Getting My Priorities Right For the City of Madison

A reader wrote into the Wisconsin State Journal on Tuesday, Todd Van Fossen: Soglin should focus on crime, not signs: 

As a nearly lifelong Madison resident, I was baffled and appalled by Mayor Paul Soglin’s interview with Shawn Doherty. It was either a case of bad mayoral priorities, bad reporting and interviewing, or both. I have tremendous respect for Soglin, but the city has real problems that require real leadership....

...Crime is rampant. It’s a problem. It happens under the shadow of the West Side Police Station on McKenna.Mr. Mayor, with all due respect, the problem is not with signs at Johnson and Mills that impede your bicycling. The problem is crime and the declining home values and quality of life it causes in neighborhoods that are a primary tax base of our city...

 

Frankly, I cannot blame Mr. Van Fossen. Clearly it is time for me to return to blogging to make sure that Madisonians know that I hear from them, what is important to me, and what I recommend we do.

The first and most important challenge is to tackle City of Madison budget issues. We took several blows from the state in lost shared revenues, transportation aids, and recycling funds. In addition we have our own problems created by a series of decisions that lead to too much borrowing, borrowing for operating expenses, and relying on grants that required the city to step in with significant expenditures to maintain required service levels.

After we stabilize the budget we will be able to get into a position where we can tackle the problems of many Madison neighborhoods. We are well aware of the challenges -- rising poverty, increased crime, particularly violent crime, and needed employment opportunities. We are not waiting. Certain areas of the city are getting heightened police coverage, attention for violence related to substance abuse and mental illness, and issues related to neglected property.

At the same time there are still the 'broken window matters'. Some are aesthetic, such as illegal signage. Others are more serious such as carelessly parked bicycles and scooters on sidewalks that make the way impassable for anyone using a walker or a wheelchair.

I love the challenge of solving these problems.  Some commentators prefer to gossip about my attitude in addressing these very sobering and serious problems. I am serious about them. But I also get great joy when we solve these matters and I see an open government engage residents and public officials in a process that improves our quality of life.

Comments

[Chris]

I think perhaps people don't fully understand the broken windows policy and could benefit from some more explanation of it. Some discussion of places where it has been implemented and found useful could be helpful as well. Personally, I'm a fan of it.

[Hieronymous Knickerbocker]

I am no great fan of Rudy Giuliani, but his reign of autocracy as New York City's mayor did effectively target the "broken window" issues.

I refer to such things as graffiti, vandalism, panhandling, ditched bicycles, squeegee men (maybe not part of the Madison experience), etc. Taken individually, each is a small affront to society, but left unattended they accumulate and invite further antisocial behavior, until they are a real drag on the quality of life.

New York's approach was to make sure everyone, however homeless, was assured a bed and a meal. The price of that was no panhandling, extorting money from motorists stopped at traffic lights, or sleeping on steam grates. The sustained effort (it is still in place) went much beyond those things, but you get the idea.

Mr. Giuliani was a bully and not squeamish about stepping on anyone's rights, but when he put his toes over the foul line, he was taken to court (this is a very litigious town) -- where the city usually lost, and the policy was ultimately modified.

Making that policy stick produced dramatic improvements in the way New Yorkers perceived their city. I have no idea what the municipal outlay was for all this, but the approach surely paid handsome dividends in the long run.

[Teresa Doyle]

I just read the piece that you quoted from above and then I found that you were blogging here and that you quoted from it.

All I remember was Mayor Dave Cieslewicz running on the theme that there is not a crime problem in Madison.

You crystalize the descriptions of those talking to the Cap Times writer, Paul Funlund's quoting passive agressive whisperers unwilling to be named as gossip.

Tonight, Madison's chief of Police who is African American said that he notes that the males in caught in these attacks around the city are African American.

This same night Joan (who graduated from the UW and is a regular on MSNBC) told Ed Schultz that 50 percent of African American male teenagers are unemployed.

I am glad you are mayor. So is my 83 year old mother who has a wicked math brain.

[David Marshall]

My perception is that we are experiencing more police presence (sirens and all). Where does one find the details of such police activity? I have been hearing and seeing a lot of activity that citizens might want to be aware of. I suppose one could blame this lack of public relations on the ex-mayor, but still a want for transparency persists. Are we regarded as adults who want the best for our families and community or frightened children who need to be insulated?