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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Zach Brandon started his January 2006 and ended December 2006.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good Afternoon Alder Bruer,

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

Thanks,
Sarah

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Last Round Up of the Week.

I'm likely not going to post for the next three or four days . . . maybe. We'll see what's going on and if I have time to catch up on some other things. So, here it is for now.

CAN YOU SEE IT NOW?
County Board Chair Scott McDonell, Supervisor Dave deFelice and William Greer from the Dane County Mental Health Center picketing Walm . . . I mean Woodman's. Loved the headline on this article. Do they look like protesters?

I STILL DON'T GET IT
Water bills going up $39.60 per year. No one bats and eye.

County board raises taxes by $38, people are laid off, social services are cut, sheriffs freak out, handwringing and political posturing grandstanding ensues. Would people have noticed if they had doubled all that and provided us the services we so desperately need in these economic times?

Ok, I probably do get it, but I hate to be that cynical.

SHERIFF'S ASSOCIATION TAKES ON . . .
The Cap Times, Kathleen Falk, Chair McDonell, Sheriff Mahoney . . . and makes it clear, there is no deal. It's "TENTATIVE"

I'M FRUSTRATED
Pat Schneider gets an F. She clearly didn't get it. I wasn't there, but I'm guessing that those same people who attended the vigil were trying to be respectful and not exploit the homeless to make a point. And, in fact, the people at this vigil are probably the ones that work every day with The Road Home providing shelter for the homeless or with their local Joining Forces for Families workers to make sure there is eviction prevention money available in the community. Or take up special collections to donate to local charities for eviction prevention. Or help fund Porchlight and Hasan's activities at the Hospitality House and in Sun Prairie. Or field the phone calls of people asking for help to pay their rent, or fill up the car with gas or help make up for a day they took off work for a sick child. This was a weak story. She should have talked to the folks and asked them what they do on a weekly basis. And, even if I'm wrong, and she's right. What's wrong with raising awareness and paying respects? And how could she just ignore the obvious thing she pointed out - that the homeless people had to stay in line to keep their spots in the shelter for the night. I suggest a do-over with a little effort to find out what people in this community do to try to prevent homelessness in the first place.

I really need to get a camera to carry with me, instead of using my camera phone. This photos is of a shopping cart full of a persons worldly possessions on the left and the lump you see in the darker area is a person lying on the inverted V shaped vents trying to get some sleep on Saturday night.

AND, THE EDGEWATER, CUZ, WELL, ITS JUST STILL THERE
Backwards Logic
I'm kinda shocked the mayor thought this was true. He said this about the delayed vote due to the snowstorm.

"If a council member is unsure, he or she is more likely to vote no simply because they're not sure. So I think if there's anything good to come of this extra week, they gained more information. They feel a little bit more sure of their vote and maybe that shades a little bit towards making me optimistic," said Cieslewicz.

I think just the opposite was true. The more they looked at the law and studied the issues, the more informed they became, the clearer it was that they had to follow the law and it was too much of a stretch and the lack of real information, instead of glitz and glam, became clear. When Hammes and the Unions couldn't say how and what kind of many jobs, I think that they lost a few votes.

Speaking of Jobs
Pete Ostlind did some really rough numbers, to try to figure out the answer to the question about jobs. There are some guesses and the numbers are rough since he doesn't have any details, but they illustrate something pretty interesting, for what its worth.

The Mayor and others are now suggesting a 1000 jobs. If I remember correcting back in November during the budget hearings the number was 700. I'm not sure where the extra jobs might have come from.

I've done a little back of the envelope type calculations just to get some sense of what these numbers might mean. Its far from a perfect analysis but it puts some perspective on the numbers being thrown about.

1000 jobs
2080 work hours in a year
$75/ hr labor cost including benefits and overhead
2 year project duration
$93 million project cost

1000 x 2080 x 75 x 2 = 312 million

okay 1 year = 156 million

Let's try it another way;

93 million dollar cost
assume 50% labor 50% materials and equipment

93 / 2 / 75 / 2080 = 298 full time jobs for one year

okay 75% labor = 447 full time jobs for one year

but wait, according to the most recent TIF submittal (10/19/09)
total project cost 90 million
soft costs -12.8
acquisition costs - 7.5
= construction costs 69.7 million

50% labor 69.7 / 2 / 75 / 2080 = 223 full time jobs for one year
A project of this size is going to take at least two years to complete so the impact at any given time is significantly reduced.

I know this is not a perfect analysis but I'm having trouble coming anywhere close to 1000 jobs unless the jobs only last 3-4 months each. I also realize there are some additional jobs associated with materials, ie the truck driver who makes 6 deliveries but we're still far short of any of the suggested numbers. Which is why I'm curious if the trades have made any estimate.

How'd this become about Fred Mohs instead of the merits of the project
Cuz the Mayor and Bob Dunn keep making it about him. I can just hear the Mayor saying the headline of this article in that annoyed voice of his. I think their calculation was that he's a relatively unsympathetic character given his political leaning and, ha!, his money. That's what the Mayor does, when he can't win on the issues, he makes it about personalities. I know a little bit about that tactic. :) Anyways, Mike Ivey takes a stab at, who is Fred Mohs. It's worth reading. Love him or hate him, you can't blame him for being involved.

Oh, and for what it is worth, I don't know how this got attributed to me:

Mohs deserves credit for following what goes on, staying on top of the news and knowing which buttons to push.

I didn't say it.

Interesting comparison
To the Overture . . . .

Stuart Levitan Explains the Landmarks Decision
Even tho he voted for the project . . .

When we will if there will be an appeal?
Today?

Who will decide?
It's an interesting political football. Schumacher was the first to clearly publicly throw it on the developers lap, seems Bruer joined in the chorus. I wonder why all the sudden finger pointing?

What does this mean for the future?
Well, with city leaders openly telecasting that developers and bankers should be wary . . . its not helping . . .
Read more!

Brief Snowy Tuesday Round Up

More snow! Wow. Yesterday was the first day of winter, the longest night of the year, but I'm done with winter already.

A LOT OF GOOD "EMPLOYEE OWNED" DOES
Woodman's cutting mental health insurance for their 2,000 employees? What? Right, the employees made that decision? Some delightful ignorance, from one of their "employees" named Clint Woodman at the end of this story.

WAUSAU LOSES GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITY TELEVISION

WAUSAU AREA ACCESS CHANNEL CLOSES
Wausau, WI, December 21, 2009 – Today Mayor Tipple announces that after January 31, 2009, the City of Wausau will no longer be able to fund the two Public, Education and Government (PEG) Access Channels (Cable Channel 98/980 and 96/981). The Wausau Access Coordinator position will be eliminated and the Wausau Area Access Channel Office located in City Hall will be closed at that time. “These are tough economic times that require tough decisions,” explains Mayor Tipple.

In addition to serving as a way to locally exercise First Amendment rights of Free Speech, the Wausau Area Access Channels 98/980 and 96/981 have played an important role in our region, broadcasting area fabric-of-life events such as:
♦ local and regional candidate forums and volunteer recognitions
♦ unedited coverage of our local city council, school board and county board meetings
♦ complete game coverage of our local high school sports teams
♦ local high school graduations
♦ local church services,
♦ local parades
♦ locally produced programs and informational programs created by local services and non-profit organizations
♦ programs from federal agencies such as Social Security, NASA and the Armed Services
♦ programs to explain changes or improvements in services and procedures

Funding for the Wausau Area Access Channels had been provided by the franchise agreement between the City of Wausau and our local cable provider, currently Charter Communications. While Wausau Access Channels served the greater Wausau area, only the City of Wausau franchise agreement provided any funding.

