings.

This was the meeting of referrals. Item 5 (City approving condo documents was referred during the public hearings.) We then tried to get a bunch of items done "quickly" before going on to the Allied Drive issue. We considered the petition signed by hundreds of people who were opposed to the advertising of gambling and alcohol on our buses. We heard an explanation from the City Attorney about why we have first amendment issues with limiting this advertising, despite the fact that other cities limit this advertising and eventually we placed the petition on file.

The next issue was buying a gas station on Park Street. While it was assessed at $203,600, it was apparently worth much, much more than that. It sold in 2001 for $525,000 and the city had an appraisal for $715,000 and we paid $876,000. The explanation about why the assessment was so low was that it was one of the properties that was formerly in the Town of Madison and they apparently don't reassess very often. No wonder they are going out of business.

The next issue was an assessment of a sidewalk for Troy Drive from School Drive to Forster Drive. It was referred because it did not have a sponsor as well as alders wanting to discuss this further with their districts.

The Zoning Code Rewrite Advisory Committee was also referred.

Then we discussed a resolution requiring City buildings to be LEEDS certified. Alder Compton attempted to refer this to a ridiculously long list of city committees, including the TIF committee (which has nothing to do with City buildings) and that motion failed. The resolution eventually passed. We spent quite a bit of time stating the obvious about how LEEDS certified buildings was not just a good thing to do, but would eventually save us money. Many alders added their names to sponsor the resolution as they were lost along with the piece of paper they were written on. They can't blame this one on legistar!!

The second surprise of the evening came when the advertising for bus wraps failed to pass the council due to the absences in the first surprise. We took a roll call vote and it turns out, with Brandon and Sanborn missing, they didn't have enough votes, tho this one is sure to be reconsidered. Those voting for the advertising, even though several noted that at the end of the pilot project they may not vote the same was and that many people had received complaints about not being able to see out of the buses were as follows: Kerr, Palm, Pham-Remmele, Schumacher, Solomon, Bruer, Clear, Cnare, Compton and Gruber. That was only 10 votes, and everything needs at least 11 votes to pass. Those voting no were Judge, Konkel, Rhodes-Conway, Rummel, Skikmore, Verveer and Webber. Absent were Brandon, Sanborn and Clausius.

At this point is was 8:00 and we took a break before digging in to the Allied Drive topic. We were handed a new resolution after the council meeting started and after the break Alder Solomon took some time to explain the changes in the 4 page resolution. Then we jumped right in to questions.

FINALLY, the CDA admitted, that they are not willing to make a commitment to have a certain number of units affordable for people at or below 30% AMI. Technically, the Allied Drive Task Force recommended and the Common Council approved that that project would have 25 - 30% of their units affordable at that level, but the CDA staff would not make a firm commitment because they wanted "flexibility".

Also, FINALLY, they admitted that the units at $184,000 per unit were actually the $214,000 per unit once they added in the additional costs.

While the questions were quick, the answers sort of dragged on but eventually, we got to the resolutions. I offered several amendments to the new document we were handed last night, starting with the easy ones.

The first was to change the resolution to refer to the correct resolution that we passed last year. It was considered friendly.

The second was to clarify that the City would not demolish all the buildings, but instead leave two of the Birch Hill buildings standing during construction of Phase I.

It then got a little rockier.

The next attempt was to define what "low- and moderate- income" meant. There are various definitions depending upon which funding source is defining "low and moderate income rental housing". I attempted to define it as 50% AMI, but that failed and the council I believe would allow the rental units to be affordable to people at 80% AMI. To explain the difference in the level of affordability, check out this chart for what rents would be at various levels. This chart is for IZ but here are the rents that can be charged.

• Efficiency $640
• One bedroom $686
• Two Bedrooms $824
• Three Bedrooms $952
• Four Bedrooms $1,061.

That's hardly affordable, but apparently, we needed even more flexibility, to provide rents at people up to 80% AMI. To further put this in perspective, here are the incomes, by family size, of those at 80% and 50% AMI. (Sorry this chart is a little messed up, but I didn't have time to fix it.)

