Will Madison City Council abandon their responsibilities?

Tonight on the Executive Committee Agenda as well as the Council Agenda there are several items where the council will decide if they give their statutory responsibilities to the mayor during this pandemic and so far the mayor’s orders are project to cost over $1M.

OPINION/RECOMMENDATIONS

I’ll just be clear up front here, as a former alderperson for 8 years and having served as council president for a year, I have very strong feeling and clear thoughts about this.  Of course, it’s easy for me, because I’m not the one with the responsibility in the middle of a crisis, so I can stay a little more clear headed.  And of course, I have the advantage of being involved in Madison local politics for 30 years – attending or watching more city council meetings than anyone except maybe Alder Mike Verveer or a handful of city staff that are still around from when I first started.

Here’s what I think should happen and why:

• Daily live briefings (Mon-Friday, weekends if significant developments)
  • Council members aren’t attending committee meetings, so they could substitute this for their committee meetings.
  • It would give the alders a chance to ask questions, instead of just getting daily written information.
  • The public would have a chance to have their alders ask questions they have and get more information on recent developments.
  • They could assign topics (example – Monday = Public Health/Police/Fire, Tuesday = Transportation/Engineering, etc, Wednesday = Finance/Admin & Elections Thursday = Economic  & Community Development, etc) to reduce the burden on staff
  • The briefings can be short, no expectation of elaborately prepared presentations
• Weekly Council meetings
  • They mayor doesn’t need emergency powers, the council just needs to meet
  • The mayor should only be acting on her own in a true emergency – not deciding what law suits to file, or contracts to amend, or money to spend without council input and approval in real time – not months later
  • The council should not be taking a 3 week break
  • The Common Council Executive Committee or Finance Committee should not be used as a replacement for the council, all council members should have an equal vote an opportunity to participate in the decision making.
• Alders should have role in Emergency Operations
  • Alders should have some say in what the EOC (the emergency operations center) priorities are.  High level priorities.  There should be a public discussion about that and how the EOC operates.  The last plan was from 2011 and I’m guessing there are issues with it not being current.
  • Yes, there needs to be protocols, but the alders shouldn’t have to ask their staff, to ask the EOC, to get it assigned to a leader, to get to the staff the alder wanted to communicate with, to go back up the chain, back to the council staff and then to the alder.  This is crazy.   Plus, alders with good relationships who have been on the council longer can get stuff done, new alders have a harder time due to lack of established relationships.
• Committees
  • As the Chair of the Public Safety Review Committee I have received no communications.  Zero.  None from the Mayor or Council President.  None from the Police Department or Fire Department.   None.  I haven’t been asked if we have priority items, if we feel we have issues we need to meet about, things that we think should be forwarded to the EOC.  Nothing.
  • The value of having committees is that the Council President and Mayor and the council don’t need to know and do everything.  Now, without committees meeting, the council has to do committee work on the council floor.  If you thought Council meetings were long before . . . can you imagine what they will be like when they have to wait to ask staff questions on the council floor and don’t have alders who sat through committee meetings that can explain to their colleagues the pros and cons, information they learned and why they recommended what they did?

WHAT IS THE COUNCIL SUPPOSED TO BE DOING?

The City Council is the legislative branch of our local government.  These are the Council powers in State Statutes

Wis. Stat. 62.11(5) Powers. Except as elsewhere in the statutes specifically provided, the council shall have the management and control of the city property, finances, highways, navigable waters, and the public service, and shall have power to act for the government and good order of the city, for its commercial benefit, and for the health, safety, and welfare of the public, and may carry out its powers by license, regulation, suppression, borrowing of money, tax levy, appropriation, fine, imprisonment, confiscation, and other necessary or convenient means. The powers hereby conferred shall be in addition to all other grants, and shall be limited only by express language.

