Paul Soglin: Waxing America

Betty Smith 1918-2008: One of Madison's Great Elected Officials

I felt sadness upon hearing of the passing of Madison Alderwomen Betty Smith, but I also smiled.

Betty had good politics, or as I used to tease her, great politics for a Republican.

In fact, she would be despised and castigated as a RINO if she was active in politics today.

Betty was elected to the city council in 1973. I had made a pledge to begin a Madison child care program. I did not have a clue as to how it would happen. We were going to certify child care centers, provide instructional and training materials on child development to those who wanted the assistance, and even provide a modest scholarship program.

Betty told me not to worry about it. She gave me the name of Mary Berryman Agard and we went to work. At least the two of them did. I just tagged along.

The program was a smashing success. To this day, Madison's program is the model for the rest of the country.

It was a joy to work with Betty. Whether it was the child care program, the State Street Mall, the Civic Center, or even her complaints about the performance of certain city employees, she always had a smile and nothing less than support and encouragement as we strived to make Madison a great place to live, for all people.

Years later, Betty then in her 70's  could be seen bustling around  Madison, often with her 90 year old mother in tow.

William Bradford Smith preceded her in death years too early. They were a wonderful couple, thoughtful and kind. While William Bradford's firmness was a counterpoint to Betty's never-ending smile, you knew they belonged together.

If our mission in life is to contribute and improve the lives of those around us, Betty succeeded in everything she did.

Overture Center: Where It Went Wrong

When Jerry Frautschi announced his gift to create the Overture Center almost ten years ago, he had no firm opinion as to the structure that would operate the facility. In fact he assumed that the new facility, built on the site and concept of Madison's Civic Center, would continue with City of Madison control.

Then mayor Susan Baumann wanted no part of the facility. Her concern was the responsibility of the new performing arts center, both managerial as well as financial.

She informed Frautschi the gift was welcomed, but that he would have to find an alternative to the city when it came to ownership and management of Overture.

She informed the pubic of something different.

She told members of the city council and the press that the eventually adopted Madison Cultural Arts District (MCAD) was a condition of Fratuschi's gift. Actually MCAD served the needs of then Civic Center director Robert D'Angelo, who was looking for a structure that would guarantee him the benefits of public employment without the the inconvenience of an elected executive who might keep an eye on him.

It was a condition, not imposed by the donor, but by Baumann.

That condition set in motion a series of events and decisions which lead to the untenable situation MCAD experiences today.

The worst of all public structures is a legal public body with no constituency. 

MCAD, like Wisconsin school districts or municipalities, is a creature of the state. It is established by state law and its powers are derived from the state. Unlike the school boards and the municipalities, MCAD does not have elected leadership.

That does have some advantages. Its board, appointed by state, city and county leaders, does not have to worry about a meddlesome public.

There is a downside. There is no public electorate that cares what happens to MCAD.There are no stakeholders to turn to in a time of crisis.

Now Overture, despite performances booked and tickets sold, is facing a crisis which needs public support, but cannot obtain it. Laying off public employees may save a modest amount in operating costs, but fails to solve the larger problem of public engagement.

When Baumann made her decision, she deprived the people of Madison of a free and open debate as to how the new Overture might be operated and managed. The outcome might be the same, the MCAD.

However, it was more likely city management would continue. which then would have set in motion an entirely different set of decisions, which may have avoided today's crisis.

author's note: Wisconsin has similar structures such as the area technical colleges. Fortunately for them, there is an active public since they have the ability to tax; there are area-wide constituencies that support, or oppose, what they do.

Wisconsin State Journal and Lee Enterprises - Bleaker Than I Thought

It is time to recognize that the Wisconsin State Journal and its parent company, Lee Enterprises, are on the edge of disaster. The once flourishing Lee Enterprises, $48/share as recently as 2004, is now trading at less than 1 % of that amount, 36 cents a share.

The newspapers's editorial policies are starting to make sense.