1 person			$41,250		$30,960
2 persons			$47,150		$35,400
3 persons			$53,050		$39,780
4 persons			$58,950		$44,220
5 persons			$63,650		$47,760
6 persons			$68,400		$51,300
7 persons			$73,100		$54,840
8 persons			$77,800		$58,380

Folks, that is hardly creating housing for those who are most in need. You really have to wonder why we were even bothering to do this project at this point. That failed with the following vote:
AYE: Judge, Konkel, Rhodes-Conway, Rummel, Skidmore, Solomon, Verveer, WEbber, Cnare
NO: Kerr, Pham-Remmele, Bruer, Clear, Compton, Gruber, Palm, Schumacher
ABSENT: Sanborn, Brandon, Clausius

The motion to add the following language failed, I think, but I don't know for sure: If the units in phase I are converted to condominiums the net proceeds received due to the sale of rental housing shall be reinvested in rental housing for households at or below 50% AMI. (See income chart above.)

The next motion to put a whole bunch of the new language in the cooperative and development agreement passed.

The next motion to add the following language failed: Developer Fee & Net Proceeds. Any developer fee or net proceeds on the development or sale of the land in Phase II shall be reinvested in rental housing for households at or below 40% AMI. This one failed with only Konkel, Rummel and Webber voting aye.

And the last motion I made that also failed was: 27 of the units in phase one shall be affordable for households at or below 30% AMI for at least 15 years. Only Rummel and I voted for this amendment on a voice vote.

I believe Alder Clear may have made one more friendly amendment. We then went on to discussion by the council where various council members said all kinds of things about why we shouldn't vote for the project but then proceeded to do so anyways. Some of my favorites were calling the project a "mistake", likening it to drowning in quicksand and saying that they were "swallowing sand" by voting yes and saying that they were voting for it because they had "no other choices". Ouch. But, we all praised Ald. Solomon for his hard work, patted each other on the back and it passed 15 - 2 with the three aforementioned absences. Alder Pham-Remmele and myself voting no.

In addition to the post from the other day where I outlined the problems with the project, I couldn't vote for this when they wouldn't guarantee the 25% of the units being available to those who truly need this affordable housing. If the CDA is unwilling to build housing for the most needy people in the community, we certainly can't expect the private market to do it. It's all up to WHEDA now . . . if we get the tax credits . . . then we get the approval from HUD for the 36 sticky 8 vouchers . . . and we get the financing . . . the project will move forward.

And with that, it was 11 and we went to the Great Dane. We were joined by the City Attorney, Mark Olinger, Stuart Levitan, Kate Stalker from Schreiber Anderson, Leslie McAllister our Weed & Seed Coordinator & Lisa Subeck. Alders in attendance were Rhodes-Conway, Bruer, Clear, Schumacher, Gruber, Solomon, Rummel, Webber, myself and I hope I didn't miss anyone else.

Read more!

Allied.

Sigh. I don't think I can sit through another meeting on Allied, but I have one today and there's one more tomorrow. And every time I think I've crossed all my questions off my list, I remember one or two more. While this has been a moving target for months, the last few days things have settled down and here's where I think we are at.

COSTS PER UNIT
While the initial numbers showed a cost of $184,988 per unit, there are several costs that are not in that number that they need to add. There's $1.2M in infrastructure costs that aren't in there, plus $65,000 in rent up reserves and the cost per unit for land should be $8,000 but they had it at $4,592. So, the actual costs for the 49 units in the first phase end up being $214,212 per unit.

COSTS TO THE TAXPAYER
The bill the tax payers are paying adds up like this:
$4,350,000 for the purchase of the Hauk Properties
$377,000 for the two properties on Jenewein
$18,000 for public greenway we're giving to the project
$3,500,000 for public infrastructure
??? in staff time

That's about $8.5M once we add the staff costs. We're going to end up with about 109 units in phase one and phase two. That ends up with a taxpayer subsidy of $75,682 per unit. And in the end, the CDA walks away with nearly a million dollars in profit and the right to sell the land (and make more money) to the non-profits who then have to make phase two affordable. Nice gig if you can get it. Free land, free staff, $75,682 subsidy per unit and they still can't make the rental units affordable without Section 8 vouchers. Wow. Just wow. That's alot of resources that more saavy folks could have done a whole lot more with.

