Paul Soglin: Waxing America

2013 Community Budget Meetings

 Join Madison Common Council members and me for the 2013 Community Budget meetings at locations throughout the City.  The budget debates continue to be difficult as our needs grow, but our dollars do not keep up.  Your feedback and input is crucial, and these meetings, as well as your on-line participation provide a great opportunity to not only learn how the decisions are made and how taxpayer dollars are spent, but also to have your concerns and comments considered for next year’s budget deliberations.

We are asking for everyone’s ideas and votes as they will help us develop the themes of this year's community budget conversations.  I am pleased that we are also able to get ideas on line and accessible to people who might not be able to make it to any of the meetings.

The community budget conversations will take place this month as City officials and staff work to create a budget that represents and encompass the values of the residents of Madison.  This year, ideas are also being collected through IdeaScale and through the Budget Conversation Events.  I urge you to go on line to utilize this method of learning what others think, and to share your thoughts.

There are four sessions and residents are invited to attend as many as they wish.

Work / Invent & Create

May 9th, 2013 at 7pm

Madison Senior Center

Get Around / Build Opportunity for All

May 15th, 2013 at 7pm

Packers Community Center Room

Be Healthy & Safe / Live

May 23rd, 2013 at 7pm

Jefferson Middle School

Eat / Play & Enjoy

May 29th, 2013 at 7pm

The Villager Atrium Community Room

 

Education, Performance, Meetings and Superintendent Cheatham

 A reporter recently asked me how often I planned to meet with Madisons' new school Superintendent, Jennifer Cheatham.

I do not know and frankly, I am wondering why it matters.

How often we meet will be driven by a number of yet to be determined factors. And more important than how often we meet, is the matter of improved performance for Madison school children.

It is the difference between outputs and outcomes. The number of miles of street we plow is an output, the measurement of the quality of the job is an outcome. The number of teenagers who attend a class on abstinence or receive condoms is an output, the number of teenage pregnancies is an outcome.

We need to focus on outcomes. We need to measure performance and ensure that educational attainment improves.

How often Superintendent Cheatham and I meet will be determined by the agenda, the role of our respective staffs, and other factors.

It is possible that we may find regular quarterly meetings too frequent, we may find that monthly meetings are not frequent enough. We don't know yet. But I do not plan to measure the success of the district's students by the number of meetings.

 

 

 

 

Celebrate Summer Solstice with Make Music Madison!

Considering the weather we have faced this winter and spring, the thought of summer might be hard to grasp, but I am looking forward to it for a number of reasons.  One of them being we will be participating in our very first Make Music Madison!

 Make Music Madison will be an annual one-day citywide, free, outdoor music festival to be held on the Summer Solstice, June 21.  The goal is to generate a continuous wall of music as people walk around participating spaces.  Music will play throughout the city – along State Street, in parks, inside churches, at the airport, in schoolyards, at Memorial Union, and at homes.  The festival will include all styles of music, and skill levels of musicians.  Everyone in the community should feel welcome to participate.  Please check out the website http://www.makemusicmadison.org/, find a location to play, support an artist, and of course, come out and listen to the many sounds our City has to offer! 

 Planning for Make Music Madison began months ago, and truly hundreds of people have been involved.  However, there was a major hurdle to surmount.  The technology needed to effectively run the innovative ‘distributed concert’ envisioned would require either a much larger budget, or a number of full time staff.  As neither was available, District 8 Alder Scott Resnick who pioneered the Open Data initiative asked local entrepreneurs to help and once again, the results are astounding.

 From day one, Madison’s tech entrepreneurial scene has been inundated with unique community-focused initiatives such as Capital Entrepreneurs (CapitalEntrepreneurs.com), Madisonium (madisonium.com), and Hacking Madison (HackingMadison.org).

 For Make Music Madison, Michael Fenchel  of BuildMadison.org stepped forward to lead an entirely volunteer effort of almost a dozen talented citizens to design and develop the necessary website and technology.  At the same time, local tech businesses, BendyWorks, Horizon Coworking, and Murfie stepped forward to sponsor space, hosting, and other development costs, enabling the volunteers to get their work done.

 Within two months, the team created a website, a communications campaign and a ‘community matching’ platform that allows artists and venues to link up for performances under city administration.  The platform developed provides a powerful solution for community organization and involvement, while granting the city the necessary ability to oversee the project.