Last Sunday, the Wisconsin State Journal (WSJ) unfairly called upon the city of Madison to solve the Overture problem by screwing the organized employees:

...Labor costs are by no means the only part of Overture that deserves an overhaul. But they compose the largest expense item in Overture's budget. The city's pay structure is out of line in several places...

...For example, a study found that an Overture ticket cashier earns $18.34 an hour, compared to a statewide benchmark of $10.30.

I suggested on Monday that the newspaper was asking Overture Employees Take a Holiday Hit For Failed Leadership:

While salaries do comprise the largest expenditure in Overture's budget, the greatest discrepancy is in the largest budget item, revenues from performances - that would be ticket revenues for the producers...

It seemed to me that the WSJ had an ulterior motive for a series of editorial calling upon lower wages for workers. Last weekend I was perusing Roger Ebert's movie reviews and came across a commentary of the film critic blaming the collapse of the Tribune Corporation on the enormous debt its owner, Sam Zell, had created to finance his takeover of the company.

He (Sam Zell) paid way too much money to overpay for the Tribune, Los Angeles Times and other big papers, the Chicago Cubs and a stable of TV and radio stations. Now he cannot pay the interest. There is no evidence he had other than a financial interest in his purchase.

Which lead me to connect the dots and observe:

There must be a reason that the State Journal repeatedly attacks reasonable workers' wages whenever there is a financial crisis.

They are preparing for the obvious at the newspaper. The day the layoffs and the cuts come.

As Roger Ebert noted in analyzing the crash of the troubled Chicago Tribune, the problem is not the staff but the enormous debt that paper faces because its current owner, Sam Zell, bought the company on credit.

It turned out I was more right than I knew. Now the truth is out. Lee suffers from the same disease as the Chicago Tribune family of newspapers. From Reflections of a Newsosaur, which unknown to me appeared last Sunday:

How debt did in America’s newspapers

The stock of Lee Enterprises was worth about $1.5 billion when the company borrowed almost an identical amount of money to buy the Pulitzer newspaper group in the summer of 2005. Today, Lee’s shares are worth only $13.5 million...

...Lee is but one example of what happened to many publishers who borrowed too much money to fund ambitious acquisitions between 2005 and 2007, taking advantage of the then-juicy profitability of newspapers and the once-easy access to abundant, relatively cheap debt...

...Lee today is struggling to avoid default on $1.4 billion in debt...

...The company also is in danger of (being).. booted off the New York Stock Exchange because the price of its shares has fallen below the required minimum...

...The severity of the situation is underscored by a warning from Lee’s auditors that they may have to add a statement to the company’s annual report questioning its “ability to continue as a going concern.”

My distaste for the Wisconsin State Journal's editorial policy does not translate into a distaste for the newspaper. I am part of a growing number of people deeply concerned about the ability of newspapers to survive in this electronic world. Their judgment in editorials, news content, opinion pieces, and investigative journalism is critical to the survival of our democracy.

I hope the newspaper and the entire chain survive and become healthy again.

If they need to raise cash I have one modest suggestion. Lee sell its interest Capital Newspapers Inc. to The Capital Times which will then resume publication as Madison's morning and Sunday newspaper.

It will be a shame to lose the Wisconsin State Journal. It would be worse for Madison to have no daily newspaper and for Lee Enterprises to collapse.

Historical Note:

In the 1950's the WSJ and The Capital Times agreed to share the same press. That meant one had to publish in the morning and one in the afternoon. The Capital Times 'won' the flip of the coin and choose to publish when more newspapers were sold, the afternoon. The State Journal as consolation for 'losing' published on Sundays.

Within a few years television took its toll and the WSJ passed and then doubled and tripled The Capital Times in circulation. Having the Sunday paper did not hurt either.

New advancements in electronic communications once again threaten the newspaper industry and it is evident that massive amounts of debt were not the answer to the Internet. Maybe news, sound editorial and opinoin content and investigative journalism along with a collection of important local and international news is the solution.