When the state passed Act 42 replacing local franchise agreements with a standard state wide franchise, Wausau PEG support fees were eliminated after a three year sunset. That sunset would occur December 31, 2010. The City of Wausau has not received any PEG support fees from Charter Communication during the three year sunset period.

The cost of maintaining the current service and keeping the channels live would be $90,000. Interim funding streams are being explored while a longer term solution is being sought.
♦ The city of Wausau may recover the PEG support fees from Charter.
♦ All communities served by the Wausau Area Access Channels could consider sharing the cost of the channels.
♦ If the State Legislature passes the AB 606 Cable Consumer Repair Bill, 1% of the gross revenue from the local cable company can be requested to fund the local access channels. With the support of our state legislators and using the leadership positions that they hold, this bill could be passed quickly, securing long term survival of these valuable resources.
♦ Local residents, businesses and organizations could step forward with financial help to keep the doors open.

Once the public access channel goes dark, it will be difficult to reactivate it in the future.

WATER RATES GOING UP TODAY?

Tuesday, December 22
Public Service Commission of Wisconsin
610 N Whitney Way
3rd Floor
10:30 AM
Agenda Items 13.-14. (Last items on the agenda) Madison Water Utility request to increase water rates

THE THINGS YOU DON'T THINK ABOUT
Digesting your food for energy. Um, but not quite the way you think. Turning food waste, garbage, into methane. Uh, stimulating.

That's it for this morning . . . a brief round up, as promised. Read more!

Short Week Monday Morning Round Up

Edgewater free round up . . .

CITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT MIA
So, where is our Economic Development Commission, our Economic Development Director and city leadership? With all the talk of jobs and the economy, wouldn't you think buying local would have been a top priority this shopping season?

NO WONDER THERE IS SO MUCH SHERIFF'S OVERTIME
What kind of management is this?

The biggest change in the Sheriff’s Office this year that reduced overtime was reversing a policy that allowed deputies to take whatever vacation days they wanted. In the past, the “red zone vacation days” — June, July, August and holidays — would have so many deputies out that the department had to schedule seven deputies on overtime each shift.

Holy crap, that's just irresponsible. Check out what Moody's has to say about it:

When Moody’s Investors Services downgraded the county’s bond rating — an indicator of the county’s financial health — in September for the first time in decades, the analyst pointed to the overspending in the Sheriff’s Office as one of the reasons why the county posted a $10 million deficit in 2008.

What bothers me even more is that I've heard County Board Supervisors defend the Sheriff by saying, "its what all the other sheriff's have done, so we can't blame Mahoney". I'm not sure I blame Mahoney, I blame the county board supervisors with that attitude.

WSJ AND SHERIFF'S ASSOCIATION WANT YOU TO RUN FOR OFFICE
I wonder what they would have to say about the above?

CLASS BASED AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
I found this article interesting. This isn't a new idea by any means, but its interesting to see people talking about it.

SEE A PROBLEM HERE?
The city kinda screwed up and as a result, some of the poorest people in the city had a huge rent increase with little to no notice. Months later, they have not been made whole. Now, it add insult to injury, if the city gets money from the federal government here's what they are going to do with it:

If the city gets the extra money, it will be distributed to landlords, who will be required to make refunds to tenants whose rent was increased, said Rachel Strauch-Nelson, spokesperson for Mayor Dave Cieslewicz.

Does that make sense to you? Sounds like a recipe for disaster as the tenants fight to get their money back. Why not give it directly to the tenants? How can we be sure they actually get that money back and that the landlord doesn't get paid twice?

GRINCHOR A SIGN OF HOW DESPERATE THE TIMES ARE?
Nobody likes to see this. I think it's a sad comment about how desperate some people have become.

IS OUR WATER SAFE?
This was a good recap of the issues. More here.

COUNCIL BLOOPERS
I've heard people talk about doing this for years, kudos to this rookie class for finally getting it done!

DO OVER
Without the racism this time. I missed the Hip Hop discussion at ALRC, but I have to say, I didn't have high hopes. I can't wait until they come out with best practices for County music. Or Jam Bands.

WHERE CAN YOU RECYCLE YOUR PLASTIC BAGS AND HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?
Cost first? Nothing? Or waste of resources? This article has two points of view:
From the Business Commmunity we have this:

Brandon Scholz, president and chief executive of the Wisconsin Grocers Association and an early critic of the program, said Thursday the program was an ineffective use of city resources because many private companies in the city already offer the same service. He also predicted the city's outdoor bins would be hard to keep clean and difficult to monitor for misuse.

From City Staff we have this:

Dreckmann said the plastic bag recycling bins would be emptied about every two weeks, depending on their level of use, and the program wouldn't pass any new costs onto taxpayers.

Which do you believe?

Second, when I first read about the new plastic bags recycling program, the options seemed really limited and seemed to lack downtown locations, but it turns out the list is much longer than reported on channel 15.
Here's the list.

City of Madison Self Help Drop Off Centers
- East 4602 Sycamore Av
- South 1501 W. Badger Rd
- West 402 South Point Rd

Other City Sites
- Glenway Golf Course Waste Oil Site
- Monona Golf Course Waste Oil Site
- Warner Park Community Recreation Center

City Program Participants
- Aldi Stores - 3925 Lien Rd & 8222 Watts Rd.
- University Bookstore - 713 State St
- Williamson Street Co-Op - 1221 Williamson St.

Other Plastic Bag Recycling Sites
Capital Center Foods - 111 N. Broom St
Copps Food Stores
- 3010 Cahill Main
- 620 S. Whitney Way
- 1312 S. Park St
- 2502 Shopko Dr
- 6540 Monona Dr
- 3650 University Av
- 261 Junction Rd.
- 6655 McKee Rd.
HyVee - 3801 E. Washington Av
Kohl's Department Stores - 2602 East Springs Dr. & 7401 West Towne Way
Metcalf's Market (Sentry) - 726 N. Midvale Bl
Pierce's Northside Market - 2817 N. Sherman Av
Sentry Foods - 4602 Cottage Grove Rd.
Trader Joe's - 1810 Monroe St.
Wal Mart - 7202 Watts Rd & 4198 Nakoosa Trl
Whole Foods Market - 3313 University Av.
Woodman's - 3817 Milwaukee St & 711 S. Gammon Rd

On a slow week, its a good thing I still have 20 - 30 more emails labled "blog topic" in my blog folder. Expect some more, perhaps more stale round up tomorrow.
Read more!

Lazy Friday Afternoon Round Up

There's so much out there today . . . county and city. No snow or Edgewater today, that'll be saved for Monday.

WHERE'S THE GREAT BUS SERVICE
I understand cutting back on holiday hours for full route service, but I don't understand this:

The paratransit standing rides will end early on Dec. 24, with no rides given after 5:30 p.m. Customers who normally have rides after 5:30 should contact the customer service center (266-4466) by 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 23, to arrange for an earlier travel time.