 The matchmaking software, developed by this Madison team, is now also facilitating similar festivals in the cities of New York, Philadelphia, and Denver for their World Music Day celebration.  Athens, Greece is also using the software.  A number of other cities are also looking into using the tool, and the project may result in not only a great event, but also in the birth of another successful local tech business.

 

Healthy Food Contributes to Healthy Lives

Recently four area hospitals released the results of a community health needs assessment in launching healthydane.org.  From this data, “organizers hope that the website will encourage visitors to find solutions to existing health needs.”  In order to begin that process, we must first understand where we are as a community. 

 There are some well-publicized figures that demonstrate areas of great concern:

• About one-half of our students in MMSD are eligible for Free or Reduced Lunch; 86.1% of our African-American students are eligible.
• 36.9% of African Americans in Dane County are at or below the poverty line; compared to 9.3% of White, non-Hispanics.

We know that there are families in Madison that struggle to obtain not only a nutritiously adequate meal, but enough food in general.  I recently heard an anecdote about a child at one of our community centers who said the only meal he eats during the day is the one provided by the center.  It is well documented that if kids are not getting adequate food and nutrition, they will fall behind in school.  Considering a child of color is four times more likely to be born into poverty than their white peers, this is of significant impact on the achievement gap. 

Here are some eye-opening statistics that the community health needs assessment pointed to as areas of concern:

• Hospitalization rate due to long-term complications of diabetes
  • 6.6 hospitalizations/10,000 population (18+ years old)
• Hospitalization rate due to diabetes
  • 11.3 hospitalizations/10,000 population (18+ years old)

 Most concerning though,

• Death rate due to diabetes by race/ethnicity
  • Overall:  13.1 deaths/100,000 population (18+ years old)
  • White: 12.6 deaths/100,000 population (18+ years old)
  • Black:  41.3 deaths/100,000 population (18+ years old)

Those who are in poverty rely, often solely, on food assistance programs, namely SNAP.  One alarming indicators of the deficit in access to nutritious food  is the number of SNAP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program) certified stores per 1,000 population – in Dane County less than .6% per thousand.).  Wisconsin also has the second lowest average for the monthly assistance provided from our food assistance program per person in the country.  With few accessible, healthy, and affordable choices to redeem food assistance for many families, the choice is often made in favor of what is affordable rather than what is healthy.  

Madison is one of the most highly educated cities in this country, so we should be well aware of the connection between diet and health and diet and education.  We are also blessed with one of the richest agricultural regions in the world.  Given that fresh produce begins losing its nutritional value almost immediately after harvest, it is in our best interest to have our regionally produced food consumed and processed locally. 

As a community, we must get creative to provide healthy, affordable meals to those who need it the most.  There are some great examples of success.  The Madison Freshmobile, our network of farmers’ markets, and the work of our local food banks are just a few.

There are other great examples outside of Madison.  There are extremely successful incentive programs, offering a dollar-for-dollar match of food assistance at farmers’ markets; there are communities “prescribing” fruits and vegetables; there are efforts to curb fast-food and sugar-based beverages.  Here in Madison, there is much to be done.  The work that remains is a shared responsibility between our school districts, government, and other community providers.  It is time that all of us get serious about food and nutrition. 

Paul Soglin Statement in Response to President Obama’s Agenda for Gun Control

 

I support President Barack Obama’s plan to make our country safe and to institute these very reasonable firearm controls. When the founding fathers adopted the Second Amendment to the Constitution, they envisioned a well-regulated state militia. They did not envision high capacity firearms in the hands of irresponsible individuals. Most hunters acknowledge that a Bushmaster semiautomatic rifle is neither necessary nor reasonable to take down a deer. Responsible gun owners must regain control of the NRA.

I agree with the President. This time must be different.

 

Stopping the NRA and the Murder of America's Youth

The Nation Rifle Association (NRA) in its century long romance with violence violated the American people, their children, and our liberty, peace and tranquillity in classrooms from  Columbine to Sandy Hook, from Oregon to Virginia.

Since 1992, 386 school shootings in the United States and 493 dead. The more weapons, the more firepower, the more dead.

The NRA tells us that the solution is more armed guards and teachers in the classroom.

