If you read the paper or watched the news after Tuesday night’s Council Meeting, you probably don’t know that in addition to those good ol’ trolleys, covered in the Cap Times and WSJ, we also discussed or passed:
1. Passed a Downtown Safety Initiative plan.
2. Reorganized the Department of Planning and Development into the Department of Planning and Community and Economic Development.
3. Clarified procedures for disclosing rent credit due to the tenant when they move out of their apartment and get their security deposit or statement back.
4. Updated Madison laws to make them consistent with Dane County laws making it discrimination for landlords to deny tenants because they received Section 8 assistance.
5. Changed our policy to allow tenants to move into our Allied Drive properties under certain circumstances.
6. Failed to pass a referendum on Presidential Accountability.
7. Failed to allow reconsideration of the Neighborhood Conservation District ordinance.
The mayor was right when he said that the referendum on trolleys was a political ploy, and he returned fire with a political ploy of his own. And in the end, the public was really not served well. The reorganization of the Department of Planning and Development, while a boring topic, is a big deal. The Downtown Safety Plan is a really good plan that will help the police focus on some problem areas in communication, technology and staffing. The Allied Drive changes in policy may actually prevent additional homelessness for residents in the Allied Drive area, and unfortunately all the public heard about was the dang trolleys.