All standing and long-term paratransit rides on Christmas will be canceled. Passengers must schedule casual rides to travel.

Huh? Didn't metro have an extra $3M in their budget that helped bail out the city, couldn't they have saved some of that for holiday paratransit rides?

SHITTY CITY SERVICE
Yesterday I sent this message to city council staff Lisa Veldran:

Could I get a copy of the forms you use to track alder absences from the city for the last 6 months?
thanks!

She was out of the office, the other staff tried to get the info, but then I got this message from Veldran, coppied to the clerk and allalders.

Brenda Konkel can contact the City Clerk's office for official notices of absences. They should have them on file.

Now, remember, I was on the council for 8 years and was Common Council President for one year, I know the information is in the Council Office and that alders get emails informing them when alders are out of the city or country. The Clerk's office was very helpful and sent me this message:

Good afternoon. The City Clerk’s Office does not keep a file on Alderperson absences. However, I could have Information Technology do a search for any e-mail messages sent from the Council Office regarding Alderperson absences. Just let me know the time frame in which you are interested.
Thank you!
- Maribeth

As you can imagine, this refusal to give me the info the Council Office has didn't sit well with me. I'm not going to post what I wrote lest I further embarrass that staff member, but suffice it to say, I can hardly wait to see the results of my open records request and who she was trying to protect.

LOOKS LIKE THE SHERIFF'S AND FALK HAVE AN AGREEMENT.
All that, and they ended up with the same as everyone else.

Falk said the tentative agreement with the supervisors includes the same provision as all the other county unions have ratified: a 3 percent voluntary salary reduction for 2010 in exchange for eight additional days off and a guarantee of no layoffs in 2010. In addition, the agreement includes a 3 percent pay increase on December 17, 2011.

Why all the drama?

WHEN IS A 3% CUT NOT THE SAME AS A 3% CUT
Ok, the above just got my blood boiling all over again. How is it that the 3% for wages, benefits, overhead for non-profits equal to the 3% cut in wages only to the unions when they bargained and got various things (8 days off, promise of a 3% increase at the end of 2010, office space for unions, etc.) Can we get a 3% increase for 2011. I don't recall ever getting a 3% increase from the county.

JUST SAYIN'
When the County Board Supervisors attacked Kathleens appointments to the RTA last night, the separated Khristine Euclide from Dick Wagner, a former County Board Chair. Most, except Eileen Bruskewitz who attacked them for killing a county wide bus system, said they were both fine people, but they wanted someone from the Towns appointed, like in the resolution that the county board passed, but the corporation counsel said the decision was Falk's. What I found interesting was the difference in the votes:

Euclide
AYE: Erickson, Hesselbein, Hulsey, Levin, Manning, Matano, McDonell, Miles, Opitz, Richmond, Rusk, Schmidt, Stoebig, Stubbs, Veldran, Wheeler, Baryd, deFelice, DeSmidt, Duranzyck, Hendrick
NO: Ferrell, Gau, Hampton, Jensen, Martz, O'Laughlin, Ripp, Salov, Schlicht, Solberg, Wiggy, Willett, Bruskewitz, Downing. (All men except Solberg, Hampton and Bruskewitz)
ABSENT: Kostelic, Vedder
Passed 21 - 14 - 2 absent

Wagner
AYE: Erickson, Ferrell, Hampton, Hesselbein, Hulsey, Jensen, Levin, Manning, Martz, Matano, McDonell, Miles, O'Laughlin, Opitz, Richmond, Ripp, Rusk, Salov, Schmidt, Solberg, Stoebig, Stubbs, Veldran, Wheeler, Wiggy, Baryd, deFelice, DeSmidt, Downing, Duranzyck, Hendrick
NO: Gau, Schlicht, Willett, Bruskewitz
ABSENT: Kostelic, Vedder

I wonder what the difference was between the two in the minds of Ferrell, Jensen, Martz, O'Loughlin, Ripp, Salov, Wiggy, Downing. Like most county boards in Wisconsin, its an older white guys club, I don't know if that was a factor or not, but it looks wierd. Just sayin'.

OVERRIDE VOTE
Since I haven't gotten to the recap, here is how they voted:
AYE (Override): Ferrell, Gau, Hampton, Hesselbein, Jensen, Levin, Manning, Martz, McDonell, Miles, O'Loughlin, Opitz, Ripp, Salov, Schlicht, Schmidt, Solberg, Stoebig, Veldran, Wiggy, Willett, Bruskewitz, deFelice, Downing, Durancyzk
NO (stain veto): Erickson, Hulsey, Matano, Richmond, Rusk, Stubbs, Wheeler, Bayrd, DeSmidt, Hendrick
ASENT: Kostelic, Vedder

Override successful, 25 - 10, 2 absences

Here's Chariman Scott McDonell's explanation of his vote and urging colleagues to vote similarly:

Friends-
Some of you may have read or been contacted about the veto override vote tonight before the County Board on a 10 unit subdivision in the Town of Springfield. Just so you all understand that this is a rather nuanced issue from an environmental point of view, I thought I would share my thoughts with you on this topic.

Below is an email the County Board received from the Chair of the Town of Vienna. His central point is that the 10 unit subdivision is in the Town of Springfield Smart Growth Plan that the County Board adopted and the County Executive signed. This is true. While there is also language in the town plan regarding Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) and Conservation Subdivision planning, this petition was found by the Zoning Committee (controlled by progressives) to comply with the Town Plan. Complying with adopted plans is a central and critical componant of environmental protection and should bind not only the Towns but also the County.

In addition, a county-wide TDR ordinance is now pending before the County Board which the Towns may veto under Chapter 10 of the state statute. I have worked on this ordinance for years and it would positively affect thousands of parcels of farmland accross Dane County. One of the central premises of that ordinance is that towns would not be mandated to adopt a TDR ordinance, but rather the County will help them administer and implement a it. This veto does just the opposite. It says that because there is no TDR ordinance in place in the Town of Springfield a petition that complies with the Town plan will be vetoed (a town may adopt their own local TDR ordinance but it would not have the legal protection and assistance of the County). I have no doubt that if the County tries to force TDR on the towns over a 10 unit subdivision, the TDR ordinance will be vetoed by the Towns and I would not blame them for that since they were sold on this ordinance being voluntary. Reasonable people can have different views on this issue, but I do not believe that is in the best interest of smart and innovative planning countywide to uphold a veto of this petition. In my opinion it sends the wrong message about Smart Growth and adherence to planning.

Thank you for your time and attention.
Scott McDonell
County Board Chair

I hope to get a recap up, because there was some good discussion and it revealed some interesting things about possible motivations behind the veto.

Eh, that's all I have for my day off, there's actually much more . . . but I'm done.
Read more!

Here We Go Again, Monday Morning Round Up

Here's what I have this slippery Monday morning . . .