 

Overture Employees Take a Holiday Hit For Failed Leadership

In an editorial that misses the mark, Cooperate to reform Overture,  the Wisconsin State Journal commends the leadership of the Overture Center for laying off employees and calls upon public officials to renegotiate the labor agreement with the union that represents the employees.

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and the City Council should respond by reopening the city contract... to allow center management to control pay and benefits...Labor costs are by no means the only part of Overture that deserves an overhaul. But they compose the largest expense item in Overture's budget. The city's pay structure is out of line in several places...

...For example, a study found that an Overture ticket cashier earns $18.34 an hour, compared to a statewide benchmark of $10.30.

The pay structure is not out of line.

Out of line were the decisions that led to the design of Overture and the Wisconsin State Journal editorial.

The original design problems will be dealt with in a separate post, for now I will deal with the editorial.

For over twenty years the pay structure for Civic Center and subsequently Overture worked just fine. That pay structure is based on the workload and responsibilities of the staff ranging from ticket sellers to electricians.

An examination of the job descriptions is a good place to start. A ticket seller at Overture has far more responsibilities than a ticket seller in Wausau.

Next, the State Journal repeats the same mistake it committed last summer when it attempted to demonstrate that the way to deal with the financial losses at the city public swimming pool was to lower the wages of life guards. Wisconsin State Journal's Goodman Pool Editorial All Wet.

Madison pools lose money because the revenues, not the wages, are out of line.

If Madison charged individuals and families the same rates as the suburban pool operators, there would be no deficit.*

The same is true with Overture. While salaries do comprise the largest expenditure in Overture's budget, the greatest discrepancy is in the largest budget item, revenues from performances - that would be ticket revenues for the producers.

The ticket revenues are not sufficient to maintain the facility and pay the bills.

This is not about  'tough love.'

This is about a series of mistakes made in the automobile industry, the financial services industry, and in the Baumann administration's decision to turn over the operation of the Civic Center to a body with no obligation to the public. The Overture board has no constituency and never did.

As a result the employees suffer in a organizational structure that was cobbled together to meet the needs of the previous Civic Center director and those who had his ear, namely the then mayor.

The Wisconsin State Journal notes,"The economic downturn and some boneheaded financial decisions have left Overture troubled..."

Yes, I would say troubled. The fund is over $20 million lower than it should be.

Less than one percent of the losses (not the principal), would cover the cost of the slashed workers wages for another ten years.

Which gets us to the real issue. There must be a reason that the State Journal repeatedly attacks reasonable workers' wages whenever there is a financial crisis.

They are preparing for the obvious at the newspaper. The day the layoffs and the cuts come.

As Roger Ebert noted in analyzing the crash of the troubled Chicago Tribune, the problem is not the staff but the enormous debt that paper faces because its current owner, Sam Zell, bought the company on credit.

*Madison charges the lowest daily fee for a child at $2.25 while it is $2.75 in Middleton, $3.00 in Sun Prairie and a nifty $6.00 in in Shorewood for a daily guest pass (3.00 for a grandchild).

And in Madison the amenities and the recreational options are far greater than at any of these other pools.

A family membership in Madison for the season is  $145 (non -residents $285); in Middleton it is basically the same for residents and $355 for non-residents. In Shorewood it is a whopping $437 and $582. Only Sun Prairie undercuts Madison at $90/135.

Madison Snow Removal. Not Good

I try to refrain from criticism of Madison city government, but this snowfall removal is not good.

It is 4:10 pm, and they are finally getting to the residential streets in our neighborhood.

There are three possible explanations to the problem:

1. The equipment operators are inept.
2. The budget is inadequate.
3. Plowing routes are poorly planned.

The operators know what they are doing. These are the same men and women who were driving the plows five and ten years ago.  

The budget is inadequate. I do not have specific numbers but there are fewer pieces of equipment out there than were in a comparable snow fifteen years ago, and the city probably has 15% more miles of roads. Growth in the city is no excuse; property tax revenues from the new developments should easily cover basic services.

This is all part of a gradual diminishing of basic services. Most taxpayers do not notice it as we get incremental reductions in service each year. 