After perverting the Second Amendment, ensuring more guns in every city and town, they explain that we need more firepower to stop the thugs they armed. Meanwhile the bodycount mounts.

Mayors Against Illegal have a  plan -follow this link and sign up:

1. Require a criminal background check for every gun sold in America
2. Ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines
3. Make gun trafficking a federal crime, including real penalties for “straw purchasers”

The Second Amendment:

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

That simple three point plan does not compromise a well regulated militia. After all, you cannot yell fire in a crowded theater yet the First Amendment says:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances

 

 

Guns: What We Knew For Decades

Put a gun in a home and it is seven times more likely to be used:

• In a suicide by a member of the family
• To shoot a member of the family either purposefully or by accident.
• To shoot the owner of the weapon.

than used to defend the household.

 

 

Thoughts on Education

The City Education Committee has submitted a series of questions regarding education and the challenges we are facing. I know this is not a problem that will be solved overnight and I know it will take multiple partners, especially you, the residents of Madison.  I am sharing my responses with you and look forward to your continued involvement.

 The City of Madison provides considerable funding through Community Services and Community Development Block Grants, which enhances the educational environment.  The following are areas of concern, where the city should continue, expand, or introduce new support.  I provide this list to provide a framework to your questions. 

• Quality Childcare – part of a collaborative effort focused on support from cradle to career.
• Hunger – hungry children do not learn.  Free and reduced lunches are not sufficient if the child does not have a nutritious supper, complete meals on the weekends as well as over vacation periods.
• Student attendance – as Woody Allen famously said, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.”
• Every child should live within a reasonable walking distance of a community, neighborhood, school-based, or housing site-based center to ensure adequate after-school and summer programming.  This programming is part of the longer school day and ensures educational and recreational activities during the summer.
• Safe places free from trauma and violence both inside and outside the home.
• As the MMSD rolls out its Parent University, another cradle to career program, the city will be supportive.

 1. We are interested in knowing what you think your role is in supporting public education in Madison.

 There is nothing that the city government does, that contributes to the quality of life in Madison, that is as important as public education.  Our role is to provide strong neighborhoods, reduce poverty, and  create a safe and healthy community, which in turn, improves educational outcomes.

 2.  What initiatives/programs does your governmental entity support that interfaces with MMSD directly or affect student age kids indirectly?

 Support the longer school day and summer programming through cradle to career initiatives.  The city is expanding its support for neighborhood centers.  Last week, the Wallace Foundation invited the City of Madison and the school district to participate in a February 2013 conference designed to focus on coordinating public and private  after-school programming.  The City will participate in this conference.  Such programming is essential to expanding the school day and school year.

  As the city and county develop their food policies, it is desirable for all agencies to focus on eliminating hunger and ensure healthy food choices in our schools.

 Parent University is a MMSD program.  The city and county should assist the MMSD in getting resources to parents to ensure that all parents have access to public schools and can provide their children the necessary tools for a sound education.

 3. We would like to hear how you see your governmental entity working with the other two to support and improve the quality of public education for our students.

 City support can be in the form of reallocating resources, participating in   collaborative programming and using our influence to guide private resources.

 4.  We would love to hear any ideas you might have as to how our committee can work toward and advocate for meaningful partnerships between the three entities.  We would also be interested in hearing any specific ideas or projects you think our committee could/should focus on in 2013.

 Encourage the speedy development of our collaboration; the clock is ticking.

 5.  Anything else you would like to talk about in regards to education, partnerships/collaborations, etc.?

 We are not interested in the development of new charter schools.  Recent presentations of charter school programs indicate that most of them do not perform to the level of Madison public schools.  I have come to three conclusions about charter schools.  First, the national evidence is clear overall, charter schools do not perform as well as traditional public schools.  Second where charter schools have shown improvement, generally they have not reached the level of success of Madison schools.  Third, if our objective is to improve overall educational performance, we should try proven methods that elevate the entire district not just the students in charter schools.  The performance of non-charter students in cities like Milwaukee and Chicago is dismal.

 In addition, it seems inappropriate to use resources to develop charter schools when we have not explored system-wide programming that focuses on improving attendance, the longer school day, greater parental involvement and combating hunger and trauma.