FINANCING
Yesterday I finally asked the question about where the Fannie Mae $2.1M loan came into play. Apparently, its what we're counting on for the $1.8M mortgage that we need to make the project work. Problem is, we only have that line of credit until 2011. Then what? Also, the $8,000 per unit that the CDA is "paying" us for the land is in a deferred note, they don't have to pay us unless they sell the land at some point in the future.

Also, even thought the City is the backstop for the Fannie Mae loan, we don't get to see or approve the final financing package.

"AFFORDABLE HOUSING" AND THREE BEDROOMS
We aren't adding any affordable rental housing, in fact, we are removing it. And we're removing the disappearing 3-bedroom rentals. 3 bedroom rentals have become increasingly difficult to find while the 1 & 2 bedroom market is being flooded.

Even after spending $8.5M the only way the housing is going to be affordable is by taking 36 Section 8 vouchers out of the community (so, the next 36 vouchers that come back to the CDA will not go back into the community but they will be "stuck" to the units to make them affordable.) And, because HUD allows the landlord to charge more rent money than WHEDA, the CDA ends up with even MORE money. The tenants, however, only pay 30% of their income towards their rent. One has to ask, how are we putting $75,000 into units that still can't be made affordable?

BAD CHANCES
So, some of the things that need to fall into place here, are some pretty big "ifs".
1. We have a 1 in 3 chance of getting the WHEDA tax credits that are $6.7M of the $9M in financing that we need.
2. There is a Federal Home loan in the financing, but they only have half as much money as they had last year.
3. HUD (Washington) has to approve allowing us to take 36 vouchers and "stick" them to this project. That is only a 10 year agreement which can be renewed for 5 more years, but the housing has to be affordable for 25 or 30 years.
4. They still have to get the land use approvals and there's ALOT of work to be done to meet some pretty ambitious timelines.

WHERE ARE THE ALDERS?
Several alders wanted a briefing on the project, 12 said they'd show up, but only Solomon, Rhodes-Conway, Webber, Rummel, Bruer, Compton and myself showed up. They didn't even bother doing the presentation since we all have seen some version of it. Jed was on the radio (and also not at Board of Estimates on Monday either) talking about the project when I drove to the yesterday's briefing even though he hasn't seen the presentation and details which only recently became available on-line. Note: I'd expect at least one more version of the resolution, since the substitute doesn't take into consideration the changes the Plan Commission made.

And where are those alders who haven't been to any of the meetings like Brandon, Skidmore, Palm, Clausius (he'll be absent from the meeting where we vote). Also, some only got an odd snapshot of the project depending upon what meeting they went to Judge (terrible housing meeting), Cnare and Gruber (essentially only looked at planning issues), Schumacher and Pham-Remmele only came to the community meetings early on when the most important information wasn't yet available.

So, its coming to decision time and I have no idea how I am going to vote. Alder Solomon has made this better with the help of CDA chair Stuart Levitan, but I'm not sure we are there yet. I can't see

• spending this much money ($75,000 per unit)
  
• at this high of a per unit cost ($214,000) and
  
• letting the CDA walk away with a profit off of the people of Allied Drive while
  
• sticking the non-profits with meeting the affordability goals the CDA set while
  
• charging non-profits for land that CDA got for free when
  
• the CDA doesn't plan to reimburse the City for staffing and infrastructure costs and
  
• the CDA does not plan to build more 3 bedroom rentals while
  
• raiding the section 8 program.

It doesn't add up. Sadly, the only argument on the other side is "we have to do something!". And we do, but do we have to do it so ridiculously. Read more!

The Week Ahead: Allied, Allied, Allied Again

Lots of double and triple booked people this week . . . and a whole lot more Allied Drive.

MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2008

(I just noticed, the CDBG meeting that was supposed to occur at 4:00 re: Allied wasn't publicly noticed. They posted an agenda in legistar, but its not on the clerk's schedule. Now, instead of being quadruple booked, I only have three meetings to be at this afternoon.)

