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Uppity Wisconsin - Progressive Webmasters

« Wisconsin State Journal and Lee Enterprises - Bleaker Than I Thought | Main | Betty Smith 1918-2008: One of Madison's Great Elected Officials »

December 29, 2008

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Marius

Make that MCAD - Madison Cultural Arts District - not MCAT.

lukas

Interesting read. It's a shame the state the Overture Center is in.

dick lehmann

The article "Overture Center: where it went wrong" contains the assertion that former Mayor Baumann wanted the Madison Cultural Arts District (MCAD)to be an independent public entity so that its original CEO, Robert D'Angelo, would not be under City/Mayoral supervision, since he would not be a city employee. In fact, Mr. D'Angelo and his successors as the CEO of MCAD, have been and are City employees; they have the same City employment contracts as the heads of all or most City departments.

Another correction. You state that MCAD is a creature of the state having been established by state law; The applicable state law says such a District can be established by action of the City; the state law defines the structure of MCAD, but it did not, by itself, create the District.

Dick Lehmann, former Madison alder, having served on the common council with Mr. Soglin. I have been general counsel to MCAD since it was formed.

Paul

Dick: D'Angelo technically was a city employee, but unlike the old administrative stucture where he reported directly to the mayor, under the MCAD structure his regular supervision for management purposes was by the board, not a single individual. A check of meetings scheduled with the mayors after MCAD was formed would confirm that.

Baumann and D'Angelo had different purposes for perferring the structure. Baumann wanted to avoid responsibility for the new Overture facility. D'Angelo wanted the greater freedom of serving under a board rather than a single supervisor.

MCAD is a creature of the state. Without state statute allowing the creation of such districts, it could not exist, with or without enabling municipal legislation. The city of Madison has no authority to create any entity with condemnation powers without state approval. The power of condemnation is a power of the state and can only be delegated by statute; a delegation that may be general or specific.

Paul Beard

Hi, Paul - flawed model, let me count the ways.

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