 We must get a better understanding of the meaning of ‘achievement gap.’  A school in  another system may have made gains in ‘closing’ the achievement gap, but that does not mean its students are performing better than Madison students.  In addition, there is mounting evidence that a significant portion of the ‘achievement gap’ is the result of students transferring to Madison from poorly performing districts.  If that is the case, we should be developing immersion programs designed for their needs rather than mimicking charter school programs that are more expensive, produce inadequate results, and fail to recognize the needs of all students.

 It should be noted that not only do the charter schools have questionable results but they leave the rest of the district in shambles.  Chicago and Milwaukee are two systems that invested heavily in charter schools and are systems where overall performance is unacceptable.

 

Silencing a Progressive Voice

Madison’s diversity is one of its many positive attributes. Diversity in residents, neighborhoods, restaurants and businesses and many other areas have all contributed to the quality of life here.  Although we have perhaps been an anomaly, that diversity has, until recently, extended to talk radio. In an era where progressive talk is pretty rare, our city and area had the benefit of WTDY’s morning show host John ‘Sly’ Sylvester.  As you probably have heard, Sly and the rest of the staff at WTDY were dismissed last week.  Their job loss is our community’s loss.

 Madison radio needs local voices and local hosts.  Sly’s program on WTDY has provided a local forum for politicians and listeners for over 15 years.  No screening of callers to weed out those who disagreed, but a free flow of thoughts and ideas. I was a frequent guest on the program, as was State Representative Glenn Grothman.  There are very few issues on which State Representative Grothman and I agree but Sly treated each of us with respect and had a genuine interest in issues important to us. Local radio promotes and supports local businesses.  Sly had developed long-standing relationships with advertisers and contributed to their success. He continued his work off the air, helping to make this a better city.  He was involved in promoting Monona Terrace when many believed it would never happen.  He championed the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Memorial and has been involved in many projects and causes, certainly some politically progressive, but not all.

There is a concerted effort underway to keep our progressive voice on the air.  It’s called Give Sly the Mic and I’m joining in.

 

More Accolades for Madison

I am happy to share more national recognition for Madison, this one from USA Today.

 http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/destinations/2012/10/11/madison-wisconsin-best-college-football-town/1628263/

 Just another reminder of the many ways residents and visitors can enjoy our city, its parks, lakes, attractions, restaurants, and people.  Enjoy the day!

Join Us At Madison's Neighborhood Conference

 On October 13, Madison will host a citywide neighborhood conference that will  focus on placemaking, and how we can make, or improve, great spaces within our neighborhoods.  Fred Kent, President of Project for Public Spaces is visiting us from NYC. He’s a no nonsense guy who strips away all of the “can’ts” about transforming places and instead focuses on the “how to’s” of creating great environments for neighbors, businesses, and the community.

Don’t think placemaking is just about making a place look good.  Placemaking is more important than ever to our economy, community safety, and desirability as a place to live or start up a business because:  

• An increasingly mobile workforce seeks out livable neighborhoods before finding jobs and starting up businesses.  
• When 'legitimate' use of a space doesn't take place, quite often, less desirable activities will take over. Deliberate placemaking can help turn a place around.
• Re-thinking how space is used is key.  Vacant storefronts, underutilized properties, or paved streets can be activated in ways that can to bring people together and enliven an area.

 Can Madison re-imagine some of our public spaces?  Let’s figure out what we can do to transform community and neighborhood spaces. Creative, wild ideas welcomed.  Register at http://www.cityofmadison.com/neighborhoods/neighborhoodconference/ .

I look forward to seeng you on October 13th.  Let's work together to make this city an even better place to live, work and raise a family. 

 

 

Won't Back Down: Parent Trigger, ALEC, the Koch Brothers and Governor Walker

I had the opportunity to see a preview screening of  Won't Back Down; feel free to skip it.

To understand the premise of the film we have to understand 'parent trigger.' As Will Dooling and Brendan Fischer write in PR Watch, What really happens when parents pull the "parent trigger,"  "...Parent Trigger laws allow parents at any persistently failing school to gather a majority and either fire the principal, fire half of the teachers, or turn it into a private charter school...The laws -- which have been proposed in dozens of states and become law in California, Texas, and Connecticut..."

The law does not exist in the state of Pennsylvania, although the setting of the film is a public school in Pittsburgh.