You’d never know this is their power the way they are treated by some of the staff and most of the mayors past and present.  Staff culture is that the council is treated as an obstacle to getting things done.  The council not seen as being the boss that the staff get the direction from – instead the council are seen as people to rubber stamp what the staff have already decided.  It’s upside down.  And some of the alders have bought into the narrative and are ok with just giving away the responsibilities that we elected them to fulfill.

WHAT RESPONSIBILITIES WILL THE COUNCIL ABANDON TONIGHT?

I don’t even know where to begin.  The mayor’s declaration of emergency and her 23 orders are much broader than they need to be.  It reads like a massive power grab.

This is from a previous post about the all of our local government abandoning their responsibilities and not meeting during this pandemic.  All of these things are currently the order of the mayor unless the council acts differently.  The mayor is essentially making all the decisions for the city – what lawsuits to enter into, what contracts to amend, who to give money to and who not to give money to, changing the budgeted funds, abandoning processes set up for public input.  She’s making all the decisions, and the list I wrote above are only some of the things I’m aware of.   Here’s the list.

If you look at the city council meeting on Tuesday, it has the following items that the mayor is making decisions without the council.  At this meeting she has put the following things on the council agenda:

# 17 – Allowing the Madison City Council to ratify all actions taken by the Mayor and City Attorneys related to elections law and allow the Mayor to exercise her sound judgment to make future decisions and to authorize the City Attorney to take further actions in litigation as may be necessary to fulfill the City’s obligations to protect the voting rights of Madison’s citizens.

#18 – Declaring that a state of emergency is hereby in existence for the City of Madison pursuant to Wis. Stats. § 323.11 and Madison General Ordinances Section 3.19.

#19 – Suspending late charges for the Sewer and Stormwater Utilities and the Landfill Remediation Charge during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

On the 21st they council will be discussing:

• • • • Amending Section 4.21(3) of the Madison General Ordinances to defer room taxes imposed for January, February and March, 2020 to no later than July 31, 2020, at the discretion of the City Treasurer
      • Authorizing the suspension of CDA late lease payment fees.
      • Waiving late fees and penalties associated with licenses and permits issued by the Madison City Clerk’s office, including late fees for alcohol beverage renewal applications
      • Authorizing the suspension of late fees for parking violations
      • Extending the licensure expiration date to August 31, 2020 of all City licenses issued pursuant to MGO Sec. 9.02
      • Authorizing the execution of real Estate documents for the occupancy of buildings for the purpose of quarantine.
      • Extending time periods for conveyance permits issued under Madison General Ordinance Section 40.08(3).
      • Authorizing Public Health to reduce fees for numerous licensed establishments to the 2019 rate, and authorizing waiving late fees and offer renewal fee deferment where permitted
      • Extending time periods for work permits for fire protection systems
      • Authorize the Office of Business Resources the discretion to refund banner permit fees under Madison General Ordinance Section 31.075(2)(a)
      • Allow for refund of certain Street Use Permits granted or issued, and waive deadline for street use permit decision-making under Madison General Ordinance Section 10.056
      • Authorizes Departments to accept an appropriate donations to the City for response to the COVID-19 emergency without prior approval, subject to Council ratification
      • Permitting Director Of Planning, with Alder input, to approve an extension of conditional use and demolition approvals for an additional 12 months under Madison General Ordinance Sections 28.183(9) & 28.185(9)(b)
      • Establishing procedures to negotiate and execute emergency leases, contracts and contract amendments during the emergency situation.
      • Waive all Street Vending License fees under MGO 9.13 for the 2020-2021 vending season, except Camp Randall High Density Vending and UW Game Day Vending licenses, and authorize refunds for fees already paid for the 2020-2021 vending season.
      • Authorizing the Director of the Department of Civil Rights to suspend application of any rule in the Rules of the Equal Opportunities Commission
      • Temporarily suspend the enforcement of Madison General Ordinance Section 33.56(5) to allow the Director of Transportation, Transit Manager, Traffic Engineer, and Parking Manager to take actions related to transportation issues identified in Madison General Ordinance Section 33.56(5)(a)-(c)
      • Suspend the requirement that developers hold a pre-application presentation with the Urban Design Commission pursuant to Madison General Ordinance Section 28.098(5)(a)2.
      • Waive the sixty(60) day requirement in Madison General Ordinance Section 31.043(1) that mandates the Urban Design Commission make a final decision on an appeal from the Zoning Administrator under the sign code, and authorize the Secretary of the Urban Design Commission to refer or defer sign code matters that must be reviewed by the Urban Design Commission under Madison General Ordinance Sections 31and 33.24, until a meeting of the Urban Design Commission can be scheduled pursuant to Madison General Ordinance Section 33.01(10) (c).
      • Waiving the requirement to conduct an annual RFP for the Emerging Opportunities Program under MGO 3.12(11)(c) for 2020 and realloating the 2020 EOP funding to other contracts or programs.
      • Authorizing departments to transfer to other departments up to $50,000 from the operating budget and up to $250,000 from the capital budget in response to the COVID-19 emergency

