Madison, Jobs and the Economy: A Mayor Can Make a Difference

When I served as mayor from 1989-97, we began the period with one of the toughest recessions and it was accompanied by record reductions in state shared revenues, reductions unmatched to this day. Yet that entire period Madison's unemployment rate was either the lowest or second lowest in the nation. In a bad month we occasionally slipped to third. Usually it was Madison and Lincoln, Nebraska competing for top honors.

During that same period we stabalized the poverty rate  at 27% which it held for a dozen years.

Early in the campaign Dave Cieslewicz told Isthmus,   

I'm proud of what I've accomplished as mayor and I'm asking Madison voters for another four years because I see the enormous potential for where we can go in the future. Madison has always been a leader in all we do, and the next step is to be a worldwide leader in the new economy.

Then,from Mike Ivey we learn in The Capital Times two weeks ago,  Madison area among weakest in U.S. for job creation over past year:

The Madison MSA, which includes Iowa and Columbia counties, reported no change in the 337,000 number of non-farm jobs over the period. The total also includes government positions.That performance puts Madison 267th worst out of 372 metro areas based on job growth percentage over the past year. Yuma, Ariz. ranked No. 372 with a -3.16 percent decline in the number of jobs.

The report raises again the question of why Madison hasn't done better at creating new jobs despite its natural advantages.

Add to that the incredible increase in the poverty rate from 32% to 51% in less than four years accompanied by our dropping to 14th on the unemployment charts, and you can see why a Madison mother told me last week:

The festivals and the admiration for our city are great. I want just one thing. My son to successfully complete his education and be able to find a job and an affordable home in Madison.

This can be fixed. We did it before by focusing on education and job training,  healthcare, transportation, housing, and quality childcare.

WE CAN DO IT AGAIN.

 

Editor's Note: Campaign contributions can be made out to Soglin for Mayor and mailed to PO Box 1228, Madison WI 53701. Please include contact information and whether we can use your name as a supporter.  Let us know if you can volunteer or sponsor a fundraiser. State law requires you to supply employer information (name and address) if your contribution is over $100 in a calendar year. The campaign website at http://www.soglinformayor.com is able to take online contributions, but please feel free to go old school via the US Postal Service.

 

Comments

[Ty O'Mara]

If the man says he can do it, then he can do it. I'm sorry, I meant to say, if the man said we can do it, then we can do it. What's wrong with him as opposed with us. You want him, an eleted official, to solve all your problems. Keep dreaming America and Madison. Those times are all gone. We are in a new world now.

I know this man, I know what he thinks. He thinks he hasn't done enough unless every family in Madison has benefited from his term as mayor. He has nothing to lose and not much to gain, but he is in love with a city in the Midwewst. There cannot be a greater goal than to preserve the integrity and soveirnty of a great Midwest city. A town that is known as the nation's center free-thinking people.

I never met the man, but I know him.