MAYOR DAVE IN TROUBLE?
Wow. Mayor Dave is the talk of the town. Everywhere I went this weekend, people were talking about who is going to run against him. The way he handled the Edgewater and is shoving it down our throats, his abandonment and criticism of his own appointees to the Landmarks Commission and other committees and posts, his complete abandonment of the left and of course, the snow were some of the highlights. On neighborhood listserves the plowing issues were a major issue, many not believing his apology is very sincere or his excuse well reasoned. Paul Soglin explained what he thinks is wrong. I wish I could find Mayor Dave's comments made during budget discussions about cutting Streets workers and why Madison Metro drivers can't just run snow plows - it showed his fundamental misunderstanding of what it takes to get the streets plowed. Once you read his blog, you can see what his motivation for the apology is - he's worried about being Bilandicked. With good reason. I had assumed that he had built up a war chest making it hard for someone to run against him, but I was surprised when I looked and found he only had $27,000 in his account. Things aren't looking so good, he's Baumanized himself and has no base as he has annoyed everyone left to right. Now, who's going to run . . .

COUNT ME ANNOYED
So, you participate in the Downtown Living Tour (October 4th), get an inspection complaint. Nice.

I put up with alot of crap, but this kind of pissed me off. This week, it will be one year that we've owned our new house (a block and a half from our old house). We moved in last February after doing some interior work (refinished floors, plaster work, painting) and so far, we've gotten two complaints filed with Building Inspection. The first was for putting our leaves in bags instead of letting them blow into the streets and down the drains. Of course, by the time we had gotten the order to fix it, the city had already picked up our leaves and left the bags with a rock on top of them so we could reuse them.

This time, the day after the Downtown Living tour, a complaint and inspection (10-5-09) was done. And although it says the order was issued 10-10-09, we just got the order in the mail on Friday. You have to understand our neighborhood gets pretty good, thorough systematic inspections every few years. Living downtown, we've been the subject of them for years. So, you would think that most of the things on the outside would have been written up in the last few rounds of inspections, or when we got our leaf complaint. So, imagine my surprise when we were written up for something that has been in existence for at least 35 years. Compare the (1973 or 1974) black and white photos with the color picture from this summer, look at the front porch railing:

Photographer: WHS HPPH

Apparently, we have to

Install or add to the existing guardrail system around the front porch. The existing guardrail system is below the minimum height requirements of 36 inches. Ensure that the new or increased height guardrail has no areas where a 4 inch sphere (ball) could pass through any area below the top rail of the guardrail.

So, its been that way for at least 35 years, our neighborhood has been the subject of MANY programmed inspections where orders weren't written, and they first noticed this now? The inspection was the day after the Downtown Living Tour, was that a coincidence? And why did we get the order in the mail two months after it was allegedly ordered? We were planning to do some work anyways, which we told people as they came through the house, so its not that big of a deal, I just don't know what type of railing would be appropriate for this house, especially with those stone pillars where they are. I'm just annoyed that someone called in something that is the same as it has been for the past 35 years and it happened after trying to be a good neighbor and opening our house up for the Downtown Living Tour. No good deed goes unpunished, I guess.

FRUIT AND NUTS
Loved the tag line on the website . . . "because Madison needs more of both"

Madison Fruits & Nuts - Urban Orchards Citywide Grant Planning Session

Do you want a small orchard of peaches, pears, raspberries, hickories, or other delectable fruits and nuts at a park, community garden or other public space in your neighborhood? Do you want to make fruit and nuts freely available for you and others in your community? Let's make it happen by attending this planning session rescheduled for Dec. 15th!

* Madison Fruits & Nuts -- Urban Orchards Citywide Grant Planning Session *
* Tuesday, December 15 at 7:00 pm, at MATC Downtown Campus, 211 N Carroll Street, Room D240. *

Madison has been invited to request free fruit trees and training in their care by the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation. At the meeting, we'll select orchard sites together and apply for the funding. Then sites will be selected nationally by internet voting. So if you can't make the meeting, but you support an orchard your neighborhood, send us an email. We'll let you know when the vote happens. Or better yet, if you can help out with the planting and care of an orchard, please join us for the meeting on Tuesday! Chances are good that Madison orchards will be selected.

Contact: www.madisonfruitsandnuts.org email: madisonfruitsandnuts@gmail.com Please drop us an email if you would like to be on our contact list for future Madison Fruits and Nuts events. Phone: Christie Ralston, Community GroundWorks at Troy Gardens – 608-240-0409 for further information.

-- Madison Fruits & Nuts

EDGEWATER
The Cap Times has a good editorial on the Edgewater, asking the council not to sacrifice civic values for the project. The Badger Herald, on the other hand says,

Madison’s alders: quit worrying about the language of one unclear ordinance.

Whoa. Seriously? They took the Mayor Dave line of just ignoring inconvenient ordinances. So, can we also ignore snow shoveling and alternate side parking laws?

Looks like news of a compromise by Cnare hit the news. I'm sure that if asked, the Edgewater folks will stand up in front of the council and say that they need to know today and no compromise that delays the decision will work.

And I'm not sure what to make of the lack of a Project Labor Agreement and how that will play with the alders.

And, are Palm, Schumacher and Pham-Remmele really the absences for the meeting? I had heard reports of Compton being gone and Palm being back. It'd be nice if the correct information would be available to the public.

COUNTY BUDGET CUTS HITTING THE STREETS
Along with homeless seniors? I'm surprised we didn't hear more about this during the budget discussions.

JOB OPENING
With the RTA coming up, this job is critical. Hope someone good applies:

Employment Opportunity: TRANSPORTATION PLANNING MANAGER
Agency: Planning and Community and Economic Development Department
Category: PROFESSIONAL/TECHNICAL
Salary: $74,938 to $90,309 annually
Date Posted: 12/11/2009
Application Deadline: 1/18/2010
Residency: Dane County Residency is Required for this Position.

Job Announcement Details

BREWERS AND BANDS EXEMPT?
So, Schumacher says the "total ban" on drinking while working in a bar might have some exemptions. I'd say, that's the only way its going to pass, because without those exemptions, the law seems ridiculous.
Read more!

Chilly Morning Round Up

A few topics to chew on as you drink your coffee or tea, or hot cocoa and try to warm up . . .

GOOD THING THE COUNCIL MEETING WAS CANCELLED
Maybe the Worker's Compensation Fund might not get so much money. They had slated it to get extra money from the general fund so that we spent up to our Expenditure Restraint Program (ERP) limit. But with this snowstorm that is supposed to break the bank, they'll like have to adjust that. Won't impact our general fund quite the way this article says, since they were going to put that money into the fund (optional), instead, it will go towards plowing. At least that is what should happen. Of course, the Governor did declare a state of emergency, so perhaps the state will come through for us?

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE TO WEIGH IN ON EDGEWATER
Gee, I wonder what they will say . . . I'm on the edge of my seat!

The Economic Development Committee hold a special meeting at 5:00 pm on Monday, December 14, in Room 260 of the Madison Municipal Building, 215 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Please use the Doty Street entrance to get into the building.

This meeting is a rescheduling of the December 8 meeting which was cancelled due to bad weather, and has the same agenda. The agenda may be found at: http://legistar.cityofmadison.com/meetings/2009/12/8792_A_ECONOMIC_DEVELOPMENT_COMMITTEE_09-12-14_Agenda.pdf

METRO SPINS
Sound like many bus riders spent extra hours on the bus yesterday. Tales of two hour bus rides seemed common among my facebook friends. Lots of kudos for the drivers for handling the snowy conditions and not many complaints as the buses were stuck in the same traffic with everyone else. What did make me laugh was this:

Morning Madison Metro Announcement

Due to icy road conditions, Metro buses are running approximately 10-15 minutes schedule.

