Some Of The Things I Did As Mayor and Other Stuff

One of my daughters said, "You did all these things; even I do not know all that you have done." So I put together a list and one the campaign staffers wrote this up. If you can think of things to add, please comment. 

• It was Senator Gaylord Nelson who asked Paul Soglin to speak alongside him at the first Earth Day rally in Madison April 22, 1970.
• Introduced and signed Wisconsin’s first law ensuring that sexual orientation and sexual preference were protected classes under the equal opportunity ordinance (1976).
• Paul led the successful fight to stop the nuclear power plant at Lake Koshkonong, using the resources of city government.
• He led the fight to stop the application of herbicides to Madison lakes including 2-4 D and aquathol.
• Led the fight to establish Madison’s bus system that established national ridership records.
• Acquired land for many of Madison’s parks.
• Developed Madison's bicycle path system with the first major route - the loop around Lake Monona. "It cost $50,000, has no moving parts and brings joy to thousands of people every week."
• Created a modern diverse integrated city workforce; set the standard for the private sector.
• Pushed for comparable pay for comparable work for women at a time conservative male union leaders said "No."
• Led the city of Madison remediation to clean up old landfills and town dumps by excavating, sealing them and putting in natural gas extraction systems.
• Initiated and launched the city’s comprehensive recycling program taking glass, metals, and plastics as well as paper, building materials and hazardous substances out of the landfills. It set records in the 1990’s for household participation which is sustained today.
• Built the pedestrian-transit State Street Mall from Lake Street to the Capitol and the full pedestrian mall by the Memorial Library.
• Built the Capitol Concourse, home to the Farmers’ Market and the Art Fair on the Square and fewer automobiles.
• Built the Monona Terrace Visitor and Convention Center.
• Acquired the land and buildings, let the bids  for the Madison Civic Center, which is now the Overture Center for the Arts.
• Created the city’s Community Services program which now funds over $4 million annually to groups ranging from the Rape Crisis Center to Porchlight.
• Raised participation of women on city committees to over 48% and minorities to over 12% when previously they only had token representation.
• Recruited the first women for the Madison Fire Department; responsible for the hiring of the first woman fire chief.
• When he last left office, the city of Madison had six women department heads including the Fire Chief, City Attorney, and Human Resources Director.
• Developed and built Olbrich Botanical Gardens Conservatory, later expanded to become the Bolz Conservatory.
• Sponsored legislation and supported the devlopement of the Nine Springs E-Way.
• Hired the first affirmative action officer and began the contract compliance program which required city contractors to file good faith plans to hire women and minorities.
• Built thousands of units of affordable housing for seniors and working families.
• Active in the Civil Rights movement.
• Launched the South Madison Community Health Center (Harambee) which provides health care service to tens of thousands of people annually. This Park Street facility is recognized as contributing to the lowering of black infant mortality – Madison and Dane County had the lowest rate in the nation.
• Created the Neighborhood Resource Teams (NRTs) of police officers and nurses, firefighters and social workers, housing and employment specialists, which led to reducing neighborhood violence and increased economically sustainable households.
• Built the nation’s first housing designed for individuals with physical disabilities.
• Established Madison’s purchasing program to encourage the use of women and minority owned businesses for city purchases.
• During his tenure, Madison’s unemployment was often the lowest in the U.S.; often 1/3rd the national average. Now we are lower than the national average, but nowhere near the lowest.
• Adopted land use policies focusing on density, and created office and manufacturing space for tens of thousand of workers including the UW Research Park and the southeast side business park.
• Actively opposed the war in Vietnam beginning in 1963.

 

Comments

[Brian (neaguy)]

Paul, one of the keys is to crush poverty because as you know it is severely impacting the school system.

[anon]

I second (and third) that.
Keep the bus system going, too. Good transportation is a key to access to education and jobs. Don't cut back on the after 8 p.m routes, and please, if you're elected add a route from Midvale and University out to Verona so that West and South Siders can get to the Sequoya Library more easily. If you aren't elected, please advocate for it. I'm sure there are similar routes that need to be added in other parts of town that would serve public services and commercial interests alike.

[Donald D. Studesville]

While working for the Parks Division around 2007, I developed an employment policy that addressed the lack of diversity within the division and the City. This policy was presented by the DCR Director to the Common Council. Policy included a mandatory three person hiring council which should include a mix or ethnicities and genders. To date these 'suggestions' to improve diversity, have not been practiced or even considered.

Interview and hiring Policy was developed to assist all applicants of all colors, to have a chance of employment with the City. Diversity of the City of Madison employees does not reflect the population of Madison. While a direct percentage is not highly likely, a better representation is feasible. I have seen little or no action by the current City administration that addresses these descrepancies.

[Hieronymous Knickerbocker]

At the end of the wish list that would be presented to a new Soglin administration, anon paused for a spot of moderation by offering "If you aren't elected ..."

Queen Victoria interrupted, brusque and confident in her tone: "We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat; they do not exist."

[Ty O'Mara]

Hieronymous, I love that kind of talk.

[Judy Karofsky]

And what did you do your second day in office?
Looking forward to the 2011-2015 list!