The Tenant Resource Center has been a long standing partner with UW-Madison students and Association Students of Madison who has been funding Tenant Resource Center most years since 1995 – since we merged with the Student Tenant Union. Please join me in thanking them, and join them in supporting the Tenant Resource Center on Mondy!
Dear Dane County Board,
The Associated Students of Madison (ASM) has been in a long=standing partnership with Dane County and the City of Madison in funding the Dane County Tenant Resource Center (TRC), and we are dismayed that the funds provided from Dane County are being redirected away from the TRC. The importance of the TRC in our county should go without saying and it is vital for students that this partnership continue.
Students from UW=Madison make up a significant portion of the population of Dane County, and the vast majority of them are first=time renters. Property owners in the area understand the high demand near campus and because of this, students need support and information on what rights they have and direction on when to sign a lease.
ASM made an investment in the TRC due to student demand for information, while also acknowledging that the Dane County Board and City Council were also investing in this valuable resource. Without the Dane County dollars, the ASM and City dollars do not go as far. If the county funds are not restored, it will be much more difficult for the ASM investment to fully support student renters.
The reality of the situation is that students are novice renters and what they learn from their first landlord will follow them into the future when they are making decisions around home ownership and renting in the future. By targeting students, the future landowners in Dane County, we can ensure that young adults are aware of their rights prior to problems in the future.
We are deeply concerned that the Dane County RFP criteria didn’t properly account for the value created by the synergy of the ASM/Dane County/City of Madison partnership. We urge you to continue funding the TRC and continuing the partnership which benefits current and future Dane County residents.
Best,
Madison Laning
Chair, Associated Students of MadisonKyla Kaplan
Vice Chair, Associated Students of Madison
You can help by adding your voice
Monday is the last realistic chance to try to persuade County Board Supervisors to fund the Tenant Resource Center to provide information about tenant and landlord rights and responsibilities, mediations at eviction court and to ensure they have access to our security deposit loan program and housing crisis funds and to do presentations for groups for poeple who live in Dane County but outside the City of Madison.
The Personnel and Finance Committee will be considering amendments to the Human Services budget at 5:30 in Room 351 of the City County Building and we need people to show up and testify. Or at least register your support. If you can’t make the meeting (5:30 Room 251), you can email the members of the committee:
erickson.chuck@countyofdane.com
solberg.cynda@countyofdane.com
oloughlin@countyofdane.com
gillis.george@countyofdane.com
pertl.jeff@countyofdane.com
hendrick@countyofdane.com
kolar.mary@countyofdane.com
corrigan@countyofdane.com
stubbs@countyofdane.com
(Names not obvious from the emails are Dennis O’Loughlin, John Hendrick, Sharon Corrigan and Sheila Stubbs
or you can email the entire county board at county_board_recipients@countyofdane.com
Contact information to call your county board supervisor is at https://board.countyofdane.com/Supervisors
Without one penny of county funding, services will have to stop to tenants in the Town of Madison, Fitchburg, Sun Prairie, Stoughton and other areas of the County not in the City of Madison. 40% of Dane County are renters – they deserve the same access to information and services as the renters in Madison.
Please contact your county board supervisor and/or show up on Monday to support us!