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

• Allied
• Bus wraps
• Amending the TIF deal for University Square
• Buying a gas station for $1.1 for the Villager Mall redevelopment.
  

4:45 PM LANDMARKS COMMISSION ROOM LL-130 MMB

• Demolition Ordinance
  

5:30 PM PLAN COMMISSION MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING ROOM 201 CCB

• Allied
• Zoning Code re-write committee (who's going to be on it?)
• Cliff Fisher project on Butler/Hancock and Johnson is being referred at his request

5:30 PM TRUAX PARK APARTMENTS MASTER PLAN AD HOC COMMITTEE 8 STRAUBEL CT., EAST MADISON COMMUNITY CENTER, GYM

• While CDA staff and commissioners are running all over downtown presenting the Allied Drive project, they're also having a meeting about Truax. Who's doing the meeting planning for the CDA?
  

TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2008

5:00 PM COMMON COUNCIL - DISCUSSION ROOM 201 CCB

• There's no agenda on Legistar, but the topic is Allied. It's publicly noticed so the clerk's office must have the agenda.
  

5:00 PM TRANSIT AND PARKING COMMISSION MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING ROOM LL-110 MMB

• They will discussing the parking during snow emergencies AND allowing downtown parkers to get monthly passes in at least one downtown ramp. Story from the Cap Times here.
• Bus wraps

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2008

(There's an ALRC agenda in legistar, but its not on the weekly schedule.)

5:00 PM ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT SUBCOMMITTEE ROOM 101 MMB

• That's a fairly useless agenda.
  

5:00 PM HOUSING AFFORDABILITY SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE HOUSING COMMITTEE ROOM LL-120 MMB

• Allied (Since they didn't have any information at our meeting last Wednesday, we'll be discussing it, hopefully not just being presented to for 2 hours.)
  

THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2008

4:00 PM COMMON COUNCIL ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITTEE SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMITTEE CREATION AND COMMITTEE RULES ROOM 414 CCB

• I didn't find an agenda anywhere on line this morning, but its noticed.
  

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

• Lightbulbs
  

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2008

12:00 PM DISCUSSION ON SNOW REMOVAL ISSUES ROOM 103A CCB

• Also couldn't find an agenda, but it wouldn't be on the clerk's schedule if they didn't have one.
  

p.s. Bowling update tomorrow. Needless to say, no one got crushed. In fact, we're not even sure who won. Sort of. Kinda. The council team won due to our handicap. Read more!

Common Council Recap: 1/8/2008

Snooze.

In fact, I just realized that it was so boring that I didn't even preview the meeting. Ooops, sorry, I was too busy trying to get information from Allied. Here' the few items that were discussed.

We honored Jim Morgan for his years as Parks Superintendent. He wasn't there as he was traveling, but he will receive his plaque at his retirement party.

We honored Ed Jepsen for his 10 years of work on the Yahara River Parkway. His years of dedication and thousands of hours of work just can't be praised enough.

We agreed to allow the 1022 W Johnson project to move forward even if they don't have a place to put the Conklin House. They won't be able to demolish it, but they could park it on a temporary lot (oh where oh where might that be?) until they find a space. They're asking for "final approval" for moving the house tonight at UDC, but I can't find any information on it.

One person came to express his concern about the new/revised Hilldale project where they are building a hotel instead of the condos.

And finally, we sent back a bartenders license because the person had two drunk driving arrests in the past 5 years. Turns out, we don't have any standards for who gets these licenses. However, I have no idea how Alder Kerr knew this, because, once again, there is no information available.

And then, we went to Brocach. The folks who went were Mayor Dave, Janet Piriano, City Attorney Michale May and Alders Rhodes-Conway, Webber, Schumacher, Kerr, Clear, Brandon (but he was awful busy watching his phone to get New Hampshire results), Judge, Verveer, Bruer, Rummel, Gruber and Solomon. Oh, and the Mike Verveer fan club. Read more!

The Week Ahead . . . Allied, Allied, Allied. And Allied.

It's down to the wire on Allied Drive and there are at least 6 public meetings on it this week and a few more next week and the council will vote on the 22nd, and there's a few other things going on this week.