In California, a group of parents 'pulled' the trigger but the matter was then litigated and no school take over occurred.

Promotional material for the film proclaims, "A fictional story inspired by actual events, the film chronicles the journey of two women..." The 'actual events' are the Compton and Adelanto California efforts:

In Compton, paid staffers for Parent Revolution circulated petitions to convert the school into a charter, but courts threw out the petitions. In Adelanto, a counter-petition effort organized by the school board convinced a large group of parents who originally signed petitions to withdraw their signatures; the battle is still being fought.

Parent Revolution is an outfit aligned with the American Legislative Council (ALEC) and the producers of Waiting for Superman. As  thenotebook observed, 'Won't Back Down' won't be real about school reform'

But let’s face it. Movie producers Philip Anschutz and Rupert Murdoch didn’t bankroll Won’t Back Down to win Academy Awards. They’ve entered it as a yet another piece in the contentious education reform debate using as their premise the idea of “parent empowerment” and “parent choice.” And on that level, there is some serious substance to reflect upon.

Truthout says it best: "Won't Back Down" Film Pushes ALEC Parent Trigger Proposal

 

Well-funded advocates of privatizing the nation's education system are employing a new strategy this fall to enlist support for the cause. The emotionally engaging Hollywood film "Won't Back Down" -- set for release September 28 -- portrays so-called "Parent Trigger" laws as an effective mechanism for transforming underperforming public schools. But the film's distortion of the facts prompts a closer examination of its funders and backers and a closer look at those promoting Parent Trigger as a cure for what ails the American education system....

...The data shows that the conversion to charter schools, which Lubienski said is the constant theme running throughout the "Parent Trigger" legislation passed in states, has not shown to be effective in improving student outcomes. A study conducted at Stanford University's Hoover Institution presents evidence that students in only 17 percent of charter school show greater improvement in math and reading than students in similar traditional public schools, whereas 37 percent, deliver learning results that are significantly worse than the student would have realized had they remained in public schools. However, the conversion to charter schools has proven profitable to many U.S. firms such as ALEC member National Heritage Academies, a for-profit charter school management organization operating in eight states, and K-12, Inc., which promotes "virtual" charter schools as well as "virtual" voucher schools. K-12, Inc. is under investigation in Florida for improperly certifying teachers and asking them to cover it up...

..."Won't Back Down," is a production of Walden Media, owned by billionaire investor and right-wing extremist Philip Anschutz. Anschutz participates in the Koch brothers' secretive political strategy summits and funds David Koch's Americans for Prosperity group, which backed Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's union busting proposal and is working to defeat Barack Obama and other Democratic candidates across the country. (emphasis added)

Some advocates for the film note that Democrats, including leaders associated with President Obama support 'parent trigger' and back the movie. That Democrats supported the War in Vietnam, did not make that battle correct, either.

Wanted: Journalists With Substance and The "Sixty Minutes" Rule

Years ago when I first watched the CBS news magazine "Sixty Minutes" there were plenty of stories featuring people who knew things had gone awry but failed to act. From that I came up with my Sixty Minutes rule.

When a reporter asks, "What did you know, when did you know it, and what did you do about it?" I wanted to always be able to answer that I had taken responsibility.  I did not want to be in the situation where I had knowledge of a problem and failed to act.

This point is lost on Madison's own local CBS affiliate, Channel 3, WISC. Check out this story:

Records indicate few complaints spurred Soglin's State Street plans

Madison Mayor Paul Soglin has pushed against downtown business owners, taxicab operators and panhandlers largely on his own, with few written or electronic complaints from city residents, records revealed.

The focus is on the lack of complaints, not the substance of the issue.

The story ignores the fact that 'A-frame' private signs are illegally placed in highly trafficked pedestrian areas, posing a danger to visually handicapped pedestrians and narrowing otherwise wide sidewalks so that individuals in wheelchairs cannot get through. In at least one instance a sign was chained to a fire hydrant blocking access. (Seattle also faces this challenge).

I guess that does not count since the open records request failed to reveal any email record of the offense.