Drivers are maintaining schedules as conditions allow. Delays may increase through the rush hour.

Please plan extra time in your commute.

Evening Madison Metro Announcement

Thursday, December 10: 4:09 PM.

Due to icy roads, many buses are running 10-30 minutes behind schedule. Drivers maintain schedules as conditions allow.

Please plan extra time for your commute.

Optimistic group of folks they are! Sounds like they should have added an hour to that notice.

CITY WANTS TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK

Sustainable Madison Information and Survey Available on the Web.

You can now view information regarding what Madison has done regarding sustainability and green initiatives from other cities.
You can also fill out an on-line survey and help the City priorities sustainability goals and initiatives.

http://www.cityofmadison.com/Sustainability/community/

BRUSH WILL BE COLLECTED
Sounds like the storm did quite a bit of damage to the trees . . .

Winter Storm – downed trees, branches and brush collection

Due to the heavy, wet snow Madison has many downed trees and branches. The city of Madison is asking citizens to do the following:

Street Tree – if a street tree or branch, by definition a tree planted in between the street and sidewalk, is blocking a street or sidewalk or if there is a hanging branch, please call 266-4816 to report the damage. City Forestry crews are currently responding to over 200 calls for service on damaged trees.

Private Tree – if your private tree was damaged, you may need to call a private contractor to address the damage.

Brush collection – please place the brush for collection on your property’s terrace just as you would normally. City crews will collect the brush after they have completed the clean up from Tuesday’s storm. The brush may not be collected immediately and we ask for everyone’s patience as city crews continue to work on the clean up.

You may also bring the brush to the Streets Yard Waste Sites. They are open Monday – Friday, 7:30a.m. – 3p.m.
East: 4602 Sycamore Ave. West: 1501 W. Badger Rd.
For more information on winter in Madison Parks, visit www.cityofmadison.com/winter

WOW, THAT WASN'T FAIR
The Tenney Lapham Neighborhood and others have been talking about a two-way Johnson and Gorham for years, its been in city approved plans for years. There are even plans for where the stop lights would go and that have identified costs and issues to be resolved. We just decided to get the Downtown Plan done first. When talking about this, the neighborhood was looking at slowing down traffic, returning the neighborhood to a more family friendly place with hopes of getting more owner-occupants downtown, quality of life issues like noise and actually being able to open your street facing windows in the summer and still hear the tv, making it easier to cross the streets and much, much, more. But how does the new alder frame the issue?

Ald. Bridget Maniaci, who lives on Johnson Street, has mixed feelings about the idea. "There are a lot of good reasons to do it, but we don't have a lot of data," she says. "We have to [show] why this is good for the city, not just that property values will go up."

What?! In all the discussions, pro and con, this hasn't been the issue. Every time she insults her constituents, I feel a greater sense of responsibility for letting my neighbors down. I think they deserve an alder that supports their positions, not insults and dismisses them.

STRANGER STILL
This is the email sent to the neighborhood listserve last week, in the middle of the Edgewater controversy:

On a non-Edgewater related topic...

A number of folks in the neighborhood have been interested in the long-term prospects of turning Johnson and Gorham Street back to two-way streets. Our council staffer, Lisa Veldran sent the following article to council members, and I thought it'd be worth it to send it on to you all and weigh in on. It's not that I've been totally skeptical, but such a prospect would require a lot of planning for our neighborhoods and a lot of city resources (millions of dollars) that requires broad city-wide buy-in. If our neighborhood wants this to happen, we need to embrace the full realization of what needs to happen and the full planning and impacts of the proposal. So let's try to be real and check the pie-in-the-sky philosophies at the door on this one moving forward and get working on the hard issues.

Some thoughts on how it could happen (maybe):

1) the major stumbling block to this idea is the intersection of Baldwin and Johnson/Gorham. One idea I've visualized is to put in a large roundabout to get access to both Johnson and Gorham Street. That roundabout would likely require the removal of the CDA assisted living facility on the peninsula between Johnson and Gorham to be consolidated with a new (larger, denser) replacement housing facility where the Baldwin Street facility and parking lot currently stands.

Pro: that housing could probably use to be upgraded & use more efficient use of the Baldwin lot.
Question: what happens to the residents of that housing while construction is underway?
Question: How much money would be required for new CDA housing & for the intersection reconstruction. My stabs in the dark: $3-4 million for the intersection, $7-10 million for the new housing (variable depending on underground parking).
Con: Streets city staff is totally opposed to this idea. Many alders are leery of this idea because of the impacts to their constituents' commutes and questions of manuverability (think Badger football weekends). Substantial studies need to be done to determine traffic flow patterns under this scenario. We need to hear what CDA's plans for their facilities are.

Question: who's going to pay/do those traffic studies? What reasons outside of our own parochial interests are there to convince Alders and city-staff that this is in the best interest of the city?

2) We usually talk about the farther end of the neighborhood, but what about the impact to the near isthmus neighborhoods?
Concerns I have: Blair Street is a small, residential sized road. We don't have our infrastructure built to handle the transfer of massive amounts of Johnson Street traffic to E Wash via Blair Street. -Blair St. reconstruction needs to get into the 5-year city budget & stop getting pushed back as it is because the road is falling apart.

Also, I'm very concerned with turning N Blair Street, which is residential, into a car-laden thoroughfare more than it already is (even if we physically had the street in a condition to handle the traffic). There is a great divide on S Blair between neighborhoods stemming from it's highway-like nature. N Blair has a very different character and I don't want to see a divide and disconnect develop when it's a continuous neighborhood from one block to the next. How do we mitigate that? -Could N Blair Street also turn 2 way? Would that do anything?

3) What is the cost to our neighborhood in real metrics under the current situation? What are our goals for change and can we make the case for millions of dollars such a plan would require for our neighborhood? How is our residential character & local businesses different/ more deserving of attention than other major thoroughfares throughout the city (Whitney Way, Midvale, Mineral Point Road, Bassett/Broom, Willy St.)

Some of these points are easier than others to work through, though none are simple. The Baldwin intersection/CDA tie-in is a 10 year plan idea. Other questions: Are any federal road funds available? This part of Johnson isn't a highway (like E Wash is). Are parking issues at all intertwined in this? What sorts of parking improvements could be made? Would we lose street parking by going 2-way? If so, how much?

The last sentence in the article hits the quandary on the head:
"I wouldn’t argue that two-way streets are any sort of panacea for urban revival, Vancouver’s experience notwithstanding. And I understand that they are not always practical. Some streets simply are too narrow to have traffic moving in both directions; others have to be designated one-way because their purpose is to feed traffic onto expressways. What I would say is this: When it comes to designing or retrofitting streets, the burden of proof shouldn’t fall on those who want to use them the old-fashioned way. It should be on those who think the speedway ideology of the 1950s serves much of a purpose half a century later."

Let's see if there's a way to work forward on this idea, but I ask you to acknowledge the amount of work and time ahead and realize that our neighborhood won't get everything we want out of this process. We have to be cost-conscious, realistic and pragmatic if we want this to go from a nice idea to a functioning, improved reality, if indeed this concept operates in the best interest of our neighborhood.