I could spend hours looking at each of these items, researching if she actually has the power to do these things, or perhaps she already had the power to do so.  But there isn’t enough time in the day.  Which is why she is able to do this massive power grab.  Most alders aren’t going to understand all the implications without hours and hours and hours of research into this.  And this is on the agenda with AirBnB ordinance, the Amazon Facility appeal, F-35s and more.  The alders can’t possibly do a good job of addressing all these items tonight.  Which is why they need to meet more often, so they have reasonable agendas and and focus their attention.

MAYOR’S DECLARATION OF POWER A HUGE OVERREACH

I bolded my areas of concern.  Those concerns are listed below the proclamation.

Emergency Proclamation 3.23.2020

PROCLAMATION OF EMERGENCY

March 23, 2020

WHEREAS, the President of the United States has declared a national health emergency and the Governor of Wisconsin has declared a public health emergency in the State of Wisconsin because of the spread of COVID-19; and

WHEREAS, an emergency exists within the City of Madison resulting from evidence of increasing transmission of COVID-19 and scientific evidence regarding the most effective approaches to slow the transmission of COVID-19 is to prevent the circumstances present in mass gatherings that may exacerbate the spread of COVID-19, and

WHEREAS, as a result of Emergency Orders issued by the Governor of Wisconsin and the Public Health Director of Madison and Dane County, numerous businesses have been forced to either close completely or strictly limit their public capacity to ten or less; and

WHEREAS, these Orders and closures have resulted and will continue to result in significant financial impacts on businesses throughout the City; and

WHEREAS, I, as Mayor of Madison, have the authority pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 323.11 and 323.14(4) and Madison General Ordinance Sec. 3.19, to proclaim that a state of emergency exists and to invoke the emergency powers granted by ordinance and state statute,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT PROCLAIMED BY THE MAYOR OF MADISON, DANE COUNTY, WISCONSIN:

1. 1. 1. That a state of emergency is hereby declared for the City of Madison pursuant to Wis. Stats. 323.11 and 323.14 and Madison General Ordinances Section 3.19.
      2. That the state of emergency shall be in effect until April 23, 2020, unless extended by mayoral proclamation or resolution of the Common Council, or until the emergency conditions no longer exist if such period is shorter than that identified in this paragraph.
      3. This proclamation of emergency shall be given prompt and general publicity and shall be filed promptly with the City Clerk.
      4. This proclamation of emergency activates the City of Madison emergency operations plan.
      5. That this proclamation shall take effect immediately from and after its issuance.
      6. That pursuant to the authority granted by the above provisions, I declare the following regulations are now in effect and have the force of law:

I. SUSPENSION AND MODIFICATION OF ORDINANCES AND CITY POLICIES

(a) Under this Declaration, the Mayor may, after consultation with the City Attorney, issue orders to suspend the operation of, amend, create, or adopt city policies, resolutions, or ordinances, and suspend enforcement actions, that are not in conflict with existing state or federal laws, in order to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on city workers, residents of, and businesses and non­ profits within the City of Madison. This includes the power to extend deadlines, waive penalties, issue permits or licenses, contract or waive contractual terms, or such other actions as are appropriate to protect the health, safety and welfare of the City and its residents.