Over the years, it makes a difference. I saw a delivery truck fail to navigate a city street. Fire vehicles cannot get through. As I write this, a police squad car could not navigate any of our neighborhood streets.

Stop plowing downtown routes. Over the years downtown alders won the battle to cut back on alternate street parking. When alternate street parking was enforced, downtown residents (and that included me) had to deal with the reality of moving the car every other night and deal with the snow.

The gradual erosion of the alternate street parking and the accompanying 'snow emergency' zone has left us with a tropical culture where people are to distracted to deal with the reality of the 'occasional' snowfall.

The result is snowplows go into the downtown and waste time and money trying to navigate around the marooned vehicles.

Forget about plowing downtown. Bring the plows to the east, north, south and west sides where they can operate quickly and efficiently.

The next few weeks will become more miserable and difficult. Keep an eye on Gilman Street. It will become narrower with more ruts. Eventually money will be wasted when the city declares the entire area a no parking zone, all the cars will be towed, and the plows will be unleashed, again.

Plow my neighborhood by 8:00 am or at least 10:00 am.

Wisconsin Bloggers: Individually and Collectively Inept, Inattentive, Incompetent

With one of the greatest blogging stories sitting right under their collective noses, Wisconsin bloggers sat on their collective behinds and allowed the mainstream media, the CBS Evening news with Katie Couric, to scoop them on the biggest stories of the departing year, the Shawano -SIST story of international intrigue:

Alleged Murder-For-Hire Rattles Small Town:Placid Midwest Town Turned Upside Down By Alleged Hit List And Secretive Group

All a reaction to news of an alleged hit list and claims by a so-called hit man, now telling his story for the first time.

"And I said, 'you want me to kill 60 people? You want me to kill the whole town of Shawano?" said Canadian businessman Bob Cameron.

Keteyian asked: "They were hiring you as a hit man?"

"Yes, they were," Cameron said.

"You're talking about the mayor, the city administrator, the city treasurer, the city attorney, the police chief, judges, investigators, fire commissioners," Keteyian asked.

"Uh huh," Cameron assented

Cameron says in late October he received $175,000 in wire transfers from people known to be part of a secretive group long run out of a house near Shawano called SIST.

Its is a story that could never be fabricated. The cast of characters are from the next great movie, a combined effort of the Coen Brothers and Quentin Tarantino.

The mayor (Kathy Bates) tops the list of sixty potential local victims. The Canadian hitman (Martin Short) was trying to do no more than collect some unpaid bills from the local cult when asked to wipe out half the town. The cult leader (Samuel L. Jackson in a reprise of his role of Jules in Pulp Fiction) is responsible for the investment of over $15 million in local real estate.

The real estate holdings fail and the county treasurer (Johnny Depp) is now foreclosing. The sheriff (Ben Stiller) and his deputy (Owen Wilson) manage to keep the town on edge as they tail two SIST members (Mike -Wayne-Meyers and Dana -Garth- Carvey), who prowl the city streets with a camcorder filming anyone they suspect is in cahoots with the town leaders.

SIST spokesman and attorney (Johnny Depp or should that be Robert Downey Jr.?) manages to bring some semblance of reality to the entire story claiming this was all a misunderstanding.

Sanity is maintained. The FBI agent (Brad Pitt) brings calm and peace to Shawano.(Pronounced Shawn-o as in Shauno of the Dead).

All this going on in plain view. Badger bloggers are writing about Republican committee assignments in the legislature, the performing arts, and Lake Michigan.

Phooey.

                

Blagojevich: Sleaze vs. Crime

Last Friday I was on Wisconsin Public Radio's Week In Review with Joy Cardin and fellow guest and blogger at Boots and Sabers, Owen Robinson.

When the conversation turned to embattled Illinois Governor Blagojevich, I made the observation that:

On the sleaze meter the guy is off the charts, but that so far, the complaint against him has no concrete proof that he either specifically asked anyone for a bribe or that her ever received anything of value.