Here's the Allied Meetings
Monday

• 6:00 PM COMMUNITY MEETING ON REDEVELOPMENT OPTIONS FOR CITY-OWNED PROPERTY IN ALLIED NEIGHBORHOOD 4619 JENEWEIN ROAD, BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF DANE CO. ALLIED FAMILY CENTER

Tuesday

• 12:00 PM COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SUBCOMMITTEE ROOM LL-130 MMB (Currently scheduled for only the Villager Mall project, tho I wonder if this will change?)
  

Wednesday

• 5:00 PM COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT COMMISSION COMBINED MEETING; A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CDBG IS TO FOLLOW IN ROOM LL-110 MMB ROOM 310 CCB
• 5:00 PM HOUSING COMMITTEE ROOM 310 CCB

Thursday

• 4:30 PM COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MAY GO INTO CLOSED SESSION 540 W. OLIN AVENUE, ROMNES APARTMENTS
• 7:00 PM ALLIED AREA TASK FORCE 4619 JENEWEIN ROAD, BOYS & GIRLS CLUB
  

Friday
This isn't on the calendar, but it is my understanding the the CDA subcommittee will meeting again at noon on Friday, at least that is what Stuart said on Friday. Likely in room LL-100 in the Municipal Building.

Next week, Plan and Board of Estimates on Monday, as well as another subcommittee meeting on Friday at noon.

As far as the rest of the City goes, here's the meeting I find of interest and why:

Monday, January 7, 2008

• 4:00 PM LONG RANGE METRO TRANSIT PLANNING AD HOC COMMITTEE ROOM LL-130 MMB
  
• They are just about done on their report about who Madison Metro should be changed. I'm hoping that they have some good recommendations and follow through on them.
• 4:00 PM TAX INCREMENTAL FINANCING POLICY AD HOC COMMITTEE ROOM LL-110 MMB
  
• The goals and objectives discussion is heating up. Should we spend all of our TIF money to recruit to and keep businesses in Madison. If so, how to we keep the businesses accountable - should they have to pay us back if we don't get everything they promised?
  

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

• 4:30 PM COMMON COUNCIL ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITTEE ROOM 103A CCB
  
• More financial reports for the council, fixing the budget process and reports on the hiring process
• 5:00 PM AFFIRMATIVE ACTION COMMISSION ROOM LL-120 MMB
  
• Reports on gender, race and people with disabilities on committees and in hirings.
  
• 6:30 PM COMMON COUNCIL ROOM 201 CCB
  
• See tomorrow's post, but not a lot exciting. 1022 W Johnson impacts the 2nd district only because of moving the Conklin House to the 500 block of E Mifflin/100 N Franklin.
  

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

• 12:00 PM DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL RIGHTS MINORITY AFFAIRS COMMITTEE BLACK HISTORY PROGRAM MONONA TERRACE, LECTURE HALL
• 12:00 PM PERSONNEL BOARD ROOM 501 CCB
  
• Interesting on in what is NOT on their agenda, which is the recent hiring reports that are out that will be discussed at the CCOC - Common Council Organizational Committee - meeting on Tuesday
  
• 4:30 PM URBAN DESIGN COMMISSION MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING ROOM LL-110 MMB
  
• Moving the Conklin House to the 100 block N Franklin/500 block E Mifflin.
  
• 5:00 PM ECONOMIC DEVELOPMEMT COMMISSION ROOM 101 MMB
• 3 - 5 year Economic Development Plan
  
• 5:10 PM ADA TRANSIT SUBCOMMITTEE TO THE TRANSIT AND PARKING COMMISSION ROOM LL-120 MMB
• 6:30 PM BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS 3330 ATWOOD AVENUE
• Allowing rentals of motor boats in James Madison Park
  

Read more!

WTF? Friday

This morning, I was calling today "Snarky Friday" based on my snarky postings this morning. But now . . . I'm steaming mad. So I probably should not be blogging! Warning: you might not want to read if you're adverse to strong opinions, this might not be considered "nice".

Q: Guess what topic?
A: The clusterfuck that is the CDA project on Allied Drive.