(b)To the extent any such actions by the Mayor affect a legislative enactment of the Common Council, or create what amounts to a new legislative enactment, the actions shall be presented in a resolution to the Common Council at the next regularly scheduled meeting when the resolution may be considered . By the resolution, the Council will affirm, rescind, or amend any of the orders issued by the Mayor.

The authority granted by this Declaration expires sixty (60) days after the Director of Public Health Madison and Dane County and the Governor of Wisconsin determine to end the emergency actions they have taken or will take to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

That this proclamation will be presented for adoption at the Common Council meeting of March 31, 2020.

ORDERED this 23rd day of March, 2020.

Satya Rhodes-Conway, Mayor
City of Madison

Whew!  With this proclamation, for more than 90 days the mayor can do anything she wants – write ordinances, resolutions, contracts, spend money – and as long as she ties it to the coronavirus, she has carte-blanche to do whatever she wants and by the time the council can act on it – its too late to change it.

MY CONCERNS ABOUT THIS RESOLUTION/PROCLAMATION

1. 1. There was no publicity about this on March 23rd or the following days.  No blog, no press release, nothing.
   2. The city’s emergency operating plan is pretty old and as far as I can see, they aren’t actually following it.  If this is the EOC process – it was actually in effect on the 17th of March.
   3. The order to allow her to write ordinances and resolutions is a far greater power than the governor has.  He can suspend regulations, not statutes.  And he can’t write new ones.
   4. The proclamation only requires the new provisions the mayor creates to be “presented at the next regular meeting” – there should be a requirement that they are considered a the next meeting that is scheduled as soon as practicable.  She signed the proclamation on March 23 and the council won’t have the items in front of them for consideration til a month later on April 21st.  Surely the council can meet sooner than this and the mayor doesn’t have to do these things unilaterally.
   5. I understand having to have these powers for a short amount of time, but for the governor and others, their emergency powers only last UP TO 60 days or while the emergency is in effect.   The mayor extended her powers for an additional 90 days!
   6. I wish I had time to further explore the full consequences of all these orders, but its impractical in this amount of time.  The mayor shouldn’t be able to do this big of an action without the council understanding all the unintended consequences of each action.
   7. You may see further posts on some of the most egregioius actions.

HOW YOU CAN PARTICIPATE IN OUR DEMOCRACY?

Things are pretty well shut down when it comes to public participation, but tonight at the council meeting, here is how you can participate.  Speak now, or wait til April 21st.

The City of Madison is holding the Common Council meeting virtually to help protect our community from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

1. WRITTEN COMMENTS: You can send comments on agenda items to allalders@cityofmadison.com

2. WATCH THE MEETING: You can call-in or watch the Common Council meeting in several ways:

• • • Listen to audio via phone: (312) 626-6799, WEBINAR ID: 531 697 510
    • Livestream on the Madison City Channel website
    • Livestream on the City of Madison YouTube Channel
    • Television: Watch live on Charter Digital 994 and AT&T U Verse 99
    • You also can watch the meeting using the Zoom app. Find how to watch the meeting via Zoom at www.cityofmadison.com/virtual-common-council.

3. REGISTER BUT DO NOT SPEAK: You can register your support or opposition to an agenda item without speaking at www.cityofmadison.com/comment-common-council.

4. REGISTER AND SPEAK: If you wish to speak at the virtual meeting on an agenda item, you MUST register. You can register at www.cityofmadison.com/comment-common-council. When you register to speak, you will be sent an email with the information you will need to join the virtual meeting.