All of which poses a dilemma, namely when does a politician cross the line from playing hardball politics in appointing only friends and supporters, to the world of extortion and criminality?

The New York Times took up this question on Monday, In Blagojevich Case, Is It a Crime, Or Just Talk?

Ever since the country’s founding, prosecutors, defense lawyers and juries have been trying to define the difference between criminality and political deal-making. They have never established a clear-cut line between the offensive and the illegal, and the hours of wiretapped conversations involving Mr. Blagojevich, filled with crass, profane talk about benefiting from the Senate vacancy, may fall into a legal gray area.

The best advice for any politician, is do not go near that line. You do not want to be in the gray area or any other area that comes near crossing the line.

Merging Government Services - Usually Ugly

In the 1980's, as part of the increasing sentiment to merge government services in the name of efficiency and saving money, a number of Dane County governments came together to link their police, fire, and emergency medical dispatching services.

The result is the present system, which had two glaring failures in 2008, the murders of  Brittany Zimmerman and Mark Johnson, as well as some not so high profile cases, since they are not linked to homicides.

From the beginning there were difficulties with the system. Madison Police Chief David Couper and his staff noted continued problems on a variety of issues. When I returned to the mayor's office in 1989, I was deeply concerned that the new system was a license for dispatchers to send city of Madison police to a disproportionate number of calls in the Town of Madison, thus allowing that community to maintain lower staffing needs than was required. We continued discussions with Dane County but could only work around the edges since we had neither management nor control over the system.

Chief Couper went so far as to suggest we pull out of the system and go back to having our own dispatchers. The cost to rebuild a city system was prohibitive.

For our efforts we were labeled malcontents and identified as poor players in the sandbox of governmental cooperation.

All of which leads to the simple uncontroverted fact that merging governmental services does not inevitably lead to saving money and it certainly does not necessarily lead to efficiency.

The problem occurs in the the planning of the merger and the expectations of the parties. There must be an understanding of the needs of the operators. In the case of the dispatch system, that is the police officers and firefighters. It is not sufficient to approve the merger and then shrug shoulders saying, "Those are details that can be worked out later."

Some government agencies serve their own unit of government - human resources and IT are two examples. Some serve the public - parks, police, fire, and health are examples. Some serve both the government and the public - examples are legal services, the clerk's office, and public safety dispatchers.

Too often, when merger is considered, thought is only given to serving the public (Zimmerman and Johnson) without consideration of the needs of serving the internal customers (police officers).

What happens is the service provider (dispatch) only thinks of the direct service to the citizen and the needs of the internal customer (police) to serve the customer is overlooked.

It does not have to be that way. Merger can work.

Madison's State Street - Wasting over $3 Million a Year

This week's Isthmus features an article, Chronic pains detailing the problems of a few dozen offenders who accounted for almost 400 police contacts in the State Street area during a five month period.

The two men were no ordinary criminals...Each person on the list of 24 had 10 or more contacts with police in the first five months of 2008. Lindsey, 41, was one of the worst: From January to June, he had 42 recorded police contacts, including being sent to Dane County's detox center 16 times...

The study group found that 98 people were responsible for nearly 800 police contacts downtown during this brief period.

An examination of the repeaters shows that almost all of them were either homeless, suffered from mental illness, or had a drug-alcohol dependency problems.

What is so shocking is that a similar study was done over ten years ago.

In the intervening years I  repeatedly told anyone who would listen that a computerized list of the individuals who showed up most frequently with Police or Fire department contacts is the key to reducing problems downtown.

It is real simple.

Read the entire Isthmus article. The last half details solutions critical to a solution.

These individuals need help. They need help, that by law, the state of Wisconsin and Dane County are required to provide. They need treatment or in some cases institutionalization, especially if they refuse to stay on a treatment program.

The study just completed only covered police contacts. They should include fire and paramedic contacts as well. The top twenty offenders are probably good for close to 3000 contacts in a year. At an average cost of $1000 a contact that comes to $3 million annually.*

All of this points to the fact that the city is chasing its tail and the wrong culprits when it comes to liquor-fueled downtown problems including violence.