Like I said, Traffic Engineering has done the studying, and it will cost a little over $600,000 in 2008 dollars. There's so much else in there to respond to, I don't know where to begin.

IT'S ALL ABOUT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Immigration, that is:

Washington D.C. - The Immigration Policy Center has compiled research which shows that immigrants, Latinos, and Asians are an important part of Wisconsin's economy, labor force, and tax base. Immigrants and their children are a growing economic and political force as workers, consumers, taxpayers, and entrepreneurs. With the state working towards recovery, immigrants and their children will continue to play a key role in shaping the economic and political future of the Badger State.

Highlights from Wisconsin include:

* Wisconsin was home to 252,150 immigrants in 2007.
* 41.2% of immigrants in 2007 (or 103,291 people) in Wisconsin were naturalized U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote.
* Latinos accounted for 4.8% (or 268,879) and Asians 1.9% (or 106,431) of Wisconsinites in 2007.
* The 2008 purchasing power of Latinos totaled $5.3 billion and Asian buying power totaled $3.0 billion in Wisconsin in 2007.
* If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Wisconsin, the state would lose $2.6 billion in expenditures, $1.2 billion in economic output, and approximately 14,579 jobs.

There is no denying the contributions immigrants, Latinos, and Asians make and the important role they will play in Wisconsin's political and economic future. For more data on their contributions to the Badger State, view the IPC fact sheet in its entirety.

* New Americans in the Badger State (Wisconsin)

DIDN'T EVEN TRY
Our house was fully shoveled by 10:30 or so, but still, no mail. Here they explain why the creed is dead. Not a bad excuse, probably a good decision. Just sayin', the times they are a changin'.

SPEAKING OF CHANGES
You may have noticed I've been playing around with the look of my blog and what extra tools are available on it. And I'm allowing anonymous comments. It's all a big experiment, so let me know what you like, and what you don't. Looks like I may have added too much, as its loading a little slowly. It's work in progress, feedback welcome. Read more!

Snow Emergency Continues for Tonight

Cost me $15.60 to get my car out of the parking ramp where my car was parked since Tuesday at around 6:30. Cost to not shovel to get IN or OUT of street parking spaces: priceless. Don't get towed tonight!

The City of Madison has extended the snow emergency for a third evening. Residents are asked to keep their vehicles off the street today and tonight if possible. If you must park on the street this evening you should park on the ODD house numbered side of the street. Details on winter parking restrictions are available at www.cityofmadison.com/winter. Violations of the alternate side parking restrictions during a snow emergency are punishable by a $60 fine.

Cars parked illegally on the following streets may be towed

* W. Doty St.
* W. Main St.
* W. Washington Ave.
* 10-200 blocks of W. Gilman St.
* E. Mifflin St.
* W. Mifflin St.
* N. Hancock St.
* S. Hancock St.
* N. Franklin St.
* S. Franklin St.
* N. Blair St.
* E. Johnson St. (between Blair and Baldwin)
* Wisconsin Ave. (200,300 and 500 blocks)
* 300 block of S. Henry St.
* 300 block of S. Hamilton St.
* N. Bedford St.
* S. Bedford St.
* N. Henry St.
* N. Carroll St. (300,400 and 500 blocks)
* E. Dayton St.

Residents can sign up to receive text and/or email alerts whenever a snow emergency is declared at the city’s web site www.cityofmadison.com/winter. You will also get storm and plowing updates at the site or by calling 261-9111.

Both the streets I live on (corner lot) on the list again! "Lucky" me. Read more!

Snowy, Tenanty Round Up

Snow related items, tenant items and a few others . . . I almost made it without mentioning the E word . . .

CAN'T GET CHARTER'S ATTENTION
Here's one way to do it. See the comment at the end of the entry.

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO . . .
The Mailman's Creed:

And neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, nor the winds of change, nor a nation challenged, will stay us from the swift completion of our appointed rounds. Ever.

I didn't get my mail yesterday, did you? Not that I care, just sayin'.

WHAT DOES A WORK SNOW DAY MEAN?
This is from a facebook disucssion of people in the know.

City Employees: Use your vacation day or come in. Or, modified by recent economy - with supervisor's approval, unpaid day as a cost saving measure for the city.

County Employees: Paid day.

State Employees: Vacation/personal time or arrange to make up the time.

CAMPUS STRUGGLING WITH TENANT SERVICES
And the saga continues. The Tenant Resource Center became ineligible to services a few years ago with the Roman Catholic Foundation fiasco. We helped set up a student organization that worked out, well, like student run tenant services. It's hard for students to keep it going with classes and everything. So now, there's a new idea. I hope they can work it out, students need the services.

AS AN ASIDE
The Maniaci proposal in the above article needs some work to accomplish what it is being sold as. See, there is a GIANT loophole which renders the whole thing meaningless. See if you can spot it.

If Landlord and Tenant fail to enter into a Non Standard Rental Provision regarding showing premises for rental purposes, then it is presumed that the parties to the lease intend that the Landlord will not rent the leased premises to another tenant for a subsequent lease period until after one-fourth (1/4) one-half (1/2) of the lease period has passed.

So, you go to sign your lease, and the landlord hands you a piece of paper saying that they are going to start showing your apartment a month and a half after you move in, do you sign? And what happens if you don't?

I should be clear, that language isn't Maniaci's fault. It's the current language. It's just that if she really wanted to stop the practice, she'd have to eliminate that language as well, ensuring that it doesn't pass. But if left in, passing means nothing. It's been a dilemna for years. I wish her luck in this latest effort, I'd like to see it changed.

IN OTHER TENANT 'NEWS'
Seriously, I have a hard time believing this is news. 167 Madison apartments received a total of 1,809 ratings and so we ranked 3rd in the top 100 most populated cities in the nation. Seriously? I hardly knew where to begin to explain with why its all be irrelevant. That could be a very, very, very long blog post if I were forced to explain in detail.

ALDER SNOW REMOVAL SERVICE
This went out after 10:00 on Tuesday night.

Also, I doubt that I'll be making it into work tomorrow, so if you have physical/health difficulties and have no other options, feel free to call me and I'll come out and help you shovel your walks/driveways. Please call after 9am Wednesday morning.

Now that's a full-service alder. Which one do you think offered this? I'm glad its not election season, could be considered an ethics issue. Anything for a vote, right.

ALDER RELIEF
One alder's facebook update said that they never thought they'd be happy to be receiving snow plowing complaints. Implying that after the Edgewater phone calls, this was welcomed. "Like."

HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?
I was going to move my car out of the ramp after the first night of the snow emergency, but truth be told, there was really no place to move it to, unless I wanted to shovel to get IN to a spot, and then get plowed in, and then have to shovel to get back out. You see, even tho the cars were moved, the plowing didn't happen or it was spotty. Makes me furious to look out and see the moved cars and yet no plowing of those spots. Anyways, I left my car in the ramp all day yesterday at $.80/hour (glad I live by the cheaper ramp). Should cost me about $20 once they charge me for the time outside of 9pm - 7am. I guess they get you, one way or the other. Seems odd to be punished for getting your car off the street and cooperating. But, it was worth it! Glad I can afford it. I feel bad for those who can't.

ONCE I GET MY CAR MOVING
John Nolan outbound is closed this morning due to ice? Glad I'm not going in that direction.
Read more!

