I hope this trend of skipping committees and doing committee work on the Council floor doesn’t continue . . . these late nights are a killer when you have to work full days on both sides.
The first 15 minutes, we didn’t do much of anything substantial. We passed an honorary resolution to honor the 27 years of service to the City by Roger Goodwin, we did some committee appointments and made some referrals. We tabled the Downtown Alcohol License Density Plan, so that at 6:45 we could take up the public hearing items. We did the public hearing and referred the Cliff Fischer project on Butler St, the hotel on E Washington and the capital budget. We did pass the Freakfest ability to choose their vendors and some houses and duplexes on the Westside.
We then passed the “consent agenda” which was everything on the agenda with the exception of items
14 – Alcohol License Density Plan
18 – Surplus Property
30 – Bassett small cap TIF
35 – Improvements to Municipal and City-County Building
36 – Double-filling Mayoral Aide position
77 – Term limits on alders and the Mayor
78 – Early Public Testimony
81 – Capital Borrowing Program
86 – Chronic Nuisance Ordinance
96 – Mayoral Committee Appointments
Then, about 7:15 we took up the Downtown Alcohol Density Plan. We heard from a handful of people, then did question and answers for quite some time. Around 9:00 I made a motion to table the questions and hear from the rest of the people speak so that they could go home if they needed to instead of listening to the Common Council babble at ourselves. The motion failed with the following votes:
Aye: Webber, Bruer, Gruber, Judge, Konkel, Palm, Rhodes-Conway, Rummel, Sanborn, Solomon
No: Clausius, Cnare, Compton, Kerr, Pham-Remmele, Verveer, Clear, Schumacher, Skidmore
Abstain: Brandon (conflict of interest due to ownership in Laundry 101)
So, we stopped, took a break and moved on. Alders talked and around 11:00 Thuy Pham-Remmele, after speaking herself, made a motion to prevent everyone else from speaking. That motion needed a 2/3 vote and passed with the “aye” votes as: Webber, Bruer, Clausius, Clear, Cnare, Compton, Gruber, Kerr, Pham-Remmele, Sanborn, Schumacher, Skidmore, Solomon, Verveer. “No” votes were Konkel, Palm, Rhodes-Conway, Rummel, Judge and abstaining was Brandon.
Then, because their motion passed, without allowing the Mayor and I’m not sure who the ability to speak, we proceeded to the vote after the Mayor thanked Joel Plant (former Alcohol Policy Coordinator, now Mayoral Aide). The “Aye” votes to pass the ordinance were: Bruer, Clausius, Clear, Cnare, Compton, Gruber, Kerr, Pham-Remmele, Rummel, Schumacher, Skidmore, Solomon, Verveer. The “No” votes were Judge, Konkel, Rhodes-Conway, Sanborn, Webber, Palm. Brandon abstaining.
At 11:00 we finally started testimony on the Chronic Nuisance Ordinance. The testimony went from 11:00 to 11:45. Several speakers, of course, had gone home. We then asked questions of speakers for 20 minutes or so before we heard from the police department around 12:05. We were lobbied by 5 polices officers in uniforms for quite some time and it was after 1:00 by the time we started debate. The first motion was from Brian Solomon for referral. That motion was made at 1:50 and failed 8 – 12. Those who voted to honor the process and consider what the Equal Opportunities Commission had to say were Webber, Gruber, Kerr, Konkel, Rhodes-Conway, Rummel, Solomon and Verveer. Those against were Brandon, Bruer, Clausius, Clear, Cnare, Compton, Judge, Palm, Pham-Remmele, Sanborn, Schumacher and Skidmore.
There were a few motions made to change the sunset the length of the sunset and to change the dates of reports. At that point, there was a vote to call the question and accept no amendments. Even though I had told council members I had 8 amendments. That motion failed with those voting to cut off the possibility of any amendments being Bruer, Clausius, Clear, Compton, Pham-Remmele, Sanborn, Schumacher and Skidmore. Those voting to allow discussion and amendments were Webber, Cnare, Gruber, Judge, Konkel, Palm, Rhodes-Conway, Rummel, Solomon, Verveer and Kerr. After losing that vote, we went on to discuss the ordinance.
I moved to divide the question so that the building inspection part of the ordinance would pass unanimously, but there were some disingenuous comments about how this was an inseparable package and so that motion failed. Aye votes being Webber, Konkel, Rhodes-Conway and Rummel (The Green Ladies). The rest of the votes being Brandon, Bruer, Clausius, Clear, Cnare, Compton, Gruber, Judge, Kerr, Palm, Pham-Remmele, Sanborn, schumacher, Solomon and Verveer. Skidmore being out of the room. Several more amendments were made, some passed, some failed, some were friendly. The final vote on the ordinance was 18 – 2. The two being Webber and myself.
At this point, we dealt with items 18 (passed), 30 (passed with amendment to require property to be up to energy efficiency standards), 35 (passed), 36 (passed), 77 (passed), 78 (passed with voice votes of no by Compton and Cnare), then at 2:55 in the morning we got to number 81. 6 people had registered to speak, 5 for, 1 against, but all had gone home.
The issues of doing capital borrowing to create affordable housing was ignorantly discussed for a while, until the Mayor kindly suggested that it was late and perhaps we should just refer this. Remarkably, that motion failed. Those voting against referral (and then later complaining that it was late and we should just vote) were Brandon, Bruer, Clausius, Clear, Compton, Judge, Palm, Pham-Remmele, Sanborn, Schumacher and Skidmore. Those voting to take the Mayor’s advice and refer this and discuss at a more reasonable time were Webber, Cnare, Gruber, Kerr, Konkel, Rhodes-Conway, Rummel, Solomon and Verveer.
After some more discussion, there was a motion to call the question, which failed with those voting to cut of the debate they didn’t want to refer being Brandon, Bruer, Clausius, Clear, Compton, Judge, Kerr, Pham-Remmele, Sanborn, Schumacher and Skimore. Those voting to keep debating were Webber, Cnare, Gruber, Konkel, Palm, Rhodes-Conway, Rummel, Solomon and Verveer. After some further discussion – and I might add – pointing out that this could be the solution to helping some of the very properties that we had been talking about all night with the chronic nuisance ordinance – the motion finally failed with the following people voting against tax-free affordable housing for the City of Madison: Brandon, Bruer, Clausius, Clear, Cnare, Compton, Gruber, Judge, Palm, Pham-Remmele, Sanborn, Schumacher and Skidmore. Those voting to a virtually tax-free simple solution for affordable housing were: Webber, Kerr, Konkel, Solomon, Verveer, Rhodes-Conway, Rummel.
Then item 96 passed after a few words of thanks to Mike Barrett for the often thankless work of sitting on a City Committee and being unceremoniously dumped. There were some items introduced from the floor and around 3:30 we adjourned.
I then went and grabbed breakfast with Marsha Rummel, got home at 5 am and now . . . its getting light out. So, please excuse the inevitable typos and lack of links, but I have to get a few minutes sleep before I have to take a shower and get to work as I have a long day in front of me, including my board meeting this evening (a 12-hour work day!).