State Street's problems emanate from two sources associated with frequent liquor and drug abuse. The first group is already identified - older men with severe health problems.

The second are violent thugs who were not found in the area ten or twenty years ago. They too can treated. Remove the older men, free up law enforcement to deal with the young thugs, thus setting a higher standard for State Street behavior, and the problem is solved without draconian measures affecting the sale of alcohol to reasonable people.

Then all that is left is to close the over the top private alcohol fueled parties, and get the youngsters back in the taverns where they belong.

An effective Madison Neighborhood Resource Team (NRT) fro State Street is a start. If we look at it on a cost effective basis, the county's Joining Forces For Families (JFF) should make an appearance.

After those problems are solved, imagine what could be done with the money to work with low income households.

It might also result in fewer murders and violent assaults.

*This number ($3 million) is probably low. While some contacts may be nothing more than instruction to cease offensive behavior, if the contact includes a conveyance, a booking, and subsequent prosecution which will include multiple police officers, the cost is at least $1000. A fire conveyance and detox is probably a minimum of $2000.

Harvey Milk and George Moscone

Tonight we saw Milk.  The first two minutes were as emotional an introduction to any film I have ever seen.

My reaction to the film is a reflection of the quality of the movie.  It is also a response from living through those times.

It was powerful and moving. Everything said about Sean Penn's outstanding performance is true.

The city of Madison adopted its equal opportunity ordinance protecting all individuals regardless of sexual orientation or sexual preference in the spring or summer of 1976.

Unlike Dade County, Florida, Minneapolis, or Eugene, Oregon, despite our best efforts to bait Anita Bryant, we could not lure her to Madison.  

June  1977 was the last time I saw San Francisco Mayor George Moscone. It was probably Friday June 17 at the conclusion of a hard week of work.

Moscone, U.S. Conference of Mayors President, Ken Gibson from Newark, and  Mayor John Rousakis of Savannah were at the hotel swimming pool.

Gibson and I were in the water, Moscone and Rousakis sunned themselves on lounge chairs when a young photographer from the Tuscon Citizen appeared. He had been trying to get pictures of mayors not working and he had his victims. I spotted him and alerted the others. Gibson and I simply turned our backs to his camera lens.

Moscone was exhausted since every crazed Tusconian with a San Francisco connection had called his hotel room the previous night. Moscone simply draped a towel over his face.

Rousakis did not care and did not move.

The kid snapped a few pictures and walked over to Rousakis. He asked for names. The mayor pointed to Moscone and then himself, "He is Michael Blandic, the new mayor of Chicago, and I am Maynard Jackson, the mayor of Atlanta." (Jackson left, Rousakis right)

Mayor Moscone and Harvey Milk were assassinated on Monday November 27, 1978. The moment hearing of the tragedy and seeing Dianne Feinstein on the news announcing their deaths was as real last night as it was that day.

On Tuesday November 28, 1978 I made reservations for San Francisco. That night our city council met. We had ended the practice of opening the meetings with a formal prayer and instead rotated among the council members who would begin each session with some thoughts of their own. Alderman Jim Yeadon began with words memorializing the two slain leaders. Two years earlier, as a citizen serving on the Equal Opportunities Commission, Jim was instrumental in the adoption of Madison's ordinance protecting gay rights. From the Wisconsin State Journal Friday December 12, 2008:

The assassinations of Milk and Moscone marked a poignant moment for Yeadon, who asked to open the first council meeting after the slayings with a remembrance.

"I get shivers when I think about it," he recalls. "I said, 'Yesterday there were three openly gay elected officials in the country. Today there are two. And I don't know how many good mayors there were in the country, but today the world is one the less.' Then I asked people to bow their heads and pray and give their thoughts to the people in San Francisco. I was almost crying. It really brought it home."

On Wednesday November 29, 1978 I flew to San Francisco where I caught up with some friends from Madison in a city numb with grief.

to be continued