The Channel 3 story ignores the fact that the panhandling on State Street is complicated with dangerous, expensive life-threatening consequences. Many of the State Street panhandlers have serious substance abuse problems. Unfortunately the financial gifts often are spent on liquor and cooking sherry. There are at least two panhandlers with significant criminal records and their contacts with police  and fire rescue are so frequent that the costs run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I personally witnessed one panhandler, "M" a well-known State Street regular passed out twice in a week. The first time he was so lifeless, fire rescue was called to see if he was either drunk or in a diabetic coma. In the second instance he attempted to rise from a bench, stumbled, and crashed face forward to the pavement.

Sorry but millions of dollars spent each year on dealing with possible life threatening intoxication does not count since there are not enough emails.

The taxicabs cruising State Street are operating in violation of city ordinances and the city's previous grant agreements with the U.S. Department of Transportation. One of the reasons for the restrictions on vehicles on State Street is to ensure that city buses are not delayed. If Madison is serious about Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), additional delays on State Street are not going to win any million dollar grants from Washington.  This is not to say that some alternatives to the present ordinance will not work; is it too much trouble to evaluate the situation and work on legislative reform rather than wholesale violation of city traffic regulations?

Sorry, no emails. I guess the future of BRT and millions of dollars in transit grants do not count since there were no emails.



Paul Ryan for President

On election night 1994, I was sitting in the bar at the Inn on the Park with buddy Ron Domini watching the election returns. The networks reported that young George W. Bush upset Ann Richards in the Texas gubernatorial race. I turned to Ron, and said, "We have to defeat these guys now. They take an election like this and then next thing you know they are a viable candidate for President."

When Paul Ryan slipped in to Congress though Wisconsin's First Congressional District, the writing was on the wall. Since the Democrats success in 2008, Ryan carefully positioned himself as a viable candidate for 2012, if not 2016.

Now comes the Wisconsin Public Research Institute Revenge of the Nerd: Why Paul Ryan Could be Our Next President handicapping a Ryan presidential bid.

Actually it is not much different that what we have said here at Waxing America:

• Paul Ryan - Wisconsin's Stand Up Comic  -  Ryan is a johnny-come-lately to health care and a tool of the worst elements fo the heath insurance lobby.
• Paul Ryan: When Will You Look At the Facts About the Deficit?  Ryan makes exaggerated and false statements about the budget and the deficit.
• Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan: Medicare Assassin - he wants to destroy Medicare just as he intends to put Social Security in the hands of the private sector so his buddies can make outrageous transactional fees off the public.  Also: Paul Ryan: Alarmist or Fraud, or Both?
• Paul Ryan of Janesville is no Sarah Palin -It is that very private system he is defending that accounts for the expansive cost of American health care.

The difference between Ryan and the younger Bush is not their policies, but that Ryan is not as inept. Which is what makes him so dangerous.

 

ed note: this post originally appeared February 3, 2010

The Bloomberg Challenge

It is not every day that a city has an opportunity to vie for a $5 million prize as it works to improve the lives of its citizens, but that is what New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has recently announced. 

Mayor Bloomberg has unveiled his Mayor's Challenge. Through his foundation, he is searching for innovative local solutions to national problems. He developed the Challenge to celebrate creative problem-solving through innovation that's happening in cities from coast to coast. The top five "greatest potential" ideas from cities across America will win funding from Mayor Bloomberg's foundation. One project will be awarded $5 million. Four others will win $1 million each.  I am predicting that Madison will win the challenge!

I ask you to log on, learn more, and share your ideas.

http://www.cityofmadison.com/mayor/challenge/timeline.cfm

There are hundreds of cities involved in the Challenge and not surprisingly, in a recent conference call, very little information was shared on specifics of proposals.  No one wants to tip his or her hand!  We do know there are some directives from the Bloomberg foundation, including that the ideas should address serious social or economic problems, improve customer service, enhance accountability, and/or create efficiencies in government.  Also, Mayor Bloomberg asks that the proposals can be duplicated, so if we have a great idea for Madison, the citizens of Nashville or Seattle can implement the project or plan.

In these very tight fiscal times, the additional funding would be a great way to assist the City as we face a number of challenges. I am asking you to share your ideas. No one is more innovative than the citizens of Madison and I am confident we will see many outstanding proposals. I look forward to hearing from you!

I am excited about this contest and although there is a tight turnaround schedule, August 9^th for the submissions, I am confident we will get some great ideas.  I look forward to keeping you abreast of our progress!