Will you be towed?

At least they are telling us which streets they are going to target, that's progress. I'm "lucky" enough to live on one of them, are you?

A snow emergency remains in effect for the City of Madison. Residents are asked to keep their vehicles off the street this evening. If you must park on the street you should park on the EVEN house numbered side of the street. Details on winter parking restrictions are available at www.cityofmadison.com/winter. Violations of the alternate side parking restrictions during a snow emergency are punishable by a $60 fine.

Cars parked illegally on the following streets may be towed

* W. Doty St.
* W. Main St.
* W. Washington Ave.
* 10-200 blocks of W. Gilman St.
* E. Mifflin St.
* W. Mifflin St.
* N. Hancock St.
* S. Hancock St.
* N. Franklin St.
* S. Franklin St.
* N. Blair St.
* E. Johnson St. (between Blair and Baldwin)
* Wisconsin Ave. (200,300 and 500 blocks)
* 300 block of S. Henry St.
* 300 block of S. Hamilton St.
* N. Bedford St.
* S. Bedford St.
* N. Henry St.
* N. Carroll St. (300,400 and 500 blocks)
* E. Dayton St.

Due to the heavy amount of snow and blowing and drifting that will occur today, it is possible that the snow emergency will be extended. Residents should check the city’s web site www.cityofmadison.com/winter or call 261-9111 for updates.

Read more!

Hey! It's a Snow Day! Round Up

Eh, I slept in, went to Bizzardoke at the High Noon last night. Now I can't decide if its worth it to get my car out of the ramp, the streets don't really look all that plowed. I was kind of hoping for a plowed spot to move into before tonight. Problem is that if they're not plowed the spots will start filling in as people move their cars for tonight making it hard for the plows, resulting in moving all our cars for no reason at all. Seems silly to shovel to get your car into a spot, so you can shovel to get it back out. Plus, it's a delicate balance of how long to wait . . . and how long everyone else will wait . . . or should I just leave it there . . . uh, yeah, that's an idea. Luckily, I can afford it.

HEY, IT'S SNOWING - EVERYTHING IS CLOSED
I don't understand why the city was sooooooo slow to respond, this one was easy see coming, but they didn't declare a snow emergency for the city until around 5:00. They cancelled the council meeting just three hours before the meeting. They waited til the end of the day to determine that they would be closed the next day, giving city employees little time to prepare for being closed and cancel all the meetings for the next day. They waited til this morning to end Madison Metro service, and if you read the Mayor's blog, apparently the only way Mayor Dave Cieslewicz he could figure it out was by consulting a meteorologist Council member and having the governor tell them what to do, apparently there was no other way to find out how bad the weather was going to be. (If you want more snow links, look here.) Whenever I see him blowing smoke up someone's ass like that, he wants something . . . hmmmmmm . . . .what's going on that the Mayor might be interested in . . . . hmmmmmmmmm . . . . luckily, I think Chris Schmidt has more sense than that and won't let a little recognition sway his vote.

HEY, IT'S SNOWING - SO WE STILL HAVE TO TALK/HEAR ABOUT THE EDGEWATER
Bummer, eh. I think just about everyone from the developer to the alders to the public just wanted this to be over. But, no, we have another week! Sigh . . . so a whole new calculation of where the votes are. Apparently Judy Compton is gone. And Thuy Pham-Remmele might still be out due to the death in her family.

HEY, SOMETHING BESIDES THE SNOW
Where should I start . . . .

TAMBOURINE MAN
My co-worker told me yesterday that she had an idea about the little green box the panhandlers had to stand in. When she was walking down State Street the other day, there was a guitar player playing a few feet from the green box, right in front of the ATM and that was apparently legal so . . . you can see it coming, can't you . . . she was wondering if, well, I'll let her put it in her own (Facebook) words:

[Insert probably not so anonymous co-worker's name here] has a solution for the "corralled" panhandlers by peace park: casio keyboards. i noticed some sidewalk musicians a mere 8 feet or so from the new subway atm, playing music with their cases open... a nice keyboard beat with a preset or perhaps a tambourine...? you can stand anywhere...

Rock over Madison! (Of course, next musicians will be banned as well. They're just so noisy and bothersome to the shoppers with the kids eating their ice cream and holding their balloons.)

DENNIS DENURE IS RUNNING FOR . . .
Well, county board election seasons is coming up, so Dennis Denure is running!

IT'S ROUGH OUT THERE
Churches are feeling the crunch. Need is high, resources are low, stimulus money going out quickly.

GO RAINBOW!
20 years! And a questionable future. We live in interesting times.

You know, without the pressure of having to leave for work, it takes a whole lot longer for me to blog . . . and I didn't even have much . . .
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Snow Emergency - Declared?

You figure this out . . .

As someone who lives downtown, this is the worst public education I've seen. There were no flyers on the cars this year, there were no efforts to communicate with new residents in the area. No education about getting us to park off the street or in the ramps. No text messages. A useless email/press release about plowing. No word about towing. No emails from our alders on our neighborhood listserves. [Uh, they're probably distracted by something or other.] No communication, until we wake up in the morning and our cars are towed. Now, I'm not going to have that problem, cuz as long as I know what tomorrow's date is, I should be able to find the right place to park. But what about all my new neighbors, who might not have lived here last year. How are they supposed to know? By reading the city's website? Even going by past experience, sometimes they don't call the snow emergency the first night, so how would we know?

The important info for people to know is here.

Don't forget, you can park in the ramps for free:

Where do you park during a Declared Snow Emergency?
Off street is best. Free parking is available between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. in the cashiered sections of City-owned parking ramps, and also at some City parks.

* When parking in the ramps overnight, do not park on the top level so this area can be plowed.
- Be aware that vehicles stored in city ramps longer than 48 hours are subject to being ticketed and towed.
o Parking in City-Owned Ramps during a Snow Emergency, Parking Utility

Meters in lots and ramps are enforced 24 hours per day, 7 days a week.

* Parking is also available at Britingham Park Shelter lot off of West Washington Avenue.
* If you must park on the street, you will need to find out where to park.

You can:

* Sign up to get notified at My City of Madison Account and get notified by Email or Text Messaging
* Call the Winter Parking Hotline at (608) 261-9111
* Continue to visit the Winter Portal

More on parking in the ramps here.
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Are You Sick of This Yet Round Up

I am. I really want the final vote to be tonight (as long as it is safe for everyone involved) and I really hope no one reconsiders. Of course, if the appeals passes, it will be back for several more votes. (Um, I'm talking about the Edgewater in case you've been living under a rock.) I'll try my best to talk about something besides the Edgewater, but it'll be tough . . . .

A BLOGGER'S DILEMNA
Important things first. At first, I had to be at a WYOU meeting to discuss next years budget, but that has been cancelled. So now, I have to decide, do I join Dusty et al at Amy's Cafe for the drinking game, or bingo (thank you for the "Bruer calls a female Council member by her first name"), or do I show up and see all the good stuff you don't see on camera? Truthfully, I think the drinking game would result in no blog in the morning, it looks pretty harsh, especially the council break - that could be brutal. I'm torn. Dusty's party sounds like more fun.