So, here's the sequence of events that makes me a little nuts.

1. We (the council and committees) passed the resolution for the CDA to work on the Allied Drive project last last fall.
2. We wait, and ask questions, and we wait and we don't get answers.
3. On Thursday, the CDBG Commission was going to get a "staff update" on the project. My understanding was that the update would come from the CDBG staff.
4. I ask a bunch of questions and am told by staff that the CDBG commission is going to have a joint meeting with Housing next Wednesday and that is when they will be discussing the project.
5. I don't go to the CDBG Commission meeting.
6. The CDBG Commission gets a full presentation on plan A & B and actually vote on at least one aspect of the plans - the connection to Fitchburg. They discuss it for a whole hour.
7. Brenda is not happy - as I would have gone to the meeting if I had any indication that there would have actually been a substantive discussion.

Cut to Friday morning

1. It's 11:30 and I pull up the CDA meeting agenda to find out where the meeting is, but lo and behold - it says the meeting is CANCELLED.
2. I call the city clerk's office and they confirm that yes indeed, as of about 15 minutes after 10, the CDA meeting was cancelled.
3. I email Brian Solomon and Stuart Levitan to find out what happened, then pick up the phone and call Brian as well.
4. At about 11:50 Brian calls me back and says that the meeting is cancelled due to lack of quorum, but there is still a "staff" meeting.
5. I extract myself from what I was doing and rush down to city hall and find this:

6. However, open the door and you will find a room full of 20 - 25 people, including city staff and consultants, but also members of the public, members for various committees and the press.
7. The meeting, chaired by the chair of the CDA, goes on for almost 2 hours.
8. During the meeting, decisions are made, consensus is reached and the project moves forward.

Now, why am I unhappy? Several reasons. But what has me angry is not really about me. It's about the public and the disregard of the public by the (a?) staff/members of the CDA. By all indications, there have been no meetings on Allied Drive in the past 24 hours. In reality, there have been some pretty significant meetings. I'll have to fill you in on the details at some point when I have more time . . . but meanwhile, still no numbers about how affordable the units will be. And a significant question about how many units there will be.

But, most important for now, I think there are some significant questions about following the spirit, if not the letter, of the open meetings laws. Read more!

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2008!

I'm sure it will be an interesting year, full of all kinds of things we have not yet imagined. So far, the "agenda" for the Common Council for 2008 doesn't seem very clear for me as there isn't a whole lot of obvious items coming up (beyond a list of wonky things that I am working on) that will be of great consequence.

The Mayor's "agenda" is equally unclear in many ways, with very little new, and no details. (The WSJ headline on that story is hilarious!) In fact, it lacks vision and is little more than a promise to do his job (basic services, public safety) or to work on something that isn't really his purview (Schools? Did he mean city-school cooperation?). Or more of the same. Hasn't "economic development" been the mantra ever since he got elected? Weren't Ald. Zach Brandon and Mark Bugher with the new Economic Development Commission supposed to change the world for the past few years? It also seemed to be missing a bit of the obvious. Will something finally happen on Allied Drive, or will we waste another year? Even the Cap. Times editorial board noticed the lack of vision and challenged Mayor Dave (and County Executive Kathleen Falk) to do more on the environmental front, good thing that's on his list. And finally, diversity? Didn't we tackle that when we formed the new Department of Civil Rights? Or was that in response to my criticisms about gender diversity? Overall, I gotta say "snooze" . . . I hope somewhere there are details in that "agenda" that will be "leaked" to the press over the next few months.

As for me, I started off the year by over-sleeping since I've had the last 13 days off. However, my house is a whole recycling bin (and two more boxes) lighter in paper and my agenda is L-O-N-G so I'm working on setting some priorities for new initiatives while trying to finish up so many things that I have started. And as soon as I get to work this morning, I get to clean and put my office back together after finally getting my wall insulated after 7 years of being at the Social Justice Center and then start working on raising and additional $50,000 (more than the $40,000 we usually raise) this year.

Meanwhile, politically, I'm sure that 2008 will not be as dull as it seems now. Right?
Read more!