MUSICAL CHAIRS
So, originally it was reported that Palm and Schumacher would be gone. Yesterday, the council members were informed of the following:

Due to a death in her family, Ald. Thuy Pham-Remmele will be absent from the city starting today, Monday, December 7 until further notice. (Please note that this absence will be updated as needed).


Ald. Pham-Remmele will not be in attendance at the Tuesday, December 8, 2009 Common Council meeting.

My condolences to Pham-Remmele and her husband.

I was also informed the following:

However, it is confirmed that Michael S. is returning to town to vote.

I suppose it is all very unpredictable given the snow, so we'll have to see who really shows up.

SPEAKING OF SNOW
Why is Tim Bruer so eager to make sure the meeting is not cancelled tonight? He must not have gotten a good response to this. I'm sure it is all about manipulating the vote.

NOT MUCH FAITH IN THE COUNCIL
Wow, what does it say that the new poll on my blog is running 75 - 80 against the council actually following the law? Is it my readers, or the small percentage of them that actually voted? Or does the public really have that little faith in the council?

SLOPPY COUNCIL SUPPORT
Yesterday the council members received a list summarizing the emails that went to allalders@cityofmadison.com. It is skewed significantly in support of the project. However, a quick review shows:
- Some were listed in support AND in opposition.
- Some people against are listed as being in support.
- The emails came from all over including Stewsbury, MA, Cedar Rapids, IA, Sauk Creek, Middleton, Fitchburg, Verona, Monona, Waunakee and Spring Green.
- Many are listed with their businesses (some with more than one person from teh same company) including Building and Construction Traces, Epic Life Insurance, Madison's, Building Trades, Hausman-Johnson Insurance, Chamber of Commerce, Alphagraphics, Professor of Zoology, Williams St. Art Center, Lindsay Stone & Briggs, Kelly Financial, Zebradog, Boardman Law Firm, Mansion Hill Inn, TDS Custom Construction, Mad City Style LLC, H&H Industries, WhoopDeDoo Productions, World Council of Credit Unions, HDR ONE Company, Badger Popcorn and the Edgewater.
- 25% did not indicate where they were from.
- Many listed with Madison addresses had a suite number attached to their address, indicating it was their work address not home address.
- Some who had testified on behalf of their businesses, didn't have their businesses attached. (I'm thinking of Downtown Hotels)

Do you really think the Zoology Department meant to weigh in on the project? It's kind of a bummer cuz it makes all that public input somewhat suspect and I'm not sure what it means. Were all those businesses in support, or just people using their work emails? It makes me want to disregard the document because its so sloppily done and seemingly inaccurate, but I can't because 235 people took the time to send in their opinion. Oh well, if you want your voice counted, email allalders@cityofmadison.com and hope they read the email, not just the summary.

VERVEER, "FED UP"
I don't know why, but it makes me giggle when Verveer actually gets mad. He's so even keeled so often - too often. Which is what makes his statements to the Isthmus interesting, he's too nice to say anything too critical. I think everyone knows that behind the scenes meetings happen, I don't think they know to what extent, which is likely what has Verveer talking. But there's something else here, that I pointed out on thedailypage forum, that is problematic. At what point, will the pursuit of getting this project passed cross the line for you. For some, its the TIF, for others it is the landmarks ordinance, but bring in the enviros, because if Verveer is right, their going after the Shorline Preservation Ordinance next:

Verveer says that besides anticipating the need to override the Landmarks Commission, the strategy team has focused on "having the Zoning Board of Appeals taken out of the equation" because the board was seen as a "danger" to the project.


"It's a 100% citizen body, no elected officials on the body, and their decisions are appealable only to a circuit court," says Verveer. "If Hammes wanted to prevail over an unfavorable ZBA ruling they would have to go to court, which would be difficult to overturn, generally, given past precedent."


Under current city rules, the Zoning Board of Appeals must issue a variance to allow Hammes to build so close to the water. The board has not yet acted and Hammes has not yet provided it with materials or measurements. Verveer says this is because there's talk about avoiding the board entirely by amending the shoreline preservation ordinance to exempt commercial buildings.


Says Verveer, "So all the way along, behind closed doors they have talked about how to get around the ZBA."

Regarding the comments that follow the article, if you want to look at campaign finance reports, you probably should be looking for all the conduit and business contributions here (and here and here). And if you want to know how Verveer knows, well . . . people talk. Too much. Too often. And nothing is a secret if you keep your eyes and ears open.

MORE SLOPPY STAFF WORK - "OWNER"
Ok, I really, really, really tried to find an answer to this one that would make some sense, and I couldn't. I asked another attorney who is relatively knowledgable in the way of the city and development process and their response was even more cynical than mine. Anyways, here's the question. Who is the owner for purposes of this language:

. . . After a public hearing, the Council may, by favorable vote of two-thirds (2/3) of its members, based on the standards contained in this ordinance, reverse or modify the decision of the Landmarks Commission if, after balancing the interest of the public in preserving the subject property and the interest of the owner in using it for his or her own purposes, the Council finds that, owing to special conditions pertaining to the specific piece of property, failure to grant the Certificate of Appropriateness will preclude any and all reasonable use of the property and/or will cause serious hardship for the owner, provided that any self-created hardship shall not be a basis for reversal or modification of the Landmark Commission’s decision.

A second question that was posed was did Hammes have standing to file the appeal. I think they did, because in that case, the language says:

An appeal from the decision of the Landmarks Commission to grant or deny a Certificate of Appropriateness under Subsection (5)(b) and (c) may be taken to the Common Council by the applicant for the permit.

The fact that they use two different terms "applicant for the permit" and "owner" indicates to me that they didn't intend for the "owner" to be loosely construed to mean the "applicant", but that isn't what Michael May emailed to the alders:

Folks:
I’ve received several emails concerned about the use of the word “owner” in the appeal section of the ordinances discussed in my recent memorandum. (Actually, the ordinance sometimes uses “applicant” and other times uses “owner.”)


The Hammes Co. has pursued the required certificate. My understanding is that they have an option or agreement to purchase the property, which is a sufficient property interest to pursue those approvals and the appeal before you tomorrow night. For purposes of applying the ordinance, you should consider Hammes Co. as the “owner.”

I'm not buying it. It's a rather loose interpretation with no back up and I searched and I couldn't find anything that would justify this conclusion. While I agree that they have sufficient property interest to pursue the approvals and appeal, I can't see how they are the "owner" for the balancing test. I can't tell if the city attorney didn't see it as two different questions, or if he didn't realize the distinction - or if the cynical response is the right answer.

SOMETHING BESIDES THE EDGEWATER
This one includes WYOU, Campaign Finance and Labor getting taken advantage of by big business. Check out how much money went into passing the "Cable Competition" Act or "Cable Con" as it has been labeled.

WATER RATES SKYROCKETING
A 22% increase on top of the recent 13% increase. Where's the taxpayer outrage here? Seriously, cuts to services at the city and county were rampant this year, and this gets little notice.

SPEAKING ABOUT GOVERNMENT BUDGETS
Are you feeling . . . .

Thanks to the smart ass who gave me the button! :)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Someone, I don't remember who, posted this on facebook yesterday. I cut and pasted it cuz I liked it, but I thought it would be a good quote for the day.

Economic growth without social progress lets the great majority of people remain in poverty, while a privileged few reap the benefits of rising abundance. John F. Kennedy

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